Слово 19

Chapter 55 Rev.18:1. “And after this we saw another angel descending from heaven, possessing a great region: and the earth was enlightened with his glory.” This shows the luminosity and lightness of the holy powers, which greatly exceeds the beauty of the stars and luminaries. Rev.18:2. “And you cried out in the fortress with a great voice, saying: Fall, fall, Babylon the great, and become the habitation of demons and the guardian of every unclean spirit, and the storehouse of all unclean and hated birds: for all tongues have been drunk with the wine of the wrath of their fornication.” About the capital of the Chaldeans, Babylon, taken by Cyrus and the Persians, Isaiah also prophesied a similar thing, and that it will be filled with beasts and unclean spirits, this will be due to its final devastation. For it is common for both beasts and unclean spirits to strive in the desert, and this happens both due to Divine dispensation, which frees people from being damaged by them, and due to their own hatred of mankind. How then did this Babylon make the nations drink the wine of her fornication? Because he was their leader in all lawlessness and to the cities that were submissive to him, he sent leaders, enemies of truth and righteousness, in exchange for gifts. Rev. 18:3. “And the kings of the land dealt with her lovingly, and the merchants of the land grew rich from the power of her food.” Due to the excess of unrighteous wealth, rushing to what is beyond need, and luxuriously in what is needed, he was a source of profit for earthly merchants. Rev. 18:4–5. “And I heard a voice from heaven, saying: Come out of her, my people, and do not partake of her sin, and do not be harmed by her wounds. For her sin clings even to heaven, and God remembers her iniquity.” Go away, my people. What he said to Lot in Sodom: when you save, save your soul, and in Isaiah: go away from him, separate yourself, and do not touch the unclean (Is. 52:11), he also says here: for you must flee from the residence of those who grieve God. Rev. 18:6–7. “Reward her as she also repaid you, and make it worse for her according to her deeds: with the cup with which you will draw for her. As soon as you become famous and furious, you only give her torment and sobs.” Reward her strictly according to her deeds. This is said either to those who lived in contempt and suffered a lot of evil from those who ruled in this city, since for the sake of enduring sorrows they were the reason for the punishment of those who inflicted these sorrows on them, or there is a transition here from one person to another, from those suffering insults to the forces of some holy punishers, who, out of love for God, appropriated to themselves the bitterness that was from him to their fellow servants. They call it the cup, either because great sinners and lawless people are subject to punishment both here and in the next century, or according to the soul and body, which have common deeds and punishments for them; or because of the abyss of God’s love for mankind, although deeply angered, and the rewards of His pure truth are greater than punishment in conscience for sin, and often for the very attempt on it. “As he says in his heart, I sit as a queen and am not a widow, and the imam cannot see weeping.” And the imam cannot see the sobs. Those who live in contentment, if there is no fear of God in them, usually say: “I will not move forever (Ps. 29:7), which this city also predicts for itself. Rev.18:8. “For this reason in one day plagues will come to her, death and mourning and famine: and she will be burned with fire, for the Lord God is mighty to judge her.” One day he calls either the suddenness and shortness of time in which mourning will befall this city from the sword, plague and famine, and it will be devastated and burned with fire, or the course of that day in which he predicts that she will endure this. For after the enemies take possession of the city, even one day is enough to inflict on the vanquished all kinds of bitterness and many different types of death; God is powerful both to save those who please Him and to punish those who sin unrepentantly. Rev. 18:9–10. “And the kings of the earth will weep and weep for her, having treated her lovingly and becoming enraged, when they see the smoke of her burning. Standing from afar for the fear of her torment, saying: Woe, woe, the great city Babylon, the strong city, for in one hour your judgment has come.” We think that the rulers here are called kings of the earth, as the Psalmist said about Jerusalem, behold her princes gathered together (Ps. 2:2). He says about them that they, who committed wandering in it from the commandments of God, will weep, seeing or hearing about its burning and devastation, horrified by the sudden change, as this happened in a very short time. Rev. 18:11–12. “And the merchants of the land will weep and mourn over him, because no one buys their burdens, burdens of gold and silver, and precious stones and beads, and visor and porphyry, and silk and wormwood.” And the merchants of the zemstia will weep. For when those who lived in power and luxury are destroyed, there will be no need to buy this and abuse it. Rev. 18:12–13. “And every fiinn wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel of honorable wood, and copper, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and incense, and myrrh, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and hempwood, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep.” This means: no one buys. Look, as it should, which of the cities usually buys this, and which of the people is more eager to acquire what is superfluous for immoderate pleasure. And horses and chariots (ρεδων) and bodies are an unnecessary use, but chariots denote various kinds of carriages, for redium in Latin is a cart, from the genitive plural through truncation came ρεδων. Rev. 18:14. “And human souls. And the vegetables of the lusts of your soul went away from You, and all the fat and light things went away from You and no one could get them.” And human souls. And you will not trade in human souls, enslaving the free, and you will not enjoy everything that you had before, fat and brilliant. Rev. 18:15–17. “These merchants, having become rich from her, will stand from afar for fear of her torment, weeping and weeping, and saying: Woe, woe, the great city, clothed with linen and purple and scarlet, and gilded with gold and precious stones and beads: For in one hour so much wealth perished.” Woe, woe, great city. He exposes the suffering of this Babylon, with tears for it depicting the greatness of the misfortune that the city, which previously boasted of royal dignity, will experience. Rev. 18:17–19. “And everyone who steers, and everyone who sails in ships, and everyone who goes to sea, stash from afar. And I cried out, seeing the smoke of his destruction, saying: Which is like a great city? And he laid dust on his heads, and cried out, weeping and weeping, saying: Woe, woe, great city, in which all the ships of the sea were enriched, because of its honor, for one hour was desolate.” Having ships at sea. It may be that real life is called the sea in an allegorical sense, as it is subject to many disturbances, and those who trade in it are swimming like fish in the excitement of everyday life, but it is possible that the city that endures this will be at the sensory sea, and receives everything from those floating on it, and therefore its devastation will be the cause of their crying. The merchants of the world Babylon, i.e., must endure this at the end of what is visible. confusion, to mourn inconsolably the pleasures of this life, when against their will they are removed from them, and they are wounded by conscience for their deeds. Rev. 18:20 . “Rejoice in this, the heavens, and the Holy Apostles and prophets, for God will judge your judgment from him.” By heaven he means either Angels or saints who have residence in heaven, with whom the Apostles and Prophets are invited to have fun, since they will receive vengeance for what they were offended by, or because they were often subjected to dishonor by transgressing the Divine commandments, as they preached uselessly to the inhabitants of the said city, or because they were beaten for God by the power that spread throughout the whole earth, because served His words; that is why the Prophets were killed by the Jews, and the Apostles by the pagans, to whom they primarily preached the word. They rejoice at finding punishments not out of gloating, but as having a fiery desire to see the suppression of sin, so that those enslaved to sin will receive a more lenient punishment in the next century, for what they are partially punished here. Rev. 18:21–24. “And one angel took a strong stone, as great as a millstone, and threw it into the sea, saying: in this way the great city Babylon will be cast down, and no one will be found. And the voice of buzzer and music, and squeakers and trumpets, shall not be heard by anyone in you, and every cunning man of any kind will not be heard in you, and the noise of a millstone will not be heard in you: And the light of a lamp shall not shine in you, and the voice of the bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you: as your merchants are great nobles. zemstia, because through your sorcery all the nations were deceived. And in it the blood of the prophets and the saints was found and all those who were slain on earth.” Just as a millstone quickly sinks into the sea, so suddenly will the destruction of this Babylon happen, so that not a trace of it will remain afterwards, for this is signified by the impoverishment of those who play the harp and pipes, and so on. The reason for this, he says, is that he deceived all nations with his songs and sorcery and was a friend of the blood of the Prophets and other saints. All this points to the wicked Babylon of Persia, as having accepted the blood of many saints at different times and to this day, and as constantly amusing itself with sorcery and deception. And this is the point of our prayer, that he may receive the predicted retribution for his pride against Christ and His servants. But it seems to contradict our assumption that the ancient teachers of the Church considered this a prediction about Babylon of Rome. II because the fourth beast, i.e. the kingdom of Rome has ten horns visible, and one that grows from it will uproot three and conquer the rest, and will come as the king of Rome under the guise of renewing and consolidating their power, but in fact, to inflict complete destruction on them. Therefore, if anyone, as was said before, begins to understand by it the kingdom, as if ruling in one body from ancient times to the present, and truly shedding the blood of the Apostles, prophets and martyrs, he will not sin against what is proper. For, as they say: one face, army and city, although transferred to those that make up each of them, so the kingdom is one, although distributed over many times and places. Chapter 56 Rev. 19:1–4. “And because of this I heard the voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying: Alleluia: Salvation and glory and honor and strength are to our Lord: for thou hast judged him truly and truly: for thou hast judged the great fornicator, who blighted the earth with his fornication, and avenged the blood of his servants from her hand. And the second decision: Alleluia: and its smoke ascends forever and ever. And the twenty and the four elders and the four living creatures fell, and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying: Amen, alleluia.” Alleluia means Divine praise, and Amen means truly, or so be it. This, as it is said, is sent to God three times by angelic forces and equal-angelic people, because of the Trinitarian nature of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the one Divinity, because He avenged the blood of His servants at the hand of Babylon, and He blessed its inhabitants with punishment, having eradicated sin. And by the words: forever and ever, the smoke of the city rises, it means either that the punishments sent to it will never be forgotten, or that, having been partially punished, more moderately, although it will be punished forever in the future. Rev.19:5. “And a voice came out from the throne, saying: Sing to our God, all your servants and those who fear Him, both small and great.” The Throne of God is the Cherubim and Seraphim; they command that He should be sung not only by the great, but also by the small in good deeds, each in proportion to his strength. I think that even now small and imperfect children, becoming great after death, praise God, who does great things. Rev. 19:6–7. “And I heard the voice of many people, and the voice of many waters, and the voice of mighty thunderings, saying: Alleluia: For the Lord God Almighty reigns. We rejoice and are glad, and let us give glory to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb has come.” The voice of the people and the multitude of waters and thunders signifies the sonority of all the angelic and heavenly countless powers, (which some mean by waters) even above the heavens (Psalm 149:4); with them the whole host and fullness of the righteous praised the Creator. The Lord Jesus Christ reigned by means of incarnation, or by rational assimilation, or by the power befitting a King and Judge, reigning over those whom he naturally possessed as the Creator. Marriage Lamb refers to the union of the Church with Christ, the builders of which were the Divine Apostles, through whom she was given the pledge of the Spirit, as having no time to receive true unity face to face. Chapter 57. Of the Mysterious Marriage and the Supper of the Lamb Rev. 19:7–9. “And his wife prepared food for herself. And it was given to her to be clothed in fine linen, clean and bright: for the fine linen is the justification of the saints. And with the verbs: write: the blessed calling of the Lamb at the marriage supper; and the verbs: these words are the truth of God.” That the Church is dressed in fine linen, this signifies her lightness in virtues, subtlety in understanding and height in contemplations, for from this are composed Divine justifications. The Supper of Christ is the triumph of those who are being saved and their harmonious joy, which the blessed will receive and will enter the eternal palace together with the Holy Bridegroom of pure souls, for he who promised is false. Since there are many blessings of the future age, and they surpass every thought, their communion is called by many names. Sometimes - the kingdom of heaven because of its glory and honesty, sometimes - paradise because of the endless enjoyment of goods, sometimes - the bosom of Abraham for the sake of the peace of the departed on it, sometimes - a palace and marriage not only because of endless joy, but also for the sake of the true and ineffable union of God with His servants, as much superior to bodily communication with each other as light is separated from darkness and myrrh from stench. Rev.19:10. “And I fell down before his feet, worshiped him, and said to me: See, nor: I am a slanderer of you and your brothers who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Neither: you are a slander. Do not bow down to me as one who predicts the future, says the Divine Angel, for confession of Christ or martyrdom for Christ bestows the prophetic spirit. Otherwise, one can understand the prophecy so that the testimony of Christ would be confirmed and the faith of the saints would be attested; therefore, do not bow down to me, your fellow servant, but to him who has power over everything. And from this we understand the humble wisdom of the holy Angels, that they do not appropriate Divine glory to themselves, like evil demons, but bring it to the Master. Let it be that we, guided by humility towards each other, will fulfill the word of the Master, who says: learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29), and in the next century we will receive peace, from where all sickness and sorrow and sighing will have fled, where all who rejoice have a dwelling place, being illuminated by the light of the face of Christ our God. All praise, honor and worship are due to Him, together with the Father and the Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.