О Страхе Божием и о Последнем Суде

(This and all the following articles in this volume of the works of St. Ephraim are translated from the Syriac language) Indeed, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. He is a wise man who fears the Lord. And whoever fears God keeps all His commandments, does His will completely and fulfills every word of Him. So, acquire the fear of God, love understanding and wisdom, and kiss her, and she will crown you with the crown of life. The fear of God is the summit of all knowledge: where it is not there, you will not find anything good. The way of the Lord is the first way; the wise follow them, but whoever does not walk this path wanders into endless misfortunes. The wise never depart from the word of God, because it is a source of good, flowing from his teachings. Love the fear of God and follow his path without stumbling, then you will find the paths of life that will lead you to the Kingdom of Heaven. The servant who fears the Lord and does exactly His will will be invested by the Lord with authority in His Kingdom and made His steward. Whoever fears the Lord and keeps all His commandments, the Lord will invest him with authority over all His possessions and entrust to him all His riches. Moses was a zealous servant and greatly feared God, so the Lord made him His steward and gave all His treasures into his hands. The world was brought under his yoke, the elements obeyed him, and wherever he turned his gaze, creatures came to tremble. The Lord made Moses a leader and called him “God” (Ex. 7:1), so that he could perform wonders and signs, like God Himself. The mountains “jumped” before him when he left Egypt, and the hills “jumped” in celebration of his departure (Ps. 113:4). The sea in front of him began to shake, divided and opened a path in the middle of itself, the waters became walls so that the shepherd and his flock could pass between them. Joshua, the son of Nun, a disciple of Moses, was filled with the fear of God, and divided the Jordan to bring the people into his inheritance. He exclaimed to the fortified city - and it fell on the inhabitants. He forbade the speedy revolution of the firmament, and it immediately stopped; held back the two great chariots of the sun and the moon, zealous for the destruction of the enemies of God; He commanded the heights of heaven, and she listened to him and sent a hail of stones to slay the Canaanites, so that no one would escape his sword. Elijah, a wondrous man, burning with jealousy and fear of God, moved to destroy the wicked, as God commanded heaven, and it heard his word: “Give neither rain nor dew until I command you.” Because these holy men feared God, the creatures also feared them and obeyed their commands. They were God's dwelling place, God lived and abided in them. The creatures saw His great power in them and feared them. He who fears God is feared by creatures, and just as he keeps God’s commandments, so creatures keep his commandments. And heaven, and earth, and sea, and air, and everything in them, obey the one whose whole heart is filled with the fear of God. He who fears the Lord is above all fear, has removed from himself and left far behind him all the horrors of this age. He is far from all fear, and no trembling will come close to him, if he fears God and keeps all His commandments. “I have seen the Lord before me...yea,” I will not fear and “I will not be moved,” says David, filled with the fear of God (Ps. 15:8). He had the Lord before his eyes as a sign, as a protective guard, and therefore he said: “I fear nothing and do not tremble.” Neither before the horrors of this world, nor before the insurances of the evil one, does he who fears God come into fear and trembling. Even Satan fears the one who fears God, and his hordes tremble before the one who fulfills the commandments of God. Death, which is terrible for everyone and horrifies mortals, seems like a feast to the God-fearing. Even death is afraid to approach someone who fears God, and only comes to him when she is commanded to separate his soul from his body. Where the fear of God predominates, humility also predominates, there God descends, dwells in such a soul, dwells and abides in it, and becomes, as it were, its guardian, and drives all horrors away from it. Seraphim tremble before God's greatness. The cherubim tremble before him. If God appears to His creatures, they disappear like smoke. If He reveals His power to the worlds, they turn into nothing, like straw in the fire. And if God dwells in someone’s soul and dwells in it as a guest, then can any fear seize that soul, and any horror approach it? But since we have ceased to fear God, before whom everything trembles, we fear the animals that are under our yoke and which our Creator gave us to work at the very beginning, not so that we would fear them, but so that they would tremble us. “And your fear and trembling will be upon all creation,” God said to man at the beginning (Gen. 9:2). We have perverted the beautiful order, and now we are afraid and run away from animals, because the fear of God is no longer in us. We do not fear God, and therefore we are afraid of animals, because we do not keep the commandments of God, then beetles terrify us. We run with fear from the vile and disgusting worm. God commanded us to trample it underfoot, and we tremble in horror before it. Are you afraid of the damned serpent and not afraid of God? You retreat from the scorpion in horror, and you do not tremble at God’s word! A camel makes you shudder, a lion gives you mortal fear, you run away from a bear, a tiger and a dog in horror and trembling. But the fear of God bound the lions in the den along with the righteous man who feared God. The body of the saint was like iron to their teeth, and he tamed the destroyers because he was filled with the fear of the Lord. The coveted, beautiful young men, out of fear of God, despised and treated the fear of the kings as nothing and ridiculed the dead idol; and the fire, which with its flame terrified all those approaching it, embraced and caressed them like a dew-bearing hand. Just as a compassionate mother embraces and kisses her children, so the flame embraces and kisses the young men. He loosed their bonds because he saw God’s power in them, and did not scorch them, but covered them with dew. Neither water, nor fire, nor beasts, nor nations, in a word, those who fear God are afraid of nothing. Whoever is afraid of water, let him imagine the great Moses, who was not frightened by the great sea, but glorified during the transition. Whoever is afraid of fire, let him look at the young men in the oven, whom the fire did not frighten, but embraced with its wings. He who is afraid of beasts, let him look at the righteous man in the den, who made the lions meek like innocent lambs. Whoever trembles at the nations rushing bloodthirsty to battle, let him love the prayer of Hezekiah, who put many thousands to death. The martyrs were not afraid of fire, they fearlessly looked at the flames, at suffering, at torture, at swords, at shackles. Nothing can overcome the fear of God, but it overcomes all torment, all death. Nothing overcomes the fear of God because it is girded with great power. He is equal to love, and love is equal to mercy; These three virtues are God’s abode. He who fears God cannot sin, and if he keeps God’s commandments, he is far from any wickedness. Whoever sins is far from God, and therefore the evil one fills him with fear, and he always lives in painful fear. Since we ceased to fear the Almighty God, sin came with its horrors and brought fear and trembling upon us. Whoever commits sin requires fear from him, and he must tremble before it and conceal it, because sin is a deadly poison. Sin brings with it fear, and one wants to hide it as soon as it is committed, because it does not want to reveal itself as vile and destructive. Because sin is vile, it is hidden, because it is poison, it is hidden, and if it were not so vile, it would not seek secrecy, and if it were not so poisonous, it would not want to remain hidden. Whoever commits a sin requires that he be afraid, hide the sin within himself and not reveal it, otherwise the vileness of the sin will be visible. Sin fears reproach, avoids shame, is ashamed of its ugliness and does not like to see the light. Whoever has a vile face, the eye avoids looking at him, but it is desirable for the eye to see a beautiful face. Since the darkness is very vile, not a single eye wants to see it, and since the light is very pleasant, not a single eye can get enough of it. Sin creeps in the darkness and flees the light, because if it were to appear in the light, then everyone would flee from it. Sin walks in darkness and trembles at the slightest noise. He who commits sin is afraid even of his own voice. The thief does not allow himself to say a word; the adulterer does not dare to speak loudly. The thief speaks quietly, the adulterer whispers, the sensualist often speaks only with his eyes, is afraid of his own lips in order to silently commit a sin, and instead of lips and tongue he expresses thoughts with the movements of his eyebrows and eyelashes. So, adultery causes fear in the adulterer, theft produces fear and horror in the adulterer. With any sin, the one who commits the sin feels fear; even speaking about sin makes him tremble for fear that sin will be revealed. This madman trembles at his own steps, lest anyone hear their noise, and lest they discover, shame, or disgrace him. If he hears a voice somewhere, he stands like a stone; if the dog barks, he involuntarily screams in horror; if anything moves, he hurriedly runs through the window; He’s not going through the door, but he’s in a hurry to escape through the wall as quickly as possible, and even though all his legs are covered in wounds, he doesn’t feel it from fear. The evil one has entered and taken possession of him and fills him with fear and horror; Wherever he goes, there are horrors and stumbling blocks before him. If secretly committing a sin instills so much fear in the sinner, then how great will his horror be when the sin is revealed? And if sin still here plunges the sinner into such horror, then what kind of torment will it produce in him when he appears as the Judge? Both the thief and the adulterer feel shame when one person sees them; in what shame should they appear there when both heaven and earth look at them! Not a single thought of the heart will remain undiscovered there, not a single glance of the eyes will escape the Judgment. And the shameful word, spoken secretly and in a whisper, will be revealed on that day before the righteous Judge, Who judges the hidden things openly. He will call heaven and earth to be with Him at the Judgment, and those on high and below will appear with fear and trembling. Both the Heavenly armies and the hordes of the underworld will tremble before the merciless Judge, who will come accompanied by horror and death. The sky is twisted in terror, the heavenly bodies will fall like unripe figs from a fig tree and like leaves from trees. The sun will darken with fear, the moon will turn pale, trembling, the bright stars will darken in fear of the Judge. The sea, horrified, will tremble, dry up, disappear, and it will no longer exist. The dust of the earth will be engulfed in flames, and everything will turn into smoke. The mountains will melt from fear, like lead in a crucible, and all the hills, like burnt lime, will smoke and collapse. God will rise up for Judgment and ascend above His enemies. The creature will be seized with horror and become as if dead. God will rise up for Judgment, and all order will be in disarray, and the wrath and rage of the Judge will be unbearable for the creatures. God will rise up for Judgment, and heaven and earth will be ruined, the whole world will be destroyed, all its beauties will disappear. God will arise for the Judgment of the wicked and rebellious, and creation will turn to dust. Who can bear His power? Before Him all the high places will fall, and all the valleys will be brought down; both heaven and earth will pass away and disappear like smoke! He will take all creation and throw it away like clothing, so that in His wrath He will punish His enemies who hated Him! As He clothed the universe in a robe, and now in His wrath He will lay aside Himself in order to carry out Judgment on the despisers. Just as an angry man in his annoyance throws off his clothes in order to take revenge on his opponent, to punish his enemies, so the Judge will cast down His entire creation on the wicked and rebellious who despised, insulted and humiliated Him. And the creature will not tolerate the wrath of the Judge, who burns with rage against enemies and the wicked. And before Him and around Him the fire burns and consumes the sinners and the godless. And all those who did not honor and humiliated Him, mocking His long-suffering, like dry branches, will be destroyed by the fire coming from Him. The sky will be darkened with horror! What wicked man will be saved then? The sea will dry up from fear! What wicked man will survive? The whole earth will burn! What sinner will escape punishment? Fire will kindle from the Lord and flow everywhere for vengeance; and the sky, and the earth, and the sea will burn like stubble. Only a small spark will come from the Divine fire, and all the peoples created by God will not be able to endure the heat. For when it pleased Him to create the world and call nations into being, then, out of His mercy, He kept this fire within Himself, so that it would not burn up the worlds. By His good pleasure He hid the fire within Himself, by His mercy He hid the flame within Himself. And if He had not hidden His fire, the creation would not have survived. But when He comes again to judge heaven and earth, then in His anger He will allow His fire to burn, and the worlds will not stand before Him, the abodes above will know death, and the mansions below will know death. If the righteous and saints, by the mercy of God, had not been protected from the fire of the Judge, which ignites heaven and earth, then they, along with the sinners, would have been burned by this fire. And if it were not for grace to protect the heavenly armies, then they, along with the evil ones, would have been destroyed by the power of this flame. If the righteous can hardly remain alive amid the horrors of Judgment, then where will the wicked and sinners go? And the fiery Seraphim do not dare to beg for mercy at the sight of a fiery punishment (threat), but stand in fear and trembling and are silent as if dead. And the saints do not ask for mercy, because the smoke of His wrath rises, and they tremble for fear of being burned along with the sinners. When the King in anger carries out judgment on His enemies, then His anger against the evil ones threatens those who would beg Him for mercy for them. The Judge sits on a fiery Throne, surrounded by a sea of ​​flame, and a river of fire flows from Him to test all worlds. And He put His fire into people, so that this fire would not burn them when He ignites the whole creation and purifies it as in a furnace. If this fire persists now and is not extinguished by sins, then those who retain this fire within themselves will be saved from this terrible fall. And if in someone it is extinguished by sins and not preserved by the holiness of life, then all such people will be like straw for that fire from which the world will burn. The King descends from His place to carry out Judgment on the earth, His armies accompanying Him with great fear and trembling. These powerful ranks come to witness the terrible Judgment, and all the people, how many there were and are on earth, appear before the King. No matter how many have been and will be born into the world, everyone will come to this disgrace to see the Judgment. A trumpet will sound to awaken those in the graves, and at the sound of the last trumpet all the dead will rise. At the behest of the Son of God, sooner than in the blink of an eye, all the dead will be gathered to the place of Judgment. Death will be seized with horror, and will vomit up all its prey, and will not leave a single dead person without presenting him to the Judgment Seat. The earthly dust will be commanded to separate the ashes of the dead, and not a single speck of dust will remain that will not appear before the Judge. Who is swallowed up by the sea, who is devoured by wild animals, who is pecked by birds, who is burned in fire - in the shortest moment of time, all will awaken, rise and appear. Whoever died in his mother’s womb and did not enter into life will be brought into adulthood by the same instant that will return life to the dead. The baby, whose mother died with him during pregnancy, at the resurrection will appear as a perfect husband and will recognize his mother, and she will recognize her child. Those who have not seen each other here will see each other there, and the mother will know that this is her son, and the son will know that this is his mother. The fornicator who destroyed the fetus conceived in her womb so that he would not see this world will not allow him to see the new age. Just as she did not allow him to enjoy life and light in this century, so he will deprive her of life and light in the next century. Since she decided to expel her fetus from the womb prematurely in order to hide it in the darkness of the earth, then she, like the dead fruit of the womb, will be ejected into utter darkness. This is the reward for fornicators and fornicators who encroach on the lives of their children. The judge will punish them with eternal death and cast them into the abyss of torment, full of fetid decay. The Creator will raise the sons of Adam equal; just as he created them equal, so he will awaken them equal from death. In the resurrection there are neither great nor small! And the one born prematurely will rise the same as the adult. Only in their deeds and way of life will they be high and glorious there, and some will be like light, others like darkness. There the righteous are high and famous for their deeds of righteousness, and the wicked are both bad and low for their vicious lives. There the good, by order of the Judge, will be separated from the evil, and the former will be ascended to heaven, and the latter will be cast into the abyss; some will enter the Kingdom, while others will go to hell. Then those on high and those below will unanimously exclaim, one song of praise will be heard from both sides: “Thou art righteous, O Lord, and Thy judges rule!” (Ps. 119:137), - sinners will cry. “The Lord is righteous and upright. He who does good will be rewarded with good,” the Judges standing at the right hand will say. “The Lord is righteous and upright; whoever did evil was rewarded with evil,” those standing on the left will say. Blessed are the saints and the righteous! They will be commanded to enter into life, rejoice and be blissful with God in the eternal Kingdom. He will give them His glory; a brilliant light will be their robe, and their faces in the sky will be brighter than the sky itself. But woe to the wicked and wicked! They, as punishment for their deeds, will be tormented by Satan. Whoever sinned on earth and offended God and hid his deeds will be cast into utter darkness, where there is not a ray of light. Whoever harbors wickedness in his heart and envy in his mind will be hidden by a terrible depth, full of fire and bogeymen. He who indulged in anger and did not allow love into his heart, even to the point of hatred for his neighbor, will be handed over to cruel torment by the angels. He who did not break his bread with the hungry, who did not comfort the one who was languishing in need, will cry out in torment, and no one will hear or give him rest. He who, with his wealth, lived voluptuously and luxuriously, and did not open his doors to those in need, will ask for a drop of water in the fire, and no one will give it to him. He who has defiled his mouth with slander and his tongue with blasphemy will be mired in fetid mire and will be unable to open his mouth. He who robbed and oppressed others, and enriched his house with unrighteous wealth, will be drawn to himself by merciless demons, and his lot will be groaning and gnashing of teeth. Whoever was inflamed here by the shameful lust of voluptuousness and adultery, he, along with Satan, will forever burn in Gehenna. Whoever transgressed the prohibition of the priests and trampled upon the commandment of God Himself will be subjected to the most severe and terrible torment of all. God is from God, true God is from true God! We confess that You are the Most Good God. May Your goodness help us, do not allow us to go to hell and torment together with Satan. We know that You are merciful, cover us with the wings of Your mercy. We confess that You are the Light, and we are slaves under Your hand; do not allow the evil one to snatch us away from You, and keep us from resisting Your rule. We know that You are just, be our truth, Lord. We know that You are our Savior, save and deliver us from the evil one. We glorify You, the All-Holy One, sanctify us with Your Flesh and Blood. May those who have been redeemed by You, who eat Your Flesh and drink Your precious Blood, sing Your praise. Praise be to You, and Thy bounties to us, Most Good, Merciful to sinners! You might be interested in: