Глава 14

Zechariah 14:1. Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your gain will be divided within you, namely, they will be divided by their enemies. Zechariah 14:2. And I will gather all the tongues against Jerusalem for battle, and the city will be captivated, and the householders will be spoiled, and the women will be defiled: and half the city will go into captivity, and the remains of My people will not be consumed from the city. They say that when Vespasian and Titus were preparing to go on campaign, the then faithful, by revelation, left the city. The Lord Christ commanded this in the divine Gospel: “When you see Jerusalem at war, then you will understand” that its end is near (Luke 21:20); “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let not those who are sheltered come down to take what is in the house” (Matthew 24:16–17). God foretold this through the mouth of blessed Zechariah: “And the remains of My people will not be consumed.” Zechariah 14:3. And the Lord will come out and fight against their tongues, like the day of His host in the day of battle. He will take up arms, not fighting the Jews, but destroying the army against them. Zechariah 14:5. And the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with Him He understands the ranks of angels. Zechariah 14:4. And they will stand before Him on the day of the Mount of Olives, which is right to Jerusalem to the east. For from where he ascended into heaven, there he gives victory to those who took up arms against the Jews. Then the Prophet says that the mountain will be divided into four parts, and part will retreat to the east, part to the west, part to the north, and part to the south. For it is said: And the Mount of Olives will be divided, the land thereof to the east, and the field thereof to the west of the sea, a great chasm: and the field thereof shall turn away to the north, and the field thereof to the south, And the wilds of the mountains will be filled as far as Jassa, and will be filled as they were filled at the presence of the coward in the days of Uzziah the king of Judah. The mountain, as I think, refers to a squad of enemies, divided into parts for the siege of Jerusalem, so that some occupied the eastern, and others the western side, some guarded from the north, and others from the south. But probably the mountain itself suffered this division when God revealed wrath against them; - for even then, as the Lord was nailed to the cross, darkness poured out over the whole universe, the shaking earth hastened to become an instantly prepared coffin for them, and the mountains lowered their wings on them. Therefore, the Prophet says that when these mountains disintegrate, then the passages in the wilds will be filled, as was the case during the great earthquake under Uzziah. For if for his sake, who committed a lesser sin and illegally encroached on the priesthood, the Lord of all shook the earth; then it was fair for those who dared to commit greater wickedness to experience greater disasters; because when they saw how the creation was shaken when they dared to go to the cross, they did not accept the medicine of repentance. Why does the Prophet, leaving what happened during the punishment, turn his speech to what happened on the day of lawlessness? For he says: in which the Savior of the universe will be crucified on the cross, And history has shown this; because from the sixth hour to the ninth there was darkness in the whole universe, so that all people would bear witness to the truth of the prophecy. Zechariah 14:7. There will be one day. And to this the evangelists are witnesses, the witness and chief of the Apostles, warming himself by the fire at the gate. And we know that day of the Lord, because God foreknew everything from the beginning. For if I wish to call it day, the darkness of midday keeps me from doing so; and if, because of darkness, I intend to call it night, the light that was before the sixth hour and after the ninth hour forbids it. Then the Prophet describes the benefits that flow from this. Zechariah 14:8. On the day of it there will come forth water of life from Jerusalem, and the first half of it will be in the sea, and the last half of it will be in the last sea. The Prophet makes it clear by this the saving sermon that flowed throughout the entire universe and filled the eastern and western countries with divine teaching. And from history itself one can see the truth of this prophecy; because on that day the source of salvation poured out from the holy rib, and we received from it the deep currents of the sacraments, I mean water and blood, of which “he who has seen testified” (John 19:35). Water cleanses and saves us from sins, and blood nourishes, irrigates and makes us flower-bearing. But the Prophet also tells us the time when this happened. There will be tacos both in harvest and in spring. since some divide the year into two parts, winter and summer (harvest), and others into four: spring, summer, autumn and winter; then the Prophet, due to the shamelessness of the Jews, put both in order to show the truth, accepting the division of both. For if you divide the year into summer and winter, then the time when this happens will be the beginning of summer; and if you believe there are four changes of the year, then know that this time will be spring. Then the one nailed to the cross by you will clearly reign over the universe, and the charm of polytheism will come to an end. Zechariah 14:9–10. There will be one Lord, and His name will be one. Traversing the entire earth and desert. Not only will the Jews understand this, but also the peoples, deprived of ancient knowledge of God, living to the south and north of Jerusalem. For this is what the Prophet said. From Hawaii to Remmon to the south of Jerusalem. He will remain in place from the gates of Benjamin to the first gates. The Prophet gives this to mean Bethlehem; because blessed Matthew also added a prophetic testimony to the narration of the beating of children, calling out: “The voice of Rama was heard quickly, weeping, and sobbing, and much crying: Rachel made her children weep” (Matthew 2:18). The Prophet says that after the destruction of these wicked ones, those who believed will also dwell in the land belonging to Benjamin. Zechariah 14:11. And no one will be anathema, and hope that Jerusalem will inhabit. In the word: “anathema,” the Prophet meant alienation from God; because those who believe in Christ will no longer be committed to idols, but will live in piety in Jerusalem. Having predicted this, he turns his speech to Gog and Magog and to the nations who, together with them, took up arms against Jerusalem. For he says: Zechariah 14:12. And this will be the fall by which the Lord will cut off all the people who fought against Jerusalem: the flesh of those who stand on their feet will melt away, and their hair will flow out of their skins, and their tongue will melt away in their mouth. The prophet shows how the executions sent down from God will be carried out; for he says that their bodies will wither, their eyes will be gored, and their tongues will rot; The Lord of all will make it so that, having become out of mind, they will rush at each other, and one another will be put to death. Under God's leadership, the militant Jews, being only spectators of their death, will turn their wealth into military booty, collecting a lot of gold, silver and valuable clothes. And horses, donkeys, horses and camels, along with people, will be destroyed. Zechariah 14:16. And it will come to pass that if only the tongues of all those who came to Jerusalem remain, they will rise up every summer to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the feast of the tabernacle. After this victory is achieved, such fear will fall on the remaining foreign peoples that they will flock to Jerusalem every year to honor the Lord of all, and together with the people of God to celebrate the feast of the tabernacle; because the time of this holiday, like summer, is convenient for travel. Zechariah 14:17–19. And it will happen that unless all the tribes of the earth come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will be joined together, and there will be no rain on them. If the tribe of Egypt does not rise up, it will not come there, and there will be a plague on these, with which the Lord will smite all the tongues, unless the tribes rise up to celebrate the feast of the tabernacle. This will be a sin for Egypt, and a sin for the whole tongue, unless the trees rise up to celebrate the feast of the tabernacle. Those peoples who, having decided to become pious, and then neglecting what they had undertaken so beautifully, do not come according to custom to the above-mentioned holiday, will suffer the same as those who took up arms and suffered punishment. For it is said: “And these also will be added; and there will be no rain on them,” that is, not the slightest love for humanity will be shown to them. If the Egyptians, or anyone else, having experienced God’s power with amazement, neglect these holidays and do not give due honor to God on it; then they too, says the Prophet, will have a “fall,” because they are grievously sinning in that, having recognized the powerlessness of their idols, and having clearly seen God’s power, they remain in their former carelessness. Zechariah 14:20–21. On the day he will be in the bridle of a horse, holy to the Lord Almighty: and the horses in the house of the Lord will be like bowls before the altar. And every horse in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the Lord Almighty: and all that eat shall come, and take of them, and boil them in them. The Jews, after the extermination of many thousands of these nations, as firstfruits brought as a gift to God most of the spoils, dedicated the bridles to Him, thereby expressing gratitude for the beating of the horses, and most of the horses, like certain bowls, they laid before the altar for the use of those who came from everywhere and made sacrifices. For anyone who needs, taking one of these konobs, will cook sacrificial meat in it. At the same time, the good deed of God was so clearly visible, there will be no Canaanites in the church of the Lord Almighty, that is, the one who thinks like a Canaanite will not live in wickedness or act lawlessly. May the Lord of all grant that this word is true even now, and that not a single Canaanite is to be seen among us, but that we all live according to the gospel laws, and wait for “the blessed hope and the appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13), with whom be glory to the Father and with the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages! Amen.