Homilies on the Book of Joshua

“Homilies on the Book of Joshua” (26 homilies) refer to the last years of Origen’s life and were pronounced during the persecutions under Emperor Decius, in 249-250. The homilies cover almost the entire content of the Book of Joshua. The main themes of the homilies are the revelation of the symbolism of the Promised Land and the Christological interpretation of Joshua as a prototype of Jesus Christ. Origen's Promised Land is understood both as an eschatological land (the Kingdom of Heaven) and as an internal land (spiritual perfection to which the human soul strives). Origen allegorically interprets the seizure of hostile kingdoms by Jews, the destruction of cities, and the extermination of peoples as an indication of the constant war carried out by Christians under the leadership of Jesus Christ against evil spirits, sins and passions. *The title of the essay in Latin is In Jesu Nave homiliae. Contents Homilia I Homilia II. About what was said: “Moses my servant is dead” (Joshua 1:2) Homilia III. On the Two and a Half Tribes and the Nine and a Half Tribes Homilius IV. About the crossing of the Jordan Homilius V. About the two and a half tribes who crossed the Jordan, and about Jesus, how God exalted him in the sight of the children of Israel, and how he circumcised the people Homilius VI. About the Passover, which the children of Israel kept at Gilgal, and how they gathered the produce of the earth in the place of date palms. And about the leader of the army of the Lord and about Jericho Homilius VII. How Jericho was captured and how Rahab was saved; and about the one who hid from the cursed the golden tongue and the pure bracelets of Homilius VIII. About what happened during the destruction of Ai, and a little about its king and about the double tree Homilius IX. About the altar that Jesus built and on the stones of which he wrote Deuteronomy. And how he read it before all the people who stood at Mount Gorizim and at Mount Ebal, and how the kings of the Amorites gathered together to fight with Jesus Homilius X. About the cunning of the Gibeonites Homilius XI. About the auxiliary army of Jesus, which helped the Gibeonites; and how he stopped the sun and moon Homilius XII. The fact that the wars that Jesus waged must be understood spiritually, and that when the people returned after the victory, no one moved their tongue Homilia XIII. About the cities of Lachish, Libn and Hebron, captured by the children of Israel Homilius XIV. About Jabin, king of Hazor, and other kings gathered against Israel Homilius XV. About what happened after Javin Homilius XVI. About what is written: “Jesus is an elder” - that is, an old man - “filled with days”; and how the inheritance was transmitted through Moses to the two and a half tribes of Homilius XVII. That the Levites did not receive the land as an inheritance Homilius XVIII. About how Jesus began to distribute the land and how Caleb approached Jesus and asked him for Hebron Homilia XIX. On the limits of the inheritance of the tribe of Judah Homilia XX. About the difficulty of reasoning; how Caleb receives Hebron, and about his daughters Homilia XXI. About the sons of Judah, who could not expel the Jebusites from Jerusalem Homilia XXII. About the race of Ephraim and about the Canaanites Homilia XXIII. On the method of casting lots when the seven tribes receive an inheritance Homilius XXIV. About how the Amorites lived with Ephraim, and about how Jesus took the city from the children of Israel Homilius XXV. About the cities given to the Levites, and about their lot Homilia XXVI. About why the stone swords were buried, and about the altar that was built beyond the Jordan by two and a half tribes 1. “God gave the name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9) to our Lord Jesus Christ. For Jesus is the name that is “above every name.” Since this “name is above every name, at the name of Jesus every knee bowed, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2:9-10). And since this is “the name above every name,” many generations did not call anyone it. Moses wrote the book of Genesis, where we read about Abraham and those begotten by him, among whom there were many righteous people, but none of them was worthy to be called Jesus. Neither Abel nor the one who “began to call on the name of the Lord God” was called Jesus (Gen. 4:26); neither the one who “walked with God” and was taken by Him and whose dead body was not found (cf. Gen. 5:22:24); neither Noah is the only “righteous and blameless man in his generation” (Gen. 6:9); nor Abraham himself, who received the promise of the covenant (cf. Gen. 17:2–14); nor Isaac begotten of him; neither Jacob, who tripped up his brother, nor any of his sons. Moses was “faithful in all the house” of God (cf. Num. 12:17; Heb. 3:2), but even he was not named Jesus. The first time I find the name Jesus is in the book of Exodus, and I would like to take a closer look at when it was first given. It is said: “Amalek came and fought against Israel in Rafidin. Moses said to Joshua" (Exodus 17:8-9). This is the first mention of the name Jesus. “Moses said to Joshua: Choose for yourself strong men from among the children of Israel, and go and fight Amalek tomorrow” (Ex. 17:9). Moses admits that he cannot lead an army, he admits that he cannot gather it, although he led the people “out of the land of Egypt” (Ex. 32:1). And therefore, as it is said, he calls Jesus and says: “Choose for yourselves mighty men from the children of Israel and go.” Look who he assigns to wage war against Amalek. This is how we first encounter the name Jesus, when we see him bearing it at the head of an army; not as one with whom Moses shares his headship, but to whom he yields precedence. Moses cannot choose strong men. He says: “Choose for yourselves mighty men from the children of Israel.” And so when I first came across the name Jesus, I immediately saw in it a symbol of mystery; Truly Jesus leads the army. 2. “And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel prevailed, and when he lowered his hands, Amalek prevailed” (Ex. 17:11). When Moses raises his hands, then Jesus overcomes and becomes stronger. However, when Moses does not raise his hands, but allows them to fall, Amalek gains the upper hand over the people, who are told: “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me” (John 5:46), and “not one of you walks according to the law. Why are you trying to kill Me? (John 7:19). After all, the law and its operation are meaningless among those who, “striving to establish their own righteousness, do not submit to the righteousness of God” (Rom. 10:3), and when the hands of Moses are lowered, unbelief increases, the people suffer defeat. Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar remained in the camp to judge the people (cf. Ex. 28:1). Jethro was left with them to judge the people (cf. Ex. 18:13–27). Jesus did not stay, but followed Moses into the mountains, and the miraculous “his servant” (Ex. 24:13) added about Jesus shows that he served Moses. How did he serve him? Not as a second, not as a subordinate, but as an assistant and protector. Why is the name of his father not indicated at the first mention of Jesus, and neither at the second, nor at the third? But when his father, Joshua, is nevertheless spoken of, he is not called Jesus, but Hosea (cf. Num. 13:9:17). For among those whom Moses “sent to spy out the land,” he is mentioned as Hosea (cf. Num. 13:17). It seems to me that he is not named Jesus, but Hoshea the son of Nun, perhaps because he was sent to look out. But when he returns after completing his assignment and the whole people are horrified and only he supports those who waver and encourages those who are in despair, then Moses calls him Jesus; not the son of Nun, but the one to whom Moses said: “Lead the army and fight Amalek.” We see his greatness even more clearly when, during the transfiguration of Moses’ face, none of the sons of Israel could look at his face (cf. Ex. 34:29–35); Jesus, however, not only looks him directly in the face, but even stands in the tabernacle as a communicant of the sacraments (cf. Ex. 33:11). 3. What does all this point to us? Obviously, this book does not so much tell about the deeds of the son of Nun, but rather describes the secrets of my Lord Jesus. For He Himself is the One who, after the death of Moses, gains dominion, who leads the army and fights with Amalek; and what was represented on the mountain by the raising of hands was only a shadow of how He “nailed to the cross” “the handwriting that was written about us,” “taking away the strength of the principalities and powers, and authoritatively putting them to shame” (cf. Col. 2:14-15). So Moses died; the law became invalid, “for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John” (Matthew 11:13). Do you want me to give evidence from the Scriptures that the law was named by Moses? Listen to what the Gospel says: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them” (Luke 16:29). Moses is here, no doubt, called the law. “And Moses the servant of the Lord died” (Deut. 34:5), for the law died, and its regulations were no longer valid. Or if what I say does not inspire confidence in you, then listen to the words of the Apostle, who said: “A married woman is bound by law to her living husband. And if she marries another while her husband is alive, she is called an adulteress; if her husband dies, she is free from the law, and will not be an adulteress if she marries another husband” (Rom. 7:2-3). "Woman" no doubt denotes the soul bound to the law of Moses, of which it is said, "Bound by the law to a living husband." But if her husband - of course, the law - dies, then the soul, which seemed to be subordinate, is “liberated.” Therefore it is necessary that the law should die, so that those who believe in Jesus will not commit the sin of adultery. 4. So Jesus my Lord and Savior has gained dominion; and, if it seems proper, let us compare what Moses accomplished with the dominion of Jesus. When Moses led the people out of the land of Egypt, there was no order in it, no establishment of priestly rites. They passed through salty sea waters that had no sweetness in them; “The waters were a wall to them on the right and on the left” (Ex. 14:22:29). We know that all this happened while Moses was at the head of the people. But let's see what images of the future were at the time when my Lord led the army. “And the priests lifted up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and went ahead of the people” (Joshua 3:6:14–17). And now there is nowhere the sea, nowhere are there salty waves, but following my Lord Jesus I approach the Jordan, and I approach not in the confusion of flight, not overcome by horror, but with priests carrying on their necks and shoulders the ark of the covenant of the Lord, in which is the law of God and the divine writings. I enter the Jordan not in mysterious silence, but to the sound of trumpets playing something mystical and Divine, so that I march to the glorification of heavenly trumpets. It was said that “the waters parted and became a wall to them on the right and on the left” (Ex. 14:21–22). But here He made “both one” and destroyed “the barrier that stood in the middle” (Eph. 2:14). For on one side the water “became a wall,” and on the other, glass “into the sea” (Joshua 3:16). Jesus goes on to say, “Prepare for yourselves food for the journey” (Joshua 1:11). And today, if you hear, Jesus says to you: “If you follow Me, prepare for yourself food for the journey.” For this food is deeds that, like a faithful travel bag, will accompany us on our future journey. And since it is not appropriate to read the Divine Epistles casually, as if in passing, let us consider where he commands those who had no bread to take food from; for their food was manna. But when we had already crossed the banks of the river, “the manna stopped falling” (Joshua 5:12), and therefore anyone who did not prepare food for themselves could not follow Jesus to the Promised Land. Look, however, what fruit is harvested first in the promised land. It is said in the Scripture: “Then they began to eat the produce of the land in the place of date palms, and began to eat unleavened bread” (Joshua 5:12). So, you see that if we, being the first to renounce the ways of this world, follow Jesus, then we will be the first to receive the palm branch of victory; and when we reject the “leaven of vice and wickedness,” “unleavened bread of purity and truth” is prepared for us (1 Cor. 5:8). And our Jesus sends spies to the king of Jericho, and they receive hospitality from the harlot. And the harlot who received the spies sent by Jesus is no longer a harlot, for she gave them hospitality. In fact, each of us is a fornicator in our souls while we live according to the passions and attractions of the flesh. And she received the “spies” of Jesus, the angels whom He sent before Him to prepare His way (cf. Mark 1:2). If any soul receives them in faith, it must settle them not in low and base places, but in high and exalted places, for we have received the Lord Jesus, who did not come from low and earthly places, but descended from the Father in heaven. 5. I do not understand the sheaves of flax in which the spies hid (cf. Joshua 5:12) as anything other than symbols. After all, flax is used to make priestly vestments (cf. Ex. 39:28); and this means that those who came are elevated to the top of 1 dignity - into the priesthood, just as the Apostle Peter says: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9), and in the symbols of the law, where it is said about priests, the secret calling of people “from among the Gentiles” is hidden (Rom. 9:24). And of course, this harlot immediately arouses the wrath of the king of Jericho. Why, if not just because “the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh” (Gal. 5:17)? And it is also said: “If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before you” (John 15:18). There is, therefore, a certain king, the enemy of this harlot - “the prince of this world” (John 12:31), who is pursuing and wants to capture the spies of Jesus, but cannot achieve this, because they are heading “to the mountain” (Joshua 2:16:22); They do not walk through lowlands, they do not walk across plains, but they strive to climb the crests of hills, to mountain peaks. So our harlot says: “I lift up my eyes to the mountains, from where my help will come” (Ps. 120:1). The “prince of this world” cannot climb there, he is not able to climb the mountain paths to Jesus; but, on the contrary, when, tempting, he “sets Him up on” a height, he says to Him: “Throw yourself down” (Matthew 4:5-6), for he always strives for the base and fallen; there, he rules, there he built his abode, and from here, in the end, he will be cast into the underworld. Moses did not say: “Stop, sun”; he did not, like Jesus, rule over the great elements. Jesus commands: “Stand, O sun, over Gibeon, and the moon, over the valley of Aijalon!” (Joshua 10:12), and the Scripture adds to this: “And there was no such day, either before or after that, on which the Lord so listened to the voice of man” (Joshua 10:14). My Jesus stopped the sun not only at that time, but also, in an even greater way, at His coming. When we wage battle with our enemies and fight, “for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph.6:12), “the Sun of [our] righteousness” (Mal.4:2) is always with us, never leaves us, is not in a hurry to set in, for He Himself said: “I am with you in everything.” days" (Matthew 28:20). He is with us not for a few days, but “always, even to the end of the age,” until we have overcome our adversaries. 6. Let's see what Jesus promises to his soldiers. It is said: “Every place on which the soles of your feet tread, I give to you” (Joshua 1:3). This was promised to those who lived at that time in relation to the lands of the Canaanites, Perizzites, Jebusites and other nations, whose lands were seized as an inheritance after the expulsion of the wicked people who inhabited them. Let us see, however, what these words promise us. There is a kind of devilish opponents of the strong, against whom we wage battle and with whom we fight in this life. And how many enemies from this generation will we put under our feet, how many will we defeat in battle, how many lands, provinces and kingdoms captured from them will Jesus our Lord give to us. For once they were angels; they were glorified in the Kingdom of God. Or did we not read what Isaiah said about one of them: “How you fell from heaven, Lucifer 2, son of the morning!” (Isa.14:12)? This Lucifer certainly had a home in heaven until he became a fallen angel. And if I manage to defeat him and put him under my feet, if I am worthy that the Lord Jesus “will crush Satan under [my] feet” (Rom. 16:20), then I will be worthy to take the place of this angel in heaven. This is how we understand what the Lord Jesus promised us when he said that “every place where the soles of your feet tread” will be yours. However, we should not think that we can enter into this heritage by carelessly dozing and yawning lazily. Lucifer is overwhelmed by the rage of his kind; and if you do not conquer this rage in yourself and do not cut off from yourself every movement of anger and malice, you will not be able to inherit the place once occupied by this angel, for you will not drive him out of the promised land with your idleness. In the same way, some angels awaken in us pride, envy, greed, voluptuousness and try in every possible way to kindle them. And if you do not conquer these vices in yourself, then you will not drive out the evil angels from your land, consecrated by the grace of baptism, and you will not gain in its entirety the inheritance promised to you. 7. In the time of Moses it was not said, as in the time of Jesus, that “the land was calm from war” (Joshua 11:23). So our land, where we fight and fight, can be calmed from war by the power of the Lord Jesus alone. After all, all kinds of vices live within us, which constantly and continuously attack the soul. The Canaanites live in us; The Perizzites live in us; There are also Jebusites here. How should we work, how vigilant should we be and how long should we persist so that, when all these vices are put to flight, our “land from war” will finally “calm down”? That is why the prophet urges us to meditate “on the law of the Lord” “day and night” (Ps. 1:2). This constant meditation on the word of God is like a trumpet calling your soul to fight, so that you do not sleep while your enemy is awake. And since the day is not enough for such reflection, night is also added. But what will you do, who not only sleep at night, but also devote the whole day to worldly cares and carnal pleasures and do not bother to gather in church on set days? And some of you, even when they come, in fact, do not come, because they do not listen to the word of God, but indulge in idle chatter and gossip. That is why the Divine Word calls you: “Awake, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Eph. 5:14). “Rise from the dead” is said to those who remain in the works of death, remaining in their uncleanness and depravity, which, although not known to people, are known to God. Repent and turn to the Lord with all your heart, indulge in prayer, devote yourself to the word of God. What is the benefit if we abstain from sins and then begin to sin again? What's the point of taking a bath and then falling back into the mud? Do you abstain from time to time? It's like leaving Egypt for a while. You crossed the Red Sea and, following Moses, fulfill the commandments and regulations of the law. But now Jesus receives you from Moses and even circumcises you a second time “at a place called the Hill of Circumcision” (Joshua 5:3). You must cut back not only the idolatry that you rejected from the beginning, but also greed, a more subtle form of idolatry. Therefore, Jesus, circumcising the sons of Israel with the second circumcision, says: “Today I have taken away the shame of Egypt from you” (Joshua 5:9). While we sin, while vicious passions rule us, even if, having rejected idols, we seem to have left Egypt, the “shame of Egypt” is not removed from us. And if you accept this second circumcision of vices and cut off from yourself every disease of anger, pride, envy, lust, greed, injustice and other similar things, then the “shame of Egypt” will be erased from you and, having crossed into the promised land, you will receive the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven through the true Jesus, Christ our Lord and Savior, “To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen" (Gal.1:5). Homilia II. About what was said: “Moses my servant died” (Joshua 1:2) 1. It is necessary for us to tell in detail about the death of Moses; because if we do not understand how Moses dies, we cannot understand how Jesus rules. If you see that Jerusalem is destroyed, the altar is abandoned, there are no offerings, sacrifices and libations, there are no priests anywhere, there are no high priests anywhere, there are no services of the Levites anywhere, if you see that all this has stopped, say: “Moses, the servant of God, is dead.” If you see that no one “three times a year” appears “before the Master, the Lord” (Ex. 23:17), neither to bring gifts in the church, nor to slaughter the Passover lamb, that no one eats unleavened bread, does not sacrifice the first fruits, does not dedicate the firstborn (cf. Ex. 22:29; Deut. 15:19), if you see that none of this is accomplished, say: “Moses, the servant of God, is dead.” When you see that nations come to faith, churches are erected, altars are not sprinkled with streams of animal blood, but are sanctified with the “precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:19), when you see that the priests and Levites perform sacred acts not with the blood of “bulls and goats” (Heb. 9:13), but with the word of God through the grace of the Holy Spirit, then say what Jesus received from Moses supremacy and prevailed over it - not Joshua the son of Nun, but Jesus the Son of God. When you see that “our Passover, Christ, was sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7) and that we eat “unleavened bread of purity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:8), when you see that in the church what fell “on the good ground brought forth fruit: some a hundredfold, and some sixty, and some thirty” (Matthew 13:8:23), when you see widows, virgins and martyrs, when you see the seed of Israel, multiplied from those “who were born neither of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13), when you see “the scattered children of God” gathered “as one” (John 11:52), when you see that the people of God keep the Sabbath, observing rest not from everyday life, but from working against sin, when you see all this, You will say: “Moses the servant of God is dead,” and Jesus the Son of God reigns. And finally, in one small book, which - although it is not canonical - reflects the image of this mystery, it tells about two Moses: one lives in the spirit, and the other is dead in the body. This, without a doubt, shows that if you consider the letter of the law empty and devoid of everything that is said above, then this is Moses dead in the body; but if you can remove the veil (cf. 2 Cor. 3:16) from the law and realize “that the law is spiritual” (Rom. 7:14), then this is Moses living in spirit. 2. It is said: “The Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses: Moses my servant is dead; Therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, the children of Israel” (Joshua 1:1-2). Perhaps you want to know how our Lord Jesus the Son of God could be the servant of Moses; this is because “when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his only begotten Son, who was born of a woman, made subject to the law” (Gal. 4:4). It was through His “subjection to the law” that He became “the servant of Moses.” God commands them to go to the land - not to the one that Moses gave, but “to the land that I will give them.” So you see that after the death of Moses, God gives the people of Israel a land through Jesus. What land? Of course, the one about which the Lord says: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). 3. “Every place on which the soles of your feet tread, I give to you” (Joshua 1:3). What are these places where our feet will tread? The letter of the law lies on the ground and is located below. And therefore, in no way does one ascend who follows the letter of the law. But if you are able to rise from the letter to the spirit and rise from the historical narrative to a higher understanding, then you will truly ascend to a high and exalted place, which you will receive from God as an inheritance. After all, if in what is written you see images and discern the likenesses of heavenly things, if with your mind and judgment you seek “the things above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1), then you will find this place as an inheritance. For our Lord and Savior says: “Where I am, there will my servant also be” (John 12:26). And therefore, if you have come to Christ, who sits “at the right hand of God,” by your faith, life, purity, piety, the soles of your feet washed by Jesus (cf. John 13:5), then you have approached the place that God will give you; then you will become not only an “heir of God,” but also a “joint heir with Christ” (Rom. 8:17). 4. It is written: “As I said to Moses: from the wilderness and Anti-Lebanon 3 to the great river, the river Euphrates” (Joshua 1:3-4). God gives Jesus the desert. What desert? The one about which the prophet says: “The desert and the dry land rejoiced” (Is. 35:1) and “she who is forsaken has many more children than she who has a husband” (Is. 54:1; Gal. 4:27). And, again, God said that Jesus would not receive Lebanon, but Anti-Lebanon. Anti-Lebanon seems to mean “instead of Lebanon.” And therefore, if you consider the former people, Israel according to the flesh, to be a “good olive tree” (Rom. 11:24), understand it as the true Lebanon. But when you see that because of their unbelief, “the kingdom of God was taken away from them and given to a people bearing fruit” (Matthew 21:43), in other words, that another people was brought into this Kingdom in place of the expelled, see in this Antileban, “which is the Church of the living God” (1 Tim. 3:15), the Church of those called from among the Gentiles (Rom. 9:24) by Jesus Christ our Lord, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homilia III. About two and a half tribes and nine and a half tribes 1. Moses divided the inherited lands beyond the Jordan between two and a half tribes: Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 13:15ff). It was not Moses who distributed the land to the remaining tribes, but Jesus. An agreement was concluded with the two and a half tribes that received lands beyond the Jordan, according to which the men, leaving women and children in that land, fought together with their brothers until they received their inheritance (Num. 32:20 ff.; Josh. 1:13 ff.). After the death of Moses, who made this treaty, Jesus needed to remind the men of their promise and demand that they help their brothers going to war. All this is set out in detail in the text of Scripture. But since we have now turned to the Lord, Who removed the veil that remained “unlifted during the reading of the Old Testament” (2 Cor. 3:14), and sends down gifts to His servants who believe in Him, so that they could “behold with open face the glory of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18), then we understand that “all these things happened to them as examples; but it is described for our instruction, who have reached the last ages” (1 Cor. 10:11). Therefore, as we said above, let’s try to ascend from the letter to the spirit, from images to truth and look more closely at what the two and a half tribes that received the land as an inheritance from Moses mean, and what the other nine and a half tribes mean, to which Jesus promises to give the sacred land. First of all, I think it is no coincidence that all those who received the land from Moses were the firstborn: Reuben was the firstborn of Leah (Gen. 29:32), Gad was the firstborn of Zilpah (Gen. 30:10-11), and Manasseh was the firstborn of Asenath of Egypt, the wife of Joseph, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of Heliopolis (Gen. 41:50). And no one will convince me that it was an accident that only these firstborn received the inheritance through Moses. It seems to me that this is rather a picture of two peoples: one the firstborn, according to the institution of nature, and the other one who has received the blessing of the inheritance through faith and grace. The first rest was not given to those who received the inheritance from Moses - that is, to those who pleased God through the law - for this they need to help their brothers in the war. Only women and children receive peace from Moses. Others do not find peace, but go to the aid of their brothers. See how those who were justified by the law before the coming of Jesus Christ my Lord, today come to my aid in the struggle against the vicissitudes of this life and against enemies, that is, against opposing forces. See how Isaiah helps me when he enlightens me with his words. See how Jeremiah, girded and ready for battle, comes to our aid, how with the arrows of his writings he puts to flight the most evil enemies and dispels the darkness in my heart. And Daniel is well equipped to help us, foreshadowing the coming and reign of Christ and warning us of the treachery of the Antichrist. And Ezekiel presents to us the heavenly mysteries in the fourfold circle of wheels, “as if a wheel were within a wheel” (Ezek. 1:16). Hosea leads a troop of twelve prophets, and they all go forth with their loins girded about with the truth (Eph. 6:14), which they proclaim to help their brethren, lest, having been instructed by their writings, we should remain ignorant of the wiles of the devil. These mighty men, whose loins are girded with truth, come to our aid and fight alongside us. But women and children do not go out to battle (cf. Joshua 1:14). And this is not surprising, for it is said that a baby is one who does not speak 4. How can someone help me who says nothing, who has written nothing for me to read, who does not instruct me with words? The Apostle says that a woman is “a weak vessel” (1 Peter 3:7), and it is clear that she does not enter into battle, lest she be broken and perish. So about Jesus our Lord in the Gospel it is said that He “will not break a bruised reed” (Matthew 12:20). Therefore, women should learn “at home from their husbands” (1 Cor. 14:35) and be students rather than teachers. And no one can come to my aid who is not able to instruct me, from whom I do not find anything that I should imitate or strive for. 2. Let's see what those who came out of the land given by Moses say: “As we listened to Moses, so we will listen to you” (Joshua 1:17). Nothing is truer than this: whoever listens to Moses also listens to Jesus our Lord, for he wrote about Jesus. In the Gospel, the Lord shows the Jews that those who do not believe Him do not believe Moses either, saying: “If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me” (John 5:46). It seems to me that it is not at all accidental that not three full tribes, but two and a half, receive the land from Moses, and not nine full tribes, but nine and a half, receive the inheritance through Jesus; one tribe is divided into two parts, which does not allow the number three to become whole, and the number ten to become perfect. This, I think, shows that those who formerly followed the law had some idea of ​​the Trinity, not complete and not perfect, but they knew only “in part” (1 Cor. 13:9). For they lacked knowledge of the incarnation of the Only Begotten Son. And although they believed in His coming, and not only believed in His other deeds, but also preached about them, they still could not see and gain what they believed in. It is about such that the Lord speaks to His disciples: “Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, but did not see, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear” (Matthew 13:17). Their faith was not complete, because the purpose of the flesh was not yet fulfilled in Christ; and what we now believe as fulfilled and accomplished, they believed as what would happen in the future. Therefore, these tribes are not two, so that the holy fathers do not find themselves outside the faith and salvation of the Trinity, and not three - a complete and perfect number - so that the mystery of the blessed Trinity does not seem to have already been accomplished among them. They only touched the number three and, as the Lord said, “wanted to see” what we see, “and to hear” what we hear, but they could not, for the “Son of Man” was not yet “lifted up” (John 3:14) and “the fullness of time” (Gal.4:4) had not yet come. This motivates me to move on even more persistently. I think that perhaps the coming of Jesus and His incarnation have not yet taught us what is complete and perfect. And although He was lifted up on the cross and perfect in everything, and although He rose from the dead, all this does not reveal to us through Him the fullness of perfection. We need something else that will open and show us everything. Listen to what the Lord Himself says in the Gospel: “I still have much to say to you; but you can't listen now. When the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, comes, He will take from Mine and declare all things to you” (John 16:12-14). You see that not only under Moses is this third component not fully revealed, but even Jesus says to His disciples: “You cannot yet listen until the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, has come,” for the perfection of the Trinity is fulfilled in Him and through Him. For the same reason, in the fact that under the leadership of Jesus there are nine and a half tribes, and not the full ten - the number which, as it is said, is complete and perfect in everything - no doubt, there is seen an incompleteness and incompleteness of that which, according to the testimony of the Lord Jesus, will find completeness only with the Holy Spirit. The Lord and Savior preached repentance and conversion from evil to good and granted forgiveness of sins to all who believe, and fulfilled everything that favors the perfection of this age. And yet, perfection and the pinnacle lie in whether someone, after all this, is worthy to receive the grace of the Holy Spirit. None of this will be considered perfect in anyone if he lacks the Holy Spirit, through whom the mystery of the blessed Trinity is fulfilled. Do you still want me to show you more clearly that everything in this original people, which Moses represents as two and a half tribes, was incomplete and imperfect? This is also stated in the story told in this short book, “Joshua the son of Nun,” where it is said that the true altar was in the land that Joshua was allotting (cf. Joshua 8:30). Those who lived on the other side of the Jordan, that is, “the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh, built an altar there near the Jordan” (Josh. 22:10 ff.), which was not true, but had only the image and signs of that true altar that Jesus had. Therefore, you have no reason to doubt that they did not have a complete knowledge of the Trinity, since they did not build a complete or true altar. Therefore, as it is said, they did not overthrow so many enemies and kings of the opposing powers. It is said that only Sihon, king of the Amorites (Num. 21:21 ff.), Og, king of Bashan (Num. 21:33 ff.), and the Amalekites were exiled beyond the Jordan. However, during the same time, five kings fell under the blows of the army of Jesus, and not only fell, but were hanged “on five trees” (Joshua 10:5:16–26); “twenty-nine cities with their villages” (Josh. 15:32) were also captured, and countless soldiers of the enemy army were defeated and all destroyed (cf. Josh. 11:4 ff.) - all who possessed the sacred land in uncleanness and in the bitterness of malice held “the land flowing with milk and honey” (Josh. 5:6). 3. Meanwhile, Jesus sent spies to Jericho, “and they came to the house of a harlot, whose name was Rahab” (Joshua 2:1). These spies sent before Jesus can be considered as messengers or angels of God, according to what was said: “I send My angel before You, who will prepare Your way before You” (Matthew 11:10; Mark 1:2). What was fulfilled in others was invisibly and visibly fulfilled in John, about whom this was also said. The Lord said about the baptism of John that the scribes and Pharisees did not believe John, but “the tax collectors and harlots believed him” and were baptized. This was also fulfilled in the fact that it was the harlot who accepted the spies of Jesus and through this escaped the death to which the entire hostile people suffered. 4. And finally, let's see who this harlot is. It is said that her name is Rahab, which means “extensiveness.” And what is vastness if not the Church of Christ, gathered from sinners, as if from harlots? The Church says: “The place is cramped for me; give in to me so that I can live. And who raised them for me?” (Isa.49:20-21). And it was also said to her: “Expand the place of your tent, enlarge the coverings of your dwellings” (Is. 54:2). Thus, the one who receives the spies of Jesus is the “extensiveness.” I remember one day in some church we were talking about the two harlots described in the third book of Kings. They came to Solomon so that he could judge between them; one of them had a living baby, the other a dead one (1 Kings 3:16ff). I carefully examined this passage and said that the harlot with a dead child is the one whom Solomon - not the ancient king, but the One who came to reconcile to Himself “both earthly and heavenly things” (Col. 1:20) - ordered the return of the living child. The other harlot, the one whose baby was actually dead, is the synagogue either of that firstborn people or of those who strayed into heresy. Another harlot, whom the prophet Hosea was ordered to take as a wife (Hosea 1:2), is undoubtedly an image of the one who is called from the pagans. Such, as it is said, is the harlot who received the spies of Jesus; she places those who come to her on an exalted place, at the pinnacle of the mysteries of faith. For none of those sent by Jesus are found down, lying on the ground, but remain in an elevated place. And not only does he himself dwell in exalted places and on the peaks, but also the harlot who accepted them ceases to be a harlot and becomes a prophet. For she says: “I know that the Lord your God has given this land to you” (Joshua 2:9). You see how she who was formerly a harlot, unclean and wicked, is now filled with the Holy Spirit, repented of what she had done in the past, believes in the present, and foresees and predicts the future. So Rahab, whose name means “extensiveness,” expands and extends to where “their voice goes through all the earth” (Ps. 18:5; Rom. 10:18). Japheth also means “enlargement,” and he, of course, was also a type of those saved “from among the Gentiles” (Isa. 45:20; Rom. 9:24). The boy Canaan was made a slave by his father to Japheth and his brother Shem (Gen. 9:18–25), symbolizing the saved among the circumcision. One must admire the mercy and providence of God, who, wanting to apply medicine to the sinner Canaan and grant him salvation, makes him a slave of his brothers, just as Esau began to serve his brother Jacob (cf. Gen. 25:23; 27:37) - of course, not in order to destroy his brother Jacob, but in order to obtain salvation by obedience to his better self. Indeed, for sinners and wicked people who do not know how to govern themselves, it is much better if they do not entrust themselves to themselves, but become slaves of the saints and submit to their better selves and are guided not by their own bad thoughts, but by the good understanding of others. You see how great is the mercy of the Lord, which He hides and conceals from the hearing of the crowd and hides behind a veil of stern words, so that, having seen the boundless kindness of God, some worthless servant and ungrateful scoffer does not accidentally appear (cf. Rom. 2:4). 5. Let us now see how this wise harlot deals with the spies. Having no land, she gives them mysterious and heavenly advice. She tells them: “Go to the mountain” (Joshua 2:16). Do not walk through the valleys, avoid the low and base, strive for the high and sublime. And she herself places a scarlet sign in her house (Joshua 2:18–21), thanks to which she must avoid death during the destruction of the city. No other sign is accepted except scarlet, because it is the color of blood. For she knows that salvation is possible only through the Blood of Christ. The same command was given to her who was once a harlot. It was said to her: “Everyone who is in your house will be saved; and if anyone comes out of the door of your house, his blood will be on his head, but we will be free from this oath of yours” (Joshua 2:17-19). So, if anyone wants to be saved, let him enter the house of one who was once a harlot. If even one of this people desires to be saved, let him enter, so that he may find salvation. May he enter the house in which the sign of redemption is the Blood of Christ. And for those who said: “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matthew 27:25) The blood of Christ is for condemnation. For Jesus was appointed “for the fall and the rising of many” (Luke 2:34), and for those who rejected His sign, His Blood will serve as punishment, and for those who believed - salvation. And let no one convince himself, let no one be deceived: outside this house, that is, outside the Church, there is no salvation; and if anyone goes out, he himself will be guilty of his own destruction. This is the meaning of this Blood, such is the cleansing accomplished by this Blood. The sign hanging in the window, as I see it, means the following: the window serves to illuminate the house, through it we receive light - not all, but enough for our eyes to see. Even the incarnation of the Savior did not give us a complete and clear vision of Divinity, but through His incarnation, as through a window, He allowed us to see the radiance of Divinity. And therefore, I think, the image of salvation is given to us in the form of a window. Through this sign, everyone who finds themselves in the house of the one who was once a harlot will find salvation, all purified by water and the Holy Spirit and the Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homilia IV. About crossing the Jordan 1. For a sinner, every creation is an enemy, just as it is said about Egypt: the earth is hostile to them, the river is hostile to them, the air itself and the sky itself are hostile to them. But for the righteous, even what seems inaccessible becomes clear and simple. The righteous crosses the Red Sea as if on dry land, but if an Egyptian wants to cross this sea, he will be swallowed up by the abyss, and the “waters” will not become “a wall for him on the right and on the left” (Ex. 14:22:29). And even if a righteous man comes to a lifeless desert, food will be given to him from heaven (cf. Ps. 77:24). Thus, when crossing the Jordan, the ark of the covenant leads the people of God. The priests stand “on the dry land in the middle of the Jordan with a firm foot,” for its waters, as if bowing to the servants of God, stopped their flow and, having gathered together, provided safe passage for the people of God (Josh. 3:15 ff.). And so that you are not surprised that the deeds performed by the ancients are applied to you, Christian, God’s word promises you, who divided the waters of the Jordan with the grace of baptism, much more - it promises to transport you through the air; listen to what Paul says about the righteous: “We will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). The righteous has nothing to fear; all creation serves him. Finally, listen to how God makes this promise through the prophet, saying to him: “When you pass through the waters, I am with you; If you walk through the fire, you will not get burned, and the flame will not scorch you. For I am the Lord your God” (Isaiah 43:2–3). Thus, every place receives the righteous, and every creature considers it its duty to serve him. Do not think that such things were accomplished only in ancient times and that nothing of the kind is happening in you, who is now hearing about them, for everything is being fulfilled in you mysteriously. After all, if you reject the darkness of idolatry and want to come to hear the law of God, then you come out of Egypt. When you come to the assembly of the catechumens and begin to fulfill the institutions of the Church, you part the waters of the Red Sea and, finding yourself in the desert, devote yourself to daily listening to the law of God and looking at the face of Moses, through which the glory of the Lord is revealed. But if you also enter the source of baptism and, in the presence of priests and Levites, you proceed to the great and sacred mysteries, known to those who are allowed to know them, then, having crossed the Jordan, through the worship of the priests, you enter the Promised Land. In this land, Jesus receives you from Moses and leads you along a new path. Remembering these great deeds of God, that He divided the sea before you and gathered the waters of the Jordan, you will turn around and say: “What is the matter with you, O sea, that you ran away, and with you, Jordan, that you turned back? Why do you jump, you mountains, like rams, and you hills, like lambs?” ( Ps. 114:5-6 ). And God's word will answer you, saying: “Tremble before the Lord, O earth, before the God of Jacob, who turns a rock into a lake of water and a stone into a spring of water” (Ps. 114:7-8). 2. How great are the deeds that have happened in the past! The Red Sea was crossed on foot, manna was sent from heaven, springs of water were opened in the wilderness, the law was given through Moses. Many signs and wonders were performed in the desert, but nowhere is it said that Jesus was “caught up.” When the Jordan was crossed, then it was said to Jesus: “This day I will begin to exalt you 5 in the sight of all the children of Israel” (Joshua 3:7). And indeed, Jesus did not ascend before the sacrament of baptism, but His ascension, even ascension in the eyes of the people, began with this. If “all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death” (Rom. 6:3), and the death of Jesus was accomplished by the ascension of the Cross, then it is true that the first time Jesus is lifted up for every believer is when he receives the sacrament of baptism. For it is said that “God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2:9-10). So, the priests, with their teaching, lead the people to the promised land. Is there anyone among the priests today who would be worthy of being numbered among them? After all, if he had been, the waters of the Jordan would have receded before him, and the elements themselves would have bowed to him. One part of the river waters would turn back and be held behind him, and the other would quickly run into the Salt Sea. I think that what is said about part of the waters of the Jordan flowing to the sea and pouring into bitterness (Joshua 3:16), while the other part remains sweet, is connected with some mystery. After all, if all the baptized preserved the sweetness of the grace they received and none of them turned to the bitterness of sin, then it would not be written that part of the river flows into the abyss of the Salt Sea. Therefore, I believe that these words show the inconstancy of the baptized, an inconstancy that we ourselves - I remember this with pain - often observe when some of those who have received holy baptism again plunge into the abyss of worldly cares and succumb to the temptation of pleasures, and when they drink the salty cup of greed, then they are symbolized by that part of the water that flows into the sea and disappears in the salty waves of the sea; and that part which remains unchanged and preserves its sweetness denotes those who adamantly preserve the gift received from God. And, accordingly, one part of them is saved, for one “bread of God comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:33), there is “one faith, one baptism and one Spirit” (Eph.4:5:4), from which all must drink in baptism, and “one God the Father of all” (Eph.4:6). So, the priests and Levites show the way to the people of God who came out of Egypt. For they themselves are the ones who taught the people to come out of Egypt, that is, to turn away from the errors of the world, and to cross the lifeless desert, that is, to hasten to pass by various temptations, and not to suffer harm from snakes, which are the bites of demons, and to avoid the poison of bad suggestions. And if a snake bites someone in the desert, the priests will show him the “brazen serpent” (Num. 21:6 ff.) hanging on the cross 6 and, looking at it, the one who is bitten, that is, the believer in the One whose image is represented by this serpent, will be able to repel the devil’s temptation. It is the priests and Levites who stand at the ark of the covenant of the Lord, in which they bear the law of God (cf. Joshua 3:6), - undoubtedly, so that they can enlighten the people in the commandments of God. Listen to what is said: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105). This lamp is lit by the priests and Levites. And if one of them places it “under a bushel” and not on a candlestick - so that it gives light to “everyone in the house” (Matthew 5:15), then let him ask himself what he will have to do when he begins to give an account to the Lord for those who, having not received light from the priests, walk in darkness and are blinded by the darkness of their sins. 3. And finally, look at what it says: “The distance between you and it [the Ark of the Covenant] shall be up to two thousand cubits” (Joshua 3:4). The priests and Levites walk next to him so close that they carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the law of God on their shoulders. Blessed is the one who is worthy to be close to God. But remember what is written: “He who is near Me is near the fire” 7 . If you are gold and silver and come close to the fire, you will shine even brighter. But if you understand that on the basis of your faith a structure has been erected from “wood, hay, straw,” and you approach the fire with this structure, it will consume you. Therefore, blessed are those who are very close to the fire, so close that it illuminates but does not burn them. Israel too will be saved; but his path to salvation is long, and he follows it not on his own, but with the support and prudence of the priests. 4. When did they approach the Jordan? I noticed that this is indicated, even the time is defined, and not without reason. It is said: “On the tenth day of the first month” (Joshua 4:19). On this very day, the sacrament of the Passover lamb was established in Egypt (cf. Ex. 12:3). It took place in Egypt on the tenth day of the first month; on the tenth day of the first month they came to the promised land. I think it is very good that on the very day when someone managed to escape the snares of the world, he can be worthy to enter the Promised Land, that is, on the day in which we live in this century. For our entire earthly life is marked by one day. This sacrament teaches us not to put off righteous deeds until tomorrow, but to do them “today” (cf. Heb. 3:13), that is, while we live, while we are in this world, and to hasten to do everything to achieve perfection, so that on the tenth day of the first month we may enter the promised land, in other words, find the bliss of perfection. And if you look more closely, you will see that in the narration of Holy Scripture many events take place on this day. However, in order not to prolong our conversation too much, we will not consider each of them separately, but note that this day is mentioned so often because, although we believe that there is one complete perfection, each virtue that we strive to cultivate has its own, if we can fulfill it perfectly and in its entirety. For example, if a hot-tempered person wants to acquire the virtue of meekness, of course he will often fail at first until, after much practice, it becomes his natural trait. And when he achieves what he strives for, he will acquire the perfection of meekness, although as a result he will not, as a result, have the perfection of all virtues. Thus, through individual virtues he comes to many types of perfection. But total perfection includes all types of perfection. That is why many events take place on this day, and this shows that many perfections lead to one goal, just as the prophet says: “My soul lived long with those who hate the world” (Ps. 119:6); and again: “When they said to me every day: “Where is your God?” Remembering this, I pour out my soul, because I walked among a crowd, I entered with them into the house of God with the voice of joy and praise of the celebrating multitude” (Ps. 42:4-5). If, after all the hardships and temptations that we must endure in the wilderness of this world, after crossing the Red Sea, after the streams of the waters of the Jordan, we are worthy to come to the promised land, then we will enter it with joy and exultation, following the priests of the Lord, our Christ and Savior, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homilia V. About the two and a half tribes that crossed the Jordan, and about Jesus, how God exalted him in the sight of the children of Israel, and how he circumcised the people 1. About those who crossed the Red Sea, the Apostle said: “All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Cor. 10:2). And about those who crossed the Jordan, we can say that they were all baptized into Jesus in the Jordan, so that what happened on the banks of the Jordan served as an image of the sacrament performed through baptism. It is said: “Meanwhile the people hastily crossed [the Jordan]. When all the people had passed over, then the ark of the covenant of the Lord also passed over” (Joshua 4:10–11). I think that the words “the people hastily crossed over” were added by the Holy Spirit for a reason. It also seems to me that when we come to be baptized in order to be saved, and receive the sacraments of the word of God, we should not do this sluggishly and idlely, but we should hasten to cross everything with diligence. For to go over everything means to fulfill everything that is commanded. So let us hasten to move on, that is, to fulfill what was said at the very beginning: “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3). Then, when we cast aside all arrogance and accept the humility of Christ, we will be worthy to receive the promised bliss. But even when we have accomplished all this, we should not stop and tarry, but should move on to what follows, so that we may become hungry and thirsty for righteousness (cf. Matt. 5:6). We must move on and become mourners in this world (cf. Matt. 5:4). Then we should quickly move on and so on in order to become meek (cf. Matt. 5:5) and remain peacemakers and through this be called “sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). We must also hasten, so that through the virtue of patience we may overcome the burden of persecution. When we do not slowly and lazily, but diligently and hastily seek what serves the glory of virtue, this, as I see it, means hastily crossing the Jordan. But when we move on and are able to take possession of what we should own, then again we must move on zealously, but carefully, so that, walking carelessly, we do not accidentally slip and fall, as the prophet says: “My legs almost shook, my feet almost slipped” (Ps. 72:2). And in striving to preserve virtues, we must make no less effort than in acquiring them. 2. Don't you think that all this is indicated by what was said: “About forty thousand armed for battle” - or “girt” - “went over before the Lord” (Josh. 4:13) to capture the city of Jericho? Let's see who is called in Scripture “armed for battle” or “girdled.” I myself do not dare to put forward any explanations or assumptions; let the epistles of the Apostle teach us better in this. Let us learn from Paul who the “girt ones” are. Listen to what he himself says: “Stand, having your loins girded with truth” (Eph. 6:14). As you can see, Paul knows those who are girded with the belt of truth. Therefore, truth must also become our belt if we remain faithful to the oath that it symbolizes. And if truth is our belt with which we are girded as soldiers of Christ, then when we speak untruths or lies come out of our mouths, the belt of truth is untied and we are excluded from the army of Christ. Thus, if we are in the truth, then we are girded and armed; if in untruth, we are girded and disarmed. So let us imitate those forty thousand “armed for battle” who went “before the Lord,” and we will always be girded with the truth. I cannot calmly pass over in silence the phrase “girt before the Lord” added to Scripture. Without a doubt, it is not enough for you to appear righteous in the eyes of people. Of course, you can deceive them and pretend to be proclaiming the truth. However, by doing this, you are not girded with “truth,” unless at the same time you have preserved the truth “before the Lord,” that is, not only in what people hear from you, but also in what God sees in your heart. Let there be no untruth in your mouth, let there be no hypocrisy in your heart, just as the prophet speaks of the wicked, “who speak peace with their neighbors, but have evil in their hearts” (Ps. 27:3). Therefore, anyone who wants to be girded “before the Lord” and capture Jericho must turn away from all this, because, having crossed the Jordan, we move on to battles and wars. Do you want to know what battles await us after baptism, what wars we should prepare for? Learn about this again, not from me, but from the Apostle Paul, who teaches you, saying: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). What is written is images and symbols. For this is what the Apostle says: “All these things happened to them as examples; but it is described for our instruction, who have reached the last ages” (1 Cor. 10:11). So if this is written for us, then why are you delaying? Let's go to war, capture the main city of this world - anger and destroy the arrogant walls of sin. You look around, looking for which road to take, which battlefield to choose. Perhaps my words will seem strange to you, but, nevertheless, it is true: you do not need anything external, nothing that is outside of you; the battle you are about to fight is within yourself; There is within you that stronghold of malice that you must crush; your enemy comes out of your heart. These are not my words, these are the words of Christ; listen to what He Himself says: “From the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy” (Matthew 15:19). You see that a whole army of insidious enemies is coming against you from your heart. And we must defeat them in the first battle; We must put them to flight with the first blow. If we can break down their walls and destroy them completely, so that there is no one left (Josh. 11:14) who can tell about it or come to their senses, if none of them comes back to life, awakened in our thoughts, then through Jesus we will find peace, then “every one will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make the children of Israel afraid” (Mic. 4:4). 3. Meanwhile, “about forty thousand armed men crossed over before the Lord” over the Jordan, and, as the Scripture says, “that day the Lord lifted up 8 Jesus in the sight of all Israel” (Joshua 4:14). Of course, the son of Nun, the leader of the former people, was exalted in the eyes of those whom he ruled. But let us see how Jesus my Lord, the King and Ruler of the present people, is “exalted” in the eyes of the descendants of the children of Israel. I think that He is always exalted and exalted before the Father. However, it is necessary for God to exalt Him in our eyes. And in my eyes He is exalted when the greatness and sublimity of His Divinity is revealed to me. When will the greatness of His Divinity be revealed to me? Of course, when I cross the Jordan, armed for future battles with the power of various sacraments. 4. It is said: “And they began to fear him, as they feared Moses” (Joshua 4:14). Everyone who keeps the law fears Moses; but when he passes from the law to the Gospel, with this change his fear is transformed, just as the Apostle says: “By the law I died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:19–20). 5. Then the son of Nun is commanded: “Make yourself sharp knives and circumcise the children of Israel a second time” (Joshua 5:2). Here I would like to ask the Jews how someone can be circumcised by the circumcision of the flesh a second time. After all, if he is circumcised, then he has nothing left to circumcise a second time. But look how worthily and consistently we decide this, to whom it is said that “the law is spiritual” (Rom. 7:14). We say that Moses, enlightened by the law and taught by him, rejected the errors of idolatry and abandoned superstition and the worship of idols. This is the first circumcision through the law. But if he passes from the law and the prophets to the gospel faith, then he receives the second circumcision, from the “stone; the stone [is] Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4), and what the Lord said to Jesus is fulfilled: “Today I have taken away the shame of Egypt from the children of Israel” (Joshua 5:9). Just as the Apostle said: “They drank from the spiritual subsequent stone; the stone was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4), and here we can also say that they were circumcised from the “spiritual subsequent stone; the stone was Christ.” For if someone has not been cleansed through the Gospel by the second circumcision, then he cannot take away the “shame of Egypt,” that is, the deception of carnal vices. 6. And yet let us see what it is about which it is said: “Today I have taken away the shame of Egypt from the children of Israel.” All people, even if they come from the law, even if they were taught by Moses, carry within themselves the “shame of Egypt,” the shame of sins. Who can be like Paul, even in keeping the law? Listen to what he says about himself: “According to legal righteousness, blameless” (Phil. 3:6). And despite this, he publicly declares: “And we were once foolish, disobedient, erring, slaves of lusts and various pleasures, living in malice and envy, being vile, hating one another” (Titus 3:3). Don't you see all this as disgrace, and the shame of Egypt? But since Christ came and gave us the second circumcision through the “washing of regeneration and renewal” (Titus 3:5) and cleansed our souls, we threw away everything that was before and took upon ourselves to maintain a clear conscience before God. At the same time, through the second circumcision, the “shame of Egypt” was removed from us and the filth of sins was cleansed. Therefore, no one fears condemnation for past sins if he has been completely converted and repented from the bottom of his heart and by faith has parted the waters of the Jordan and has been cleansed by the second circumcision of the gospel. You hear that “today I have taken away the shame of Egypt from the children of Israel.” The Lord shows this in the Gospel when he says: “Your sins are forgiven you” (Mark 2:5), but “sin no more, lest anything worse happen to you” (John 5:14). For if, after the forgiveness of your sins, you sin no more, then the “shame of Egypt” will undoubtedly be removed from you. But if you sin again, then condemnation returns to you, and to a much greater extent, for the one who tramples on the Son of God and does not consider the blood of the covenant holy (Heb. 10:29) is guilty of much more severe punishment than the one who does not keep the law of Moses. After all, he who commits adultery after preaching the Gospel deserves much greater condemnation than he who lives according to the law, since he takes “the members of Christ to make them the members of a harlot” (1 Cor. 6:15). So you see that you are subject to much greater condemnation if you neglect this. After all, they will not accuse you of dishonor, but will condemn you for blasphemy, for it is said to you: “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 6:19). “If anyone destroys the church of God, God will punish him” (1 Cor. 3:17). And even if you did not know about this before, now that these words have reached your ears, and the teaching has entered your heart, know that you have become a temple of the Holy Spirit and a member of Christ. Look how much you have achieved: from a weak human being you have become, without a doubt, into the “church of God”, where God should dwell, and, having once been flesh and blood, you have become a “member of Christ.” But no matter how great your achievements, separation is just as terrible and your fall is incurable. For now you are allowed to use the church of God only for pious purposes, and you are not allowed to use the members of Christ for shameful activities. And if you are ever seduced by the charm of an evil impulse, remember what you just heard, hasten to meet the enemy coming from you, that is, “from [your] heart” (Matthew 15:19), and resist him with these words, saying: “I do not belong to myself, for I was “bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:20), “with the precious blood of Christ” ( 1 Peter 1:19), and made a member of Him; and it is not fitting for me to “take away the members of Christ to make them the members of a harlot.” Tell him: “I have become the church of God, and I am not allowed to bring anything unclean into it, I am not allowed to “destroy the church of God.” Add to this that “the fornicator sins against his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18), not only against that which has become the church of God, but also against that which is the Church, the Body of Christ (cf. Col. 1:24). He who defiles his body sins against the whole Church, because through one member the dishonor spreads throughout the whole body. And even after crossing the Jordan and after the second circumcision of baptism, such an “Egyptian shame” remains that, if you lose vigilance, it will be reborn in the diseases of old habits: fortune telling, watching the stars and predicting the future from them, believing in omens and other similar superstitions. After all, Egypt is the mother of idolatry, and from there such disgraces spread. If, after crossing the Jordan, you catch these diseases and get entangled in these nets again, then you will certainly bear the “shame of Egypt.” But if such curiosity troubles you and the enemy breaks out of your heart, tell him: “Christ is leading me, and in His power is what will happen in the future. Why should I know what will happen if everything is the way Jesus wants it to be?” And in order for the second circumcision to truly take place in us, through which we can cast off the old “shame of Egypt,” it is necessary to completely separate ourselves from all this. Then, having cleansed our body and heart, we will be able to lift up “clean hands” (1 Tim. 2:8) to God in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be “glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Pet.4:11; Rev.5:13). Homilia VI. About the Passover, which the children of Israel kept at Gilgal, and how they gathered the produce of the earth in the place of date palms. And about the leader of the army of the Lord and about Jericho 1. Those who disobey the commands of the Lord are called “uncircumcised” (Rom. 2:25). From this it is clear that those who do not fulfill the commands of God are called “uncircumcised.” But since God loves every soul, He never leaves either the circumcised or the uncircumcised. Therefore He sends Jesus, who circumcises both the worthy and the unworthy; not Jesus the son of Nun - for he did not circumcise the people with true and perfect circumcision - but Jesus our Lord and Savior. For He truly cut off from us the defilement of the flesh and removed from our souls and hearts the impurity of sin. In a word, listen to what Scripture says about those things of which types are given through Jesus the son of Nun. It is said: “When all the children of Israel were circumcised, they remained in their place in the camp until they were healed. And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have taken away the shame of Egypt from you” (Joshua 5:8–9). For it is not good for us to be circumcised: we must also recover after circumcision, that is, so that the scar covers the wound of circumcision. When does a scar form on a wound? It seems to me that circumcision by our Jesus means the following: get rid of vices, leave behind bad habits and bad morals, throw away rude and ugly customs and cut off from yourself everything that interferes with righteousness and piety. However, at the beginning of this path, we are to a certain extent constrained by the complexities of its very newness, and, as if with mental anguish and effort, we replace old sinful habits with new mores. And therefore, as I said, in the beginning we experience certain difficulties, but through sorrow and pain we can throw away the old and accept the new. This, I think, is the time when we must, as it is said, endure the pain of circumcision until the wound heals and we are healed. And our wound closes when we accept a new way of life without difficulty, and a change takes place in us to what previously seemed difficult out of habit. And at the same time, it is said that we are healed when, having abandoned vices, we instill virtues, making them part of our nature through new use. Only then will we be worthy to hear what God said: “Today I have taken away the shame of Egypt from you,” and when it is taken away, then it is already said: “And the children of Israel kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month” (Joshua 5:10). For they could celebrate Passover only after circumcision; and not immediately after circumcision, when they were not yet healed, they could eat the meat of the Passover lamb. But, as it is said, after they recovered, “the children of Israel kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month.” You see that neither the unclean nor the uncircumcised celebrates the Passover, but only the one who is cleansed and circumcised, as the Apostle explains: “Our Passover, Christ, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, not with the leaven of vice and wickedness, but with unleavened bread of purity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:7-8). When the people came out of the land of Egypt, they carried “their dough on their shoulders” (Ex. 12:34). And when the dough ran out and they had no bread, God “rained manna on them” (Ps. 77:24). But when they came to the holy land and “began to eat the produce of the land in the place of date palms, the children of Israel had no more manna” (Josh. 5:12), and they began to eat the fruits of that land. Essentially, three types of food are mentioned. We eat one when we leave Egypt, but it doesn’t last long. Then comes manna. And the third are the works of the holy land. This diversity, in my humble understanding, shows that the first food that we carry with us when leaving Egypt is that very small school knowledge (or somewhat more, if someone suddenly acquired it), which can only help us a little. Having come to the desert, that is, finding ourselves in the conditions of present life, we eat manna only through what we learn from the provisions of the law of God. But the one who is worthy to enter the promised land, that is, to receive what was promised by the Savior, will eat the fruits of the earth in the place of date palms. For truly, whoever achieves what was promised after defeating his enemies will receive the fruits of palm trees. After all, no matter how great it is that we can now understand or recognize in the law of God or in the Divine teaching, what the saints are privileged to see “face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12), and no longer guessing, will be much greater and sublime, for “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and the things that God has prepared for those who love Him have not entered into the heart of man” (1 Cor. 2:9). If the law is to be understood only in the literal sense, then it will undoubtedly turn out that, in accordance with the promise, the children of Israel receive less than they had, since they received manna from heaven. When they left the food taken from Egypt, they found the best - heavenly manna. It turns out that when the best food dried up, they were given worse, unless they accept a more true and sublime, spiritual rather than literal understanding. In the meantime, after Jesus has led his people to the holy land and everyone has been cleansed 9, he celebrates the Passover. 2. It is said: “Jesus, being near Jericho, looked and saw, and behold, a man stood before him, and in his hand was a drawn sword. Jesus came to him and said to him, “Are you one of ours, or one of our enemies?” He said: no; I am the captain of the army of the Lord, now I have come” (Joshua 5:13–14). So, raising his eyes, Jesus sees the leader of the army of the Lord, as if he had not seen at all before he looked at the leader of the army of the Lord. And when Jesus looked at him, he saw in him not an ordinary person, but one invested with a certain authority. Jesus, not sure whether the one standing before him belongs to the Divine or hostile forces, asks: “Are you one of ours or one of our enemies?” He answers: “No; I am the captain of the army of the Lord, now I have come.” Hearing this, Jesus “bowed down and said to him, “What will my lord say to his servant?” (Joshua 5:14). What is Jesus teaching us through this? Everything that the Apostle says: “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1). Thus, Jesus recognizes not only the things of God, but also God Himself. For if he had not recognized God, he would not have worshiped. For who else can be the leader of the army of the Lord if not our Lord Jesus Christ? After all, every army of heaven, whether angels or archangels, “whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers” ​​(Col. 1:16; cf. Col. 2:10), everything that He created, wages war under the command of the Leader Himself, Who is the Chief of chiefs and Who distributes kingdoms to kings. For He Himself says in the Gospel: “Take control of ten cities” (Luke 19:17), and to another he says: “Be over five cities” (Luke 19:19). He is the One who “returned having received the kingdom” (Luke 19:15). 3. For now, let's see what we can learn from today's reading. Jesus is in Jericho, the enemies still occupy the city and have not yet been defeated. And despite this, Jesus is told: “Take off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy” (Joshua 5:15). How can Jericho be a holy land if it is in the hands of enemies? This indicates, and by no means by chance, that the leader of the army of the Lord's power sanctifies every place to which he comes, for Jericho was not a holy place at all. But since the leader of the Lord’s army came here, this place, as it is said, became holy. I dare say more: even the place where Moses stood was holy not through Moses himself, but because the Lord stood with him. This place was sanctified by the presence of the Lord, and therefore it was said to him: “Take off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground” (Ex. 3:5). Therefore, if through our good deeds and our whole life we ​​draw closer to the Lord and become worthy of having God stand next to us, then we will also be told to free the feet of our soul, if they are still bound by fetters. For these are the feet that Jesus washed, and if He does not wash them, then we have no part with Him (cf. John 13:8). So, if we free our soul and our mind from the shackles of earthly worries, then God will immediately joyfully come to us and stand next to us. 4. Let's see what's next. Jericho is surrounded and must be taken. How was Jericho taken? Swords are not drawn against him; battering guns are not installed; no arrows fired. Only the trumpets of the priests were used: with their voice the walls of Jericho were destroyed (cf. Joshua 6:19). In Scripture, Jericho often serves as a picture of this world. For the Gospel also says: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among robbers” (Luke 10:30). Without a doubt, this is the image of Adam expelled from paradise into this world. And the blind men from Jericho, to whom Jesus came so that they could see (cf. Matt. 20:30), are an image of those who are blinded by ignorance in this world into which the Son of God comes. Thus, this Jericho, that is, this world, must fall, for the end of this age has long been spoken of in the sacred books. So how will it end? What weapon? It is said that with the sound of a trumpet. The voice of which trumpets? Let Paul reveal this secret to you; listen to what he himself says: “The trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible” (1 Cor. 15:52), and “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise” (1 Thess. 4:16). Then Jesus our Lord, with the help of trumpets, will capture Jericho and destroy it, so that only the harlot and her whole house will be saved. So our Lord Jesus will come with the sound of a trumpet. In the meantime, let us pray that He will come and destroy “the whole world [which] lies in evil” (1 John 5:19), and everything that is in the world, “for everything that is in the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but is of this world” (1 John 2:16). So let Him destroy, let Him scatter this and save only those who received His spies and placed His apostles, received with faith and obedience, in an exalted place, and let Him combine and unite this harlot with the house of Israel. But now let's not remember and count her previous sins. Once she was a harlot, but now she has become a “pure virgin”, betrothed to “one husband” - Christ. Listen to what the Apostle says about her: “I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you to Christ as a pure virgin” (2 Cor. 11:2). And, of course, someone said about her: “For we also were once foolish, disobedient, erring, slaves of lusts and various pleasures” (Titus 3:3). Do you still want to know more about how the harlot stopped being a harlot? Listen to what else the Apostle says: “And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11). And in order for her to be saved and not perish along with Jericho, she received from the spies the surest guarantee of salvation - the “scarlet rope” (Joshua 2:18). For by the Blood of Christ the whole Church was saved in Christ our Lord Himself, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homily VII. How Jericho was captured and how Rahab was saved; and about the one who hid the golden tongue 10 and clean bracelets from the cursed 1. Jericho is captured with the help of the priests' trumpets. For when the trumpets sounded, “the wall of the city fell down to its foundations” (Joshua 6:19). We have already said before that Jericho represents the image of the present age, the strength and fortifications of which were destroyed by the priestly trumpets. For the fortress and support, like a wall, of this world was idolatry, the deception of divination, cleverly directed by the cunning of demons and the inventions of fortune-tellers, sorcerers and magicians. This world was surrounded by all this, like a powerful wall. In addition, like high and strong towers, it was fortified by various teachings of philosophers and outstanding research of thinkers. But when our Lord Jesus Christ comes, whose coming was announced by the son of Joshua, He sends priests, His apostles, carrying “forged trumpets” (Num. 10:2; Ps. 97:16; Sir. 50:18) and preaching the sublime heavenly teaching. Matthew, with his Gospel, was the first to blow the priestly trumpet; also Mark; Luke and John each blew their priestly trumpets. And Peter proclaimed his two epistles with the trumpet; and Jacob and Jude. Then John, with the voice of his trumpet, announced his messages, and Luke, who related the acts of the apostles. And now the last one appears, the one who said: “I think that God has made us the last messengers” (cf. 1 Cor. 4:9), and with his fourteen messages, like loud trumpets, he destroyed to the ground the walls of Jericho and all the instruments of idolatry and the teachings of the philosophers. 2. What strikes me in this story is that not only did the priests blow trumpets so that the walls of Jericho would fall, but it is also said that all the people, hearing the sound of the trumpet, exclaimed with a loud voice, or, as another copy relates, cried out with a loud cry. However, apparently, this word is translated incorrectly, because in the Greek text there is the word “ἀλ αλαγμός”, which does not mean “cry” or “outcry”, but rather the cry that during the war all soldiers shout out in one impulse, raising each other’s morale. Therefore, in Scripture this word is translated not as “cry,” but as “exclamation” or “cry,” as, for example, here: “Shout to the Lord, all the earth” (Ps. 99:1), and also: “Blessed is the people who know the joyful cry 11” (Ps. 89:16). This verse touches me to the depths of my soul, because how great the power of this call must be for the people to become blessed. After all, it is not said: “Blessed is the people who live righteously” or “Blessed is the people who have comprehended the mysteries or are able to read the signs of the earth, heaven and stars,” but it is said: “Blessed is the people who know the joyful cry.” In other places of Scripture, the fear of God makes one blessed, but only one person, for it is said: “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord” (Ps. 112:1). The “poor in spirit,” and the “meek,” and the “peacemakers,” and the “pure in heart” are rewarded with bliss (Matthew 5:3–9). But here bliss is poured out in abundance, and the reason for it - it is unknown to me - is so great that the entire people who know the joyful cry become blessed. It seems to me that this exclamation expresses a certain state of agreement and unanimity. And if it covers two or three disciples of Christ, then whatever they ask for, the Heavenly Father will give them in the name of the Savior. If the blessedness is so great that the whole people become unanimous, “so that you all speak the same thing, and that you are united in one spirit and in the same thoughts” (1 Cor. 1:10), when the people unanimously raise their voices, then what happens is what is described in the Acts of the Apostles. While the apostles “continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with certain women and Mary, the mother of Jesus” (Acts 1:14), a great earthquake occurred. And after this earthquake, everything that was on earth will fall and be destroyed, and the world itself will be overthrown. And finally, listen to what our Lord and Savior Himself says to His soldiers: “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Thus, with this Leader, the world and we conquered, and the walls on which the people of this century relied collapsed. But each of us must do this in ourselves. Thanks to your faith, you have a leader - Jesus, and if you are a priest, or rather, since you are a priest, for it is said that “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9), make yourself “forged trumpets” from the Holy Scriptures; from them extract understanding, and from it reasoning; That's why they are called forged pipes. Proclaim in them, that is, “teach and admonish one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Col. 3:16), prophetic mysteries, hidden meanings of the law, apostolic teachings, sing in them. And if you blow these trumpets and go around the city seven times with the ark of the covenant, that is, if you do not separate the spiritual regulations of the law from the gospel trumpets; if you eject from yourself a unanimous, jubilant exclamation, that is, if the voice of the collection of your thoughts and feelings that are within you is always united and consonant and it does not happen that one day you speak the truth, and another time, trying to impress someone in power, you defile yourself with lies; if at one time you do not allow weakness to make you a flatterer, and another time in a fit of anger you become cruel; if you do not exalt yourself over the humble and do not cringe before the arrogant; and, finally, if there is not a battle going on within you, when “the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh” (Gal. 5:17); if they remain in you in unity and harmony, then exclaim with rejoicing, for for you the world is overthrown and destroyed. So I think it was with the one who said: “I do not desire to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). 3. However, there is something here that still worries me: it seems to me that I have said too little about the jubilant cry, too little about something so significant. When Jesus came, the walls of Jericho fell down; when my Lord Jesus came, the world was overcome. But I would like to know more about how the world is defeated. I myself, who instructs you, want to learn along with you. Let us call on Paul to instruct us all, for he is a participant in the mysteries of Christ and can reveal to us how Christ conquered the world. So listen to what he says: “Having destroyed the handwriting that was against us, which was against us, He took it out of the way and nailed it to the cross; having taken away the strength of the principalities and powers, he powerfully put them to shame, having triumphed over them with himself” (Col. 2:14-15). I understand these words to mean that when the heavenly powers saw the battle of Jesus - the hostile principalities and powers lost their power, the strong man was bound and “his house” was plundered (Matthew 12:29), - they loudly blew the heavenly trumpets, for the prince of this world is bound and the world is defeated, and, seeing the triumph of Christ, the whole army of heaven issued a “rejoicing cry.” Blessed indeed is the people who know the “jubilant cry” of the heavenly army, know these mysteries and believe in them. 4. Let's see, however, what the following points to. Jesus says: “Beware of the accursed thing, lest you also be cursed if you take anything of the accursed thing, and lest you bring a curse upon the camp of the children of Israel and cause harm to them” (Joshua 6:17). This says the following: “See to it that there is nothing worldly in you that you bring into the Church: neither worldly customs, nor transgressions, nor the wickedness of this age; let everything worldly be cursed for you. Do not mix the worldly with the Divine, do not add worldly concerns to the mysteries of the Church.” John also proclaims this with the trumpet of his messages, saying: “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world” (1 John 2:15); Paul echoes him: “Do not be conformed to this world” (Rom. 12:2). For whoever does this accepts the accursed. The cursed things are also brought into churches by those who, being Christians, celebrate folk festivals. Those who try to predict the deeds and destinies of people by the stars, who tell fortunes by the flight of birds or with the help of something similar that was observed in former times, bring the cursed from Jericho to the Church, desecrate the camp of the Lord, and the people of God suffer defeat. There are many other sins through which the accursed from Jericho is brought into the Church and the enemies defeat and overthrow the people of God. Doesn’t the Apostle teach the same thing when he says: “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:6)? 5. But let's see what happens next. After the destruction of Jericho, only the harlot Rahab is saved. For it is said about her: “But Rahab the harlot and her father’s house and all that she had, Joshua left alive, and she lives among Israel to this day” (Joshua 6:24). I would like to ask the Jews and those who, although they consider themselves Christians, adhere to the Jewish interpretation of the Scriptures, how do they explain that “Rahab the harlot lives among Israel to this day”? In what sense is it said that “Rahab lives to this day”? After all, in the Holy Scriptures this is usually said about what lasts until the end of life or until the end of this century. For example, when it is said: “He is the father of the Moabites until this day” (Gen. 19:37), it means “until the end of this age.” And it is also said in the Gospel: “And this word spread among the Jews to this day” (Matthew 28:15), that is, while the world stands. But what about the woman Rahab, how is it said about her that she lives among Israel to this day? Maybe this means her family on the maternal side and that she, constantly renewing herself, lives in her descendants? Or should it rather be understood to mean that she lives among Israel and is connected with it to this day? If you want to see more clearly how Rahab is connected with Israel, look at how a branch of a wild olive tree was grafted into the place of the broken branches and became “a sharer of the root and juice of the olive tree” (Rom. 11:17). Then you will understand that those who were grafted into the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are rightly said to live “in the midst of Israel” and are connected with it “to this day.” For we are attached to the old root to this day, we, branches of the wild olive taken from the heathen, we who once worshiped wood and stone instead of the true God (cf. Deut. 4:28). And according to the prophecy of Deuteronomy, through faith in Christ we found ourselves “on high,” while those entrenched in unbelief remained “down.” Therefore, if anyone has Christ in himself, Who is the head of everything, the Lord has made him “the head”; those of the former who rejected Jesus Christ remained “the tail” (Deut. 28:13), and those who were “first” became “last” (Matt. 19:30). 6. We will not pass over in silence the fact that because of one sinner, anger falls on the whole people. How does this happen? This happens when priests caring for the people want to appear kind to sinners and are afraid of their evil tongues, lest they say bad things about them, and, forgetting about priestly severity, do not want to fulfill what was said: “Rebuke those who sin before everyone, so that others also may have fear” (1 Tim. 5:20), and also: “Cast out the wicked from among you” (1 Cor. 5:13). These priests do not burn with the zeal of God and do not imitate the Apostle, who said: “Deliver [such a one] over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved” (1 Cor. 5:5). Nor do they follow what the Gospel teaches - that if they see that someone has sinned, they must first convict him in private, then call “two or three witnesses”; and if the sinner does not listen and does not correct himself after being condemned by the Church, “he will be to you as a pagan and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15–17), and will be expelled from the Church. If they spare one, they bring destruction to the entire Church. What good, what compassion is there in taking pity on one and endangering all? After all, one sinner defiles an entire nation. And just as from one sick sheep the whole flock becomes infected, so from one libertine or some other evildoer the whole nation is defiled. So let us protect each other, and let everyone’s life be visible, especially priests and ministers, so that they do not consider it right to say: “Why look at me when another is doing evil?” It’s the same as the head saying to the feet: “What do I care that you feel bad, that you suffer? I don’t care about this, as long as my head is healthy.” Or the eye will say to the hand: “I don’t need you. And I don't care if you get hurt and sick. Why should I, the eye, care about you?” (cf. 1 Cor. 12:14–21:26). These are the leaders of churches who do not realize that all of us, believers, are one body; we have one God, who gathers us into one and holds us together (cf. Col. 1:17), - Christ. And you, the rector of the church, are the eye of the body of Christ, and therefore you can observe everything with special attention, survey everything and even foresee. You are a shepherd, you see that the sheep of the Lord do not know about the danger of being thrown into the abyss and falling off a cliff. Won't you run and call them back? Wouldn't you at least try to hold them back by calling out to them, or stop them with a reproachful cry? Our Lord, having left ninety-nine sheep in heaven, for the sake of one that had gone astray (cf. Matt. 18:12), descended to earth, found her and carried her on His shoulders again to heaven (cf. Luke 15:5). So will none of us, who are entrusted with the care of these sheep, follow the example of the Shepherd? We do not say this at all in order to expel anyone for the slightest offense; but if he does not correct his offense and remains deaf to the warnings the first, and second, and third time, then we will have to resort to the art of a surgeon. If we poured oil, applied a bandage, softened the pain with a potion and, despite this, the abscess did not decrease, then all that remains is to cut it out. For the Lord also said: “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you” (Matthew 5:30). But can the hand of our body seduce us? And does the Gospel speak about the bodily hand: “Cut it off and throw it away from you”? This says this: if I, your right hand, endowed with the dignity of the priesthood and called to bring you the word of God, do anything contrary to the institutions of the Church and the teaching of the Gospel and thereby offend you, the Church, then let the whole Church unanimously, acting together, cut off and throw me, my right hand, away from itself. “For it is better for you,” Church, to enter the Kingdom of Heaven without me, your hand, which, having committed evil, tempted you, than to be cast “into Gehenna” with me (Matthew 5:30). We said this because we read in the Holy Scriptures that because of one sinner, “the children of Israel fell under the spell” and “could not stand before their enemies” (Joshua 7:12). 7. Let us now see what sin this man committed. It is said that he secretly appropriated the “golden tongue” and hid it in his tent (Joshua 7:21). I do not think that in this theft of a piece of gold there was such power of sin that it desecrated the entire countless Church of the Lord. Let us see, however, whether a deeper understanding will not reveal the immeasurable gravity of this sin. The speeches of philosophers and orators are full of grace and charm, and all of them are from Jericho, that is, from this world. Therefore, if you come across perverted teachings among philosophers, embellished with elegant figures of speech, this is the “golden language”. But be careful that such a brilliant, like gold, performance does not deceive you, does not capture you with the charm of beautiful speech. Do not forget that Jesus commanded that all the gold captured in Jericho be cursed. If you begin to read a poem with impeccable meter, weaving gods and goddesses into a sparkling fabric of narrative, do not be deceived by the sweetness of speech, for this is the “golden language.” If you take it and hide it in your tent, if you take into your heart the writings of poets and philosophers, you will desecrate the entire Church of the Lord. This is what the unfortunate Valentine did, and Basilides, and Marcion. They stole the “golden tongue” from Jericho and tried to introduce philosophical teachings alien to us into the Church and desecrate the entire Church of the Lord. But let us follow the example of the fathers who preceded us and look more closely to see if anyone hid the “golden tongue” from Jericho in his tent, and let us purge evil from ourselves, for even if we remain inactive, God will judge in such a way that the thief himself will admit and say: “I took the golden tongue and clean bracelets.” Do you see what the thief stole? He took the tongue and clean bracelets. After all, pure bracelets are actions in which there is nothing from God, but they were committed only by the will of man. And finally, in polemics it is customary for us to say that Christ is not only a true man, but we confess that He is both God and man. And what was stolen from Jericho, as it is said, was empty, that is, without God, which for the one who stole became the cause of sin. Let there be nothing empty and corruptible in our judgments about Christ, but let us recognize Him equally as both God and man, since even the Wisdom of God is called many-fold (cf. 1 Cor. 1:24; Wisdom 7:22), and we can be worthy of becoming partakers of God’s Wisdom, which is Jesus Christ our Lord, and to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homily VIII. About what happened during the destruction of Ai, and a little about its king and the double tree 1. We beg you, listeners of the sacred books, to listen to what is written without disgust and indignation, even if when reading it it seems less attractive to you. For you should know that what is told is worthy of being spoken by the Holy Spirit, but to explain it we need the grace of the Holy Spirit, as the Apostle says: “To one is given the word of wisdom by the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:8). Therefore, we will need this grace to interpret the passage in which it is said that Jesus succeeded Moses and himself leads the people. And in our conversation we will describe this story in general terms. At first it seemed that the inhabitants of the city of Ai were victorious and put the children of Israel to flight due to the sin they had committed (cf. Joshua 7:4ff). But when evil was cast out from among them, God commanded Jesus, the leader of the people, to divide his people into two parts, so that one would pretend to flee, and the other would remain in ambush and, at the command of Jesus, would take Ai by cunning. When everything was ready for the implementation of this plan, King Ai, seeing Jesus and the sons of Israel, was inflamed with the desire to fight with them. When the Israelites pretended to flee, the inhabitants of Ai gave chase, and, trying to capture the booty, they were immediately pursued by everyone in the city, and, as the Scripture says, not a single person remained in Ai. But when the fleeing reached the appointed place, Jesus turned around and gave the signal to those in ambush to rise and strike in the back the enemy who was pursuing them, and, attacking the enemy from both sides, the children of Israel destroyed all the enemies who were between them. After this, the Israelites killed all the inhabitants of Ai, and their king was hanged on a double tree (Joshua 8:3–29). 2. Hearing this, someone will probably say: “What do I care? What good will it do me if I learn that the inhabitants of Ai were defeated, as if similar or even more cruel wars had never been or are not being fought? Was it really necessary for the Holy Spirit, with such an abundance of great and glorious cities that were subjected to devastation and destruction, to place in the sacred books the story of the battle of the city of Ai? We may be careless in trying to explain such difficult and obscure passages of Scripture. But if you help us with your prayers, then not only will we not sin with insolence, but, seeing our piety, God, the Father of the Word, will give us a word in our open mouth (cf. Eph. 6:19), so that you can be instructed, and we may not seem ungodly. So listen carefully, praying in your soul. We were first overcome by sin, and the people of Ai captured many of us. Gai translates to "chaos". But chaos is known to us as the abode of opposing forces, of which the devil is the ruler and prince. When Jesus came, speaking out against him, he divided the people into two parts, one of which he placed in front, the other behind, so that it could attack the enemy unexpectedly. Consider whether the first part is not the one about which Christ says: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24) and the Apostle says: “Glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, first to the Jew, then to the Greek” (Rom. 2:10), that is, to the subsequent Gentiles. So these are the ones who are placed in front and seem to be running with Jesus. And those who are behind are gathered from the Gentiles who come unexpectedly - for who expected that the Gentiles would be saved? - and deliver a strong blow to the enemy; Thus, both peoples together defeat and defeat the legion of demons located in the middle. But perhaps you will ask me: “How do the people in front pretend to flee?” The most appropriate. For, verily, those who follow Jesus seem to flee from the burdens and regulations of the law, from keeping the Sabbath, circumcision of the flesh, and the slaughter of sacrificial animals. But, on the other hand, whoever follows Christ, Who is the fullness and fulfillment of the law, does not run away. 3. And finally, it is said that “the king of Ai was hanged on a double tree” (Joshua 8:29). Here the secret is hidden very deeply, but with your prayers we will try to reveal it, and not with our own understanding, but relying on the evidence of Divine Scripture. Above we said that King Ai could be associated with the devil; and to find out how the devil was crucified on the double tree is worth the effort. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ was double. Perhaps it will seem strange and new to you that I say: “The cross was double,” that is, it is double, and for two reasons. After all, the Son of God was truly visibly crucified in the flesh, but invisibly the devil was nailed to this cross with his principalities and powers (cf. Col. 14–15). Will you be convinced if I give the testimony of the Apostle Paul? Then listen to what he himself says: “Having destroyed the handwriting that was teaching about us, which was against us, He took it out of the way and nailed it to the cross; having taken away the strength of the principalities and powers, he powerfully subjected them to shame, having triumphed over them on the tree of the cross” (Col. 2:14–15), (although in another list distributed among the Hellenes it is said: “having triumphed over them with Himself on the tree”). Thus, the understanding of the cross of the Lord is twofold: the first is that the Apostle Peter says that the crucified Christ “left us an example” (1 Pet. 2:21), and the second is that the cross has become a symbol of victory over the devil; and on this cross Christ was crucified and triumphed. Therefore, finally, the Apostle Paul said: “But I do not desire to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). You see that here too the Apostle points to a double understanding of the cross. For he says that two opposites were crucified on the cross: the saint - himself, and the sinner - the world. As we said above, this is undoubtedly an image of Christ and the devil. For we are crucified to the world when “the prince of this world comes and has nothing in [us]” (John 14:30), and the world is crucified to us when we do not accept the lust of sin. 4. But if there is someone more attentive among the listeners, he may say: “Yes, such an interpretation is quite consistent with the events described; I am only somewhat embarrassed that the devil and his army, as shown by this historical prototype, are defeated; How then do we still see to this day that the devil and the opposing forces are so powerful in the fight against the servants of God? And the Apostle Peter warns us with great caution and asks us to stay awake, “because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).” Let's see if there is something in this that is worthy of being spoken by the Holy Spirit. Once Christ came in humiliation; His other coming is expected in glory (cf. Titus 2:13). His first coming in the flesh in the Holy Scriptures is mysteriously called His shadow, just as Jeremiah says: “The breath of our life, the anointed of the Lord, the one of whom we said: “under his shadow we will live among the nations”” (Lamentations 4:20). And Gabriel, when announcing His birth to Mary, says: “The power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35). Therefore, we understand how many things hidden from us in the shadow of His first coming, which will be fulfilled in fullness and perfection in the second. And the Apostle Paul says: “God raised us up with Him and seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6). Of course, we do not yet see the faithful either resurrected or sitting in heaven, but now this is overshadowed by faith, for with understanding and hope we rise above the earth and worldly cares and lift up our hearts to the heavens. that heavenly and eternal which will be fulfilled at His second coming, and what we now only expect with faith and hope will then be found in real incarnation. This is how it should be understood that the devil was defeated and crucified; for those who are crucified with Christ, the faithful and in general for all people, the devil will be crucified when what the Apostle says is fulfilled: “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all shall live” (1 Cor. 15:22). Thus, the secret of the future resurrection is hidden in this. For even then all people will be divided into two parts: and one of them will also be in front, and the other behind, and when they are all united in Jesus, then the devil will no longer be, for “there will be no more death” (Rev. 21:4). Do you want us to bring you Divine evidence for this too? Look what the Apostle says: “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not warn those who are dead, because the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first; Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:15-17). And about the devil, the Apostle says: “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:26), for death is truly defeated when “mortal things are swallowed up in life” (2 Cor. 5:4). 5. But look what happens next. It is said: “And Joshua burned Ai and turned it into eternal ruins, into a wilderness, to this day” (Joshua 8:28). You see that what has been said rather carries the truth of a mystery than reveals a historical narrative, for what will become a desert forever is not so much a piece of land as a domain of demons, when no one will sin and sin will have power over no one. Then the devil and his angels will be consigned to eternal fire, and our Lord Jesus Christ will sit to rule and judge, and will say to those who have overcome before and after: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). And to others he will say: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41), until He applies medicine to every soul He knows, “and so all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26). 6. But this is what else comes to my mind when I think about the flight of Jesus in the face of the army of Ai (cf. Joshua 8:15). Why do you think Jesus is said to run? Let us see if there is anything we can achieve by running, and if there is any perfect virtue in running. The Apostle Paul teaches us: “Flee fornication” (1 Cor. 6:18). You see that there is a certain “spirit of fornication” (Hos. 5:4), which all of us who want to remain chaste, godly and modest in Christ must flee. Thus, flight is what leads to salvation, such flight is strength, such flight brings bliss. And not only the spirit of fornication must flee, but as it is said: “Flee fornication,” so we will hear what is said to us: “Flee anger, flee greed, flee greed and envy, flee slander and slander.” However, I don’t know if anyone can escape from them, I don’t know if anyone can escape them. Such was the army of Ai, from which Jesus taught his soldiers to flee, and perhaps that is why He instructed his disciples, saying: “When they persecute you in one city, flee to another” (Matthew 10:23). For He wants us to flee from such enemies; He wants us to be beyond the reach of this kind of evil; and if for now we can get rid of the infection of this evil by running away from it, then, seeing the piety and intentions of our hearts, holy powers - perhaps those about which the Apostle Paul says: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to serve for those who are to inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1:14) - who are probably the holy angels, seeing that we are being pursued by demons, rise up against these pursuers and, striking them from behind, defeat them all. After all, Jesus would rather be with those who are being persecuted than with those who attack the persecutors from the rear. And this is fair, because Jesus chooses to be with those who flee fornication, who flee pride, who flee guile, who flee lies. And if we understand what is written this way, then perhaps this passage will seem worthy of the pen of the Holy Spirit. For what good will it do me if I learn that the king of Gai was hanged on a double tree? But if I learn about the double power of the cross, on which Christ was crucified in the flesh, and the devil and his army were defeated, then my soul will be taught an understanding of the mystery. And in order for us to further exalt the greatness of this mystery, let us say that perhaps under this tree on which both the good Christ and the evil devil are crucified - the evil one in order to perish, and the good one in order to live “by power” - is also understood as “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2:9), just as the Apostle says about Christ: “Although He was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by the power of God” ( 2 Corinthians 13:4). And not only is he alive, but he also gives life, for as “the last Adam, [He] is a life-giving spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45). However, all this can be understood as being said figuratively, for Christ Himself is called the “tree of life” (cf. Prov. 3:18). And in other places He is revealed both as a priest, and as a sacrifice, and as an altar, and one understanding does not interfere with the other, and each of them refers to Him figuratively; also now, the fact that in the images of the sacraments many are seen in one will not become an obstacle for us. 7. Let's see, however, what is written next. It is said: “They smote them so much with the edge of the sword that they left not one of them alive or running away” (Joshua 8:22-24). When the Jews read these lines, they become cruel and thirst for human blood, believing that even the saints so amazed those living in Ai, “that they did not leave a single one of them, surviving or escaping.” They do not understand that in these words, as if in the shadows, secrets are hidden, and what is said rather indicates to us that we should not leave within ourselves any of these demons, whose abode is chaos and who rules the abyss, but we defeat them all. We kill demons, but we do not destroy their essence; for they seek to incline men to sin, and if we sin, they gain life, but if we do not sin, they perish. Thus all the saints kill the inhabitants of Ai; they destroy everyone and do not allow anyone to escape; these are, without a doubt, those who jealously guard their hearts, so that “no evil thoughts come from it” (Mark 7:21), and guard their lips so that “no corrupt word comes out of them” (Eph. 4:29); and leaving none means not allowing any evil word to come out of your mouth. So let us gather together for this battle, strike Gai with the edge of the sword and destroy all the inhabitants of chaos, all the opposing forces. Oh, if I could, right now, when I bring you the word of God, to strike the heart of a sinner! If I had done this, then, undoubtedly, with the “edge of a sword” I would have struck down depravity in my mouth, destroyed malice, restrained anger, and if anything bad remained, I would have destroyed it “with the edge of a sword,” that is, with the word of my mouth, and would not have left “a single one of them, surviving or escaping.” For if we destroy all our enemies, then truly we will celebrate on this day with God, we will triumph and rejoice when our enemy is completely defeated. Something similar, it seems to me, is indicated by the prophet in the Psalter when he says about himself: “From early morning I will destroy all the wicked of the earth, in order to uproot from the city of the Lord all those who practice iniquity” (Ps. 100:8). For if by “the city of the Lord” we mean the Church, the living God, then the teachers of the Church defeat and kill “the workers of iniquity” - hostile demons and opposing forces that force people to sin - teaching, instructing and revealing the secrets hidden in the Divine Scriptures, in places like the one we are now considering; or if we understand the “city of the Lord” as the soul of each of us, erected by the Lord from “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5), that is, from many different virtues, every saint and zealous person will drive out sinners from this city, in other words, “from early morning” he will destroy the worst thoughts and vicious desires. For the righteous man says: “I remember You from early morning, 12 for You are my help” (Ps. 63:7-8). And what is this morning if not our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the “true Light” (John 1:9), rising in our hearts (cf. 2 Pet. 1:19), and Who, enlightening the darkness of our ignorance, thus reveals to us mysteries, so that “in [His] light we see light” (Ps. 35:10)? When you read in the Holy Scriptures about the battle of the righteous, about the destruction and cruel murders, about the fact that the saints do not spare any of their irreconcilable enemies, and if they spare any of them, they are condemned for sin, as Saul was condemned for sparing the life of Agag, king of Amalek (1 Sam. 5:8 ff.), then you should understand these wars of the righteous as I described above - that they are fought against sin. And how will these warriors maintain their righteousness if they retain even a small amount of sin in themselves? That is why it is said about them: “They left not one of them alive or to escape” (Joshua 8:22). Maybe you don't believe me that this battle is being fought against our sin? Then believe Paul, who said: “You have not yet fought to the point of blood, fighting against sin” (Heb. 12:4). Do you see now that you are being asked to fight a battle against sin and that you must fight until you bleed? Isn’t it obvious that Divine Scripture points to this when it says: “Sanctify the war” (Joel 3:9) and “Fight the wars of the Lord” (1 Samuel 18:17)? So what else does “sanctify war” mean, if not “destroy all your enemies”, which are the vices of sins, “mortify your earthly members” (Col. 3:5), “cut off from yourself all evil desires, become holy in body and spirit, appear before the living God”? And then our Lord Jesus Christ, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever,” will crown you with the dignity of virtue, like a victorious palm branch. Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homily IX. About the altar that Jesus built and on the stones of which he wrote Deuteronomy. And how he read it before all the people who stood at Mount Gorizim and at Mount Ebal, and how the kings of the Amorites gathered together to fight with Joshua 1. When Jesus destroyed Ai, that is, chaos, and destroyed all its inhabitants, he had to offer to the exalted God of all a sacrifice worthy of such a great victory. So let's see what he did after he won. It is said: “Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel on Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses—an altar of solid stones, on which no iron was lifted.” And after Jesus built the altar, he “offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord and offered saving sacrifices 13.” And after the sacrifices, “Jesus wrote Deuteronomy there on the stones - a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote before the children of Israel. All Israel, his elders and his overseers and his judges, stood on one side and the other of the ark of the Lord” (Joshua 8:30-33). Let's see what all this points to and what instruction we can take from today's reading. Of all of us who believe in Christ Jesus, it is said that we are “living stones,” as Scripture affirms, saying: “You yourselves also, like living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). In the case of earth stones, we certainly know that the hardest and strongest stones are first chosen and laid in the foundation of the house, so that the entire weight of the building is transferred to them and rests on them. And the next ones, that is, somewhat smaller ones, are placed on the stones lying at the base. Those that are even smaller than those installed on the base, which, of course, are inferior to them in strength, are placed on top and even under the very roof. Now understand that some of the living stones lie at the foundation of the spiritual building. And who are those who are laid together in the foundation? "Apostles and Prophets". Paul himself teaches this, saying: “You are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Eph. 2:20). O listener, that you may more quickly prepare yourself for the construction of this building, so that it may prove to you to be the stone lying at the foundation, learn that the foundation of the structure that we are now describing is Christ Himself. For the Apostle Paul says: “No one can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). Blessed, therefore, are those who build edifices of piety and holiness on such a majestic foundation. But in this Church building there must also be an altar. From this I conclude that those of you, living stones who are suitable for this, zealously devote yourselves to prayers, day and night offering God the sacrifice of prayers and hymns; Jesus builds an altar from them. 2. But look at the praise given to the very stones of the altar. It is said: “Jesus built an altar, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of solid stones, on which no iron was lifted” (Joshua 8:30-31). Who do you think these solid stones are? Everyone's conscience knows who is whole, who is immaculate, undefiled, unsullied in body or spirit. This is the one against whom no iron was raised, that is, who was not hit by the “fiery arrows of the evil one” (Eph.6:16), the arrows of lust, but he was able to quench and repel them with the “shield of faith” (Eph.6:16); or one who never accepted the iron of battle, the iron of war, the iron of discord, but was always peaceful, always gentle and calm, imitating the humility of Christ. Thus, these are the “living stones” from which Jesus our Lord “built an altar of solid stones, on which no iron was lifted”, in order to offer “on it burnt offerings and saving sacrifices.” I believe that perhaps these solid and immaculate stones were the holy apostles, together forming one altar with their consent and unanimity. Thus, “continuing with one accord in prayer” (Acts 1:14) and opening their lips in one impulse, they, as it is said, said: “Thou, O Lord, knowest the hearts of all” (Acts 1:24). Therefore, those who can pray with one voice and one spirit with one accord are perhaps worthy that they should all build an altar on which Jesus would offer sacrifices to the Father. So let us try to act in such a way that we “speak one thing with one accord” (1 Cor. 1:10), “do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit” (Phil. 2:3), but “are united in one spirit and in the same thoughts” (1 Cor. 1:10), and then perhaps we too will become stones fit for the altar. For our Lord Jesus does not leave us, and although we devote ourselves to prayer, “we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be expressed” (Rom. 8:26). “The Lord is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:17). Thus, if the Spirit helps our prayers and lifts them up to the Father, the God of all, with groanings inexpressible for us, then, of course, He requires from us a carefully constructed altar. 3. But the altar is not yet completely finished, and although it is built “of solid stones,” and although “iron” and “the arrows of the evil one” have not touched them, they are still missing something, something that Jesus adds to them all. So what? It is said: “Jesus wrote there on the stones Deuteronomy, a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote before the children of Israel” (Joshua 8:32). He wrote as the son of Nun could write at that time - inscribing the law on the stones of the altar, and thus, to the best of his ability, presented the image; Let us now see how our Jesus wrote Deuteronomy “on living” and “whole stones.” Deuteronomy is, as its name suggests, the second law. And therefore, if you want to see how, after the first law lost its force, Jesus wrote the second, listen to what He Himself says in the Gospel: “You have heard that it was said to the ancients: You shall not kill. But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother is already a murderer” (Matthew 5:21-22); and again: “You have heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27–28); and “again you have heard what was said to the ancients: do not break your oath. But I say to you, do not swear at all” (Matthew 5:33–34). Here is Deuteronomy before you, written by Jesus “on living” and “whole stones,” “not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh of the heart; not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God” (2 Cor. 3:3). But if you want to know more clearly in which hearts Jesus wrote this law and in which he did not, then I will show you this too using an example from Scripture, so that you, who were called “from among the Gentiles” (Rom. 9:24), may be comforted and not be afraid of those who proudly boast that they received the law of Moses written on tablets of stone or on papyrus. Listen, in whose hearts the Lord Jesus wrote the law. Paul says: “When the Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what is lawful, then, not having the law, they are a law unto themselves: they show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness” (Rom. 2:14-15). Therefore, if you see that the pagans, having believed in Jesus, come to Him and do the work of the law, the work that those who received the law could not do, do not hesitate to say about them: “Jesus wrote Deuteronomy on these solid stones.” 4. What follows in Scripture truly amazes me. It is said: “Joshua wrote Deuteronomy on stones before the children of Israel” (Joshua 8:32). How could he write such a huge book to the children of Israel, those who stood and did not disperse until the last of so many verses was written? Or how could the contents of such a large book be placed on the stones of the altar? Let the Jewish champions of the letter, who are ignorant of the spirit of the law, explain this to me. How is the truth of the story shown here? After all, “to this day, when they read Moses, a veil lies over their hearts” (2 Cor. 3:15). But for us, turned to the Lord Jesus, “this veil is removed,” because “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:16–17) of understanding. So it did not take long for our Lord Jesus to write Deuteronomy to establish the second law in the hearts of believers and to plant the law of the Spirit in the minds of those who were worthy to be chosen to build the altar. After all, as soon as someone believes in Jesus Christ, immediately the law of the Gospel is imprinted on his heart and written “before the children of Israel.” For when the sacrament of faith is transmitted to you, the heavenly powers, the ranks of angels, and the “church of the firstborn” are present (Heb. 12:23). And if it is fair to understand “Israel” as “in and receiving God with the mind,” then this is even more rightly said about the ranks of angels, according to the judgment of the Lord, who said about babies—and you were a baby in baptism—“that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Heavenly Father” (Matthew 18:10). Thus, before those children of Israel who saw the face of God and were present when the secrets of faith were transmitted to you, Jesus “wrote Deuteronomy” in your heart. Do you want us to show you even more clearly through examples from the Holy Scriptures that Jesus wrote the second law “before the children of Israel”? The apostle clearly indicates this when he says: “You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and blazing with fire, nor to the sound of a trumpet, but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem and to thousands of angels, to the triumphant assembly and church of the firstborn who are written in heaven” (Heb. 12:18:22-23). So you see that before all those who are rightly called the children of Israel, for they always see God, Jesus wrote His law in the hearts of those who believe. But even now, through what we are talking about, Jesus writes Deuteronomy in the hearts of those who accept with all their souls and with unshakable faith what is said; who listens not with distorted perception and condemnation of faith, but with all his heart, turning his ear, keeping what is said in his mind, because Deuteronomy must be written “on solid stones.” 5. After this it is said: “All Israel, their elders and their overseers and their judges, stood on one side and the other of the ark of the Lord” (Joshua 8:33). It was in the ark of the covenant of the Lord that the tablets of the law, written by the hand of God, were kept. And every “true Israelite” walks next to him and does not move far from him, and the Levites and priests even carry him on their shoulders. And indeed, those who live according to the holiness and piety of the priests are truly the priests and Levites of the Lord; not only those who seem to sit in the assembly of priests, but more so those who live as priests; their inheritance is the Lord, and they have no inheritance on earth; They carry the law of God on their shoulders, fulfilling with their deeds and fulfilling what is written in the law. 6. It is said: “Both the strangers and the natural inhabitants stood, one half of them at Mount Gerizim, and the other half at Mount Ebal” (Joshua 8:33). How do we explain this? Truly, we need the help of God to examine the Divine words and interpret them in our own words and explain who is the half gathered at Mount Gerizim, and who is the other half, those who, although saved, cannot yet stay near Mount Gerizim and go to Mount Ebal. Mount Gerizim contains a blessing, and Mount Ebal contains a curse that threatens sinners (cf. Deut. 27:12-13). After all, it is stated, as it is written in Deuteronomy, that six tribes stood on Mount Gerizim for blessing, the most glorious and noble tribes, that is, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin; and the other six, less noble and well-born, are to be cursed; and among them Reuben, who “went up to his father’s bed” and “desecrated [his] bed” (Gen. 49:4), and Zebulun, the last son of Leah (cf. Gen. 30:19–20). 7. These stories of the ancients record their deeds. But how can we apply these stories to spiritual understanding in order to understand who are those who go to Mount Gerizim and who are those who go to Mount Ebal? It seems to me that here are shown two types of those who, through faith, hurry and hasten to salvation: one of them is those who, inflamed with the desire to achieve the promised Kingdom of Heaven, strive for it with zeal and zeal, so as not to miss the slightest bliss, and are not only drawn to blessing and “to share in the inheritance of the saints” (Col. 1:12), but also want to stand before the face of God and always be with Lord. There are, however, others who also strive for salvation, but are not so inflamed by the love of blessings or the desire to obtain what is promised; they seem to say: “For me it is enough not to fall into Gehenna, for me it is enough to avoid eternal fire, for me it is enough not to be cast out into outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12). Taking into account such a variety of aspirations of individual believers, it seems to me that what is said here means the following: that half that goes to Mount Gerizim, chosen for the beatitudes, allegorically indicates those who strive for salvation not out of fear of punishment, but desiring to obtain beatitudes; and those going to Mount Ebal, where curses are pronounced, symbolize those who, fulfilling what is prescribed by the law, are saved, fearing punishment and torment. But only God knows which of all of us, the sons of Israel, flaming with the desire for good itself, strives to do good, and who wants good, horrified by Gehenna and eternal fire, and with zeal hastens to fulfill what is written in the law. Of course, those who do good out of the desire for goodness itself and the love of bliss are nobler than those who strive for good out of fear. And only Jesus can discern the minds and souls of such people and set some on Mount Gerizim for blessing, and others on Mount Ebal for curse, not in order to curse them, but so that, looking at the curses and punishments assigned to sinners, they would beware of suffering their fate. 8. After this it is said that “Jesus read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, as it was written in the book of the law; Of all that Moses commanded Joshua, there was not one word that Jesus did not read into the ears of the whole assembly of the children of Israel” (Joshua 8:34–35). It is not difficult to explain the story of how the son of Nun “read all the words of the law” written by Moses “in the ears of all the congregation of the children of Israel.” But to show how our Lord Jesus did this before His people does not seem to me at all superfluous. I think that when Moses is “read to us,” the “veil” of the letter is “taken away” (2 Cor. 3:15–16) and we begin to understand that “the law is spiritual” (Rom. 7:14), then the Lord Jesus reads this law to us. For example, when the law says: “Do not muzzle an ox that is threshing” (Deut. 25:4; 1 Cor. 9:9), then this is not said about oxen, but about the apostles; and also, when the law says: “Abraham had two sons, one from a slave, and the other from a free woman,” I see in this “two covenants” and two nations. This is how the law is understood, which Paul calls “spiritual,” and the Lord Jesus Himself reads it to all people, urging us to follow not the letter, but the spirit, for “the letter kills, but the spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). So Jesus reads the law to us as he reveals its secrets. For we, who belong to the Universal Church, do not reject the law of Moses, but accept it if this law is read to us by Jesus. For we can understand the law correctly only if Jesus reads it to us, since then we understand His law with our mind and mind. Shouldn't we think that the one who said: “We have the mind of Christ, that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which we proclaim” (1 Cor. 2:16:12–13) understood this mind? Or those who said: “Didn’t our heart burn within us when He spoke to us on the road and when He explained the Scripture to us?” (Luke 24:32), when, “beginning at Moses, he explained to us the things that were said about Him in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27)? What is written shows a wonderful figure of speech: “Of all that Moses commanded Joshua, there was not a single word that Jesus did not read in the ears of the whole assembly of the children of Israel” (Joshua 8:35). First of all, let’s look at what the phrase “read it in my ears” indicates. I am afraid that our words will upset some of those listening, but we will say it anyway, for we teach by what is written, that not all of us who hear the law belong to the congregation of the children of Israel. But it does not at all follow from this that if there is any difference between those who hear the law and the congregation of the sons of Israel, then those who hear will not be saved. 9 . So, listen carefully to the words of Scripture: “Of all that Moses commanded Joshua, there was not one word that Jesus did not read in the ears of all the congregation of the children of Israel.” And added “wives, and children, and strangers” (Joshua 8:35). Our Lord Jesus knows well that besides the physical there are other ears necessary to hear His words and hear the law. Otherwise, why then in the Gospel, when the Lord Jesus teaches what should be done, He adds, saying: “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 13:9)? Of course, if we were talking about bodily ears, this phrase would seem unnecessary, for everyone who gathered to listen to Him had ears. But since He knew that what He said should be perceived with the inner ear, that is, with the understanding of the heart - for what is the use of listening to the word if it is not retained and preserved in the heart? - that’s why He demands that those who listen have ears. So now, when the Scripture is read in the Church or the word of interpretation is brought to the people, following the authority of the Scripture, we say: “Take heed to the words of the law, read by Jesus, but assigned to not many, for Jesus reads them only to those who have ears to hear.” The Church of the Lord also includes “wives, and children, and strangers,” and if we understand women, children and strangers separately and consider each group as a specific follower of the Church, for “in a great house there are vessels not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay” (2 Tim. 2:20), then we will say that solid food is assigned to a strong man, and about such the Apostle says: “Solid food belongs to perfect" (Heb. 5:14), from which He prepares for Himself a Church, "not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing" (Eph. 5:27). And those who are united under the name “wives, and children, and strangers” should be understood as those who “need milk” (Heb. 5:12), or as “the weak,” that is, women who “eat vegetables” (Rom. 14:2). But if all of them together are perceived as the Church, then “men” are understood as those perfect ones who stand fully armed “against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11); “wives” are those who, although they do not yet do anything useful themselves, imitate their husbands and follow their example. It is said about them that their head is from the husband, for “the head of a woman is the husband” (1 Cor. 11:3). “Children” are those who, having recently accepted the faith, are fed on the milk of the gospel. The “newcomers,” apparently, are the catechumens, or those who strive to unite with the faith. And John, sharing similar views on these separate groups, writes in his epistle, defining what actions are characteristic of each of them (cf. 1 John 2:12-14). But you, “strangers,” that is, the catechumens to whom Jesus reads the law and to whose hearts he reveals its spiritual meaning, do not remain beginners for a long time, but hasten to acquire the grace of God, so that you too may be numbered among the congregation of the children of Israel, just as the Apostle calls on the Jews: “Having abandoned the beginnings of the teaching of Christ, let us hasten to perfection” (Heb. 6:1). So you too, who are called “wives,” weak, infirm and weak-willed, “strengthen your drooping hands and weakened knees” (Heb. 12:12), in other words, raise up your careless and idle souls, find courage and perseverance in fulfilling the prescriptions of the law and the Gospel commandments, and hasten to the perfection of strong men. After all, in the Divine Scripture no distinction is made between men and women, for God does not distinguish people by gender, but classifies a person as a man or a woman according to the structure of his soul. How many women are considered by nature to be strong men in the eyes of God, and how many men are considered weak and weak-willed women? Or don’t you think that the man who says: “I cannot do what is written, I cannot “sell what I have and give to the poor” (Matthew 19:21), I cannot “offer the other cheek to the one who slaps him” (Luke 6:29), I cannot “bless those who curse” and “pray for those who offend” (Luke 6:27), I cannot “bless those who slander” (1 Cor. 4:12) and do other things that are prescribed"? Don't you think that a man who says, “I can't do it,” should be counted among women who are incapable of performing any manly act? 10. However, let's see what is written next. It is said: “When all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, on the mountain and on the plain, and along all the shore of the great sea near Lebanon, heard this, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, gathered together to fight with one accord against Joshua and Israel” (Joshua 9:1-2). The history of the events taking place is clear, and the obvious does not require explanation. And yet, based on what is visible, what has happened, let us consider the wars that the Lord Jesus our Savior waged, and what victories He won, although we can perceive all this as visibly fulfilled in Him. For the kings of the earth, the senate, the people, and the princes of Rome were gathered together to blot out the names of both Jesus and Israel. And they decreed in their laws that Christians should not exist. Every city, every class attacked the name of the Christian. But just as then all the kings who gathered against Jesus could not do anything, so now the princes and opposing authorities cannot do anything about the fact that the race of Christians is growing and expanding. For it is said: “But the more they exhausted him, the more he multiplied and the more he grew” (Ex. 1:12). And we firmly believe not only that our opponents and invisible enemies will not be able to prevail over us, but that soon the victorious Jesus our Lord will “break Satan under the feet” (Rom. 16:20) of His servants. For, truly, with such a Leader, His warriors always win, therefore we can say, as it is written in the book of Ezra: “The victory is yours, Lord, and I am your servant. Blessed are You, the Lord of righteousness" (3Ezra 4:59-60). So let us always call upon Him, so that He may grant us the victory in Christ Jesus, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homilia X. On the Gibeonite Cunning 1. “In My Father’s house are many mansions” (John 14:2), says the Word of God. And in the resurrection of the dead, the glory of all those who risen will not be the same, for “men have one flesh, cattle have another flesh, fish have another, and birds have another. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the glory of those in heaven is one, and that of the earth is another. There is another glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another of the stars; and star differs from star in glory. So it is with the resurrection of the dead" (1 Cor. 15:39-42). Therefore, many differences are observed among those who go to salvation. I think that even now those Gibeonites, whose history was read to us, constitute a certain, although, however, small, part of those who must be saved, but with the fact that a shameful stigma will remain on those saved. You see how they came to the point that they began to “cut wood and draw water” (Joshua 9:23) “for the whole congregation and for the altar of the Lord” (Joshua 9:27), for they approached the children of Israel with deceit and cunning, “and the shoes on their feet were old and patched, and their clothes were old; and all their road bread was dry and moldy” (Joshua 9:5). So these people come to Jesus in all their old ways and beg him for salvation. I think that the way they are seen from the outside reveals a certain image. There are believers in the Church who have faith in God and know about all Divine institutions; In addition, they respect the servants of God and strive to serve them; they are very willing to decorate the Church and help in divine services. But their actions, habits and way of life are disgusting, they are mired in vices and not only have not put off “the old man with his deeds” (Col. 3:9), but, in fact, are rooted in their old vices and obscenities, like those Gibeonites who put on old clothes and shoes. And despite the fact that they believe in God and seem to be kind-hearted to the servants of God and pious in their worship of the Church, they do not even try to correct or change their habits. And our Lord Jesus, of course, saves such people, but their very salvation is marked by the stamp of ignominy. An image similar to this is described in the small book “The Shepherd” 14. It says that there is a certain tree called the elm, which bears no fruit, but supports the vine, which bears much fruit, and since with its help the grapes grow strong and luxuriant and bear and retain much fruit, the barren elm becomes necessary and useful, because it serves as a support for the fruitful vine. Consider something similar in relation to the Gibeonites, who, although they have not put off “the old man with his works,” nevertheless serve the saints and benefit them, and through such a dispensation Jesus grants them salvation when they take an oath. I myself do not want to seek salvation like the Gibeonites, I do not want to be counted among those who “chop wood” and “draw water,” but I want to receive an inheritance among the Israelites and gain part of the promised land. Of course, it should be noted that when reading this passage, those heretics who do not accept the Old Testament are accustomed to make their malicious accusations, saying: “Look: Joshua the son of Nun does not show any love for mankind, and although he allows the people who came and worshiped him to be saved, he imposes on them the stigma of dishonor and the yoke of slavery.” And if a soul less experienced in the Divine Scriptures hears this, it may weaken and be exposed to danger, and as a result will move away from the Catholic faith, because it does not understand the insidious deception. After all, Jesus brought His judgment to them according to the measure of their faith. Previously, the harlot Rahab, who firmly believed with all her household and accepted the Israeli spies, showing them her complete devotion (cf. Josh. 2:18), was accepted into fellowship by all the people, and it is written about her that “she lives among Israel to this day” (Josh. 6:24). Those who did not value community with the race of Israel so much as feared the impending ruin, approached Jesus with deception and cunning. And how could they, with their slavish deception, deserve a free life and participation in the kingdom? And finally, do you want to see that the condition that Jesus set for them fully corresponds to the baseness of their intentions? They themselves say: “We heard His glory and all that He did” (Joshua 9:9) in the middle of the Red Sea and in the desert. And although they said so and admitted that they had heard and knew about the miracles created by God, they did nothing worthy of faith, nothing to express their worship of such powerful forces. And therefore Jesus, seeing the insignificance and pettiness of their faith, pronounces on them the fairest judgment: although they deserve salvation, although they have shown a little faith, they do not reach the heights of the kingdom and do not receive freedom, since they have not ennobled their faith with worthy deeds, and, as the Apostle James states, “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). 3. For if there are those among us whose faith is limited to the fact that they go to church, bow to the priests, express respect and veneration to the servants of God, even bring something to decorate the altar and church, but make no effort to correct their habits, ennoble their aspirations, reject vices, cultivate chastity, tame rage, curb greed, restrain avarice; They do not shut their mouths when slander and nonsense or buffoonery and the poison of envy spew out of them; let those who do not want to correct themselves, but remain in all this until a very old age, know that they will share the fate and the lot of the Gibeonites will befall them. And therefore we adjure you, brothers, as “messengers” of the Word of God (cf. 2 Cor. 5:20), while we have the opportunity to correct ourselves, let us be zealous and, casting aside the former filth and old rags of vices, we hasten to become partakers and fellow members of the Israelites. Do you want to see how much freedom Israelis have? The law stipulates that a Jewish boy enslaved cannot be a slave for more than six years, “and in the seventh year he shall be freed freely” (Ex. 21:2). Their desire for freedom is so great! Be that as it may, let us return to the spiritual interpretation, and let you be a Jewish boy who falls into slavery, for a child easily becomes a slave of the soul. About this type of slavery the Scripture says: “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). It is not the strong and perfect soul that turns into this slavery, but the infant and pliable one. Therefore, if you are a Jewish boy, that is, a believer who was baptized in the Church and then fell into the slavery of sin, then it is enough for you to be enslaved for six years, but in the seventh year, be careful not to remain in slavery, but hasten to free yourself. The number seven denotes the establishment of the law, and the number six is ​​the image of this world. Therefore, while you are thinking “about earthly things” ( Col. 3:2 ", you are concerned about it and all your thoughts are “about carnal things” ( Rom. 8: 5), then you inevitably become a slave of sin. When you come to the number seven, that is, to the knowledge of the law, then seek freedom and return to your glorious fatherland, for if you remain in evil and persist in your sin and do not listen to God, Who warns and calls you to your former freedom, then the mark will be imprinted on your ear and you will remain a slave of sin forever. And if I ask you, the head of the family, a respectable and noble husband, would you agree to become a slave in this world, then you, without a doubt, will answer “no,” since we see that most slaves are in a hurry to gain freedom, strive, as far as possible, to gain wealth and fame and try with all their might to hide the shame of their low origin. Therefore, if in this life no one wants to be a slave, but wants, as far as possible, freedom, wealth and glory, not only for himself, but for others to be generously given these eternal and unchangeable benefits, will we be tolerant and indifferent to slavery? Will it seem unimportant to us if we are counted among “woodcutters and waterbearers”? So let us, “while it is day” (John 9:4), strive to become better, so that we may be glorified by our actions, our life and our behavior and be made worthy to receive the “Spirit of sons” to take our place among the children of God through His only and true Son Jesus Christ our Lord, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homily XI. About the auxiliary army of Jesus, which helped the Gibeonites; and how he stopped the sun and the moon 1. Those who joined the children of Israel, all those who were formerly friends, after community and brotherhood with them became enemies. Adonisidenes, king of Jerusalem, having called four other kings as allies, plans to attack the Gibeonites, who received a peace treaty from the children of Israel. The Gibeonites, seeing that the five kings have united to fight them, decide not to rely on their own strength, but send to Jesus with a request for military assistance. By God's permission, Jesus rushes to the aid of the Gibeonites. Then wonderful signs appear from heaven. The Lord brings down large hail stones on the army of the five kings who fought with Jesus and defeats them. Jesus, seeing that the right hand of God is fighting with him and everything is going well, lifts up an amazing and unusual prayer to heaven, saying: “Stay, O sun, over Gibeon, and moon, over the valley of Aijalon! And the sun stood still and the moon stood until the Lord smote His enemies 15 . The sun stood in the sky and did not hurry to the west for almost the whole day. And there was no such day, neither before nor after that, on which the Lord heard the human voice so much. For the Lord fought for Israel. ...And those five kings fled and hid in a cave in Makedah” (Joshua 10:12–14:16). In their historical content, these acts speak of miracles of Divine power for all ages, and there is no need for external explanations to emphasize the brightness of such events. And yet let us examine what spiritual meaning is contained in this description. 2. There is no doubt that when the human soul is introduced to the Word of God, it immediately makes enemies, and those who were previously considered friends become enemies; and she must be ready not only to endure sorrows from people, but also to expect them from opposing forces and spiritual lawlessness. It just so happens that he who seeks to become a friend of Jesus knows that he must endure the enmity of many. Listen to how the Apostle Paul confirms this when he says: “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). Solomon also speaks about this: “My son! If you begin to serve the Lord God, then prepare your soul for temptation” (Sir.2:1). So the Gibeonites are attacked for their friendship with Jesus, although they are only “woodcutters and waterbearers”; in other words, although you are the least in the Church, yet because you belong to Jesus, the five kings will attack you. However, neither Jesus, nor the leaders, nor the elders of Israel abandoned or despised the Gibeonites, but because of their weakness, they helped them. Don’t you think that the Apostle calls us to this and expects this from us when he says: “Comfort the faint-hearted, support the weak, be patient with everyone” (1 Thess. 5:14); and again: “We who are strong must bear the weaknesses of the weak” (Rom. 5:1)? Thus Jesus with His leaders and princes comes to those who are attacked by opposing forces for His name, and He not only helps in the war, but also increases the length of the day, prolongs the time of light, and dispels the approaching night. 3. Therefore, we want, if we can, to show how our Lord Jesus prolongs the light and makes the day longer - both to save people and to destroy the opposing forces. Immediately after the coming of the Savior, the end of this world came. He Himself said: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). However, He delays and postpones the last day and delays its occurrence. For God the Father, seeing that the salvation of the nations can be achieved only through Him, says to Him: “Ask of Me, and I will give the nations for Your inheritance and the ends of the earth for Your possession” (Ps. 2:8). So, until the promise of the Father is fulfilled and churches arise in different nations and "the full number of the Gentiles comes in and so all Israel is saved" (Rom. 11:25-26), the day continues, sunset is postponed, and the sun never sets, but always rises, until the "Sun of righteousness" (Mal. 4:2) sheds the light of truth into the hearts of believers. But when the measure of believers is fulfilled and the worst and most corrupt age of the last generation comes, when “because of the increase of iniquity the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12) and very few people remain who have kept the faith, then “those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:22). In the same way, the Lord Himself extends the day when the time of salvation comes, and shortens the day when the time of suffering and destruction comes. And “while it is day” (John 9:4) and for our sake the duration of the light is increased, “as during the day we behave decently” (Rom. 13:13) and do works of light. 4. Let's see, however, what it means when it says that “five kings fled and hid in a cave” (Joshua 10:16). We have often said that the criticism of Christians is twofold. And for the perfect, such as Paul, as the Apostle himself writes to the Ephesians, this “warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). But for the weak and imperfect, the battle is waged against flesh and blood, for they are still subject to attacks from carnal vices and infirmities. I think this is what is indicated in this passage; for we say that five kings declared war on the Gibeonites, who, as I see it, symbolize the imperfect. They are attacked by five kings. These five kings indicate the five carnal senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch; and inevitably through one of them a person falls into sin. These five senses are compared to the five kings who attacked the Gibeonites, that is, the carnal people. What was said about them running away into a cave may be due to the fact that a cave is a place hidden in the bowels of the earth. That is why it is said that those feelings that we mentioned above flee into the cave when, placed in the body, they are completely absorbed in earthly concerns and do nothing to work for God, but serve only their body. 5. It must be realized that these very kingdoms, the kings of which, conquered by Jesus, hid in a cave, later become the inheritance of the saints and are called part of the Lord, such as the kingdom of Jerusalem or Lachish or Hebron. I think this indicates that those five senses we talked about above subside in the body when they submit to Jesus; infidelity and unbelief are driven out of them, and when their sins die, so that they cease to serve sin, then the soul uses these same servants to work the righteousness of God. Therefore, it came to pass that Jerusalem, which was first ruled by a wicked and wicked king, later came to be ruled by the firm hand of David and the peace-loving Solomon. And these bodily feelings that we talked about are besieged by the forces of evil, which excite them to evil desires and harmful movements of the soul. But if faith in Christ overcomes these hostile forces and they are crucified on the wood of His Cross, so that He triumphs over them, nailing them “to the cross” (cf. Col. 2:14-15), and they are driven out of His kingdom and overthrown, then the soul is made the portion of God, then Jerusalem becomes the kingdom of God, and the church of the Lord is erected in it. Didn’t he understand this when he said: “And we were once foolish, disobedient, erring, slaves of lusts and various pleasures” (Titus 3:3)? And this means nothing more than that Jerusalem was under the rule of King Adonizedek, and other cities under other kings. 6. In the meantime, Jesus defeated the enemies, not teaching us cruelty, as the heretics think, but pointing these events to future sacraments, so that when Jesus defeats those kings who rule the kingdom of sin in us, we will be able to fulfill what the Apostle said: “As you presented your members as slaves to uncleanness and to lawlessness for unrighteous works, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for holy works” (Rom. 6:19). What then is condemned here as cruelty? She, as it is said, is what is written: “Come, put your feet on the necks of these kings” (Joshua 10:24). But this does not show cruelty, but philanthropy and kindness, right? Oh, if only you were such that you could “tread on serpents and scorpions and all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19) and “tread upon the lion and the dragon” (Ps. 90:13), that miserable king who formerly ruled in you and ruled the kingdom of sin in you. So now, when all who ruled you with the power of sin have been destroyed, let our Lord Jesus Christ alone begin to rule in you, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homily XII. That the wars that Jesus waged must be understood spiritually, and that when the people returned after the victory, no one moved their tongue 1. If what is described in general terms by Moses about the tabernacle, about the sacrifices and about all worship, as it is said, “serves the image and shadow of the heavenly things” (Heb. 8: 5), then, undoubtedly, about those wars that Jesus waged, about the murders of kings and enemies, it must be said that they “serve the image and shadow of the heavenly things,” namely those wars that Jesus wages together with His army, that is, the believing people and its leaders, against the devil and his angels. For it is He who fights together with Paul and the Ephesians “against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). Consider, ungrateful heretic, how the new is combined with the old. The ancients were promised the kingdom of the holy land, “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Lev. 20:24), a land which at that time was owned by sinners: the most wicked kings ruled it and the most wicked inhabitants inhabited it. But Jesus comes to this land with the army of the Lord and the leaders of Israel, defeats, destroys and conquers everyone, and as a reward for victory acquires the kingdoms of the vanquished. The Gospels promise you not the kingdoms of earth, but the kingdoms of heaven. However, these kingdoms are not abandoned or abandoned: they are inhabited by sinners, evil spirits and fallen angels. Paul with the trumpet of his apostolic trumpet calls you to fight with these inhabitants; and as Jesus said at that time that the war must be waged against the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, so now Paul tells you that your “strife is not against flesh and blood,” in other words, we must not fight as the ancients did, and the battle in our land must be waged not against men, “but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world.” Now, of course, you understand where such battles should be fought. But if this understanding is not enough for you, if what has been said is not entirely clear, listen to what follows: “Against the spirits of wickedness in high places.” You have heard whom you must cast down from heaven by force of arms, so that you yourself may receive these places in the Kingdom of Heaven as an inheritance. And doesn’t the Lord point this out to you in the Gospel when he says: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and those who use force take it by force” (Matthew 11:12)? 2. So why are you, O heretic, hesitating and not throwing malicious accusations at our Lord and Savior, who commands us to take the Kingdom of Heaven, which He promised to those who believe in Him, “by force”? After all, if force must be used, then, of course, it is applied by the one who takes something into his possession. For to use force means to expel the owner and seize it yourself. So tell me what else do you accuse Jesus, the successor of Moses, of? Oh, that we were worthy that the Lord Jesus would open to us the doors of the palace of His wisdom and lead us into the treasury of His knowledge and would consider it possible to reveal to us in all its fullness and perfection that which we try to see only in part and “we see through a glass darkly” (1 Cor. 13:12). And when this becomes clear to us, you will see those spiritual enemies who are now attacking spiritual Israel and are figuratively represented by the rulers of Maked, Lachish and Libnah; you will see in yourself the image of vice or delusion in which your soul is mired, the same image that each of those whom the people of the Lord destroyed with their leader Jesus had; this people are, of course, those who listen to His commands and fulfill His commandments, to whom He gave “power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). So let us pray that our feet will be just as “beautiful” (Rom. 10:15; Is. 52:7), so that they can step on the necks of enemies and on the head of the serpent, so that he will not be able to bite us in the heel (cf. Gen. 3:15). Anyone who fights under the leadership of Jesus with opposing forces must be worthy of what is written about those former soldiers: “All the people returned to the camp to Joshua, and no one moved his tongue against the children of Israel” (Joshua 10:21). You see that the one who serves as a soldier of Jesus must return from the battlefield unharmed, and the “fiery arrows of the evil one” (Eph. 6:16) will not harm him, he will not be defiled either in his heart or in his thoughts, demons will not be able to inflict wounds on him either through anger, or through lust, or through any other passion. The added phrase “no one moved his tongue” was said because no one began to boast of this victory, no one attributed it to his superior strength; but, knowing that Jesus had won this victory, they did not move their tongues. This is exactly what the Apostle meant when he said: “Not I, but the grace of God which is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). I think that, moreover, he kept in mind the command of the Lord: “When you have done everything commanded you, say: we are worthless servants, because we did what we had to do” (Luke 17:10). Thus, the Lord, apparently, forbids being proud of success. 3. However, Marcion, Valentinus, Basilides and with them the rest of the heretics, refusing to understand what was said in a manner worthy of the Holy Spirit, “deviated from the faith and subjected themselves to many sorrows”; they declare that there is another God of the law, the judge and creator of the world, who, as it seems, by what is written, teaches cruelty, ordering to step on the necks of his enemies and to hang on trees the kings of those lands that he captured by force (cf. Josh. 10: 24-26). Oh, if my Lord Jesus, the Son of God, would allow and command me to trample under my feet the spirit of fornication, to step on the throat of the spirit of anger and rage, to trample the demon of greed, to crush vanity, to crush the spirit of pride under my feet, then when I do all this, all the deeds will not be mine, but done by the power of the Cross, according to Paul: “For me the world is crucified” (Gal. 6:14) and to those who we mentioned above: “Not I, but the grace of God which is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). And if I am worthy to do this, then I will be blessed and they will tell me the same thing that Jesus said to the ancients: “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, be strong and courageous; For this is what the Lord will do to all your enemies with whom you fight” (Joshua 10:25). And if we understand this spiritually and begin to wage spiritual wars and cast out evil spirits from heaven, then we can find a place in the kingdom of Jesus, which is the Kingdom of Heaven, and receive part of the inheritance from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homily XIII. About the cities of Lachish, Libn and Hebron, captured by the children of Israel 1. “All this happened to them as images; but it is described for our instruction, who have reached the last ages” (1 Cor. 10:11). When these words are read by a Jew “outwardly,” that is, one who is circumcised outwardly, according to the flesh, he thinks that we are talking about nothing more than wars, the destruction of enemies and how the Israelites, under the leadership of Jesus, conquer and seize the kingdoms of other nations. For he does not know what it means to be a Jew “inwardly,” one who is circumcised “in the heart” (Rom. 2:28–29). But the Jew “internally,” that is, the Christian who follows Jesus, not the son of Joshua, but the Son of God, understands all this as the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven and affirms that even now my Lord Jesus Christ fights against opposing forces and expels from their cities, that is, from our souls, those who formerly occupied them. He destroys the kings who ruled in our souls, so that sin would not reign in us (cf. Rom. 6:12), and after the king of sin is cast out from the city of our soul, it becomes the city of God, and God rules in it, and it is said to us: “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). Thus, what the heretics condemn as cruelty is the highest manifestation of compassion; what the son of Nun had previously vaguely outlined through individual cities, the Lord Jesus now accomplishes in reality through individual souls of believers. Therefore, when the wicked and wicked kings, who formerly possessed souls “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2), are cast out and destroyed, it turns “to the habitation of God” (Eph. 2:22) and to the “temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you” (1 Cor. 6:19), so that the members who served Previously, under the authority of a lawless king, “uncleanness and lawlessness for lawless works,” they turned “slaves of righteousness for holy works” (Rom. 6:19). This is how you should understand that Jesus killed the king of Ai and the king of Libn and the king of Lachish and the king of Hebron - so that all the cities that lived according to the law of sin under the rule of wicked kings would now live according to the laws of God. 2. However, if we take a closer look at what the names of these cities themselves mean, we will find that we can understand them both as a kingdom of evil and as a kingdom of good. For example, Livna is translated as “whiteness.” This word can be understood in different ways, for there is the whiteness of leprosy and the whiteness of light. Therefore, the name itself can be interpreted in two ways, indicating two different states: under the rule of the wicked kings, Libnah had the whiteness of leprosy, but after the capture and destruction of the city, when Libnah passes to the Israelites, it becomes the whiteness of light, for in Scripture whiteness implies both praise and condemnation. Lachish means “way.” In Scripture, the way can also refer to both praise and condemnation. This is not difficult to demonstrate, for the Psalter says: “The way of the wicked will perish”; but here is another, opposite statement: “Walk straight with your feet” (Heb. 12:13). This can be understood in such a way that at first Lachish followed the path of the wicked, and when the city was captured and destroyed and it came under the rule of the Israelites, its path was corrected. Likewise Hebron, which is said to mean “union” or “marriage.” At first, our soul was united with a wicked and lawless husband - the devil, and then, when he was cast out and overthrown, the soul was freed from the previous law and united with a good and lawful husband, as the Apostle says: “I have betrothed you to one husband, to present you to Christ as a pure virgin” (2 Cor. 11:2). 3. In my opinion, this is a better way to understand the wars that Israel fought and to understand the battles of Jesus, the destruction of cities and the overthrow of kings. Such an interpretation will present in a more dignified and pious light what was said about the destruction and devastation of these cities and the destruction of their inhabitants, so that “they left not a single one of them, surviving or escaping” (Joshua 8:22). Truly Jesus destroys and recreates each of our souls; we talked about this when we discussed how Jeremiah took the words of the Lord into his mouth, “to uproot and to destroy, to destroy and to destroy, to build and to plant” (Jer. 9–10). I think that even today we should understand what is written in this sense, and not in the sense that Jews or heretics offer us; for it is said to Jeremiah: “I have set you this day over nations and kingdoms, to uproot and destroy, to destroy and destroy, to build and to plant” (Jer. 1:10), and although it should be thought that this is written about what Jesus has done, but to a greater extent what is said refers to what the Lord Jesus is now doing in us. After all, the first work of the Word of God is to eradicate evil, “thorns and thistles” (Gen. 3:18) vices. And as long as their roots remain in the ground, it will not be able to generate sacred seeds of goodness. 4. So, the first task of the Word of God is to uproot the shoots of sin and “every plant that [His] heavenly father has not planted” (Matthew 15:13), and destroy it with fire. The second thing is to plant. What does God plant? Moses says that “the Lord God planted a garden in Eden” (Gen. 2:8). But even today the Lord sows daily in the souls of believers; He eradicates anger and instills meekness, tears out pride from it and instills humility; pulls out debauchery and instills chastity; casts out ignorance from it and cultivates knowledge in it. Don’t you think that these plantings should be attributed more to God than to soulless earthly plantings? The work of the Word of God is, first of all, to destroy the building which the devil has built in the human soul. For he has erected in each of us towers of pride and walls of arrogance; but the Word of God overthrows and destroys them, so that, according to the word of the Apostle, we may become “God’s field, God’s building” (1 Cor. 3:9) “on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20), and so we will finally be worthy of part of the inheritance of the holy land of Israel. He will strike and destroy all our enemies and will not leave anyone who would survive and breathe in us (cf. Josh. 10:40), but only the spirit of Christ will breathe in us in mind, words and spiritual deeds, according to the teaching of Jesus Christ our Lord, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homily XIV. About Jabin king of Hazor and other kings gathered against Israel 1. When Israel according to the flesh read these Scriptures before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, they saw nothing in them except wars and bloodshed, which is why uncontrollability flared up in their souls, which was constantly fed by wars and strife. But after the coming of my Lord Jesus Christ, who poured out the peaceful light of knowledge into human hearts, since, according to the Apostle, “He is our peace” (Eph. 2:14), with these very stories about wars He teaches us peace. For peace returns to the soul when its enemies - sins and vices - are expelled from it. And therefore, as our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us, when we read about all this, we also arm ourselves and rise up in battle, but against those enemies who “come from the heart,” namely, “evil thoughts, thefts, false witness, blasphemy” (Matthew 15:19) and other similar enemies of our soul. And, following the meaning of Scripture, we try, if it is in our power, not to leave “any one who lives or who breathes” (Joshua 10:40). After all, if we defeat these opponents, then, accordingly, we will defeat the forces that dominate the air (cf. Eph.2:2), and we will drive them out of the kingdom that they founded within us on the seats of our vices. In the previous readings, the king of Jerusalem gathered four other kings against Jesus and against the children of Israel (cf. Joshua 10:1-17); now no one collects four or five; on the contrary, look what a great multitude one man gathers. It is said: “When Jabin king of Hazor heard this, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Ahsath, and to the kings who lived to the north on the mountain and in the plain on the south side of Hinnaroth, and to the low places, and to Nathoth-dor to the west, to the Canaanites who lived to the east and to the sea, to the Amorites. and to the Hittites, to the Perizzites, and to the Jebusites who lived on the mountain, and to the Hivites who lived near Hermon in the land of Mizpah. And they set out and all their army with them, a numerous people, whose multitude was like the sand on the seashore; and there were very many horses and chariots. And all these kings assembled, and came and encamped together by the waters of Merom to fight with Israel. But the Lord said to Jesus: Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow, about this time, I will hand over all of them to the children of Israel to be killed; cut the sinews of their horses and burn their chariots with fire. Joshua and all the people with him who were capable of war suddenly came out to the waters of Merom and attacked them. And the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Israelites, and they smote them, and pursued them to Sidon the great and to Misrefoth-Maim, and to the valley of Mizpah to the east, and killed them, so that not one of them was left who survived. And Jesus did to them as the Lord had told him: he cut the sinews of their horses and burned their chariots with fire. At the same time, Joshua returned, took Hazor and killed his king with the sword” (Joshua 11:1-10). You see what a multitude of opposing forces and evil demons are gathering against Jesus and the army of Israel. Before the coming of our Lord and Savior, all these demons calmly and serenely resided in the souls of people and ruled their minds and bodies. But when “grace appeared on earth” and the mercy of “our Savior God” (Titus 2:11) taught us to live in this world piously and chastely, turning away from all filthiness of sin, so that every soul would be freed and accept the “image of God” (Gen. 1:27), in which it was originally created, then its former owners raise battles and wars against it. And if the first is defeated, then even more rebel and, united in evil, constantly fight against good. And if they are defeated a second time, and a third time, then an even greater multitude of forces of evil arise. And therefore, perhaps, the more the people of God strengthen, the more they multiply and grow, the more there are those who are plotting to attack them. 2. Let us try, however, God willing, to examine some of the kings of the enemy army and, through the meaning of the name of each of them, consider the evil deeds that they commit. First of all, the initiator of the war, who united others and called them to wicked deeds, named Jabin, who was king of Hazor, who, as it is said, called all the others (Joshua 11:1). "Jabin" means "mind" or "understanding." What then is this mind and understanding, if not what the prophet Isaiah calls “an arrogant mind”? For he says: “I will look at the arrogant mind of the king of Assyria, who says: “By the strength of my hand and by my wisdom I have done this, because I am wise: I have rearranged the borders of nations and plundered their treasures” (Is. 10:12-13). Thus, the one who is called “haughty mind” is the king of Assyria, and here Jabin is “mind” or “understanding.” For it is written that in paradise the serpent was “more intelligent than all the beasts of the field” (Gen. 3:1) living on earth. And that is “an unfaithful steward,” who, as it is said, “acted wisely” (Luke 16:8) in what he did. This Jabin is the king of Hazor, but Hazor means court. Thus, the whole earth is the courtyard of the king, the devil, who rules over it as over his own courtyard. Do you want to make sure that the land itself is the yard? In the Gospels it is written that the strong sleep carelessly in his courtyard until the strongest comes, who will “bind the strong man” “and then he will plunder his courtyard” (Matthew 12:29). Consequently, the king of the court is “the prince of this world” (John 16:11). He sends to Jobab; for he himself is the one who sends to all nations, calling them to war. He sends Merom to the king. “Jobav” means “enmity,” and “Meerom” means “bitterness.” The devil sends to another hostile force - undoubtedly from the fallen angels - and this force is the king of bitterness. From him and what he does, come all the sorrows and difficulties that unfortunate mortals endure in this world. There are different types of sin. After all, nothing can be more bitter than sin, even if at first it seems sweet, as Solomon writes: “But the consequences of what at first seemed sweet like honey are bitter like wormwood, sharp like a two-edged sword” (Prov. 5:4). The nature of righteousness is the opposite; At first it seems bitter, but then, when it bears the fruits of virtue, it becomes sweeter than honey. So, the devil sends Jobab, the king of bitterness, to his enemy. However, he also sends to King Simeon, whose name means “listening.” There are, however, two ways to listen. Sometimes God listens to a person, as in the case when one of the patriarchs received the name Simeon because God heard the prayers of his mother (cf. Gen. 29:33). But we also talk about listening when we listen to the devil's whispers. Usually he says: “I will give all this to you if, when you fall, you bow to me.” But you, if you follow Jesus, answer him: “I worship the Lord my God and Him alone do I serve” (cf. Matt. 4:9-10). But those who are part of him listen to the devil, as Simeon does; After listening to him, he goes to fight against Jesus. He also sends to King Ziph; “Zif” means “how fleeting!” - like a cry of surprise; for, indeed, one can only be amazed at how fleeting everything carnal is in this world, how fragile and perishable is that which unbelievers consider immutable and unchangeable. When we consider the structure of the world and realize the changeable and transitory nature of everything that is considered good in this life, we exclaim: “How fleeting!” The devil calls to oppose the children of Israel and those who live near “Great Sidon” (Joshua 11:8). I have visited Sidon several times, but I have never heard of the existence of two Sidons: one great and the other small - at least in relation to the earthly city. As for his name, which means “hunters” or “huntresses,” I see that among the opposing forces there are significant differences: some hunt small animals, others hunt large ones; in other words, some souls are caught by minor sins, others by grave ones. For example, when the soul is carried away by worldly pleasures and carnal pleasures, it is said that it is caught like small game. When she denies God's Providence and worships demons as God, then she is considered to have been lured in like a large animal. That is why the devil sends to the great Zion to gather them, as if for a great hunt for the children of Israel. He also sends to the mountains. By mountain we must mean “every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:5). He also sends to Arabia. "Arabia" means "ambush." For he calls on the forces lurking in ambush to attack the souls of people not openly, using force, but unexpectedly, by cunning, misleading them, about which the Prophet says: “Lurking in a hidden place, like a lion in a den; lies in wait to seize the poor” (Ps. 9:30). But if someone is like Paul, he boldly says: “We are not unaware of his devices” (2 Cor. 2:11). He also sends to Hinneref. "Hinneref" means "like lamps"; for a lamp is one thing, but the likeness of a lamp is another. John “was a lamp burning and giving light” (John 5:35) because he was an angel of light. But the one who “takes on the form of an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14) is like a lamp. And if you want to see even more clearly the difference between the lamps and the kind of lamps located in Hinneref, listen to what the Savior says to His disciples: “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning” (Luke 12:35). These burning lamps are those that teach the Catholic faith in the Church and enlighten the people of God with the word of truth. Those who invent heretical doctrines, confirming their false statements with the testimony of Holy Scripture, seem to light lamps, since they read the Scripture, but since their statements are false, they are not lamps, but as if they were lamps. He also sends to low-lying places. For he needs to call into his union those who live in the lowlands and love the low and earthly. He also sends to Fanendor, which means “conversion.” This word can be understood in two ways. One appeal - through which we turn to God or God turns us to good. But there is another appeal - through which King Jabin, that is, the devil, turns souls to himself, as we showed above with the example of Simeon. This is probably the conversion of the Galatians, of which the Apostle says to them: “You went well; who stopped you from submitting to the truth?” (Gal.5:7), that is, who turned you from the straight and true path? He sends both to those who live by the sea, the Canaanites, neighbors of the waves, whose name means “as if troubled,” in other words, those who are always worried in confusion and turmoil, and to the seaside inhabitants of the Amorites, whose name means “to become bitter,” similar to those of whom we spoke above. So, here is a list of the entire army of invisible enemies that King Jabin is gathering to attack us who follow Jesus, our Leader and Savior. But what does the Lord say? He says: “Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow, around this time, I will deliver them all into your hands” (Joshua 11:6). I see that today we cannot crush them all, nor destroy them; they will perish tomorrow, that is, after the end of this century. Then all opposing forces will be defeated and then completely defeated when you see how it will be said to those standing on the left side: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). Then we too, if we overcome and are able to follow our leader Jesus, will gain the kingdom that the Father has prepared for His saints and those who have kept His commandments and “all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15), through our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homily XV. What happened after Jabin 1. I think that if those material wars were not an image of spiritual wars, then it is unlikely that the apostles would have handed over these books about the history of the Jews to the disciples of Christ, who came to teach peace, so that they could be read in the Church. For what is the benefit of these descriptions of wars to those to whom the Lord says: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you” (John 14:27) and to whom through the Apostle is commanded: “Do not avenge yourselves” (Rom. 12:19) and “it is better to remain offended, it is better to endure hardships” (1 Cor. 6:7)? And, knowing that we must wage not material wars, but battles of the soul with spiritual opponents, the Apostle, as a military leader, gives an order to the soldiers of Christ, saying: “Put on the whole armor of God, so that you can stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11). And in order to show us examples of such spiritual wars from the acts of bygone days, he wants stories about the exploits of the ancients to be read to us in the Church, so that if we are spiritual, having heard that “the law is spiritual” (Rom. 7:14), we correlate “spiritual with spiritual” (1 Cor. 2:13) in what we hear, and from the example of the nations who apparently fought against Israel in the flesh, we would see how There are numerous opposing forces from spiritual generations, called “spirits of wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12), who are waging war against the Church of the Lord – true Israel. The Moabites and the Ammonites and all these kings and invisible generations come, which we mentioned before; they come to fight against us to incline us to sin; for just as the body dies from a wound inflicted by a sword, so the soul dies when it receives the wound of sin. And I believe that saying “the same things to you is not painful for me, but edifying for you” (Phil. 3:1). I only want you to understand what is said to you so often and what is repeatedly imprinted on your souls, so that, having read about all this, you will not gain either a Jewish or heretical understanding. Now that we have extracted general warnings from these passages, it will not be amiss to consider some of what we have read in detail. Therefore, starting again from the beginning, we will examine what we did not pay attention to in the previous discussion. 2. It is said: “And Jesus did to them as the Lord had told him: he cut the sinews of their horses and burned their chariots with fire. At the same time, Jesus returned, took Hazor and killed his king with the sword. And they killed everything that breathed that was in it with the sword, consigning it to destruction: not a single soul remained” (Joshua 11:9-11). It is said that God gave Jesus a command that he should not spare any of the defeated enemies that we spoke about above, and that he would cut the sinews of their horses. Jesus fulfilled God's command and did as the Lord commanded him. First of all, let us say to those who wish to understand what is written only in the literal sense that if any of these enemies survived, it would seem reasonable to cut the sinews of the horses so that no one could use them in battle. But here it is said that there was not one of the enemies left who breathed; Why then was it ordered to cut the veins of the horses, especially since they could still serve the victors? Do you want to know how the Israelis usually act in this matter, how they care about their own benefit, how they preserve the beasts of burden of a defeated enemy? In the book of Numbers we read (Num. 31:34) that when, at the command of God, they went out to fight against the Midianites and defeated them, several thousand donkeys were captured from the enemy, which were left for later use; and nowhere is it mentioned that after the enemy was defeated, these asses were destroyed. 3. Let's compare the two parts of the Holy Scripture, “considering spiritual with spiritual” (1 Cor. 2:13), and see why it is not written about these donkeys that their veins were cut, but it is said that the animals captured from the Midianites should not be killed by the Israelites, but used; when we are talking not about donkeys, but about horses, the Lord Himself commands, saying: “Cut the sinews of their horses” (Joshua 11:6), and Jesus does “with them as the Lord told him” (Joshua 11:9). Do we think it is an accident that horses are killed and donkeys are abandoned, and that God gives His commands inconsistently? Is it not more worthy to think that there is a mystery here in Scripture? The children of Israel never used horses, and nothing is said in the law about them, but instructions are given only in relation to donkeys (Ex. 23:4-5), since these animals seem to exist only to help people in their work and bear their burdens, while horses seem to be created for their destruction, as we see in battles. The horse appears to be a graceful animal with a proud neck. Donkeys are often used as a type of pagans in Scripture; The Savior is shown sitting not on a horse, but on a donkey. When He sends His disciples to untie “the donkey and the colt” (Matthew 21:2), He says to them: “If anyone asks you, Why are you untying? tell him this: the Lord needs him.” (Luke 19:31). And sitting on it, he enters Jerusalem, and nowhere is it said that He enters sitting on a horse. So the prophet foretold that He would enter Jerusalem sitting on a donkey: “Your king is coming to you, sitting on a donkey and on the colt of a donkey. Then I will destroy the chariots from Ephraim and the horses from Jerusalem” (Zechariah 9:9–10). So, you see that, according to the word of the prophet, he who rides on a donkey will destroy “the chariots of Ephraim and the horses of Jerusalem.” That is why it seems to me that donkeys, as we have already said, are the image of the believing pagans, on which, as it is said, the Lord “sits.” The destroyed horses and chariots are the image of those who, having been taken up into heaven, fell through debauchery and pride, either when they coveted the daughters of men and yielded to their desire, or when they followed the one who said: “I will ascend to the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” (Is. 14:14). Perhaps that is why the prophet says: “A horse is unreliable for salvation” (Ps. 32:17). And he also speaks about those who relied on demons: “Some in chariots, some in horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God” (Ps. 19:8). For chariots and horses are not correlated with God as objects of worship. But, be that as it may, this shows that just as we turn to the true God, so the pagans call upon “chariots and horses,” that is, demons - the very same ones who were called to war with Israel. The Scriptures also mention the horses of Egypt (cf. Ex. 14:9) - the very ones that are now commanded to be destroyed. From this it is clear that in the image of donkeys are represented the pagans who come to simple faith and are deservedly preserved, and in the image of horses and chariots are demons, enemies and opponents of human salvation, who are rightly destroyed. If we understand the horses, whose veins God commands to be cut, as bodily passions, that is, voluptuousness, debauchery, or pride and frivolity, which, like a rider, carry away and carry the unfortunate soul to great danger, such an understanding does not contradict our reasoning. The horse's veins are undoubtedly cut when the body is humbled by fasts and vigils and other hardships of abstinence. And the chariot is destroyed by fire, when the word of the Lord is fulfilled in us, who said: “I have come to bring down fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Luke 12:49). By this fire are those who say: “Did not our heart burn within us when He spoke to us on the road and when He explained the Scripture to us?” (Luke 24:32). That is why the horse is unreliable for salvation if we allow the impulses of our body to carry us unbridled, if we do not humble the unbridled and proud neck of the flesh with the bridle of abstinence. And if suddenly, through what we say, someone is struck or pierced by the words of God, if the one who yesterday indulged in debauchery and, spurred on by voluptuousness, rushed blindly like a horse, today, having heard our sermon, repented and turned and, as the prophet said, “trembles with the fear of God” (Ps. 119:120) and, having turned away from sin, restrains himself and henceforth leads a chaste and pious life, then truly, having drawn “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Eph. 6:17), “we cut the sinews of the horses.” This is a more worthy way to fulfill God's command than to capture thoroughbred horses as war booty and cut their sinews. But what kind of horses are these that have their sinews cut? It's worth asking this question. It is said: cut the sinews of Jabin's horses. "Jabin" means "thinking" or "mind." What kind of mind or thinking is this, the veins of whose horses should be cut? Obviously, the one about whom the Apostle says: “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for they do not submit to the law of God, neither indeed can they” (Rom. 7:8), and that mind about which he says: “Being puffed up with the mind of the flesh” (Col. 2:18). Jabin is the king of Hazor (“Hasor” means “court”; it is Hazor who has all the kingdoms of this world), who should be seen as “the prince of this world” (John 14:30), ruling in his court, that is, on earth, or, more precisely, over carnal vices. But it is also said that the horses of all the kings, whose nature we have revealed above, based on the meaning of their names, were killed by Jesus. Therefore, if we fight valiantly under the leadership of Jesus, we must cut off the vices from ourselves and cut the sinews of all the horses of the worst vices with the “sword of the Spirit.” However, we must also burn the chariots, that is, remove from ourselves every spirit of arrogance and pride, so that we no longer rely on horses and chariots, but call on the name of the Lord our God (cf. Ps. 19:8). And how will we fulfill what is said within ourselves, so that “there is no one left breathing” (Joshua 11:11)? Let's see who is forbidden to breathe by the command of the Lord. Suppose that anger rises in my heart, but I restrain my rage and do not allow it to be embodied in actions - out of fear or fear of future judgment, but this, as said, is not enough; you must make sure that there is no room left in you for the slightest movement of rage. For if the soul flares up and is irritated, even if this does not entail any action, such emotional disturbance is unworthy of a warrior of Jesus. The same applies to voluptuousness, despondency, or any other vice. A disciple of Jesus must act in such a way that no passion breathes in his heart, because if a minor vice or habit or thought remains in him, over time they will imperceptibly increase and gain strength until, finally, they return us to our “vomit” (Prov. 26:11), and when this happens, “the last thing for that person is worse than the first” (Luke 11:26). The Prophet also speaks about this in the Psalter: “Blessed is he who takes and dashes your babies against a stone” (Ps. 136:9). And, of course, these Babylonian babies should be understood as nothing other than “evil thoughts” that confuse and confuse our hearts. Babylon means exactly that. Evil thoughts, when they have just arisen and have not had time to gain strength, must be seized and smashed against the “rock”, which is “Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4); they are commanded to be killed so that “there is no one left breathing in us.” And if we blissfully grab and smash the Babylonian babies against a stone, killing bad thoughts as soon as they arise, then we should also understand it as bliss and perfection if we do not leave anything pagan in ourselves that could “breathe.” 4. It is said: “Jesus slew all the kings with the sword” (Joshua 11:12). “Sin reigns in all of us” (Rom. 6:12), vices ruled in all of us and we were all under the power of sin, just as the Apostle says: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). But each had his own king who ruled and dominated over him. For example, in one greed founded a kingdom for itself, in another pride, in another lie ruled, in another voluptuousness ruled, in another anger was king. And since this is so and sin reigns in each of us, believe the Apostle Paul, who said: “Let not sin reign in your mortal body, so that you should obey it in its lusts” (Rom. 6:12). So, before we believed, there was a kingdom of sin within each of us. But then Christ comes and kills all the kings who ruled the kingdoms of sin in us, and commands us to destroy all the kings and not leave any of them. For if anyone keeps even one of them alive, he will not be able to fight in the army of Jesus. Thus, as long as greed or self-praise or pride or lust reigns in you, you will not be a soldier of Israel and will not fulfill the command that the Lord gave to Jesus. It is said: “He did as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded him” (Joshua 11:15). Here the very word of the law is called Moses, just as the Gospel says: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them” (Luke 16:29). Therefore, the law commands us to destroy all the kings of sin who cause us to sin. “And Jesus did so: he did not depart from one word in all that Moses commanded him” (Joshua 11:15). At the beginning of our explanation, we said that Jesus fulfills everything prescribed by the law, which is here called Moses, both in himself and in us, destroying vices in us and overthrowing the most sinister kingdoms of sin. Nevertheless, it can be said about our Lord and Savior Himself that Jesus fulfilled everything prescribed in the law of Moses and did not deviate from a single word, just as the Apostle says: “When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, who was born of a woman and was subject to the law” (Gal. 4:4). Therefore, since He was born under the law, being under the law, He fulfilled everything that the law commanded in order to free us from the curse of the law. He Himself says about Himself: “I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it” (Matthew 5:17). 5. It is said: “They took everything by war; for it was from the Lord that they hardened their hearts and met Israel with war” (Joshua 11:19–20). It is not said that Jesus took one thing and did not take another, but it is said that he took everything, that is, he captured and destroyed everything. Truly, Jesus atoned for all sin. “For we also were once foolish, disobedient, erring, slaves to lusts and various pleasures, living in malice and envy, being vile, hating one another” (Titus 3:3) and possessing all kinds of sin that are possible in people before we believed. Therefore it is well said that Jesus killed everyone who went to war. For there is no type of sin that Jesus, the Word and “wisdom” of God, cannot overcome (cf. 1 Cor. 1:24). He surpasses and conquers all sin. Or do we not believe that every form of sin is put to death when we come to the bath of salvation? After all, the Apostle Paul, after listing all types of sin, adds: “And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 6:11). And in this sense, Jesus took everything by war and destroyed everything, because the Lord, through His actions, hardened their hearts, and they hastened to fight Israel and were destroyed. After all, until the opposing forces that perform the work of sin in us come and attack us, inclining us to sin with all their might, they can neither be crushed nor destroyed. That is why, as has been said, God allows, or rather even encourages, opposing forces to start fighting with us, so that we win, and they find their destruction. I see a myriad of enemy forces, because for almost every person there are several spirits that incline him to many different sins. For example, there is a spirit of fornication and a spirit of wrath; there is the spirit of greed, and the other is the spirit of pride. And if it happens that a certain person is oppressed by all these evil spirits or even more, then one must understand that all these hostile spirits and even more reside in him. From this it follows that for each person there are several spirits, because every person has more than one vice, and he commits not just one type of sin, but many and very different ones. And again, it should not be thought that there is a spirit of fornication that induces a person to commit fornication, say, in Britain, and another to do the same in India or some other place; there is not one spirit of wrath that inflames different people in different places. Rather, as I see it, there is one main spirit of fornication and a myriad of those who obey him in this; and in every person many different spirits operate, controlled by the main spirit, and incline him to this sin. By similarity to this, as I see it, there is one main spirit of anger and countless others acting under its command, which kindle this passion in a person, pushing him to sin. The one main spirit of greed, and the spirit of pride, and every other evil spirit operates in the same way. Therefore, the Apostle says that among the opposing forces there is not one main spirit, but very many, against which, as he writes, both he and all of us must wage war (cf. Eph. 6:12). But still, I believe that they all have a leader, so to speak, most skilled in evil and perfect in wickedness, who, as the single ruler of all the main spirits and the leader of the wicked army, seduces the whole world, and each of his servants, for his part, induces sinful temptations to sin. To the best of our meager understanding, we showed this leader when we talked about Jabin. 6. It seems to me that every saint who fights with the spirits that incline him to sin, defeating and crushing everyone, weakens the army of demons, trying to defeat as many of them as possible. For example, if someone living in purity and chastity overcomes the spirit of fornication, then this spirit, defeated by the saint, is no longer allowed to attack another. Thus, those spirits who “asked Jesus not to command them to go into the abyss” (Luke 8:31), the Lord in His providence allowed not to do this, and it seems reasonable that all individual evil spirits defeated by the saints are sent by Christ, the righteous Judge, who is at the head of the battle of mortals in this life, either “into the abyss” or “into outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12), or to another place appropriate for them; and since so many demons have already been crushed, the path to faith has been opened for the peoples, which would have been impossible if the legions of demons had been preserved in their former integrity. But if what we have said seems too complicated to someone, our statements that for every sinner there are many demons, or if all this seems to someone to be fables, let him turn to the authority of the Gospel and see “a man come out of the graves possessed by an unclean spirit” (Mark 5:2), who, when the Savior “asked him: what is your name?” He answered and said, “My name is Legion, for we are many” (Mark 5:9). Why then does it seem strange that certain demons are assigned to a certain type of vice, if it is written that in one person there was a whole legion of demons? I remember I said something similar when we were discussing that verse from the psalm that says: “Early in the morning I will destroy all the wicked of the earth, to uproot from the city of the Lord all the workers of iniquity” (Ps. 100:8). The Psalter also says about the righteous: “A two-edged sword is in their hand” (Ps. 149:6) - undoubtedly, in order to defeat the opposing forces. But to make what has been said even more convincing, let us cite the statement of the Apostle Paul, in which he says: “The God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20). After all, if Satan is alone, then how can he be crushed under the feet of the servants of God and act again? After all, if he is crushed and crushed by God, then he can no longer act. And thus it must perhaps be believed that Satan is as numerous as he who does the works of Satan. I think this is indicated in the Book of Wisdom when it says: “When the wicked curses Satan, he curses his own soul” (Sir.21:30). And in another small book, which is called “The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs,” although it is not included in the canon, a similar meaning is given: in each sinner there must be a separate Satan. The matter becomes even clearer when we consider how zealous Jews teach that his very name has the same meaning. For Satan is called “the adversary.” Therefore, anyone who opposes the will of God can be called Satan. We say all this because it is written: “It was from the Lord that they hardened their hearts and met Israel with war and that they should be destroyed” (Joshua 11:20). Therefore, blessed is he who holds the spiritual sword tightly and does not remove it from the neck of those enemies whom we mentioned above, just as the prophet Jeremiah says: “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord carelessly, and cursed is he who keeps His sword from bleeding!” (Jer.48:10). If this statement is taken literally, then we must continually shed blood. The Jews, who believe this way, are “flesh and blood” (1 Cor. 15:50), become cruel and merciless, saying that a curse is imposed on those who stop shedding blood, and therefore “their feet are swift to shed blood” (Rom. 3:15). This, apparently, is the understanding of those who are “flesh and blood”; May the Lord grant me never to neglect the works of the Lord, “and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Eph. 6:17), not to take away the powers of the enemy from the blood and destroy them in everyone who listens. And now they are amazed in you, if you listen to what is said and do not do their deeds. 7. It further says: “Jesus took the whole land, as the Lord spoke to Moses” (Joshua 11:23). I don't see that Joshua the son of Nun took the whole land. How much land did he take that only the Jews captured? But truly our Lord Jesus has taken the whole earth, for from all the earth, from all nations, multitudes of believers flock to Him. After it is said: “Jesus took the whole land,” it is added: “And the land was calm from the war” (Joshua 11:23). How then, apparently, in relation to Joshua, the son of Nun, is it said that the wars ceased, if at that time the wars hardly ceased? This is fulfilled only in my Lord Jesus Christ. For if you, having come to Christ and through the grace of baptism having received the forgiveness of all your sins, consider that in you the flesh is not at enmity against the spirit, and the spirit is not at enmity against the flesh (cf. Gal. 5:17), then your “land from war” has calmed down, and if you bear “in your body the death of the Lord Jesus” (2 Cor. 4:10), then all battles have ceased in you, and you will be called “son God" (Matthew 5:9). But this will happen when you finish the war and defeat your opponents. Then you will be given rest, so that you can rest “under your vine,” which is Christ Jesus, “and under your fig tree” (Mic. 4:4), which is the Holy Spirit, and give praise to almighty God the Father in Christ Jesus our Lord, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homilia XVI. About what is written: “Jesus is an elder” - that is, an old man - “he was filled with 18 days”; and how through Moses the inheritance was given to the two and a half tribes 1. Even before us, it was noted that in Scripture an elder or old man is called not one who has reached an advanced age, but who has acquired the maturity of judgment and severity of life, especially when we add “full of 19 days” to the name “elder” (Gen. 35:29). For if someone were called an elder or an elder according to the length of his life, then to whom would this title befit more than first Adam, then Methuselah or Noah, who, as it is said, lived in this world much longer than others? However, we see that none of them is called an elder or old man in Scripture, but the first to be awarded this title in Holy Scripture is Abraham, whose life was much shorter than that of the others (cf. Gen. 18:11-12). And the Lord also said to Moses: “Gather for Me seventy men from among the elders of Israel, whom you know to be elders” (Num. 11:16). But notice, O hearer, whether you can find a place in all Scripture where a sinner is called “elder” or “full of days.” Now the Holy Spirit, with His voice, declares that “Jesus is an elder”—or an old man—“filled with days.” For He says this: “Jesus is an elder, full of days” (Joshua 13:1). Of course, this cannot be said about a sinner, for he is not “full of days,” since he does not “stretch forward, forgetting those things that are behind” (Phil. 3:13), but constantly “looks back” (Luke 9:62) and “returns to his vomit” (Prov. 26:11) and therefore “is not fit for the Kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). But the one who always “stretches forward” and comes to perfection is “filled with days.” So the Lord says to Jesus: “You are filled with days.” I don't know if we can understand this passage to mean that the Lord was telling Jesus about his old age, because everyone saw him and everyone knew about him. Are the Divine sayings sent down to people so great that they proclaim to an old person what everyone already knows: “You are old”? On the contrary, it seems to me that here the Lord gives Joshua a great testimony when he says to him: “Thou art filled with days.” And as far as we are allowed to consider and reveal the Divine mysteries, I think that just as the sun gives birth to the days of this world, so the “Sun of righteousness” (Mal. 4:2) gives birth to spiritual days, illuminated by the radiance of truth and the lamp of wisdom. And if someone lives this life, about which Jacob said: “Small and miserable are the days of my life” (Gen. 47:9), according to the commandments of God, does not allow the world to defile him, defeats every spiritual enemy and adversary, then he will be taken away from these “little and miserable days” and ascend to eternal and blissful days filled with the light of the eternal sun. In the same way, we must understand that Jesus is declared by the Divine affirmation to be “full of days.” 2. Since we have determined that what was said about Jesus also applies to our Lord and Savior, whom should we understand as “an elder and an old man full of days,” if not the One who is “the firstfruits, the firstborn of every creation” (Col. 1:18:15). And perhaps for this reason He alone is truly and completely called an elder, before whom there was no one. And therefore, although in Scripture there are those who are called elders or elders or high priests, nevertheless, among the elders or elders the Lord Jesus is among the high priests - “The Great High Priest” (Heb. 4:14), among the shepherds - the “Chief Shepherd” (1 Pet. 5:4), among the priests - the great Priest, among the bishops - the great Bishop, and in every honorable rank the first and chief of them is - Savior, “who is the head” (Eph. 4:15) of all things. 3. Further, the Lord adds to His Divine saying: “You are filled with days, but there is still a lot of land left to take as an inheritance” (Joshua 13:1). As we noted, it was previously said that “the land was calm from the war” and that “Jesus took the whole land” (Joshua 11:20), and it is also written that “there is still a lot of land left.” Do you really think that Scripture contradicts itself? It should not be understood so superficially. Let us turn to spiritual understanding and you will see that there is no contradiction here. Take a closer look at the first coming of our Lord and Savior, when He comes to sow the seed of His word throughout the whole earth, how He takes the whole earth, just scattering the seeds, how He puts to flight the hostile forces and fallen angels that dominated the minds of the nations, and at the same time sows the word and founds churches. This is His first possession of the whole earth. So follow me, O listener, holding on to the thin thread of reasoning, and I will show you how He will take the earth for the second time, very much of which, as Jesus is now told, remains. Listen to what Paul says about this: “He must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet” (1 Cor. 15:25; Ps. 109:1). This, therefore, is the earth, a lot of which, as it is said, remains until they are all laid down under His feet and until He takes everything as an inheritance for Himself. It is said: “This land remains: all the districts of the Philistines” (Joshua 13:2) and many other lands that follow. Much still “remains” relating to our time that has not been laid “under the feet” of Jesus, who, of course, must possess everything. For the end of the world cannot come unless everything is first subjected to Him. And the prophet says: “All nations will serve Him” (Ps. 71:11), and “He will rule from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth; the inhabitants of the deserts will fall before him” (Ps. 71:8–9), and “from the countries beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, My worshipers will bring Me gifts” (Zeph. 3:10). From this it is clear that at the second coming Jesus will take into His possession those vast lands that still remain. But blessed are those whom He gained at His first coming; for truly worthy of all respect are those who, despite the opposition of many enemies and the attacks of many well-armed enemies waging war against them, received the promised land as an inheritance. When someone submits out of necessity, when “the last enemy will be destroyed - death” (1 Cor. 15:26), then there will be no more grace for those who submitted. After many nations are listed, only about the Sidonians is it said: “I will drive out all the Sidonians from before the children of Israel” (Joshua 13:6). The Canaanites are also named; those who are “before Egypt” and those “to the borders of Ekron” and from the left bank of the river, and many other nations are mentioned, and only about the Sidonians the Lord says that He will drive them out. The Sidonians, as we said before, are called “hunters.” So who are we to understand by these evil hunters if not those nasty forces about which the prophet says: “They have prepared a net for my feet” (Ps. 56:7), that net into which they deceive souls and trap them in sin? That is why the Lord destroys them, for when such hunters perish, when there are no longer those who spread a net and set snares to catch a soul in sin, then “every one will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree” (Mic. 4:4). 5. Today we also read that Moses divided the inheritance to certain tribes (Joshua 13:8-32), but after that we read that Jesus divided the inheritance according to the command of the Lord (Joshua 14:1ff). Thus, first Moses distributed the inheritance, and then Jesus. Now understand that Moses is the law. And those who lived according to the law received the inheritance first, although they were still outside the promised land. Then, when they received the land as an inheritance, they did not possess it and did not distribute it among themselves, but waited for it to be assigned to them by Jesus. Isn’t it clear that the Apostle says the same thing to the Jews when he writes about the ancient fathers who pleased God “by faith” (Heb. 11:2-5)? And he adds: “And all these, which were testified to faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that without us they would be made perfect” (Heb. 11:39-40). Accordingly, they already had His promise, and they calmed down (cf. Josh. 1:13) and were found worthy to receive the inheritance through Moses. Despite this, they still fight themselves, they fight for those who fight under the leadership of Jesus. But you will, of course, want to know who these warriors are and what kind of battle they are fighting. I think that the fathers who died before us fight with us and help us with their prayers. I heard one of the old teachers say this when he explained the verse from the book of Numbers in which it is written: this congregation devours our congregation “as the ox devours the grass of the field” (Num. 22:4). He said: “What is this comparison used for, if not to understand from this passage that the assembly of the Lord, which before us was removed to the holy places, will eat up the opposing assembly with tongue and mouth, in other words, destroy our adversaries by petitions and prayers.” And therefore we must fight our invisible enemies not by force of arms, but by prayer and meditation on the word of God, good deeds and thoughts. For this is how the fathers were armed and conquered through faith and works (cf. James 2:14–25). Finally, look at what is said about them: “The people believed the Lord and Moses his servant. Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord and said, “I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted” (Ex. 14:31–15:1). So let us strive to ensure that our faith is deep, our deeds are perfect, and our prayer is unceasing; By constantly meditating on the word of God, we will improve our spiritual understanding and, having put on all this, as if “in the whole armor of God,” we will be able to “stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11), calling on God, our helper in Christ Jesus our Lord, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homilia XVII. That the Levites did not inherit the land 1. Just as those who receive the law diligently “serve the image and shadow of the heavenly things” (Heb. 8:5), since the law is a shadow of the true law, so the “shadow of the heavenly” division is followed by those who distribute the inherited land. After all, there was truth in heaven, and on earth there was an “image and shadow” of truth. And while this shadow remained on the earth, there was an earthly Jerusalem, there was a church, there was an altar, there was a visible cult, there were priests and high priests, there were cities and villages in Judea, there was everything that we now read in this book. But when God our Savior comes, then truth arises “from the earth, and righteousness” comes “from heaven” (Ps. 84:12), and the shadow and image fall. Jerusalem falls, the church falls, the altar is destroyed, so that neither on Mount Gerizim nor in Jerusalem there will be any more place of worship, “but the time will come, and has already come, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:23). This is how the coming of truth put an end to “the image and the shadow”; as soon as the church appeared, created in the womb of the Virgin by the Spirit of God and “the power of the Most High” (Luke 1:35), the church, built of stones, collapsed. The High Priest of “good things to come” appeared (Heb. 10:1) and abolished the high priests of “bulls and goats” (Heb. 9:13; 10:4). “The Lamb of God comes, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and the lamb is finished from the flock, and centuries of slaughtering become in vain. And if everything that was previously given as a shadow ceased with the coming and manifestation of the truth, then, without a doubt, when the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven was revealed, the earthly inheritance was abolished. And the reason why it all ended is that "the whole world is made guilty before God" (Rom. 3:19), for none of this unfaithful people can have an excuse for their treachery, and, having received from the ancients the shadows of the church, the altar, the priests and the high priests, in the face of the persistence of the ancient cult, it might have seemed to them that by turning to faith they would stray from the traditions of their established worship. That is why the Divine plan provided for everything that was planned on earth to be abolished: so that after the erasure of the images, people would begin to seek the path to the truth. And if, O Jew, you come to the site of the earthly city of Jerusalem and find it lying in ruins, turned to dust and ashes, do not cry, do not be a child in mind (cf. 1 Cor. 14:20); do not mourn him, but instead of earthly things, seek heavenly things. Lift up your eyes and see “Jerusalem which is on high: she is the mother of us all” (Gal.4:26). I do not want you to grieve when you see the altar abandoned; I do not want you to despair without finding a high priest: in heaven there is an altar, near which stands the High Priest of “good things to come” “according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 5:10). This is how the earthly inheritance was taken from you by the love and mercy of God, so that you would seek the inheritance in heaven. 2. And yet let us see what is indicated by the shadow, for the truth appears in the shadow of the law. It is said about the first and second division of the inheritance. The first is carried out by Moses, but the second, more significant, as we see, is carried out by Jesus. Beyond the Jordan, Moses allocated possession to the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh, and the rest received an inheritance through Jesus. We have already said before that those who have pleased God by fulfilling the law and precede in time those who receive what is promised through faith in Jesus have not yet reached perfection, but are waiting for those who please God, albeit at another time, but in the unity of faith, as the Apostle says: “So that without us they may become perfect” (Heb. 11:40). However, neither Moses nor Jesus give inheritance to the Levites, because “the Lord God himself is their inheritance” (Joshua 13:14). And what else should be understood in this, if not that in the Church of the Lord there are those who surpass all others in the strength of the soul and the grace of merit, so that, as it is said, their destiny is the Lord Himself? And if you dare to delve into this and reveal this secret, then you should see if something hidden is not shown in the image of the priests and Levites. Indeed, in every congregation of people - I mean the saved - the majority, no doubt, are those who, having simple faith and the fear of God, please God with good deeds, righteous life and worthy behavior; and there are also those, very rarely, however, who devote themselves to knowledge and wisdom, keep their minds pure and undefiled, cultivate glorious virtues in their souls and, with the grace of teaching, illuminate the path to salvation for others, the inexperienced. Perhaps these are designated by the title "priests and Levites", whose destiny, as it is said, is the Lord Himself - Wisdom, which they love most of all. However, I find some differences in what Moses distributed and what Jesus distributed. For Moses, dividing the lands beyond the Jordan to two and a half tribes, did not give the Levites land to live in, as they were supposed to (cf. Joshua 13:8,14; 14:3); Jesus not only gave them land among the tribes to which he himself gave inheritance, but also among those whom Moses settled beyond the Jordan (cf. Joshua 21:1-40). And estates were granted to the Levites in the lands of individual tribes, so that through this we would learn an even more wonderful secret. The priests and Levites, who devoted themselves to the works of wisdom and knowledge of God, could not receive estates from Moses, because Moses did not serve the truth, but “an image and a shadow.” Jesus our Lord, “the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24), Himself gives a home to the wise. After all, Moses could not say: “Go, sell what you have and give to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me” (Matthew 19:21), for this means giving a share to the Levites; Moses could not say: “Anyone of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33); Moses could not say: “If anyone does not hate his father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and indeed his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). Moses could not say this, therefore he could not allocate a share to the priests and Levites. Blessed is the one who reveals all this in himself and turns out to be perfect in everything that Jesus commands, and will receive from Jesus in the future the inheritance of the heavenly abode; The Lord Jesus Himself speaks about this: “Father! whom You have given Me, I want them to be with Me where I am” (John 17:24) and: “That they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us” (John 17:21-22). If, having heard that the destiny of a perfect and exalted person is the Lord, you doubt, not understanding the meaning of this expression, find out that the Lord is “wisdom” (1 Cor. 1:30). And he whose inheritance is said to be the Lord receives wisdom as an inheritance. The Lord is called “righteousness” (1 Cor. 1:30). And he whose inheritance is the Lord receives righteousness as an inheritance. The Lord is “peace” (Eph. 2:14), the Lord is “redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30), the Lord is salvation, in the Lord “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden” (Col. 2:3). And he whose inheritance is the Lord will have all this in his inheritance. Those, however, whose heritage is said to be wisdom, the Word of God, truth and righteousness, have a home among those whose heritage is on earth, and by this fellowship the weak may through them become partakers of the wisdom and knowledge of God, His truth and Word. And thus, God’s providence extends to the lesser, and those who themselves cannot receive Divine grace are rewarded with enlightenment through this communication, and what is said in Scripture is fulfilled: “He who gathered much had no excess; and whoever had little lacked not” (2 Cor. 8:15; Exod. 16:18) and what the Apostle says to the Corinthians about holy Jerusalem: “Now your abundance is to make up for their lack; and afterward their abundance will supply your lack” (Cor. 8:14). So now the Levites and priests who do not have land are ordered to live with the Israelites who have land, so that the Levites and priests will receive from them earthly things, which they do not have, and the Israelites will receive from them heavenly and Divine things, which they do not have. For the law of God was entrusted to the priests and Levites, so that they, freed from all cares, could devote themselves entirely to it and to the word of God. But in order for them to have time for this, they must use the ministry of the laity. For if the layman does not provide the priests and Levites with everything necessary for life, they will have to deal with this themselves, that is, with bodily needs, and they will have less time for the law of God. And if they do not have time to devote themselves to the law of God, then you will be in danger. For the light of knowledge that comes from them will darken if these lamps are not filled with oil, and what the Lord warns about will happen: “If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14). And what the Lord said will be fulfilled in you: “If the light that is in you is darkness, then how great is the darkness?” (Matthew 6:23). So, so that the light of knowledge burns in the priests and the lamp is always lit, do what you must, fulfill the commandments of God in the service of the priests. But if suddenly they, having received from you everything they need for life, and “as a blessing, and not as a burden” (2 Cor. 9:5), do not find time to teach the word of God, meditating on His law day and night, then they themselves will see that they will have to give an account for your souls before the Lord. So let us cry to the mercy of Almighty God, so that He will illuminate us all with His light, His truth and His glory and give us His word - “a lamp to [our feet] and a light to [our path]” (Ps. 119:105), Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who truly is “the light of the world,” and to Him be “glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homilia XVIII. About how Jesus began to distribute the land and how Caleb approached Jesus and asked him for Hebron 1. Let us learn from the law that the division of the earth was dictated by necessity, and, as it is said, this division was carried out first by Moses, and secondly by Jesus. We will not consider both of them in detail, but, having understood their nature, we will dwell only on the one that Jesus our Lord conveyed to us. Thus, Moses distributes the land beyond the Jordan, and Joshua and the leaders of the tribes of Israel divide the holy land (Joshua 14:1), “a good and spacious land” (Exodus 3:18). You see that when the Savior begins to distribute this true inheritance of the holy land, the leaders of the tribes of the true and spiritual Israel are also involved in this. But who are the leaders of our clans or the leaders of the Church if not the holy apostles, to whom the Savior says: “You also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28)? But the priest is also involved in this - the mysterious and mystical word of God, for it is said that Jesus and Eliazar will gather together to divide the earth. 2. Let us now see who receives the land from Jesus first. It is said: “Caleb the son of Jephunneh” (Joshua 14:6–14), since he was the first to make the request, giving his reasons and saying certain words that are described; and these words can teach us salvation. First of all, “Caleb” means “like the heart.” Who is this “like the heart”, if not the one who makes efforts to reason in everything, about whom they will not say that he is like the other parts of the body of the Church, but the one who is more beautiful than others - the heart; in other words, who does everything with prudence and prudence and arranges everything as only the heart can? “Jephoniah” means “conversion.” Therefore, Caleb is the son of conversion; and if Jephunneh was not turned to God, then how could he have produced such fruit from himself and given birth to such a son as a heart? Thus, everyone who devotes himself to Divine meditation and acts wisely and judiciously in everything is Caleb. He, taught first by Moses and then by Jesus, whom he helped, says: “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God” (Joshua 14:6). You know what the Lord said. Who else could know the word that the Lord spoke to Moses, if not only Jesus? No one understood the law as Jesus taught it; for He Himself explained everything and showed and revealed to Paul that “the law is spiritual” (Rom. 7:14). It is said: “He spoke about me and about you” (Joshua 14:6). Caleb states that Moses spoke “of me and of you.” This “about you” is what the Lord said: “If you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me, because he wrote about Me” (John 5:46). But when Moses spoke “about me,” that is, about Caleb, who is the heart, then, of course, he wrote about the heart, since he composed all his writings wisely and judiciously. And Caleb said: “I am as strong now as I was then” (Joshua 14:11). Of course, the saint is equally strong in the past and in the present, in the old and in the new, in the law and in the Gospel. That is why he said that he is as strong today, in the time of Jesus, as then, in the time of Moses, for the watchful heart is strong in the mysteries of both Testaments. 3. Let us, however, see what Caleb son of Jephunneh asked of Jesus first of all. He says: “Give me this mountain about which the Lord spoke on that day” (Joshua 14:12). The saint does not ask for anything low or unworthy, nothing that lies in the lowlands, but seeks a high mountain - that mountain on which large and fortified cities are located. For it is written: “The sons of Anak live there, and their cities are large and fortified” (Joshua 14:12). And he asks them because he has learned to fight, as it is written: “A wise man enters the city of the mighty and overthrows the fortress in which they trusted” (Prov. 21:22). Do you think that when Solomon said this, he wanted to teach us that a wise man captures a city and overthrows a fortress built of stones? Or does he indicate that the city and the walls are the theories of the atheists, the syllogisms of philosophers, with the help of which they try to prove everything that is wicked and contrary to the law of God that is observed among the pagans and barbarians? And what the heretics, citing the Scriptures, place as if on high mountains, should also be considered to be in these cities, fortified and located in the mountains. And therefore, every wise man who proclaims the word of truth overthrows cities like these, and destroys the walled cities of lies with the battering weapon of righteousness, just as the Apostle Paul said: “We cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:4-5). So now the wise Caleb stands before Jesus and promises to be ready for war, strong in battle, and asks to be allowed to meet and argue with the thinkers of this age, who present deception as truth, in order to convict, overcome them and destroy everything that they have built with their false statements. And finally, seeing his zeal, as it is said, “Jesus blessed him” (Joshua 14:13) - no doubt because he asks and dares to do this. So you too, if you want to diligently study and wisely consider the law of God and become “hearted” in it, you will be able to destroy these large and fortified cities, that is, overthrow these false statements, so that you too may earn the blessing of Jesus and receive Hebron. "Hebron" means "union" or "marriage". This perhaps shows that in this city there is a double cave, acquired by the patriarch Abraham, where the remains of the fathers with their wives are buried: Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. Thus, Caleb, who flourished both under Moses and under Jesus thanks to the wisdom he had, understood the nature of this union itself and understood why only Sarah lay with Abraham, but neither Hagar nor Keturah were worthy to join him; or why only Leah lies with Jacob, but neither Rachel, whom he loved more, nor any of the concubines were combined with him in the grave. And therefore the wise and prudent Caleb receives an inheritance in memory of his fathers. Joshua gives him Hebron, the chief city of the sons of Anak, and it becomes his “inheritance” “to this day” (Joshua 14:14). Oh, that the inheritance of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would also be given to me and my God would become mine, as He became “the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (Acts 7:32; Exodus 3:6), in Christ Jesus our Lord, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homilia XIX. About the limits of the inheritance of the tribe of Judah 1. Moses shared the inheritance; Jesus also shared the inheritance. However, regarding the division of the inheritance by Moses, it is not said that “the land was calm from war.” But the story about the division of the inheritance by Jesus is preceded by the words: “And the earth was calm from the war” (Joshua 14:15). And therefore, if you want to become worthy of an inheritance from Jesus and receive an inheritance from Him, you must first end all wars and remain in peace, so that it may be said about the land of your flesh: “The earth has rested from war.” 2. Further, although in the Holy Scriptures it is customary to name the four cardinal directions, which are called either “countries” or “lands,” in the description of the borders of the tribe of Judah only two are mentioned. It is said: “The lot for the tribe of the sons of Judah, according to their tribes, fell like this: adjacent to Idumea was the desert of Sin, to the west 20.” And when the boundaries are established in the west, it is said: “The limit to the east is the whole Salt Sea” (Joshua 15:5), and the remaining two parts of the world, that is, north and south, are not mentioned 21. See if all this is not filled with secrets. And although we are unable to understand or explain any of them, we will still try to consider each of them separately to the extent that it pleases the Lord and to the extent that we can comprehend. It is said: “The lot for the tribe of the sons of Judah, according to their tribes, fell like this: adjacent to Idumea was the desert of Sin, to the west.” Thus, the boundaries of the possessions of Judah pass close to the borders of Idumea. But “Idumea,” as we have often said, means “earthly.” Therefore, the lands of Judah begin immediately after the earthly. However, it is also said: “There was a desert of Sin.” "Sin" means "temptations." Thus, the lands of Judah's inheritance begin after the temptations. It speaks of west and east, and the neighboring lands mentioned above are contiguous. In addition, “the valley of Egypt” (Joshua 15:4) denotes the lands adjacent to the western parts and extending from the desert to the west. And in the east the border runs along the shore of the Salt Sea. 3. Then it says: “From the hills leading towards the west; and ascends from the west to Kadesh-barnea” (Joshua 15:2–3) and thus extends from the west to the west of Kadesh. These are the borders with Africa, and from it the lands stretch to the valley of Egypt. Do you see how Africa and Egypt are mentioned in the western reaches, as well as the setting of the sun? Without a doubt, so that everyone knows that he must avoid all this and step over them, so that he can finally reach the royal line, about which the Apostle says: “For it is known that our Lord has risen up from the tribe of Judah” (Heb. 7:14). “Adjacent to Idumea was the desert of Sin” (Joshua 15:1). A little earlier we said that the desert of Sin signifies “temptations,” and therefore we need to cross this desert of temptations in order to obtain the inheritance of the sons of Judah. However, we must ascend to the heights of Akravvim, which means “scorpions.” We should step on these scorpions and trample them - undoubtedly, those scorpions about which the Savior says: “I give you power to tread on snakes and scorpions” (Luke 10:19). Therefore, if anyone wants and desires to enter into the inheritance of the tribe of Judah, he must go up to a high place and step on the scorpions that block the way and crush them. I believe that this is the path that the prophet Ezekiel followed when the Lord told him: “Son of man, you will live among the scorpions” (Ezek. 2:6). It is said: “It reaches Kadesh.” "Kades" means "holy" or "sanctification." Therefore, the borders of Judea reach sanctification. 4. Let's see, however, what the boundaries of the east coast are. Not that I want to make a list of places, but so that we can understand the images of the secrets contained in them. It is said that from the east of the land the tribes of Judah were washed by the waters of the Salt Sea (Joshua 15:5). And then in this part the “fountain of the sun” (Joshua 15:7) and the “city of the sun” (Joshua 15:10) are mentioned; There is also a “city of letters” in this tribe (Joshua 15:15). Thus, anyone who wants to become a partaker of the sons of Judah must first cross the Salt Sea, that is, overcome the disturbances and storms of this life and avoid everything that, like the waves of the sea, is deceptive and fickle in this world, so that he reaches the land of Judah and approaches the source of the sun. What kind of source of the sun is this and what kind of sun is it? This is, without a doubt, the sun about which it is written: “For you who fear My name will the Sun of righteousness rise” (Mal. 4:2). This is the sun, the source of which you will find in the land of Judah if you first cross the Salt Sea. What source? Of course, the one about whom Jesus says: “The water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life” (John 4:14). And when you find the source of the sun that we spoke about, you will also find its city. It is said that there is also a city of the sun. It is stated that in Egypt there is a city of the sun (Gen.41:45). But that city, which is in Egypt, received its name from the sun, which the Heavenly Father “commands to rise on the evil and on the good” (Matthew 5:45). The city located in Judea belongs only to the saints, because it is the city of God, and the source of which we spoke above produced “river streams [that] make glad the city of God” (Ps. 46:5). So you too, if you are surrounded on all sides by a fortified wall of abstinence, if you are supported by towers of wisdom and greatness of soul, you will become the “city of God.” And if to all this you add the light of knowledge, about which Isaiah said: “Illuminate the light of knowledge for yourself” (Hosea 10:12), then the “Sun of Righteousness” will shine for you, and you will become the “city of the sun” and receive the “city of the sun” as an inheritance. But if you devote yourself to the law of God and meditate on it “day and night” (Ps. 1:2) “and this book of the law” (Joshua 1:8) does not depart from your hand, as Jesus was commanded, and if you do not forget the command of the Savior: “Search the Scriptures” (John 5:39), if you devote yourself to the study of the Divine law by reading or listening, then part of your inheritance will be “a city writings" (Joshua 15:15). We have explained all this to you according to the power of our understanding and to the best of your ability to listen, but full knowledge and a deeper and clearer understanding will be gained only by those who are worthy to receive the true inheritance of the true and only begotten Son of God, “which He promised to those who love Him” (James 2:5), in Christ Jesus our Lord, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homilia XX. About the difficulty of reasoning; how Caleb takes Hebron and his daughters 1. If it is possible for someone to enter the “good and spacious” land (Ex. 3:8), to ascend to the “land of the living” (Ps. 26:13), if someone is worthy to be lifted up by the Spirit to such a destination, then he will better understand the differences in the parts of the heritage, places and their names described in this passage. But since it is difficult to find a soul so taught and filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, then for the sake of general consolation, so that hearing Divine words and readings without proper explanations does not cause disappointment and annoyance in you, with God's help and your prayers we will try to briefly interpret the readings that can instruct our souls. And if there is something that we cannot yet comprehend, and you cannot hear, we will, despite this, hope that through our reasoning we will become better and more perfect, and that what we cannot understand now will become clear to us when, having become better, we turn to it again. And it is better to understand this while we live our earthly lives, as a reward for our efforts; if this fails, perhaps after death it will be revealed to those who are worthy. Let me remind you, however, that in the very reading of the Divine words pouring into our ears, even if they seem unclear to us, there is considerable benefit for the soul. After all, even the pagans believe that when those who master this craft sing special songs called incantations, or pronounce certain words, the meaning of which even those who proclaim them do not know, with the very sound of their voice they can put snakes to sleep or remove them from deep gorges. It is often said that with just their voice they can stop the spread of a tumor or calm a fever or do something similar in the human body, they can cause a certain numbness of mind in certain souls when faith in Christ does not offer resistance. So do we not believe how much greater power and power are the spoken words or names of the Holy Scriptures than all their spells and spells? When godless opposing forces hear certain names in these conspiracies and spells, then they appear, serve and do what they believe they are called for by this or that name, which to one degree or another depends on what service they have dedicated themselves to. And how much more joyfully and with more eagerness do the heavenly powers and angels of God, who are always with us - for the Lord says about the little ones of the Church, “that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:10) - willingly and joyfully accept them if we constantly pronounce them with our lips, as if some kind of conspiracies and incantations, the words of the Holy Scriptures and the repetition of these names. And even if we ourselves do not understand what our lips say, those forces that are present with us understand this, and they rejoice that they help us, as if called upon by some kind of chant. The Prophet asserts that many Divine powers not only surround us, but are within us, when he says in the Psalter: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me is His holy name” (Ps. 102:1), that is, everything that is within me. So, it is obvious that many different forces operate in us, which are entrusted with the care of both our soul and our body. These forces, if they are saints, rejoice when the Scriptures are read to us, and take even more zealous care of us, even if our “mind remains unfruitful,” as it is written: “When I pray in an unknown tongue, although my spirit prays, my mind remains unfruitful” (1 Cor. 14:14). For the holy Apostle also affirms this and betrayed a wonderful secret to human hearing, saying that the spirit can pray in us, but our “mind remains unfruitful.” Understand from this that sometimes our mind remains barren, but the spirit, that is, those forces that are given to help our soul, is strengthened and nourished by listening to the Holy Scriptures, as if by Divine and rational food. But why do I say that Divine powers feed and feast on us when we pronounce the words of Holy Scripture with our lips? Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, if He sees that we devote ourselves to this, study and practice doing it, will not only be pleased to eat and feast in us, but if He sees that this feast has been properly prepared, He will deign to bring the Father with Him. And since all this seems unusual and superhuman, let not my words serve as confirmation of this, but the words spoken by the Lord and Savior Himself: “Truly I say to you, I and My Father will come to him and will sup with him” (John 14:23; Rev. 3:20). With whom? With the one who “keeps my word” (John 14:23). But just as we said that with such reflections we call upon the Divine powers to cooperate and help us, so, on the other hand, by pronouncing these words and names, we avoid the traps of opposing forces and the attacks of evil demons. For example, if one of you sees a snake lulled by spells, or how it is carried in the arms or lured out of deep gorges, it does not cause harm with its poison, for it is neutralized by the power of the spellcaster. So is the power of Divine reading; If a snake of opposing force has taken up residence in us or some kind of viper is lurking in ambush, then if you patiently continue to listen and do not stop, tired or bored, you will drive it away with the praises of the Holy Scriptures and the incessant repetition of Divine sayings. 2. And therefore, O listener, if sometimes while reading Scripture you notice that you do not understand the words that reach your ears, and their meaning seems unclear to you, still accept its main benefit: just by listening, as if by some kind of spell, the poison of the harmful forces that have captured you and are plotting against you is neutralized and removed. Just be careful not to become “like a deaf asp who stops his ears and does not hear the voice of the exorcist, the most skilled in spells” (Ps. 57:5-6). For example, there is a song that is sung as a doxology by the skillful Moses, and as a doxology by the skillful Joshua, and as a doxology by all the skillful prophets. That is why we said that we should not neglect listening to the Scriptures, even if we do not understand them, but “according to your faith, let it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29), and we believe that “all Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable” (2 Tim. 3:16); and since it is “God-breathed and useful,” then we must believe that it is useful, even if we do not feel the benefit. Doctors tend to prescribe certain foods and drinks when, for example, to eliminate blurred vision; but, consuming this food or drink, we do not feel that it is beneficial and has a healing effect on the eyes. But a day passes, and another, and a third, the power of this food or this drink is transmitted in an unknown way to the eyes and gradually sharpens vision. Then, over time, we begin to understand that these foods and drinks are good for the eyes. The same happens with other parts of the body. So in relation to the Holy Scripture, we must believe that it is useful and beneficial for the soul, even if we do not yet understand with our perception why, for, as we have already said, the forces of good that are present in us are nourished by its words, and the forces of evil are neutralized and driven out by reflection on it. But perhaps someone listening will say: “You are saying all this in order to abandon the explanation and finish the argument; you do not give consolation even where it is possible; “You don’t ask the Lord to send down His grace and reveal the meaning of what you read, so that we can be at least a little satisfied with the explanation of the hidden and secret.” However, we say all this not for this reason and not in order to justify ourselves, but to show that in the Holy Scripture there is a power that can beneficially influence those who read it even without explanation. 3. Now, since we do not have time to review everything we have read, we will, God willing, touch lightly on certain points. The division of the inheritance distributed by Jesus begins with Caleb (cf. Josh. 14:13). After all, Caleb received his share before the inheritance was given to his family, the tribe of the sons of Judah, and he received it not at a distance, but “among the sons of Judah” (Joshua 15:13); and he got it not by lot, but by the command of the Lord; the whole city was given to him. Who else was worthy to receive such an inheritance and accept such a destiny, except Caleb, who, along with Joshua, was the only one left alive out of the sixty thousand armed men who came out of Egypt (cf. Num. 26:65; 32:12)? He rightfully received the capital city. That is why it is written: “Jesus gave him the city of Arba, the capital of the Anaks, otherwise Hebron” (Joshua 15:13), in which the graves of the fathers were located. Therefore, when Caleb received the city of Arba, the capital of the Anaks, that is, Hebron, he “drove out the three sons of the Anaks from there” (Joshua 15:14). Why do you think Scripture wants to show us that Caleb, when he received his share of the inheritance, drove out the three sons of Anak, and even calls their names: “Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai, the children of Anak” (Joshua 15:14)? Let's see why it was not enough to say “the sons of Anak,” but their names were added and, moreover, “the children of Anak” was added. In addition, it is reported that after receiving his share of the inheritance, “Caleb went against the inhabitants of Debir, and the name of Debir was formerly the City of Writing” (Joshua 15:15). Therefore, we must consider why the City of Letters later became Davir. 4. It is further reported that Caleb had a daughter and he set the following condition, saying: “Whoever strikes the City of Letters and takes it, I will give Achsah my daughter as a wife” (Joshua 15:16). And when he proposed this, “Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb 22, took it [City of Letters]” (Joshua 15:17). But if, as we have said, none of these words should be disregarded as being spoken casually, the Holy Scripture opens before us a topic for investigation: Othniel is called the brother of Caleb, but it is written that Caleb is the son of Jephunneh, and Othniel the son of Kenaz. How can someone be Caleb's brother unless he is the son of Jephunneh? And yet one is called the son of Jephunneh, and the other, who captured the City of Letters, is called the son of Kenaz. It is also added that he is the younger brother and that by the terms of the treaty he received Achsah, the daughter of Caleb, as a wife, because he captured and destroyed the City of Letters. And when Akhsa was given in marriage by agreement and sat on a donkey, ready to leave her father’s house, she said to her husband: “I will ask my father for a field,” and she called from the donkey. Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” She said: Give me a blessing, for you gave me in marriage to the lands of the south. And she received the upper Golathmaim and the lower Golathmaim.” And, concluding the story about this, the Scripture says: “This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Judah” (Joshua 15:17-20). You see that God's help is truly necessary to explain all this, and that it is absolutely impossible for a person to reason about it unless he is enlightened by God's grace. So help me with your prayers and work with me so that the Lord will be pleased to shed the light of truth on these hidden and incomprehensible passages, so that we can reveal to you how true, beneficial and Divine these words are, but through the weakness of human nature are hidden in images and shrouded in secrets. 5. Let us first find out why Caleb received the capital, the first of all in the Promised Land and the capital of Anak. "Enak" means "vain humility" or "vain answer." Caleb received the capital of vain humility. Without a doubt, there are two types of humility. One is worthy of praise, about which the Savior says: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). It is about this humility that it is said: “Everyone who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11), and in another place: “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God” (1 Peter 5:6). But there is another, sinful humility, similar to the one mentioned in Scripture when it speaks of illegal union: “And he humbled her 24” (2 Samuel 13:14) - this is written about Amnon, who “humbled” his sister Tamar. So, there is vain humility that comes from sin. And it was the capital of vain humility that Caleb captured and destroyed, and killed the three sons of Anak, who were the sons of vain humility, and after destroying them, he himself lives in this city and does what is written about below. Who are these sons of vain humility whom Caleb destroyed? The first is Sheshai, which means “outside me,” that is, “outside the holy,” for the son of vain humility is outside what is holy, or rather, outside of God. The second, Ahiman, means “my brother is far from prudent,” as if we said “unwise brother.” Truly, all brothers born from vain humility are certainly far from prudence. The third, Falmai, means "abyss" or "suspended" - an indication that there is nothing stable in it, but everything is shaky and falling into the abyss. These are the three sons of Anak, whom Caleb destroyed and destroyed, after which he went to Debir. Davir was formerly called the City of Letters. Now it means “word.” But earlier its name was the City of Letters. Thus, we must understand by the City of Letters the entire content of the Old Testament; that is, that Scripture which we are now trying to explain is the City of Writings, and subsequently becomes Debir, otherwise “the word.” After all, what previously existed in writing and was understood by the letter, through the revelation of the Lord became the word in the churches of Christ, and the holy apostles were the first to say and explain this, who removed the cover of the letter from these writings and extracted the spiritual word from them. And each of the teachers of the Church makes the letter of the law the word and teaching of the Gospel. So who are these three sons of Anak who were killed by Caleb, to whom we imputed the power of the law? By vain humility we must understand the views of all worldly poets and philosophers on Divinity, because their thoughts are insignificant and unworthy of God. For what is so low and so vainly humble as to create gods from stone or wood and believe in them? So, the first son of this vain humility is the one who is called “beyond me”; this means that the highest understanding of such is outside the truth and outside God. The second is Ahiman, that is, “brother without prudence”; definitely, because he is the brother of his own sin, which is committed without prudence. After all, what could be crazier than leaving the God who created us and following the gods we ourselves created? The third thought of sin is Falmai, which means “abyss” or “suspended.” The final result of this sin is that such people tend to the abyss and abyss of the underworld. Therefore, the law, which even in letter proclaims “the true God” (Jer. 10:10), the Creator of everything, rejects such thoughts of the pagans, as if the sons of Anak were the descendants of an ancient sin. 6. But now Caleb rises up against the City of Letters and says: “Whoever defeats the City of Letters and takes it, I will give Achsah my daughter to him as a wife. And Othniel, the youngest son of Kenaz, Caleb’s brother, took him” (Joshua 15:16–17). And Othniel, who captured the City of Letters, means “God’s answer.” But the answer of God can be called the one to whom God answers, that is, he announces secrets and reveals secrets. Thus, the one who can capture the City of Letters of the Old Testament and destroy the letter that “kills” (2 Cor. 3:6) is Caleb’s younger brother. I am Caleb’s younger brother in the Church, I who, having rejected and abolished the letter of the law, seeks spiritual meaning in it. I reject the letter when I am not circumcised according to the flesh, when I do not eat unleavened bread according to the flesh, when I do not celebrate the Passover with the Jews and do not keep the Sabbath according to the letter. After all, it was promised to me that if I destroy the City of Letters, I will receive the daughter of my elder brother. For formerly I was the son of Kenaz, which means "contempt." And who was despised if not us, the nations who were “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and being without gods in the world” (Eph. 2:12)? For my elder brother, whose daughter I now receive because I destroyed the City of Letters, was the son of Jephunneh, which means “conversion.” That is why he gives me his daughter, that is, he gives his knowledge and understanding of the law to me, his younger brother, according to what is written: “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who bear its fruits” (Matthew 21:43). It should be understood, however, that the law represented here by Caleb is one thing, and the letter of the Old Testament, figuratively represented by the City of Letters, is another. So, having received his daughter, I, his younger brother, take her from her father's house. And when she leaves with me, she sits on a donkey - what donkey? Undoubtedly, on the one whom the Savior’s disciples untied (cf. Matt. 21:2 ff.) - and she says to her father: “Give me a blessing. And she received Golathmaim the upper and Golathmaim the bottom” (Joshua 15:18–19). For the Apostle clearly says: “Having the promise of the present life and the life to come” (1 Tim. 4:8); and the Savior promises those who follow the perfection of His word that they will receive in the present age “a hundredfold more, and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:30). This is what it means to receive the upper and lower Golafmaim as blessings. So let us pray that we too may be worthy to receive this blessing through Christ our Lord, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homilia XXI. About the sons of Judah, who could not drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem 1. The sons of Judah wanted to expel the Jebusites from Jerusalem or kill them, but “they could not, and therefore the Jebusites live with the sons of Judah in Jerusalem even to this day” (Joshua 15:63). Beginning with the literal meaning, we would like to ask those who believe that what is written can be understood by the letter, what is meant by the expression “until this day,” which in Holy Scripture always means “until the end of the age,” as in what was said: “Do not depart from the Lord only until you can say: “today”” (1 Sam. 12:20; Heb. 3:13), that is, until the end of the world. So let them explain to me how the Jebusites can live with the sons of Judah in Jerusalem until the end of the world, if the sons of Judah themselves no longer live in Jerusalem. It turns out that this statement cannot be true: the Jebusites cannot live in Jerusalem with the sons of Judah, since they no longer live there. But we understand what is said spiritually, based on the Gospel parable, which speaks of the tares: “So that when you choose the tares you do not pull up the wheat along with them, let both grow together” (Matthew 13:29-30). And since in the Gospel the tares are allowed to grow along with the wheat, then also here, in Jerusalem, that is, in the Church, there are certain Jebusites who live wickedly and dissolutely, vicious not only in faith and in actions, but also in their very way of life. For while the Church is on earth, it is impossible to cleanse it so much that there is no atheist or sinner left in it, where everyone is holy and blessed and there is not a speck of sin in them. But as it is said about the tares, “lest when you choose the tares you pull up the wheat along with them,” the same can be said about those in whom doubtful or hidden sins are found. For there is no question of what should not be expelled from the Church by obvious and open sinners. Listen to what the Scripture says: “But the sons of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and therefore the Jebusites live with the children of Judah in Jerusalem even to this day.” And therefore I beg you, the faithful, to carefully observe how you live, so that you yourself do not be tempted and do not become the reason for the temptation of others; but that you should be extremely diligent and careful, so that no unclean person enters your holy assembly, and no Jebusite remains among you. For you yourself see what is said in the Scriptures, that the sons of Judah could not drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem. Jebusite means trampled under foot. And therefore, since we cannot cast out those who trample on us, let us at least drive out those we can, those whose sins are obvious. For when sin is not visible, we cannot exclude anyone from the Church, lest, while pulling up the tares, we inadvertently pull up the wheat with them. 2. I am, however, concerned about what was said that they could not drive out the Jebusites, that is, those who mean “to trample under foot.” Therefore, let’s look at who the “tramplers” are in the Church. These are, without a doubt, those about whom the Lord said in the Gospel: “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matthew 7:6). This is what the Jebusites are like, trampling, those who unworthily listen to the word of God, and having listened, do not move away from it, as infidels, and do not remain with it, as faithful, but, having received the basic concepts of the mysteries of our teaching and having learned the secrets of our faith, they then turn and attack us and torment our hearts with their objections, trampling on the pearls of the Divine word and desecrating the treasure of faith. It is about them that it is said that the sons of Judah were unable to drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem to this day. Something similar is written about the Ephraimites; the Scripture says: “But the Ephraimites did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer; therefore the Canaanites dwelt among the Ephraimites to this day” (Joshua 16:10). "Ephraim" means "fruit bearing." Therefore, the one who bears fruit and is established in the faith cannot drive out the Canaanites - a harmful generation, a slanderous generation, a fickle and ever wavering generation; for this is what the word “Canaanite” means. It is evident that a Canaanite always lives with one who bears fruit and who believes; because the excitement of temptation never leaves him. But if you are truly bearing fruit in God and you see someone living in disorder, confusion and vanity, know that he is a Canaanite. And if you cannot throw him out of the Church, for the sons of Ephraim were not able to drive out the Canaanites, do what the Apostle commands, saying: “Get away from every brother who walks disorderly” (2 Thess. 3:6). Along with what we said, Solomon calls for us to write three times in the depths of our hearts what we read (cf. Prov. 22:20). What appears to my heart, I will commit to your hearing; But act according to what is written: one says, “and let the rest reason” (1 Cor. 14:29). So, when I say what I think, you reason and investigate whether it is true or false. We often say that "Jerusalem" means "the vision of the world." Therefore, if Jerusalem is built in our heart, that is, if a “vision of the world” is created in our heart and if we always keep in our hearts and contemplate Christ, who “is our peace” (Eph. 2:14), if we are so firm and unshakable in this “vision of the world” that bad thoughts or sinful plans never arise in our hearts - if this were so, then we could say that we are in Jerusalem and only saints. However, in reality, even though we have achieved great success and improved ourselves with the greatest zeal, I think that none of us can achieve such purity of heart as not to be defiled by any infection of evil thoughts, and therefore, undoubtedly, the Jebusites still live with the sons of Judah in Jerusalem. But we say this not at all in order to calm down and do nothing, but we must act and try every day to drive them out of Jerusalem; True, as it is written, we cannot expel them all at once. And those who bear fruit and are called the sons of Ephraim must always drive out the Canaanites - disordered and vain thoughts - from their souls. But God is able to bring both the Jebusites and the Canaanites into subjection for us, as it is written: And He made the Canaanites subject to the sons of Ephraim (cf. Joshua 17:13). So let us pray to the Lord that He would drive out evil thoughts from us and put into us good thoughts worthy of the heavenly city of Jerusalem, so that there would not be in our minds any bad or unclean thought that would convict us on the day of judgment, but that a pure heart would be found in us in Jesus Christ our Lord, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homilia XXII. About the race of Ephraim and the Canaanites 1. The third time it is said that the Canaanites live among the Ephraimites, but let us carefully consider the order of all these references, that is, what is said in the first passage, where it is said about the Canaanites and the sons of Ephraim, what is said in the second and what is said in the third. For if we carefully examine how for the third time it is narrated that the Canaanites live among the sons of Ephraim, and if the Lord grants us the opportunity to consider the order of these narrations, what is said in the first, what is said in the second, and what is said in the third, then I think that we will no longer have any doubts about their truth, for they were written not only to tell us about the events that took place, but also because they are filled with Divine secrets and worthy of God. The first passage says, “But the Ephraimites did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; therefore the Canaanites lived among the Ephraimites to this day, paying them tribute” (Josh. 16:10) until the time when “Pharaoh king of Egypt came and took Gazer and burned it with fire, and he killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and gave it as a dowry to his daughter” (1 Kings 9:16). In the second: “When the children of Israel came into power, then they made the Canaanites tributaries, but they did not drive them out” (Joshua 17:13). The third passage tells how the men from the family of Ephraim argued with Jesus (Josh. 17:14-18), wanting, due to their large population, to receive a larger and better share as an inheritance; then they were asked to go into the forests and expand their possessions themselves, and so that they could occupy more space, they were ordered to expel the Canaanites. 2. Now let's see what this three-part narrative of the Canaanites is all about. The first time it is said that the Canaanite lives with us, although he is subject to tribute, he does not obey us and is not a slave. The second time he becomes a slave and submits. Let us imagine that the Canaanites are our flesh or those who are flesh. At first it dwells with us, that is, it is connected with the soul, but is not subordinate to it, but only pays tribute, in other words, it serves movement and action, but “desires what is contrary to the spirit” (Gal. 5:17) and is not subject to the soul, but to its own desires. If we succeed to a significant extent, then the flesh submits and becomes our slave, obeying the will of the soul; this is the second stage of improvement of the soul, when it subjugates the flesh to its power. The third stage is perfection. For if we have achieved perfection, then we are commanded to drive out the Canaanites from ourselves and put them to death. How this is accomplished in our flesh, the Apostle tells us: “Mortify your members on the earth: fornication, uncleanness” (Col. 3:5) and so on. And he also says: “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). So, at the third stage, when we achieve perfection, mortify our members and bear the death of Christ in our body, it is said that we drive out the Canaanites. 3. However, one should not pass over in silence, as if it were said by chance, that Pharaoh comes and captures the city of Gazer, where the Canaanites lived with the Ephraimites, and gives it as a dowry to his daughter. "Gazer" means "close union." And therefore, if the soul and body live in a close union, in other words, in close interconnection and community, so that the soul lives in a carnal way and is in no hurry to conquer and subjugate the flesh, then one must be afraid lest Pharaoh come from Egypt, captivate this unfortunate soul and give it as a dowry to his daughter. After all, if you consider what the Apostle said: “But in [our] members I see another law, warring against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members” (Rom. 7:23), then you will find that this Pharaoh, the author and prince of sin, gives as a dowry to his daughter - the law of sin - a soul living in the flesh. 4. Then we see Joseph's sons express dissatisfaction with their inheritance and demand a larger share, saying to Jesus: “Why have you given me one lot and one plot as an inheritance, while I am a populous man, because the Lord has so blessed me?” (Joshua 17:14). If we are a crowded people and the Lord has blessed us, then we will hear from Jesus: “If you are a crowded people, then go into the forests and there, in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaims, clear a place for yourself” (Joshua 17:15). Therefore we must drive out the Perizzites. We see that “perezei” means “fruit bearing.” But, as we have often said about other names, this word has a double meaning: there is good fruit and bad fruit, just as the Gospel says: “Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit” (Matthew 7:17). Therefore, we must reject everything that does not bear good fruit, cut off the fruit of sin and remove the fruit of unrighteousness. But it is also said that you must drive out the Rephaim, or, more precisely, get rid of them. We find that "rephaim" means "negligent mothers." According to what is mysteriously said about the soul as a woman, there is a certain power in our soul that gives birth to thoughts and is, as it were, the mother of these thoughts or this understanding that issue from us, which “is saved through childbearing if she continues in faith and love and in holiness with chastity” (1 Tim. 2:15). Thus, these mothers, that is, this power of the soul, generates in those in whom it is powerful, effective and beneficial, healthy and fruitful thoughts that cannot be overcome by any objections. In others, this force is weak and careless, which is expressed in sluggish and worthless thoughts that do not contain any strength. This is what is meant by the name “rephaim,” negligent mothers who give rise to sluggish and vain thoughts, which we must get rid of. And it exactly corresponds to the spiritual understanding, for it is said that it is necessary not to exterminate the Rephaim, but to get rid of them. Therefore, we are instructed not to destroy and eradicate the natural impulses of the soul, but to get rid of them, in other words, to cleanse and remove from ourselves all the dirt and impurity that accumulates through our negligence, so that the natural life energy of the soul, its innate strength, will shine. 5. Then the sons of Ephraim continue, saying: “The mountain will not be enough for us; And the Canaanites who live with me have a choice horse and iron” (Joshua 17:16) 25. You will never find it said of an Israelite that he has a horse, but that horse which is "unsafe for salvation" (Ps. 33:17) belongs to a Canaanite. He also has iron for war. But what does Jesus answer them? “If you are a multitude and your strength is great, you will have more than one lot: both the mountain and this forest will be yours” (Joshua 17:17–18). You see what is said to us through spiritual understanding, so that we clear the forest that is within us, cut down the useless and barren trees in ourselves, in order to cultivate the fields there, to constantly renew them and collect fruits “a hundredfold, sixty and thirty” (Matthew 13:8:23). Isn’t this the same thing that the Gospel warns us about, saying: “Even the ax is laid at the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10)? Our Lord Jesus commands us to do the same in the Gospels. Isn't it obvious that the shadow precedes and the truth follows? 6. What else does Jesus say? “You will clear the forest, and it will be yours to the very end of it; for you will drive out the Canaanites” (Joshua 17:18). We said above how the Canaanite living with us first only pays tribute, then becomes submissive and enslaved, and finally, as said, we drive him out by killing our members. And if we correctly understand what has been said and the Lord, by His grace, has granted us the ability to understand Him correctly, then let the answer to this be our desire to reveal and explain the secrets and mysteries that have been kept untouched to this day. Let us try, according to what we talked about, to quickly subdue the Canaanite living with us, subjugate him, and then expel him; for if we leave it neglected, then “Pharaoh the king of Egypt” will come, seize our city, give it “as a dowry to his daughter” (Josh. 16:10; 1 Kings 9:16) and make us “captives of the law of sin” (Rom. 7:23). Let the noble Israelite beware lest he be enslaved by Pharaoh's daughter. God brought him out of the land of Egypt, so he will not again become a slave of Pharaoh, swallowed up by the waters of the Red Sea. So let us be vigilant and, as Jesus teaches us, let us strengthen ourselves against the Canaanites, so that they do not get the better of us and conquer us, the Israelites, and make us Canaanites, as happened to those who were overcome by the temptations of the flesh, as the prophet said: “The tribe of Canaan, not Judah! beauty has deceived you” (Dan.13:56). So we will not hear us called the tribe of Canaan, for “Cursed is Canaan; He will be a servant of servants to his brothers” (Gen. 9:25). May the Lord grant us that we may become sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, “heirs according to the promise” (Gal.3:29), we, the children of Abraham, “built from stones” (Matthew 3:9) by Jesus Christ our Lord, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homily XXIII. About the method of casting lots when the seven tribes receive an inheritance 1. Usually, when something is distributed by lot, it seems to fall out by chance: one thing to one, another to another; but it is not so in the Holy Scriptures. Many times I have asked myself whether the Holy Fathers would have relied on the lot to judge something so great and important. And if this were the case among the saints, then it would not seem something surprising now, in the case of other people and nations, for there would be nothing unusual in what, as it is said, was distributed by lot among the saints. But let us see if we do not find something in Scripture that will clearly show us what power is contained in the lot. Let's start with the book of Leviticus, where it is written: “And Aaron will cast lots for both goats: one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat; And Aaron will bring the goat on which the lot was drawn for the Lord, and offer it as a sin offering, and the goat on which the lot was drawn for scapegoating, he will present alive before the Lord, to make atonement for it and send it into the wilderness for scapegoating” (Lev. 16:8-10), and so on, which is well known to those who have read this book. And the second time - when Moses allocates the inheritance by lot to the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 13:15-31), who asked him to receive the land beyond the Jordan, which was captured by the children of Israel (Numbers 32:1-5). But Joshua gave inheritance to both Caleb the son of Jephunneh and the tribe of Judah at the command of the Lord (Joshua 14:13). He also gave a share to the clan of Ephraim (Joshua 16:1) and the other half of the tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 13:15–52). But after this it is said: “He gathered together the whole congregation of the sons of Israel” (Joshua 18:1) and said: “I will divide the land into inheritances for you by lot before the Lord, if first you will describe the land and come to me” (cf. Josh. 18:4). And thus the inheritance was divided by lot for the people of God, and this lot did not fall by chance, but according to what God had ordained. So, the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, where Jerusalem was located, was the first to receive inheritance (Joshua 18:11-28), the second was the tribe of Simeon, then Zebulun, then Issachar, after him Asher, then Naphtali and, finally, Dan (Joshua 19:1-40). The last three generations descend from Jacob's concubines (Gen. 30:5–8:12–13). 2. That is why I ask myself what method of casting lots could be, in order to understand to me what is hidden in many testimonies of Scripture. Of course, I found in the Scriptures that the Gentiles also used the lot when Jonah was sailing on the sea and there was a great storm. After all, those sailing on the ship said: “Come, let’s cast lots to find out for whom this misfortune befalls us” (John 1:7), as if the lot had such power that it could reveal the cause of the danger that threatened the sailors. And although the knowledge of God was alien to the pagans, they were not deceived in their expectations, and the lot revealed the truth to them. It is said: “And the lot fell on Jonah” (Jon.1:7). Continuing my search, I also found Solomon saying in Proverbs: “The lot ends disputes and decides between the mighty” (Prov. 18:18), as if to show that once the lot is cast, disputes cease. And when I found in the Old Testament many statements relating to the lot, I turned to the New Testament to see if I would not find there a disdainful attitude towards the lot or whether I would not find that its use was not prohibited there. I found that one day, when one was missing from the number of the apostles, and it became necessary to choose another apostle in place of Judas, the apostles, who were much wiser than those who today ordain bishops, presbyters, or deacons, met and chose two and installed them among themselves; however, they did not decide on their own which of them to choose, but instead prayed and cast lots for those two who stood before the Lord, that is, the lot of “Joseph, called Barsaba, who was called Justus, and Matthias” (Acts 1:23). It is said: “And the lot fell to Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven Apostles” (Acts 1:26). For when the lot is preceded by prayer, it declares God's will not by chance, but by providence. And I continued to look for whether it was said somewhere else in the New Testament about the lot in connection with Christ, the Church, or something mysterious that apparently had to do with the soul. I found Paul in his letter to the Ephesians speaking of Christ: “In Him we were chosen by lot, 26 being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the purpose of His will, so that we who had previously trusted in Christ might be a cause for the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:11-12); and to the Thessalonians he also writes: “Giving thanks to God the Father, who has given you part of the lot of the saints in the light 27” (Col. 1:12). Thus, by collecting together so many testimonies of the Holy Scriptures in which the lot is mentioned, and carefully considering these many passages, we will be able to comprehend more deeply what is said in them; As for me, the meaning of this is still unclear to me, and even fear seizes me from the fact that I am trying to open and explain such hidden secrets. However, this is enough for us, for the use of lots by the apostles shows that when someone resorts to lots with unshakable faith, preceded by prayer, then he reveals to people the secret will of God. 3. According to the deep understanding that Paul points to when he says “part of the lot of the saints” and “in Christ they are chosen by lot,” it is necessary to determine whether the lot applies only among men or also among higher powers and how this power operates. For example, in this case, when Joshua the son of Nun casts lots to distribute the inheritance, this power directs it not by some kind of favor, but according to what it knows how to please God, and first chooses the one who, as it knows, occupies first place in the eyes of God, and thus the lot shows people what is hidden in God, then second, then third. I think that this happens not only on earth, but also in heaven, and such a lot, which God distributed by consideration of merits, took place at that time, “when the Almighty gave inheritance to the nations and scattered the sons of Adam, then he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the Angels of God; and the portion of the Lord became Jacob, and His inheritance was Israel” (Deut. 32:8–9); you see, it is said that Israel is God's portion and portion. However, one should not think that one angel accidentally got such and such a people, for example, the Egyptians, another - the Edomites, another - the Moabites, another - the Indians, and so on all the peoples of the earth; but in saying that the nations were divided according to the number of the angels of God, one must believe that the way the lot fell reveals the secret judgments of God, as it happens among people, and that each angel, during the division, accepted one or another people according to his merits and strength. And why am I talking about such important and general things? It must be said that not one of us is excluded from such a lot, governed by the judgment of God; for example, each of us at birth receives one life or another by lot; or how, in relation to people, we teach what is often reflected in the Holy Scriptures, that good angels and evil ones are always present with people; and it is not by chance, not without reasoning, that some angel receives by lot this or that soul, which he must guard, for example, the soul of Peter or Paul or the soul of one of those little Churches about whom the Lord says that “Their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). Be that as it may, there is no doubt that this is determined by God, Who clearly sees both their merits and the properties of our souls, entrusted to them by lot, guided by the providence of Christ. As for my opinion, I will not hesitate to say about the forces entrusted with the government of this world that there is no place for chance in their action; It is no coincidence that one force controls the growth of trees on earth, another controls water streams, another controls rain, another controls sea animals, another controls earthly animals and everything that the earth produces. And in everything there are inexpressible secrets of God's providence, and everything can be divided into groups according to its structure and the power with which it corresponds. For the Apostle Paul also says: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to serve those who are to inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14). 4. So, we must believe that here too the Scripture shows in images that the lot cast by Jesus, and the inheritance that fell to each tribe, were determined by God's providence; and by the inexpressible providence of God and His foresight, the image of the future inheritance in heaven is shown in this lot. And since “the law has a shadow of future good things” (Heb. 10:1) and the Apostle says to those who came to the Lord Jesus Christ: “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb. 12:22), there is a city in heaven called Jerusalem and Mount Zion, and it is no coincidence that Benjamin received Jerusalem and Mount Zion as an inheritance (Josh. 18:28). Without a doubt, the very nature of the heavenly Jerusalem demanded that the earthly Jerusalem, preserving the appearance and image of the heavenly, should be given to none other than Benjamin. The same must be said of Bethlehem, which was not without reason given to Judah, or of Hebron, or of any other city assigned to one of the tribes, except, as we have already said, those places in heaven, including Jerusalem and Zion, and, no doubt, other places located in the neighborhood or adjoining them, which contain in themselves in heaven the cause and the basis that determines their distribution by lot on earth. Thus, it is precisely for this reason that, by the will of Divine wisdom, the names of places are written down in Scripture, having a certain spiritual interpretation, which clearly shows that they were used for certain reasons, and not at the whim of chance. For we should not think that by chance, for example, one angel was named Michael, another Gabriel, and another Raphael, and, descending to human affairs, it is not by chance that one patriarch was called Abraham, another Isaac, and another Israel. Even among women there is no place for chance, but for a certain Divine reason one was renamed Sarah from Sarah (Gen. 17:15), or another - Israel from Jacob (Gen. 35:10), or another - Abraham from Abram (Gen. 17:5). It is also indisputable that each angel or person is assigned a name by lot, based on the duties or actions that are associated with him. Reasoning this way, we can conclude that certain places and cities are heavenly, just as Jerusalem and Zion, like others, are called heavenly, and those cities on earth have their image, which is what spiritual Scripture shows us through Jesus the son of Nun. And I think that it is said about these cities: “God will build the cities of Judah, and they will settle there and inherit them” (Ps. 68:36). And the Lord and Savior also speaks about them: “In My Father’s house are many mansions” (John 14:2). And we must believe that about these cities the Lord said to His good servant: “Take control of ten cities,” and to another: “Be over five cities” (Luke 19:17:19). So, we have dared, to the extent that God allowed us, to present to you an interpretation of what the Scripture tells about the division by lot of the land of Judea, which calls Jerusalem and Mount Zion heavenly, along with other places located, as it is said, in heaven, which gives us the opportunity to learn about what is written about the heavenly mysteries. And since we have told you about this, do not consider such reading tedious and what is said in Scripture of little importance because of the abundance of names and titles; rather realize that in these mysteries there is something inexplicable, something that cannot be expressed in human language or heard by mortal ears, something that, as I think, not only I, “the least” (1 Cor. 15:9), but also those who are much better than me, cannot adequately and comprehensively interpret. Moreover, I am not sure whether the holy apostles themselves expressed this in its entirety; I didn’t say it was impossible to know, I said it was impossible to express. Without a doubt, this was known to him and comprehended perfectly by those who were “caught up to the third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:3), who, being in heaven, saw the heavenly things, saw Jerusalem, the true city of God, saw Mount Zion there, wherever it was, saw Bethlehem, and Hebron, and everything that, as described, was divided by lot; and not only saw, but also contemplated in the Spirit their reason, for, as he himself admits, he heard the words and understood the meaning. But what words? It is said: “I heard unspeakable words, which it is impossible for a man to tell” (2 Cor. 12:4). Thus you see that Paul knows and contemplates all things in the Spirit, but he is not allowed to reveal them to people. Which people? Without a doubt, to those about whom it is said with reproach: “Aren’t you people? 28 And are you not walking according to human custom?” (1 Cor. 3:3). But perhaps he revealed this to those who no longer act according to human custom; he revealed this to Timothy, Luke and the other disciples, whom he knew were capable of unspeakable mysteries. And finally, he secretly instructs Timothy: “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2). Thus, since we consider all this to be Divine and spiritual, let us become worthy and prepare ourselves to receive these mysteries with our life, faith, our actions and merits, so that, having worthily comprehended them, we will be deemed worthy to receive them as an inheritance in heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homily XXIV. How the Amorites lived with Ephraim, and how Jesus took the city from the children of Israel 1. Somewhat earlier it was said that the sons of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem (Joshua 15:63), and that the sons of Ephraim could not drive out the Canaanites who lived among them (Joshua 16:10). Today’s reading tells something similar about the Amorites, saying: “The Amorites remained to live in Elom and Salamis, but the hand of Ephraim prevailed over them, and they became his tributaries” (Joshua 19:47). The word "Amorite" means "bitter" or "bitterness." Thus, in Elom, which means “those who strike hard,” and in Salamis, which means “the peaceful,” bitterness remains and abides in both those who strike and the peaceful. Those who strike are those who, having begun the battle, try to capture the devil's dwellings and structures. The peaceful are those who, having overcome carnal desires, produce peace for the soul. However, the opposite force, bitterness, continues to persist in both. We can see something similar in what is said: "The Amorites remained to live among them" - for example, when a hostile demonic force emanating from the accumulation of bitterness takes possession of someone's body, upsets and lulls his mind, and then many prayers, fasts and exorcisms are performed, but, being deaf to all this, the demon continues to dwell in the body of the possessed, preferring to endure the pain of exile and the torment caused to him by invoking the name of God, but not to leave the person whom he shamelessly and dissolutely took possession of. In the same way we must understand those who are called here the Amorites, who “remained to live in Elom and Salamis.” And that the Scripture may show that they remained, enduring pain and suffering, it is said: “The hand of Ephraim prevailed against them.” How did Efremov’s hand overcome them? As we have already said, the hand of Ephraim overcame the unclean spirits, for the hand of those casting out demons lay heavily on them, since good deeds and good deeds crushed and weakened the race of demons and opposing forces. After all, the more we do good and strive for the best, the more painful and burdensome it becomes for them. He who lives in filth and wickedness is kind and pleasant to them and brings them a kind of pleasure. But truly, the one who overcomes them with good deeds, even if he cannot drive them out completely, will subdue them and make them his tributaries. 2. “And the children of Ephraim finished dividing the land according to its borders” (Joshua 19:49). And when Scripture tells this story, what humility and meekness in the subsequent narrative it shows in the blessed Jesus, who was truly worthy to bear the name of our Lord and Savior. For it is said: “The children of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun: at the commandment of the Lord they gave him the city of Timnath-sarai, which he asked, on Mount Ephraim; and he built a city and lived in it” (Joshua 19:49–50). He himself gave the inheritance to all the sons of Judah, and separated it from Ephraim and half the tribe of Manasseh; it was he who gave the inheritance to the glorious Caleb, the son of Jephunneh; It was he who sent three men from each tribe to go around all the lands, so that upon their return they would describe and show them to him; and it was he who cast lots for everyone, and made himself last. Why do you think he wanted to be the last of them all? Without a doubt, in order to become the first of all (Matthew 19:30). He did not take his share in advance, but received it from others; The children of Israel gave him an inheritance from what they themselves received. For it is written thus: “The children of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun.” But “all this happened to them as images” (1 Cor. 10:11), in order to set an example for us, so that we would observe the commandment he fulfilled in practice, which reads: “As great as you are, humble yourself, and you will find grace with the Lord” (Sir. 3:18), and also: “If they made you an elder, do not be proud; be among others as one of them” (Sir.32:1). So see how the eldest who brought the children of Israel to the holy land, to the promised land, was one of them. He was the successor of Moses, but did not allow himself part of the land, and, being the leader of the people, expected to receive it from the people. And having received his modest share, Jesus, worthy of his name, builds and erects a city on the place that he received, to make it worthy of the gift of God and the Divine inheritance. 3. But since it has become customary for us to attribute what is written about Jesus to our Lord and Savior, then perhaps everyone present here will give a share to my Lord Jesus and, for example, give Him a dwelling. But so that what has been said does not seem too daring, let us find out how we, His servants, give Him a dwelling. If I could become good, I would give a place in myself to the Son of God, and the Lord Jesus would establish and furnish the place in my soul that He received, and erect on it impenetrable walls with high towers, so that, if I deserved it, He would build in me a dwelling befitting Him and the Father, and would so adorn my soul that it would become capable of containing all His wisdom and knowledge and holiness; and would have made it so that God the Father would come in with Him and create an abode (John 14:23) in the soul and begin to dine with it (Rev. 3:20). And in order to deserve to receive this, let us prepare within ourselves a pure heart, so that the Lord Jesus will deign us to joyfully enter into the dwelling of our hearts; To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homily XXV. About the cities given to the Levites and their lot 1. All the sons of Israel received their share of the land, but for the Levites it was enough to have God alone as their inheritance (Josh. 13:14; Num. 18:20–24). Nevertheless, since the Levites, at the command of God, receive tithes and firstfruits from the children of Israel, then they are entitled, I would say, a tenth share of both land and dwellings; for this is what it means to receive “a tenth of everything” (Gen. 14:20; Heb. 7:2). That is why “the leaders of the families of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the leaders of the families of the children of Israel, and spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, and said: The Lord commanded through Moses to give us cities to live in and their suburbs for our livestock” (Joshua 21:1-2). In dividing the cities and suburbs, lots had to be cast so that the distribution between the Levites would not appear to be the result of blind chance. Therefore, the division by lot that took place among the sons of Israel had its own meaning, according to which one was awarded the first lot, the other the second, which we have already examined to the best of our ability; and this is true both of those who received the inheritance beyond the Jordan through Moses, and of those who received it from Jesus in the Promised Land, where “the first lot went out to the tribe of the sons of Benjamin” (Joshua 18:11), then to the rest, among whom Dan was the last (Joshua 19:40); and thus there must also be a reason in the order of the lots of the priests and Levites, where one went first, and another - second, to another - third, according to which certain lands were assigned to each. It is said: “The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari” (Gen.46:11); and it is shown that Kohath was first in honor, because his descendants were Amram, Moses, Aaron and Miriam (Ex. 6:18-20). Therefore, part of the people descended from Kohath, namely Aaron and his sons, were made priestly. However, Moses must be placed either in the priestly order, or in an order higher than the priesthood, if such a thing is possible; although his sons can be judged differently. The other sons of Kohath - from Izgar, Hebron and Uzziel (Ex. 6:18) - were given lots according to their place in the tribe of Levi. Then, after they received their share, after Kohath, the lot came out for the third of the sons of Levi - Gershon, and the last - Merari (Joshua 21:5). This is the difference between the first, second, third and fourth ranks, which we first see in the book of Numbers. For after the twelve tribes had been distributed in the four corners of the world to guard the ark of the covenant of the Lord, three tribes were located in the east and three on the African side, in the south; three tribes were placed from the side of the sea, that is, in the west, and three - towards the seven stars, that is, in the north (Numbers 2:2-25); and the tribes of the Levites were also distributed to the four cardinal points. Aaron and his sons are placed to the east, where the tribe of Judah formerly was, the first of all (Num. 3:38); the rest of the sons of Kohath were assigned to place the ark of the covenant of the Lord on their shoulders (Num. 4:15) and sound the trumpet, so that “when the alarm is sounded with one trumpet, the camps standing towards the east will rise up; when you sound the alarm for the second time, the camps stationed to the south will rise; When you sound the alarm for the third time, the camps will rise up, standing towards the sea” (Num. 10:4-6). Look what an ideal order and what a clear sequence is observed in the Holy Scriptures: nothing happens without rules, without a reason, without order. Search carefully and you will find such harmony throughout Scripture. But if you are not able to look at all these books with a vigilant gaze of your heart, then at least consider more carefully what is said in this passage. 2. It is said: “The first lot came out to the tribes of Kohath; and it fell by lot to the sons of Aaron the priest, the Levites” (Joshua 21:4). Who was given the first lot? Who should have received primacy if not the first priest Aaron, first in his life and merits, first in honor and dignity? Are you now convinced that such a lot does not fall by chance, but is directed by a higher power according to the decision of Divine Providence? So where does this fair lot assign the sons of Aaron their first home? It is said: “Of the tribe of Judah, and from the tribe of Simeon, and from the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities” (Joshua 21:4). See how the chosen men distribute the dwellings of the chosen tribes. But who should receive the second lot? It is said: “To the rest of the sons of Kohath, who remained after the sons of Aaron 29” (Joshua 21:5). And which tribes receive this second lot? It is said: “Out of the tribes of the tribes of Ephraim, and from the tribe of Dan, and from the half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities fell by lot” (Joshua 21:5). And who got the third lot? “To the sons of Gershon” (Joshua 21:6). And in what tribes did they receive their inheritance? It is said: “From the tribes of the tribe of Issachar, and from the tribe of Asher, and from the tribe of Naphtali, and from half the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities fell by lot” (Joshua 21:6). Who are the last of the Levites? It is said: “The sons of Merarin” (Joshua 21:7). Let's see in which tribes these latter receive their share. It is said: “From the tribe of Reuben beyond the Jordan, from the tribe of Gad also beyond the Jordan, and from the tribe of Zebulun, the last of the sons of Leah, twelve cities were received by lot” (Joshua 21:7). 3. We have not yet touched on the most important thing that should be noticed in these places; but even if we do not manage to reveal their full depth, then at least we will not be ashamed of the fact that although we did not get closer to the very essence, everyone listening had the opportunity to penetrate deeper into the secrets being explored. There are four cardinal directions, and Kohath receives by lot the share of the first of the sons of Levi in ​​the east, with the tribes who also had primacy. See how everything fits together. Undoubtedly, of the four parts of the globe, it is the east that seems the noblest; here lived the tribe of Judah, the most noble of all (Numbers 2:3); and it is in these first tribes and in the first parts of the land that the first lot falls to the priests, the sons of Kohath, with Gershon and Merari, the first among the sons of Levi. And thus the first three sons of Levi gain the east. By the second lot, Kohath receives an inheritance in the west, where Reuben, Simeon and Gad lived, from the tribes of Simeon; Merari receives the first lot from Reuben. And, again, Merari receives the third lot, indicated in Numbers, from Zebulun (Num. 2:7) in the east (Josh. 21:5-7), so that justice is observed in the lot, which fell according to the will of God and directs the minds of believers to comprehend the mysteries of the future age. Subsequently, from those living by the sea, that is, from Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh, Kohath, although he had already received from Benjamin by the second lot, and the rest of his family receive a share from Ephraim. Then Gershon receives a lot from half the tribe of Manasseh, who lived in the holy land, and the second time he receives a share from the other half of the tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 21:6:27). It was necessary, however, for those who lived in the north to receive something from priestly grace, so that it would not seem that they were completely deprived of heavenly gifts. Therefore, from those who were in the north last in order, that is, from Dan, Naphtali and Asher (Num. 2:25 ff.), Kohath again receives the first lot from Dan, but not among the priests, but among the rest; Gershon receives the second lot from Asher, and the same Gershon receives the third lot from Naphtali (Joshua 21:6). 4. Who can comprehend all this? Who can even trace and remember the order of these secrets? But if only by letter we can explain this difficult text and unravel the tangled tangle of places and people connected by this historical narrative, then what do we say about the secrets contained in it, in which the distribution of the future inheritance is vaguely reflected and in which the division of the holy land is announced - that land which “the meek will inherit” (Ps. 36:11; Matt. 5:5)? Who will explain the many different locations of the camps, how in the resurrection this distribution will be carried out among each priestly or Levitical host of saints, so that, as the Apostle says, nothing in the resurrection will be done randomly, but “each in his own order: the firstborn Christ, then those of Christ at His coming. And then the end, when He will hand over the Kingdom to God the Father, when He will abolish all rule and all authority and power” (1 Cor. 15:23–24)? Then, without a doubt, the location of the camps, the priestly distribution and order will be observed, and the trumpets will sound. For God placed the stars in the sky and arranged them in a certain wonderful and inexplicable order: He placed some along the earth’s axis in the north, others in the east, others in the west, and others on the southern arch. And it seems to me that perhaps God will similarly arrange in the Kingdom of Heaven those who in the resurrection of the dead will be in number and brightness, “as the lights in the firmament” (cf. Dan. 12:3; 1 Cor. 15:41), those who certainly come from the seed of Abraham (cf. Gen. 15:5; Exod. 32:13), according to the arrangement of the stars and regions of the heavens: to some He will give an inheritance in the east, to others in the west, to others in the south, and to others, those whom he knows, in the north, for “many will come from the east and west and will sit with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11) by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). Homily XXVI. About why the stone swords were buried, and about the altar that was built beyond the Jordan by two and a half tribes 1. It was already said above that the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua and that when he received this share, “he built a city and lived in it” (Joshua 19:49–50). And now the Scripture repeats this to add this: “And Jesus built the city that he asked, and dwelt in it. And Joshua took the stone swords 30,” that is, the knives made of stone, “with which he circumcised the children of Israel in the wilderness, and laid them down” (Joshua 21:42d). Therefore, we must repeat what was said and explain what was added to it in order, if God willing, to complete the whole meaning of Scripture. We said above that our Lord Jesus Christ is looking for a place in us to build a city and live in it, and that we must become so pure in heart, so simple in mind, so holy in spirit and body, that He is worthy to accept this place in our soul and build a city there and live in it. Who of all people do you think is so pleasing to God that he deserves to be chosen for this? Or maybe individual people are not capable of this, but only all people together and the whole Church can barely accept the Lord Jesus into themselves so that He may dwell in them? So, let's see what kind of place this is where Jesus should be. It is said: “On Mount Ephraim,” that is, on a fruitful mountain. Which of us do you think is a fruitful mountain on which Jesus could dwell? Undoubtedly, those in whom abides “the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering” (Gal. 5:22) and so on. Thus, the fruitful mountains are those who bear the fruit of the spirit and who are always exalted in mind and hope. And although few are capable of this, nevertheless, despite their small number, the Lord Jesus who abides in them, Who is the “True Light” (John 1:9), will send rays of this Light to all others, to those whom He has not yet considered worthy of His presence. 2. Now let's see what the stone swords with which Jesus circumcise the children of Israel are. And if you will pray for us that our word will be “living and active and sharper than any sword” (Heb. 4:12), Jesus will cause the word of God that we speak to you to cut off all uncleanness from those who listen to it, cut off filthiness, remove vices and destroy everything that covers the strength of the mind and natural abilities. And thus, by the word of God, here called the sword of stone, Jesus will circumcise you too, and you will hear: “Today I have taken away the shame of Egypt from you” (Joshua 5:9). For what good does it do us if we came out of Egypt and still bear the shame of Egypt? What is the point of going through the desert, in other words, what good is it for us that we renounced the present age in baptism, if the filth of our former life and the incentives of carnal vices remain with us? Therefore, it is necessary that after we crossed the Red Sea, that is, received the grace of baptism, our Lord Jesus cut off from us the carnal vices of our former life, in order to get rid of the shame of Egypt. Therefore those stone swords and stone knives with which Jesus circumcises us the second time are placed in the place that Jesus asks and receives; and in the place that He occupies in the soul of the righteous, He hides these swords. We often draw a sword called the word of God, by which sins are cleansed and removed from the souls of those who hear. Thus, the power of the Divine word is hidden in the place to which the judgment of knowledge and the judgment of wisdom are given, so that in due time the soul, filled with the gift of the Holy Spirit with the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge, will place such swords in the Church and circumcise for the second time those who need a second circumcision. But since it is written “swords of stone,” that is, knives made of stone, and not made of iron by the skill of a smith, this indicates that what God says, which is able to cut off all uncleanness from the hearts of those who hear, does not come from the art of rhetoric or grammar; it is not forged by the blows of the hammers of teachers, not sharpened by the sharpening stones of teachings, but comes down from that stone which “was cut out of the mountain without the help of hands, and became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth” (Dan. 2:34-35) and distributed spiritual gifts to the believers. Then Jesus calls the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh (cf. Joshua 22:1ff), who were warriors and together with him defeated the enemies of the Israelites, and, having distributed gifts to them, releases them so that they can go to their inherited inheritance, as it is written. This, apparently, indicates the mystery that when “the full number of the Gentiles comes in” (Rom. 11:25), those whom Moses taught and instructed and who with their prayers and petitions helped us to fight, those who have not yet “received what was promised” (Heb. 11:39), will receive from the Lord Jesus what He promised, so that our calling, about which the Apostle speaks, will also be fulfilled. Now, with the gifts received from Jesus, they expect to receive the perfection delayed for them (cf. Heb. 11:40), so that everyone will remain in peace and all wars and battles will cease. After this it was read to us (cf. Joshua 22:10-34) that the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh, who lived beyond the Jordan, built there “an altar of great appearance” (Joshua 22:10). The rest of the sons of Israel, who did not know why this altar was built, sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, with ten leaders chosen from each tribe, so that if they suddenly did this, moving away from God, and as if becoming apostates, being at enmity against the covenants of God, the other sons of Israel would attack them; if not, then we would find out the reason. They explain why they built the altar by saying, “We know that the true altar is with you, where Jesus lives. But we built this altar in the likeness of the one that was built among you, so that we would have the image and likeness of the true altar, so that tomorrow you would not say that the Jordan is the border between you and us and divides us, and therefore you have no part in our altar.” This is how they responded. Let's see what mystery lies in this. The former people of circumcision are represented by Reuben (Gen. 29:32), who was the firstborn; but also Gadom (Gen. 30:10), who is also the firstborn of Zilpah; and Manasseh, who is also the firstborn and is in no way inferior to them (Gen. 41:51). However, when I say “firstborn,” I mean primacy in time. Thus, this is not said at all so that it might seem that there is some kind of division and distinction between us and those who were righteous before the coming of Christ, but to show that they are our brothers, although they lived before the coming of Christ. And although before the coming of the Savior they had an altar, they understood and realized that this was not a true altar, but only its reflection, an image of the coming true altar. They knew that the real sacrifices, the ones that erase sins, are offered not on this altar of the firstborn, but on the one where Jesus dwells, where the true heavenly sacrifices are burned. And there is “one Shepherd and one flock” (John 10:16), which consists of the Old Testament righteous and modern Christians. And to confirm my words, I want to cite a story that came to my mind, and may the Lord grant us its spiritual interpretation. It once happened that people in the desert began to die. The high priest Aaron came and “he stood between the dead and the living” (Num. 16:48) to stop the destructive effect of death in others. And now the true High Priest, my Lord, comes and stands between the living and the dead, that is, those Jews who accepted His presence, and those who not only did not accept Him, but killed themselves rather than Him, saying: “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matthew 27:25). That is why “all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the church and the altar, will come on this generation” (Matthew 23:35-36), who said: “His blood be on us and on our children.” This is the dead part of the people, for they do not observe, as they should, either fasting days or holidays, “their holidays turned into sorrow, and all their fun into mourning” (Tov. 2:6); and even if they wanted to, they would not be able to celebrate the holidays in the place chosen by the Lord God. However, we did not tell them: “You will have no part either in our altar or in the inheritance of the Lord,” but they themselves, of their own free will, rejected the true altar and the heavenly High Priest and reached such misfortune that they lost the image and did not accept the truth, and therefore it was said to them: “Behold, your house is left to you empty” (Luke 13:35). For he was transferred to us by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the festivals were transferred to us, because the High Priest, not imaginary, but true, was transferred to us, chosen “according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 5:6); and we must offer Him true, that is, spiritual, sacrifices where the church of God is built from “living stones” (1 Pet. 2:5), “which is the Church of the living God” (1 Tim. 3:15) and where true Israel is located in Christ Jesus our Lord, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). "Culmen" in Latin means both "top" and "roof" (approx.). In the Synodal translation: "Dairy Day". In the Synodal translation: “Lebanon.” In both Greek (υήπιος) and Latin (inans) this word also means “non-speaking, silent.” In the Synodal translation: “to glorify.” In the Synodal translation: “put him up on the banner.” The phrase is taken from the Gospel of Thomas, 86. In the Synodal translation: “glorified.” Here the variant of some manuscripts is adopted: expurgatis omnibus ("all are purified") instead of expugnatis omnibus ("all are captured"). In the Synodal translation: “ingot of gold.” In the Synodal translation: “a trumpet call.” In the Synodal translation: “on my bed.” In the Synodal translation: “peaceful.” In the Synodal translation: “until the people took revenge on their enemies.” In the Synodal translation: “insightfully.” In the Synodal translation: “house”. In the Synodal translation: “Jesus grew old and entered into old age.” In the Synodal translation: “full of life.” In the Synodal translation: “to the south.” Although in the Synodal Translation the borders are set on all four sides of the world. In the Synodal translation: “brother of Caleb.” In the Synodal translation: “humiliating.” In the Synodal translation: “overcame it.” Translated from the Septuagint text. In the Synodal Translation: “Are you not carnal?” In the Synodal translation: “To the rest of the sons of Kohath from the tribes of the tribes of Ephraim.” In the Synodal translation: “stone knives.”