Слово 15

Chapter 43. How he who sits on a cloud reaps the growth of the earth with a sickle Rev.14:14. “And I saw, and behold, a cloud was bright, and he who sat on the cloud was like the Son of man, having a crown of gold on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.” We mean either a sensual cloud, like that which lifted our Lord Jesus Christ from the eyes of the Apostles, or a certain angelic power, so called for its purity and sublimity, as the Psalmist says: “I ascended the Cherubim and flew” (Psalm 17:11). Therefore, we think that seen on a cloud, like the Son of man, is Christ, and the crown on Him signifies His royal power over visible and invisible powers, but it was golden because of the preciousness of this substance for us, and the sickle means the end, for the Lord Himself called the end of the world a harvest. Rev. 14:15–16. “And another angel came out of the church, crying with a great voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put down your sickle and reap, for the hour has come to reap the grass of the earth before it has dried up.” And he who sat on the cloud laid his sickle on the ground, and the earth was quickly reaped.” The cry of another Angel allegorically means the prayer of all heavenly powers who want to see the honor of the righteous and the cutting off of the iniquity of sinners, which will end the current and transitory and reveal the permanent and abiding. For the fact that the harvest of the earth has dried up, this means that the time of the end has come, when the seed of piety, ripened like ripe wheat, will be worthy of the heavenly granaries, bringing to the farmer fruit thirty, and sixty, and a hundred times. Chapter 44. About the angel pruning the vine of bitterness Rev. 14:17. “And another angel came out of the church from heaven, having a sharp sickle.” Although Christ is called the Angel of the great Council of the Father (Is. 9), but that the real one is from the ministerial forces, this is clear from what follows - with a sharp sickle he comes from the heavenly church in order to cut off the most wicked. Rev. 14:18. “And another angel came out from the altar, holding the region for fire, and cried out with a great cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying: Send down your sharp sickle and take in the clusters of the grapes of the earth, for the clusters thereof are already ripe.” From what has been said that another Angel came out of the altar and has power over fire, we learn that Angelic powers are placed over creatures, some over the waters, others over fire, others over any other part of creation. From the fact that this one is placed above the fire, we learn that it is his job to punish, and that he is one of the highest Angels. For with a loud voice he commands the one who has the sickle to prune the grapes of the earth. And the grapes represent the wicked and lawless, who fill the cup of the Lord’s wrath, and instead of the wine of joy, they brought earthly wrath and the wrath of asps to the Good Worker. Rev. 14:19. “And the angel laid his sickle on the earth, and took away the grapes of the earth, and put it into the winepress of the great wrath of God.” The winepress of God's wrath is a place of punishment prepared for the devil and his angels, and it is great because of the multitude of those tormented in it. For broad and broad is the way of destruction (Matthew 7:13). Rev. 14:20. “And the winepress was worn out outside the city, and blood came out from the winepress even to the bridles of the horses, about a thousand and six hundred and six furlongs.” And the grindstone was quickly worn out outside the city. Outside the city of the righteous the winepress will be trampled. For the rod of sinners will never come close to this lot, according to the prophetic (Psalm 125:3) and their habitat will be as it was, and their way of life will not be mixed. The blood from the trampling of the condemned is called the righteous and unchangeable judgment of God, and the blood of the grape is wine. The cup is full of undissolved wine, because of the wrath of God, which means that the punishment that befalls those worthy of it reaches even to the bridle of them, like misogynistic horses, since it did not know the bridle in pleasures and crimes. It goes on for one thousand six hundred stages, because of their final wickedness. For a thousand is the most perfect of numbers, and in the six hundredth year of Noah, as we know, sin was drowned by waters; and six, because with their crafty undertakings they insulted the creation created in six days; six is ​​the number of days of creation in which the world was created. For truly outside the heavenly city of Jerusalem is the place of torment, and of those who are worthy of it. And the fact that their blood reaches the horse's bridles for one thousand six hundred and six stages, this can mean punishing Angels, which Divine Scripture usually figuratively calls horses. The groans of those tormented reach the bridles, but the holy powers have a Divine command by the bridle, by which they are guided in fulfilling what is commanded. As Habakkuk says, “You are all around on your horses” (Hab. 3:8), and in the Song of Songs: “I have made you like my horse in Pharaoh’s chariots” (Song. 1:8). It can be understood differently. since those who gave themselves up to pleasures became misogynistic horses, they will be taken by the bridle with punishments, or they will be restrained with torment, because they did not know the bridle of pleasures. And from one thousand six hundred and six stages we learn about the great abyss separating the righteous from the sinners, for the ultimate wickedness and abomination of deeds. And the ten hundred shows the multitude of evil, and the six of them is the diligent practice of sin, through the abuse of the creation created in six days, and in the six hundredth year of Noah everything on earth was drowned. Chapter 45. About the seven Angels sending plagues on people before the end, and about the glass sea (which I saw in Revelation) Rev. 15:1. “And I saw another great and wonderful sign in heaven, the seven angels of those who had the seven last plagues, before the wrath of God will end in them.” Everywhere he uses the septenary number, meaning that the untruths committed in the seven days of the present age will be restrained by seven plagues and seven Angels, after which the life that is to be means the glass sea. Rev.15:2. “And I saw a sea of ​​glass mixed with fire, and those who had overcome the beast, and his image, and his mark, and the number of his name, standing on the sea of ​​glass, having the harps of God.” The glass sea, we think, means the multitude of those being saved, the purity of the future state and the lordship of the saints, through which they will shine with the rays of virtues like the sun. And that the fire is mixed there can be understood from what was written by the Apostle: the fire will tempt anyone who does whatever he does (1 Cor. 3:13). If it does not harm the pure and innocent, it can be divided into two actions, according to the Psalm saying (Psalm 28:7), one that burns sinners, the other that enlightens the righteous, as the great Basil understood. By fire one can understand both Divine knowledge and the life-giving grace of the Spirit. For God revealed himself to Moses in the fire, and in the form of tongues of fire he enlightened the Spirit of the Apostles. The harp demonstrates the mortification of the members and a well-ordered life in harmony with virtues, controlled by the bow of the Divine Spirit. Rev. 15:3–4. “And I sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying: Great and wonderful are Thy works, O Lord God Almighty: righteous and true are Thy ways, O King of saints. Who will not fear You, O Lord, and will glorify Your name, for You alone are reverent: for all the nations will come and worship before You: for Your justification has been revealed.” And I will sing the song of Moses. From the song of Moses we learn that the song of God is sent up from those justified under the law, before grace, and from the song of the Lamb that those who lived holy after the coming of Christ offer Him unceasing song and thanksgiving for all the good deeds and mercies sent by Him to our race, because through the God-bearing Apostles He called all nations to the knowledge of Him. Rev. 15:5–6. “And after these things we saw, and behold, the church of the tabernacle of the testimony was opened in heaven. And the seven angels went out from the church, having the seven plagues, clothed in garments of clean and bright linen, and they girded their waists with gold.” He speaks here of the heavenly tabernacle, in the image of which God commanded Moses to build the earthly tabernacle. From this church, he says, the Angels came out, clothed in pure linen clothing (or in pure stone, as some lists have) according to the purity of their being and closeness to the cornerstone of Christ and the lordship of the virtues. They girded their chests with a golden belt, because of the power, purity and honorability of nature and because of rigor in service. Rev.15:7. “And one from the four living creatures the seventh angel gave seven golden phials, full of the wrath of God who lives forever.” And that from the four animals the seven Angels receive seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, as Ezekiel says, this shows that the understanding of what needs to be done in heaven is always communicated from the first to the second, according to the word of the great Dionysius. Rev.15:8. “And the church was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power.” From the smoke we learn how terrible and terrible the punishing wrath of God is; the church was filled with it, and it comes out on those who deserve wrath on the day of judgment, and before it on those who believed the Antichrist and committed deeds of apostasy. And this is clear from what follows, for he says: “And no one can enter the church until the seven plagues of the seven angels have passed away.” Hence we imagine that before Divine wrath separates the righteous from the wicked, the saints in no way can receive residence in the highest Jerusalem and perform sacred acts in the church of God and receive peace. For it is necessary, he says, for the plagues to end, with which reward for sin is given to those who deserve this, and they will receive their chosen fate, and then the saints will be given residence in the city above. If someone attributes each of the plagues to those on the earth at its end, I think he will not sin against what is due. For, being a lover of mankind, God, in order to reduce the endless torment in the next century, allows that in this life, punishing plagues are sent to those who deserve them, either through the Prophets Enoch and Elijah, or through the sorrows of wars that happen, to the moderate relief of those who have sinned. But we will ask the Lord to admonish us in a fatherly manner, and not punish us, to scourge us in His anger. For there is no healing in our flesh from the face of His wrath, so that with tears of repentance, having washed away our defiled clothes with sins and having put on the wedding garment, we may enter into the eternal palace of joy of Christ our God, to whom belongs glory, honor and worship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.