ВЕЛИЧИЕ БОГА

Do not investigate how and in what way: the greatness of him [God] is limitless. That is why he [the prophet David] said: “And His greatness has no limit” (see Ps. 145:3). Just as His greatness is limitless, so is His wisdom limitless. Therefore, having said: “Great is our Lord,” he added: “And His understanding is incomprehensible” (Ps. 147:5). And His knowledge is amazing, which is why the prophet says: “Wonderful is [Your] knowledge for me: powerful! I cannot comprehend him” (Ps. 139:6), and His destinies are unsearchable, which is why he says: “Your truth reaches to the clouds!” (Ps. 35:6). So, if God is great, and strong, and wise, then do not investigate how this will be (3). The greatness of God is unknown to the wicked, but known to the pious. But just as the glory of the sun is not diminished by the fact that the blind do not know the light, so in the same way, in view of the fact that the wicked deny the power of God, one should not belittle in one’s mind His power to the pious, whom He calls gods, since the righteous are set up as gods for the wicked, which is why God says, for example, to Moses: “I have made you God to Pharaoh” (Ex. 7:1). “In His hand are all the ends of the earth, and the tops of the mountains are His” (Ps. 94:4). Having called God great, the prophet [David], naturally, speaks of greatness - not as it is, but as we are able to comprehend it from visible creatures. The psalmist says in this case, in agreement with the prophet Isaiah: “He is the One who sits above the circle of the earth” (Is. 40:22), and also: “Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in scales?” (Isa. 40:12). For His is the sea, and He created it, and His hands made the dry land (Ps. 94:5). Having named the elements, the prophet naturally pointed out what is contained in the elements. Therefore, whether we travel by sea or cultivate the land, knowing by whom they were created and to whom they belong, let us thank God for the fact that He has produced such benefits for our benefit, glorifying Him not only in words, but also in deeds (3). Tell me, man, what were you before you were conceived in your mother’s womb? Nothing, of course. So, God, who created you from nothing, couldn’t it be more convenient to recreate you from something? Believe me, it will be easier to renew what has already happened before for Him who could create what did not exist. Who commanded you in your mother’s womb to grow from a drop of ugly liquid and to be clothed with nerves, veins and bones, He, believe me, will be able to give birth to you again from the earth’s womb. But are you afraid that your dry bones will not be able to put on your former flesh? Do not judge, do not judge the greatness of God by your own weakness. God, the Creator of all things, who clothes the trees with leaves and the meadows with flowers, can immediately clothe your bones at a certain time in the spring at the resurrection. The prophet Ezekiel once doubted this very thing, and when asked by the Lord whether the dry bones that seemed to him scattered across the field would come to life, he answered: “Lord God! You know this” (Ezek. 37:3). But when he saw how the bones, by God’s command and his own prophecy, went to their places and joints, when he saw that the dry bones began to be clothed with nerves, connected with veins, covered with flesh, clothed with skin, then after that he uttered a prophecy about the spirit, and the spirit of each one that came entered the bodies lying on the ground; they were resurrected and immediately stood up. Thus convinced of the resurrection, the prophet described this vision so that the knowledge of such a subject would reach posterity. Therefore, Isaiah rightly cries: “Your dead will live, your dead bodies will arise! Rise up and rejoice, you cast down in the dust: for Your dew is the dew of plants, and the earth will cast out the dead” (Isaiah 26:19). Truly, just as seeds moistened with dew vegetate and grow, so the bones of believers will grow from the dew of the Spirit (5). You might be interested in: