События в десятом столетии второго тысячелетия

Jared, the son of Malelel, the father of Enoch, died - according to Russian Bibles in 1822 from the beginning of the world, and according to chronographs in 1922. All the years of his life were 962 years. And in these years, as in the previous ones, nothing less was happening in the heavenly places than the wrath of the Lord God by sinful people who lived without fear according to their own will, who did not have God before their eyes, did not remember their death, did not expect a future life and did not fear the eternal punishment and judgment of God, about which Enoch preached. This very life without the fear of God is the cause of all evil, for he who does not have the fear of God decides to commit any evil deed. David speaks well about the sinner who does not fear God: “The speech of a transgressor is to sin in oneself (in the Moscow press: “The word of the lawless one is to sin in oneself”): there is no fear of God before his eyes” (Ps. 35:2). He seems to be saying this: why did the most lawless sinner think of breaking the good, holy and soul-saving laws of God and doing what is displeasing to God? - because there is no fear of God before his eyes. Why does the strong rape the weak, take away, kidnap, or withhold the mercenary's wages? Why does an oathbreaker swear falsely, an annoyancer annoys, a shameless person swears? Why does a person, being full of sins himself, condemn others? Because there is no fear of God in their eyes. Why does a bribe-taking ruler judge unjustly, acquit the guilty, and torture the innocent? Why does anyone spend their life lazily and carelessly, wallowing in sinful filth and not thinking about repentance? All because there is no fear of God before his eyes. When there is no fear, then there can be no abstinence from sins and correction of life, as David again preaches: “They will not change, for they did not fear God” (Ps. 54:20), that is, sinners do not change in their lawless lives, do not deviate from evil to goodness, because they do not fear God. Oh, that they would fear God! They would not then have dared to do such great evil deeds and anger the Lord, their Judge and Avenger! For the fear of God is, as it were, a rein and bridle that leads the sinner away from his lawless path, as it is written in Proverbs: “By the fear of the Lord everyone turns away from evil” (Proverbs 15:27). That is why Moses, wanting to convince the people of Israel to turn away from the Falls, commands them first of all to have the fear of God: “Let His fear be upon you,” he says, “so that you do not sin” (Ex. 20:20). The fear of the Lord is the guide to salvation and the beginning of God’s love, in the words of the same Moses: “Now for Israel, what the Lord your God asks of you, that you may fear the Lord your God and walk in all His ways, and love Him, and serve the Lord your God with all your heart” (Deut. 10:12). Thus, human salvation begins from the fear of God, for he who fears the Lord God walks in His ways, that is, keeps all His commandments and loves Him, and works diligently for Him. Saint Chrysostom teaches about how someone can acquire the fear of the Lord, saying: “If we think that He sees everything, not only what we do and say, but also what is in our hearts and in the depths of our thoughts, for He is “judgmental of the thoughts and thoughts of the heart” (Heb. 4:12); If we arrange ourselves this way, then we will fear Him and will not decide to do anything evil, nor say or think anything evil. For tell me: if you stood constantly near the king, would you not stand with fear? And how do you, standing before God, laugh, lie down, not be afraid and not tremble? Do not neglect His long-suffering, for He is long-suffering and leads you to repentance, and do not begin to do anything without first thinking that God is present in all your deeds; is present if you eat and drink, if you want to sleep, if you are angry with someone, if you kidnap, if you are satiated, or do anything else. Think that God is always present, and you will never fall into laughter, you will never be irritated with anger. If you constantly have such a thought, you will always remain in fear and trembling, as if standing close to the King” (Commentary on the Epistle to the Philippians, chapter 2). This is how wonderful the instruction of this great teacher is about the fear of God. Let us also learn that the fear of God is the beginning and foundation of a godly life: “The beginning,” it is said, “of wisdom is the fear of the Lord” (Ps. 110:10; Proverbs 1:7; 9:10), and this wisdom is not worldly, but spiritual, constantly learning from the law of the Lord and trying to please the Lord. The beginning of such wisdom is the fear of God, on which, as on a solid foundation, our salvation is built. Fearlessness ruins everything, as Sirach says: “If anyone does not hold fast to the fear of the Lord with diligence, his house will soon be corrupted” (Sir. 27:3). Thus, the people of the first world, who spent their lives in lawlessness without the fear of God, were completely ruined and reached extreme destruction. You might be interested in: