События в девятом столетии второго тысячелетия

Both with the previous and with this chronology table, no history was found. From this we can understand that during these years nothing was done except human sins. Therefore, here too, so that the place does not remain empty, we will talk about sinful evil, how great the destruction comes from it. The sin of the bright angel turned into dark Satan and cast him down from heaven. Adam's sin drove him out of paradise and brought curse and death to the entire human race. The sins that multiplied among the people of the first world covered countless thousands of peoples with flood waters and destroyed the terrible sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as their surrounding cities, they burned with fire, tormented Egypt with many wounds, and finally, Pharaoh with all his military strength was plunged into the sea. Because of their sins, the Israelites, driven out of Egypt by God, did not enter the promised land, but died in the desert. Sins opened up the thickness of the earth under Dathan and Abiron even to hell, turned people into cattle (like Nebuchadnezzar) and into insensitive pillars (like Lot’s wife) and never spared anyone, but brought judgment and punishment from God to everyone who sinned. The sins of man even the Son of God Himself, innocent, righteous and reverend, “who had not committed sin, and flattery was not found in His mouth” (1 Pet. 2:22), were nailed to the cross. And did they spare any sinner? Great sins have deposed the mighty from the thrones, transformed kingdoms, destroyed cities, scattered warlike regiments, devastated countries and are still doing the same. Oh, how great is the cruelty of sins! Scripture exhorts well: “Flee from sin as from the face of the serpent: if you approach, it will bite you” (Sir. 21:2). There is no greater evil in heaven than sin. Whether illness, or misfortune, or poverty, or persecution, or some kind of misfortune and suffering - all this is not as great an evil as some mortal sin. Saint Chrysostom says the following: “Such and such a poor person and poverty is evil. What is the disease? What about blindness? All this is nothing, O man! For there is only one evil - sin” (On the Epistle to the Ephesians, chapter 5). Why is all the troubles and suffering in this world nothing compared to sin, and sin is the greatest evil? Because all disasters are temporary, but sin torments forever; even if he is forgiven, the sinner himself will always remember it. Just as an ulcer received on the body, even if it is healed, still leaves a sign of the ulcer, so in the soul that has sinned and received forgiveness from the mercy of God, if it is established in the Kingdom of Heaven, the memory of sin will still remain in it, as a sign of the former ulcer that remains forever before the eyes. And a person, looking at the ineffable God’s mercy shown to him, will at the same time see how God was merciful to him, forgiving him a great sin, and not just one, but so many sins. With the contemplation of God’s mercy, man will also contemplate those deeds with which in his temporary life he angered such a kind and so good God. So, the sin committed, even if it was forgiven and consigned to oblivion by the merciful and unforgettable God, will remain in the memory of the one who committed it. You will say that in the prophecy of Ezekiel it is written: “Even if the wicked turns from all his iniquities, all the sins he has committed will not be remembered to him” (Ezek. 18:21-22). I answer. They will not be allowed to become the cause of God’s wrath, reproof and punishment, for sins once forgiven are forgiven forever. However, remembering them will not stop, since God remembers everything that happened and will remember forever. A person’s memory will never forget everything he has done before and will see past wrath in God’s mercy that forgave him. How will he know the greatness of God's mercy if he does not remember the numerousness of his sins, and begins to glorify this for endless centuries and thank the kindly God that He has forgiven him such and such numerous sins and iniquities? Sin is an infinite evil, for not only will it be eternally tormented in hell for unrepentant sinners, but also for those who have repented, those who have been granted forgiveness and entered into the Kingdom of God with the righteous, it will be forever remembered, and remembered not for reproof or shame, but for the glorification of God’s mercy. May Saint Dorotheos be cited here as a testimony, speaking about the remembrance of sins in the following way: “Souls, as the holy fathers say, all remember what was done here: words, deeds, and thoughts, and then they cannot forget any of this. If the psalm says: “On that day all their thoughts will perish” (Ps. 145:4), then this is said about the thoughts of this age, that is, about cares, creations, acquisitions, parents, children and all kinds of giving and receiving. All this perishes when the soul is separated from the body, and it does not care about or remember any of this. But what she did out of virtue or out of sinful passion, she remembers, and none of it perishes. But even if someone used someone, or received benefit from someone, he always remembers both the one who used it and the one who used it. In the same way, if someone accepted a dirty trick from someone, or he did a dirty trick to someone, then he always remembers both the dirty tricker and the one who accepted the dirty trick. And, as I said, the soul does not forget anything that it has done in this world, but remembers everything after separation from the body, and remembers even more clearly, even more obviously after the change of this earthly body” (The Word on the Fear of Future Torment). Saying this, Saint Dorotheos also cites another witness: “Once I spoke about this with a certain great elder; and the elder himself said, That the soul remembers after its departure from the body those passions that acted, and the sins, and the persons with which it acted. But I, wanting to know, entered into a dispute about many things, and the elder did not obey, saying that the soul remembers the very type of sin, and the very place, and the very person with whom it sinned.” From this it becomes clear that after his death his sins are not forgotten, but are eternally remembered. The only difference will be that the condemned sinner in torment will remember his sins to greater torment of his conscience, and the one who receives the mercy of the Lord will remember to greater glorification of the great mercy of God who forgave him his sins. Just as the king’s mercy, meekness and gentleness are more glorified insofar as the king spares those who have sinned against him and forgives them, having mercy on them, and just as the art of a doctor is all the more exalted the greater and incurable the ulcers he heals, so the mercy of God will be all the more and more glorified forever, the more sinners who are spared will be seen in the Heavenly Kingdom, forgiven, healed from sinful ulcers, cleansed and counted among the righteous. Sin is such a great evil that man himself, without the help of God’s mercy, can never give complete satisfaction for it, even if he lived for a thousand years and spent all this time in repentance, labor, fasting, prayers and tears. “If,” as St. John Climacus says, “the sinner had caused the entire universe to cry for himself, if he had turned the entire Jordan River into his tears and drained it with drops from his own eyes, if he had suffered thousands of deaths for Christ, then even then he could not have repaid the due debt for his sins. For his blood cannot be equal to the blood of the Son of God, who suffered for us.” One sin of Adam, committed in paradise, was so grave that the many tears of all the holy forefathers and the shed blood of the prophets could not compensate for it, but it was necessary for the Son of God Himself, having descended from heaven, to become incarnate and suffer, and with His blood to repay the debt to God’s justice for human sin. What will we create? Not for one, but for our countless grave sins, what satisfaction can we make? How will we measure and repay our debts if we do not seek God’s mercy? But even if we look for it, we will not find it unless we first give up our sins, for it is impossible to appease God by continuing to sin. Sin is such an evil that it not only destroys the person committing it, but also leads other innocent people who are with the sinner into trouble. Because of the sin of Jonah, who was sailing in the ship, and others who were with him were in distress and despaired of their lives, for there was a great storm at sea, and the ship was in danger of being broken. Also, that ship, which is written about in the Gospel, was covered with waves not so much because of the stormy wind that happened and the great disturbances at sea, but because of the sin that was in Judas. This is what Saint Ambrose of Milan thinks about this issue, who says: “Although many good deeds of the disciples of Christ sailed in the ship, yet the ship was exposed to danger from the waves through treacherous unbelief,” that is, for the sake of the unfaithful Judas himself, the sea was indignant, unable to bear him sailing on it; although he did not yet think of betraying Christ, however, seeing Christ’s miracles, he was obsessed with unbelief, and for the sake of his sin, the holy apostles were in awe of excitement and storm. And during the flood, along with sinful people, animals, livestock, and birds perished, having sinned nothing before God. Now in the world, as in a troubled sea, oh, how many troubles are found due to sins! Along with the guilty, the innocent also suffer, for the sins of others are the cause of misfortune for those who have not sinned, as happened in ancient times in Israel: David sinned alone, and the whole kingdom suffered greatly because of his sin (2 Samuel 24:15-17). Our sin is such a great evil that it even causes God Himself some trouble! The holy prophet Isaiah said, addressing the king of Israel Ahab and his entire congregation: “Hear, house of David, it is not enough for you to give food as a man, how much labor do you give to the Lord?” (Isa. 7:13), that is, is it not enough for you to bother poor people with the hard work that is mercilessly imposed on them, and the insults, bitterness, and oppression you inflict on them, just as you are not afraid to bother God with your sins? For you cause trouble to the Lord by committing iniquities and iniquities. But God Himself, in the prophecy of Isaiah, speaks to sinful Israel: “In your sins and in your iniquities you have troubled Me” (Is. 43:24). Amazing and terrible is this word of God, in which He says that He is troubled when a person sins: “Thou hast troubled Me,” he says, “in thy sins.” Does God work or help a person when he sins? He truly works, as Jerome’s translation explains: “Work with Me in your sins.” Let us hear how God works and works when we sin? God contains the life of every person, faithful and unfaithful, righteous and sinful: “For all things are in Him,” as the Apostle says, “we live and move, and we are” (Acts 17:28). By supporting us, the Almighty who created us assists our nature in all deeds, whether good or evil: helping us in good ones, and in evil ones, without depriving us of our life, breath and Movement, which is contained by His hand and preserved by His mercy. And there is no such act in our life that was accomplished without God’s content for us and without His assistance to our nature, for without Him we cannot even breathe once and move even one finger. If God did not contain human life and movement, or if for one moment of time, for one blink of an eye, He took away His content, then man would immediately become dead. From this we can understand how God works and works when a person sins: when a person commits any sin, he contributes to his nature, supporting the person, without taking away from him His omnipotent power, preserving the life and movement of the sinner, and not allowing him, in that very sinful act, to suddenly die, be kidnapped by an invisible enemy and brought down to hell. Thus, He assists the sinner, despite this, for just as He does not want the sinner to die, He does not want to take away the free will and power from man, which He gave him in His image. Not wanting to work, He works overcoming Himself. For His justice requires for that vengeance that He immediately execute him and destroy the sinner in a truly sinful matter, but His philanthropic compassion and mercy restrains the vengeful hand of justice, is merciful, does not destroy, is long-suffering and awaits the sinner’s conversion. His justice is ignited with righteous anger at those who commit lawlessness, and His mercy quenches anger, intercedes, and propitiates. God's justice sharpens the sword to execute the sinner, but His mercy prepares healing medicine to heal the sinner's sinful ulcers. God's justice opens fiery hell for the sinner, and mercy reveals before the face of the Heavenly Father the wounds of Christ in the hands and feet, pierced in the heart and ribs, the wounds He accepted for the sake of the sinner. And so God works, overcoming His anger with His mercy, and works with His support for the sinner in his sins. However, He Himself is not an accomplice in the sins of the sinner and is not guilty of his evil deed, for God does not assist and help the sinner in the evil will of sin, but only in his vital natural forces, moved by Him, our God Almighty. And just as in a person who limps when walking, his soul does not limp with him, although he limps without being soulless, so in the sin of a sinning sinner, God, maintaining his life and promoting his natural movement, is not involved in his sin and is not guilty, but the guilt given to him by God and the inalienable autocratic human will. It is precisely contrary to the will of the Lord that she commits a sin when God does not deign it, although she preserves the life of the sinner, despite the fact that the sin of the sinner is disgusting to Him, the Master. And God’s long-suffering is truly marvelous, how He endures a sinner and does not destroy him in lawlessness at the very hour of committing a nasty sin! Glory to His long-suffering mercy! Although God does not easily tolerate the atrocities of the sinner, without destroying him when he commits a sin, he is nevertheless very angry with the unrepentant and prepares revenge for his sins. And such a terrible time will come when His long-suffering will turn into indomitable rage and love for mankind will be replaced by enmity: “Then He will wash His hands in the blood of a sinner” (Ps. 57:11). And what could be more terrible than this evil, the culprit of which is our sin? Oh, how great and unspeakable is the evil of sin, since it troubles the omnipotent God, who sustains our life, and provokes the endless wrath of the most merciful Father! Many saints of God, fearing this evil, were more willing to fall into troubles, flour and death, than to commit any great sin and anger their Creator. Joseph the Beautiful in Egypt preferred to suffer in prison and chains rather than encounter God with sin, for he said to the charming woman: “How can I do this evil deed and sin before God?” (Gen. 39:9). The chaste Susanna in Babylon preferred to die rather than agree to sin, for she said to the shameless and unrighteous judges: “It is better for me, having not committed a sin, to fall into hands than sin before God” (Dan. 13:23). And the holy elder Eleazar, forced to break the law, what did he answer? “It would be better for me,” he said, “to go to hell than to anger my God by transgressing His holy law” (2 Mac. 6:23-28). Who isn't afraid of hell? And a saint of God would rather be in hell than sin and anger God. For the wrath of God is more terrible than all torments and deaths, even hellish ones. Do not sinners in the Revelation of the Theologian cry out to the mountains and stone: “Fall on us and cover us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath has come, and who can stand it?” (Apoc. 6:16–17). Also, doesn’t Saint Job pray that he be hidden in hell until the wrath of the Lord ceases (Job 14:13)? So terrible is the wrath of God, which we, the accursed, are now not afraid of and, daring in our fearlessness to sin, we are storing up wrath for ourselves on the day of God’s wrath and judgment! (Rom. 2:5). You might be interested in: