Глава 12

Daniel 12:1. And at the time it is, says the Archangel, “Michael the great prince will rise up for the sons of your people.” The Archangel who has been entrusted with your care will then rise to your aid against those attacking your people. And this will become clear to the ignorant from another interpretation; because the God of all, through the Prophet Malachi, says to the Jews: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the Tishbite, before the coming of the day of the Lord, great and enlightened: who will build the heart of a father towards a son, and the heart of a man towards his sincere one, lest he come and destroy the earth to the end” (Mal. “4”, 5. 6). Through this he teaches us that when the Antichrist dares to do these things, then the great Elijah will appear to the Jews to preach the coming of the Lord, and to convert many. For this means: “he will establish the heart of the father towards the son,” that is, the heart of the Jews among the Gentiles who believed. And because, although in knowledge the Jew is older, the pagan and the Jew have the same nature; then he rightly added: “and the heart of man to his sincere”, showing that both have the same nature, but the knowledge of God was first given to the Jews. And the Jews, both because they did not believe, were the last, so, having believed according to the preaching of the great Elijah, and joining the pagans, who desired the salvation sent to the Jews, they will form one Church with them. This very thing is implied here, namely, that during such actions of the Antichrist, the Holy Archangel Michael will use all measures so that Elijah comes and heralds the coming of the Master, and the Jews of that time receive salvation. Then, describing the excessiveness of the disasters that the evil Antichrist will cause, the Archangel says: And there will be a time of tribulation, a tribulation that will not exist even before the time of the creation of language on earth. The Lord also spoke this in the Holy Gospel. For he says: “There will be tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world, nor will it be. And if these days had not ceased, all flesh would not have been saved. For the sake of “my chosen ones” I will put an end to “these days” (Matthew 24:21, 22). Therefore, the prophetic sayings agree (235) with the Gospel predictions. To this the Archangel adds: And at that time all your people who have found salvation in the book will be saved, that is, those worthy of salvation will listen to the preaching of Elijah, foreshadowed by God from ancient times and from the beginning; for the Archangel called the knowledge of God “a book.” Daniel 12:2. And many will arise from those who sleep in the dust of the earth, these to eternal life, and these to reproach and eternal shame. Those who are trying to apply themselves to Antiochus, let them say who was resurrected under him, who received eternal life, who suffered reproach and eternal shame? If I say that this signifies the Maccabees who came out of the caves, then they will be even more worthy of ridicule. For in this case, the Maccabees will turn out to be both lovers of piety and workers of wickedness. The prophecy says: “Many of them will arise from those who sleep in the dust of the earth, these to eternal life, and these to reproach and eternal shame.” Therefore, if they understand this about the Maccabees, then the Maccabees will be called both evil and good, or some of them good and others evil. But we cannot pronounce such judgment about them; because their whole community is godly. Moreover, eternal life cannot be ascribed to them in the present age; because they all came from this age, having suffered death. Therefore, leaving these women's fables behind, we learn from this the general resurrection of the dead and the judgment that will follow after the resurrection. For some of those who die will inherit eternal life; while others will be forever devoted to ridicule and reproach. The Archangel said: “many, instead of”: “all.” For blessed Paul, instead of “all”, used “many”, saying: “even though many have died by the sin of one,” “much more than the grace of God and the gift of the grace of one man Jesus Christ have been abundant in many” (Rom. 5:15). Dan.12:3. And those who understand will be enlightened, like the lordship of the firmament, says the Archangel. And the Lord in the Holy Gospel says: “Then the righteous women will be illuminated like the sun” (Matthew 13:43). And from the righteous many like stars forever and ever. The most tried and chosen will become like the light of the firmament, and even the light of the sun; and their lowest ones (for these the Archangel designated with the word: many) will be like the radiance of the stars, producing this radiance forever. So blessed Paul divided the ranks of the pious; for he says: “There is another glory to the sun, and another glory to the moon, and another glory to the stars: for a star differs from a star in glory” (1 Cor. 15:41). Having said this, the one talking with Daniel added: Dan.12:4. And you, Daniel, shut up words and seal the books until the time of the end, until many will learn and knowledge will increase, Put, he says, on the book of the seal of obscurity, and make it not clear to everyone, “until knowledge will increase, and,” according to prophecy, “the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, just as much water covers the sea” (Is. 11:9). The grace of God's Spirit, at the coming of the Savior, opened these seals and made the unclear clear for believers. Dan.12:5. And videh, az Daniel, says the Prophet, “and behold, there are two different people, one in this land of the river, and the other in this land of the river.” Dan.12:6. And a speech to her husband, who is shell-shocked in Viddim, “who was above the river waters: how long will the end of the miracles that you have spoken of, and the purification of them?” Silently and not daring to ask, I stood, says the Prophet; but two others, standing on both banks of the river, asked the one dressed in a fine linen robe and rushing along the surface of the waters: how long will these terrible and terrifying events last? And when will there be deliverance from them? Dan.12:7. And I heard from the deceived husband in Vaddim, “who was above the waters of the river, and lifted up his right hand and his sword into heaven, and swear by Him who lives forever and ever and for a time and for half a time.” From this we know for sure that the one who was talking with the Prophet at that time was not the Master Himself. For the Lord, as the divine Apostle says, “before you swear to any greater name, you swear by yourself” (Heb. 6:13), saying: “As I live, says the Lord” (Is. 49:18). And blessed Moses shows that He Himself says: “For I will lift up My hand into heaven, and I swear by My right hand, and the river: I live forever” (Deut. 32:40). And the one talking with Daniel, as one of the subordinates and filled with zeal for the Master, stretched out both hands to heaven, “swearing” to “the One who lives forever.” Daniel, who saw this, says that he had hands; however, we know that the nature of Angels is incorporeal; they take on images, considering the benefit of those who see; often showing their condescension, they are meek, and often, in order to make those who see it more careful, they appear to be formidable. So “they swear to Him who lives forever, for in time and in times and in half a time.” This means three and a half years. Saint Gabriel also spoke about the horn that makes war on the saints, which will grow after ten horns, at the end of the Roman kingdom. After he said: “He will humble three kings, and speak words against the Most High, and humble the saints of the Most High,” he added: “And it will be given into his hand until a time, and times, and half a time” (Dan. 7:24.25); and this amounts to three years and a half; because Gabriel called the year a time, as we learn more clearly from what follows. For in a time, and in a time, and in half a time, when the scattering of the sanctified people ends, the Matchmaker will be taken away, and all this will die. For three years and a half, says the Angel, the dispersion of the sanctified people will continue, and all this will be accomplished. Then they will “take away” the Saint. The great Elijah is meant here. For towards the end of this reign the great Elijah will appear and will herald the second coming of our Savior. To this we add, blessed Daniel: Daniel 12:8. And I heard, and did not understand, and said: Lord, what is the last of these?' Not understanding what was said about time, says the Prophet, I was forced to ask, wanting to find out more clearly; I also wanted to know what would happen after this. Dan.12:9. And he said to me: Come Daniel, for words are barred and sealed, even to the end of time. Daniel 12:10. As long as they are elected, they will be white, and many will be tempted by fire, and the wicked will commit wickedness, and all wickedness will not understand, and all understanding will understand. Not without reason, says the Angel, I said this unclearly, and, like some kind of seal, I attached vagueness to the words. The Divine should not be offered to everyone indiscriminately, but “they will understand” with the help of the knowledge given to them from above; but those who live in lawlessness and wickedness will not be able to understand what is contained in the words; when the events themselves come, the prophecies about them will clearly become known. Then the evildoers will be separated from the righteous because fire will tempt everything. Blessed Paul also said this: “Everyone’s work,” he says, “will be revealed: the day will reveal it: it will be revealed behind fire; and everyone’s work, as it is, will be tempted by fire” (1 Cor. 3:13). And about the fact that the divine should not be offered to everyone indiscriminately, the Lord says in the Holy Gospel: “You shall not give the holy thing to a dog, nor cast your pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6). To blessed Daniel, as a holy and zealous servant of the Lord, the Angel of God reveals the time of Antichrist’s torment and says: Dan.12:11. From time to time the everlasting sacrifice will be changed, and the abomination of desolation will be given for one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Because, having said: “in a time, times and half a time,” he saw that blessed Daniel did not understand; then, dividing time into days, he made the unintelligible clear to him, but for others he left the word unclear. He calls the Antichrist himself an “abomination” of “desolation”; and “by changing the everlasting sacrifice,” the rite of church worship, driven out and abolished by the madness and fury of the Antichrist. To this the divine Angel adds: Daniel 12:12. Blessed is he who endures and reaches the days of one thousand three hundred and thirty-five. The angel makes it clear and declares that after the Antichrist is defeated by God, the great Elijah will still preach for the remaining forty-five days, and the Lord will appear, coming on the clouds of heaven, and will crown those who have preserved the acquisition of patience unharmed. This is what the Lord says in Holy Gospel: “he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22). And from this it can be clearly understood that all this is not befitting of Antiochus. For the Angel said that the disaster would continue under Antiochus “two thousand and three hundred days” (Dan. 8:14), and under the Antichrist “one thousand two hundred and ninety.” Therefore, the difference in time indicates the difference in persons and events. says the Angel, and “rest.” It’s time for you to accept the end of your life. More living days to fulfill the end. There is still quite a bit of time left, says the Angel, for the state of real life. And this clearly showed us the end of it, and revealed that what was predicted would happen at the end. in your time, or more correctly, as can be seen from what follows: “in your lot, at the end of days.” Now, says the Angel, you must accept the end common to all; but you will rise, and you will rise not simply, but “to your lot,” that is, with a host of those who have the same rights with you. And showing when this would happen, he added: “at the end of days.” Thus, the divine Archangel, through the blessed and blessed Daniel, clearly teaches us the doctrine of the resurrection. Thus, having completed the revelation, the Prophet added: Daniel 14:11. And King Astyages venerated his father; and Cyrus the Persian took his kingdom. Daniel 14:2. And Daniel lived with the king, and was more glorious than all his friends. Astyages was Kirov's maternal grandfather. After his death, since his son Cyaxares could not improve the kingdom, Cyrus, having destroyed the kingdom of Assyria and Chaldeans, transferred the rule of the Medes to the Persians. The Prophet says that he shared meals with the king, lived with the king and ruled over everyone close to the king. And having so much boldness before Cyrus, he showed him what God had predicted about him through the Prophet Isaiah, and gave him the idea of ​​releasing the people of God from captivity. This is what we learned from Daniel’s divine prophecy. It would be fair to cry for the Jews, who dared to exclude this Prophet from the prophetic list, and, moreover, having learned by experience the truth of his prophecy. It is known that today’s Jews have added this blasphemy to their other wicked deeds, trying to obscure the clear testimony of the coming of our Savior by denying the prophecy. But they will gain nothing for themselves by denying this prophecy; because other Prophets testify, and the very deeds cry out, agreeing 11 with the prophecies about the Savior. And that the ancient Jews called blessed Daniel a great prophet is a worthy witness to Joseph, a Jew who did not accept Christian preaching, but did not dare to conceal the truth. In the tenth book of Jewish Antiquities, having said many other things about blessed Daniel, he added this: “To him, says Joseph, as one of the greatest prophets, everything was granted to an extraordinary extent, during his life honor and glory among kings and among the people, and after his death, eternal memory. For the books he wrote, which he left, are still read by us, and we are convinced from them that Daniel talked with God; because he not only prophesied about the future, like other prophets, but even determined the time when what was predicted would happen.” And Joseph continues a little lower: “as a result of the fulfillment of the prophecy, the divine Daniel acquires among the people faith in the truth of the prophecies and glory.” And then it is repeatedly expressed in this way. And also in the twelfth book of Antiquities he also says this: “it turned out that the desolation of the church took place according to the prophecy of Daniel, which happened four hundred and eight years ago; he showed that the Macedonians would destroy him.” This is what the prophet Joseph testifies to.” The Jews, afflicted with extreme shamelessness, are not ashamed of their mentors. But we, as having received foreknowledge of the future from God’s Prophet, will prepare ourselves, I beg you, for that terrible day, so that we may rise not “to eternal shame,” but “to eternal life,” which may we all receive, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ! With Him glory to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages! Amen. Usually, the reading ἀρπἀζογτα is preferred here to another ἀρμὀζογτα ".