Слово 23

Chapter 67. About the Angel Showing the City of Saints and Measuring Its Wall and Gates Rev.21:9. “And one of the seven angels came to me, having the seven veils filled with the last plagues of the seventh, and spoke to me, saying: Come, I will show you the wife of the Lamb.” This shows that Angels not only inflict malignant ulcers, but, like doctors, sometimes perform sections, sometimes they apply softening medicines: then he sent an ulcer to those worthy of it, now he shows the saint the bliss of the Church. Well he called the bride of the Lamb wife. For when Christ was slain as a Lamb, then with His blood He betrothed her to Himself. For, just as at the time when Adam slept, a wife was created for him by taking away a rib, so when Christ willingly fell on the cross in the sleep of death, the Church, formed by the outpouring of blood from His rib, is united with what was sacrificed for us. Rev. 21:10–11. “And he led me in spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, Holy Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from God, having the glory of God.” To be led by the spirit means, through the spirit, to rise in thought from the earth to thinking about heavenly things. Under the great mountain is meant the sublime, worldly life of the saints, with which the wife of the Lamb, Jerusalem on high, will be adorned and glorified by God. “And its light was like a precious stone, like a crystal-shaped jaspis stone.” The luminary of the Church is Christ, and He is called the crystal-shaped jasper, as always powerful and life-giving and pure. He is depicted differently in different people, for it is impossible to describe the diversity of His various benefits to us with an example of one type. Rev.21:12. “Having a great and high wall, having twelve gates, and on the gates twelve angels, and the names were written, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.” The great wall of the Church, high and protecting those in the holy city, is Christ. There are twelve gates in it - the Holy Apostles, through whom we received guidance and entrance to the Father, and they are assisted by twelve Angels of authority and closer to God as we approach in holiness. For if we believe that each of the believers is followed by a Guardian, all the more should we think that the founders of the Church and the sowers of the Gospel word are assisted in the Gospel preaching by the foremost of the Angels. The names of the tribes of spiritual Israel are written on the Apostolic entrances, because the names of sensual Israel were written on the Ephuda of the ancient bishop, for the scripture now, through these names, testifies to the Apostolic care regarding the believers, just as Paul said that he has care for all the churches, and that his heart is enlarged and accommodates all whom he gave birth to by the Gospel. (2 Cor. 6:11–12). Rev.21:13. “From the east is the gate of Troy, and from the north is the gate of Troy, and from the south is the gate of Troy, and from the west is the gate of Troy.” That there are gates to the four parts of the world and three on each side, this shows the knowledge at the four ends of the universe of the worshiped all-holy Trinity, which was received through the Life-giving Cross. For the appearance of the position of the gates is cruciform, according to the appearance of the twelve oxen that carried the sea arranged by Solomon, denoting the trinity of the Apostles, the preacher of the Holy Trinity, as well as the sending of the four Gospels to the four corners of the earth. And the sea itself forms the spiritual sea of ​​holy baptism, cleansing the world from sins, composed by the spiritual Solomon. Rev.21:14. “And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of twelve Apostles of the Lamb.” The foundations of the wall, as it is said, are the Blessed Apostles, on whom the Church of Christ is founded; their names are written on them as if on signs, for the instruction of those who read. Rev.21:15. “And speak with me, having a reed of gold, that he may measure the city and its gates and its walls.” The golden cane shows the honorability of the measuring Angel, whom he saw in human form, as well as the honorability of the city being measured, the wall of which we honor Christ. Not by people, but by an Angel, it is measured by the purity and wisdom of premium natures, which, of course, know the greatness and splendor of the highest city. We think that here under the wall there is of course both a Divine fence and a cover with which the saints are protected. Rev.21:16. “And the city stands on four corners, and its longitude is great, and its breadth is great. And measure the city with a reed, into twelve thousand furlongs: its length and breadth and height are equal.” A quadrangular city stands for strength and hardness, for equilaterality in depth, latitude and longitude is called by some a cube, and means, they say, strength. The twelve thousand furlongs that the city is said to have mean, perhaps, its size, for, says David, its abodes will be multiplied more than sand (Psalm 139:18), perhaps according to the number of the twelve Apostles through whom it is inhabited. And the septenary number, being mysterious, represents what is sought through division. For the said thousand stages, divided by the number 7, represent the measure called miles, 1714, where a thousand shows the perfection of endless life, seven hundred - the perfection of peace, fourteen - the double sabbath of soul and body, for twice seven is fourteen. Rev.21:17. “And thou shalt measure its wall a hundred and fourty and four lacti, according to the measure of a man, even an angel.” The depth of the wall is one hundred and forty-four cubits. For the number twelve, indicating the Apostolic teaching, being added twelve times, will make this number. Rev.21:18. “And the creation of its wall was jaspis: and the city was pure gold, like pure glass.” The arrangement of the wall - jasper shows the always blooming and unfading life of the saints, as has been said many times. Its gold is pure, like glass, due to the splendor and luminosity of its inhabitants. Rev. 21:19–20. “And the foundations of the city wall are decorated with every precious stone: the first foundation is jaspis, the second is sapphire, the third is chalcedon, the fourth is emerald, the fifth is sardonyx, the sixth is sardarius, the seventh is chrysolif, osmoe virillus, the ninth is topazium, the tenth is chrysopras, the first is ten jakinthos, the second is ten amefistos.” Twelve foundations - twelve precious stones, eight of which were worn in the amice of the ancient high priest, and four others to show both the agreement of the New Testament with the Old, and the superiority of those who shone in it. And truly the Apostles, signified by precious stones, are adorned with every virtue. "The first foundation is yaspis." Jasper, greenish in color, similar to emerald, is appropriately designated by Supreme Peter, as bearing the deadness of Christ in his body, and always showing blossoming and youthful love for Him; with warm faith he guided us to the green place. By this, similar to the heavenly body, from which, they say, azure also comes, I think Blessed Paul is designated, raptured to the third heaven and drawing those who listen to him there, to heaven, where he himself resides. This stone was not in the high priest's amice, but there was an enfrax, which is not here. You need to look to see if the saint named Anfrax by this name. Anfrax (coal) is Blessed Andrew the Apostle, kindled by the Spirit. Emerald, which has a green color, and feeds on oil, and from it receives shine and beauty, we think, signifies the sermon of the Evangelist John, with the Divine oil softening the despondency that occurs in us from sin and giving us with the valuable gift of Theology an ever-living faith. Probably this stone, which has the color of a human nail with shine, denotes Jacob, who, above others, accepted bodily mortification for the sake of Christ, which means a nail that does not have sensation when circumcised. Sardia, as having an orange and shiny color, and healing power in abscesses and ulcers from iron, I think, denotes the beauty of the virtue of Blessed Philip, illuminated by the fire of the Divine Spirit, and healing the spiritual ulcers of the erring, which are wounded by the devil. Perhaps Bartholomew is depicted as a chrysolith, similar in brilliance to gold, adorned with valuable virtues and Divine preaching. Judging by the color of the sea and air, which matches Iakinthos, I think it signifies Thomas, who was sent on a distant sea voyage to the Indians to save them. Topaz, red in color, similar to anfrax, which, as they say, gives a milky liquid useful to suffering eyes, can denote the soul of Blessed Matthew, kindled by Divine jealousy, and adorned with the outpouring of blood for Christ, healing the blind in heart with the Gospel and feeding newborns with milk in the faith. Chrysopras, which has the shine of gold better than gold itself, I think, signifies blessed Thaddeus, who preached to Abgar, king of Edessa, the kingdom of Christ, signified by gold, and the mortification in it, signified by pras (wheatgrass). Iakinth azure or airy blue signifies, perhaps, Simon as a zealot (Zealot) of the gifts of Christ and having heavenly wisdom. "Second Ten Amefist." The amethyst, scarlet in appearance, I think, signifies Matthias, who was awarded the Divine fire during the division of languages, and who filled the place of the fallen, out of a fiery desire to please the Chosen One. We have presented this from what was said about stones by Saint Epiphanius, which he applied to the leaders of the tribes of Israel, as an exercise for the readers, as conjectures, only guessing about the truth, which is fully known to the One who revealed this. In fact, the Apostles are both foundations and precious stones, and one of one, the other of another stone, but they all preserved what was special and better in all stones. Therefore, I ask you to postpone complaints about the proposed opinions, as if forcibly imposed. For by the peculiarity in the virtues of each Apostle we do not cut off their communication and mutual unity, but by the particular difference between them we wanted to show the complete identity connecting them to each other like a chain. Rev.21:21. “And twelve gates, twelve beads: each gate is one besha from one bead.” The twelve gates are clearly the twelve disciples of Christ, through whom we learned the door and the way of life; They are also twelve beads, receiving their shine from the One valuable bead - Christ. “And the hail of hail is pure gold, like glass as bright.” One comparison cannot accurately explain the benefits of the highest city. Therefore, he saw the city area, in terms of its value and blessing, as gold, and in terms of purity, like crystal, i.e. light glass, but with us both cannot be combined in one. The saint contemplated all this as best he could. And accurate knowledge of the highest city surpasses hearing, vision, and thought. Rev.21:22. “And I saw no church in it: the Lord God Almighty is his church and the Lamb.” And I didn’t see a church in it. For what need does a city have of a church that has God as a fence and covering? By it we live, and move, and have our being. For He is both the church of the saints and the inmate who dwells in them and walks as promised. The Lamb is the Lamb of God slain in us; The Life-Giving Spirit, whom he further called a river, is also essentially united with Him. Rev.21:23. “And the city does not require the sun and the moon, let them shine in it: for the glory of God enlighten it, and its lamp is the Lamb.” The city has no need for the sun. For where the mental sun of truth is, there is no need for sensual luminaries. He himself is his glory and his candlestick, and the nations being saved will walk in his light; what he said: Rev. 21:24–25. “And the nations will go to salvation in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honor into it. And its gates shall not be shut during the days: for there shall be no night.” The saved nations, as it is said, will walk in its light, and those who reign on earth over passions will bring into it the glory and honor of good deeds. And that its gates will not be closed, this means either the safety and equanimity of its inhabitants, or that there the Divine gates of the Apostolic teaching will be open to everyone for the most perfect teaching. Day will be there, and not night, for the night will be separated for sinners. Rev. 21:26–27. “And they will bring glory and honor of the tongues into it. And let him not bring into him any evil thing, and do abominations and lies, but only those which are written in the books of the living creatures of the Lamb.” Lordship and glory of nations, i.e. those who please Christ in them will bear fruit in that city. However, what is bad and unclean will not enter there. For what communication is there between light and darkness? Chapter 68. About the pure river that seemed to emanate from the throne Rev. 22:1–2. “And I showed a pure river of animal water, as bright as a crystal, emanating from the throne of God and the Lamb. In the middle of his hay." The river emanating from the Church in real life is the baptism of re-being; it, through the action of the Holy Spirit, makes those washed by it purer than snow and crystal. And through the highest Jerusalem passes the river of God, filled with waters, the Life-giving Spirit, emanating from God and the Father, and through the Lamb, through the highest powers, which are called the thrones of God, it fills the hundred squares of the holy city, i.e. its multitude, which has increased, according to the Psalmist, is greater than sand (Psalm 139:18). Rev.22:2. “And on both sides of the river there is a living tree that produces twelve fruits, yielding its fruit every month.” This river, it is said, will water the saints planted with it, allegorically called the tree of life, by communion and imitation of the tree of life - Christ. Twelve fruits grow, i.e. produce a constant recurrence of fruits. For there will not be a sinful winter there, forcing the tree of life to endure the falling of its leaves, as we see now, but there will be an uninterrupted age of fruitfulness for the saints; it is called here twelve months, both according to the usual course of the year with us, and for the sake of the preaching of the twelve Apostles. It is possible to interpret this whole passage differently. By the river, as has been said, one can understand the gifts of the Life-giving and All-Holy Spirit, which through the Father and the Son, i.e. through the Cherubim ranks, on which God sits as if on a throne, they go out into the hundreds of cities, i.e. into the numerous company of saints, as pouring out from the first to the second according to the well-ordered order of the heavenly hierarchy. The tree of life can mean Christ, understood in the Spirit and about the Holy Spirit. For in Him is the Spirit, and in the Spirit is we worshiped, and He is the giver of the Spirit. And through Him, the twelve fruits of the Apostolic Face give us the unfading fruit of the knowledge of God; or the pleasant summer of the Lord is proclaimed and the day of reward predicted by the prophet. “And the leaves of the tree for healing with the tongue.” Leaves of the tree of life, i.e. Christ is the more superficial understanding of the judgments of God, and his fruits are perfect knowledge, revealed in the next century. These leaves will be for healing, i.e. to purify the ignorance of lower peoples, others to perform virtues. Because there is one glory to the sun, another glory to the moon, and another glory to the stars (1 Cor. 15:41), and there are many mansions of the Father, and in order to honor one with less and another with greater light, in proportion to the deeds of each. And this can be understood differently. By the animal tree, which produces twelve fruits, we mean the face of the Apostle by the essential communion of the tree of life, the communion of the flesh which gave us the communion of His Divinity. Their fruits are those that bear a hundredfold fruit, while the leaves bear sixty times the fruit, which will bring healing to those of the nations that bear thirty times the fruit, transferring to the lower ones a ray of illumination of the Divine Light, which they themselves received from those who brought the hundredfold fruit. For whatever difference there is between fruits and leaves, so will there be a difference in those who are saved; some will be glorified less, others more, as it is written. If it is written: tree in the singular, instead of tree, this means the one cohabitation and like-mindedness of the saints. Usually in Holy Scripture it is not uncommon to name one tree instead of many trees and to use singular names instead of other multiple names. Rev.22:3. “And all anathema shall not be given to anyone.” Anathema (excommunication, separation) is understood in two ways, either as inaccessible for many, but separated for God alone, or as inviolable for all creation and for the holy powers, but separated to the devil, due to decisive alienation from good. We think this, and it is said here in an enhanced sense: damned (καταθεμα). For this is not separated from Being, but is excommunicated (cursed), being subject to the devil and condemned to this; which will not happen in this city. Rev. 22:3–4. “And the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will serve Him. And they will see His face and His name on their foreheads.” Having become the throne of God by the repose of the Lords in them, these will be the inhabitants of this city, and they will see Him face to face, not in fortune telling, but as the Holy Apostles saw Him on the holy mountain, as the great Dionysius says. Instead of the golden coat that the ancient High Priest wore (Ex. 28:36), they will have the name of God written not only on their foreheads, but also in their hearts, i.e. firm, bold and unchanging love for Him. For the mark on the forehead means the adornment of boldness. Rev.22:5. “And there will be no night there, and they will not require light from a lamp, nor the light of the sun, for the Lord God enlightens me: and they will reign forever and ever.” If the righteous are enlightened like the sun, according to the word of Christ, what need will there be for a lamp, or for sunlight, for those who have the Lord of glory with their enlightenment and king, and will be endlessly governed by Him forever and ever, or rather will they themselves reign with Him, according to the Divine Apostle? Chapter 69. That Christ is the God of the Prophets and the Lord of Angels Rev.22:6. “And I said: these words are true and true.” The words are faithful and true, as if spoken by the Truth. Having previously offered a vision of an Angel and an explanation of what was seen, he now speaks as if on his own behalf. “And the Lord God of Saints, the Prophet, showed his messenger angel to his servants, who must soon be.” If the God of the Prophets is Christ, who sent His Angel to show His servants the future through Blessed John, who saw the vision, then it is obvious that in relation to the economy he said at the beginning that the Son was given revelation for the sake of the flesh. For the God of the Prophets, who sends Angels as ministering spirits to His servants to show them the revelation of the future, really does not know anything - neither the day nor the hour of the end, and how could He, who, like God, has the secret treasures of wisdom and knowledge, now only learn from the Father? The Evangelist now appears in His person, saying: Rev.22:7. “Behold, I am coming quickly: blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” Other Prophets also have the custom of pronouncing Divine definitions on their own behalf. I am coming soon - shows either the brevity of the present time in comparison with the future, or the suddenness and speed of any death. For for every person it is the end of his departure from here. Since we do not know at what hour the thief will come, we are commanded to watch and have our loins girded, and burning lamps of life according to God, shining for our neighbors. Therefore, let us not cease in contrition of heart to pray to God to deliver us from all those who persecute us, so that when they defeat us, the Angels who perceive our souls do not snatch them away unprepared, when there is neither one who delivers nor one who saves. And the soul of each of us, entangled in the bonds of earthly and earthly affairs, and not enduring separation from them, may not turn to them in vain, being forced to leave them at the insistence of the Angels and the command of God, may it not be useless to mourn the negligence of the past time. But more than that, constantly chanting David’s word: “Be prepared and not dismayed to keep your commandments” (Ps. 118:60), as a reward for observance we will receive this glory from God: good, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful for a little, I will make you over many: enter into the joy of your Lord (Matthew 25:21; Luke 19:17). With Him, the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, is due glory, honor, power, now and ever, and forever and ever. Amen.