Book 6
Behold, the days of the Lord are coming, and your spoils will be divided in you, and I will gather all the nations to war against Jerusalem, and the city shall be capturedand their houses will be plundered, and their women will be defiled, and half of the city will go forth into captivity. Declaring the revered and salvific passion on the cross, he said a little before "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, says "the Lord Almighty, strike the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." that the multitude of the Jews will be subjected to the most extreme punishments, and quite reasonably; for the all-daring one has committed deicide. he taught, adding "And I will bring my hand upon the shepherds, and "it shall be in that day, says the Lord, that two parts "shall be destroyed and shall fail, but the third part I will bring through "fire, and I will try them as silver is tried, "and I will test them as gold is tested." In what manner such things might be understood, we have also spoken, not outside of what is reasonable, at least as far as is possible. And now the purpose of the present matters is turned towards Jerusalem, which acted impiously without restraint, and it signifies to us the manner of its capture. For behold, he says, the days of the Lord are coming, that is, which he himself brings by a just vote and a holy judgment. For it is true what he also says through another prophet, "Shall there be evil in a city, which the Lord has not done." For nothing could happen of those things that are able to harm a whole city, which we say is not done without his permission, and his willingness to demand penalties for transgressions from those who rush to evil deeds with unrestrained impulses. Therefore he says the days are his, because they are brought on by his wrath. For they have no longer behaved insolently in a tolerable manner, having killed the prophets, and adding to these also the Son. And what will be in those days, he clarifies, saying And your spoils shall be divided in the midst of you, clearly with all the nations gathered together and plundering the houses, and dragging away women along with infants. For then indeed, he says, half of the city will go forth into captivity. For they say that the Romans, having taken the city, and having disregarded the shamelessness of those fighting against them, burned down both the temple itself and the houses of the city. But they spared those of the inhabitants of the upper city and the temple who fell at their feet. But see how he says the victors will arrive at such a point of audacity, that having plundered the houses, they would not immediately depart with the spoils, and make the division at leisure when they had arrived at their own tents; but would do this in the captured city itself, which would not have happened at all if there was anyone helping those who had fared miserably and fighting against the plunderers. And he says the women will be defiled, unwillingly being dragged off to others and falling from the customs of modesty, and often in the sight of those to whom they were lawfully married. Such are the sufferings of war, and calamities fitting for those who have once been captured and are entirely without help. But the remnant of my people shall not be utterly destroyed from the city. This, I think, is nothing other than what I just said, that there was some sparing of the inhabitants of the upper city, and a part of Jerusalem was saved. For the Roman generals checked the fury of the combatants, if indeed they saw any weeping and falling down and approaching without a fight. Either, therefore, he calls those in the saved part of the city the remnant of his people; or perhaps those who have believed in Christ the Savior of all, concerning whom he also says, that they would not be destroyed from the city. For they will always be citizens of the Church, even if they fall away from the earthly and destroyed Jerusalem, but they have the city above, about which the divine Paul also writes "But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother "of us all." And the blessed David also seems to hint at something of this kind, saying somewhere as follows "He that dwells in Jerusalem shall not be moved for ever." For if the Church is unshakable, "and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," according to the Savior's voice; for it has him as its foundation; it is in every way necessary that henceforth those be seen as superior to destruction inhabiting it, and accounted as the people of God, numbered with the true. And the Lord shall go forth and shall set his battle array against those nations, as his day of battle array in the day of war. and his feet shall stand in that day on the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the mount of Olives shall be split, half of it toward the east, and half of it toward the sea, a very great chasm; and half of the mountain shall incline toward the north, and half of it toward the south; and the valley of my mountains shall be blocked up, and the valley of the mountains shall be joined on to Asael, as it was blocked up in the days of the earthquake, in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. The word is composed as if about one of the most noble generals, sharpening for battle those who fight with him, and rousing the fighting force against the phalanxes of the enemy; but it is understood as about God, who is, so to speak, present and fighting alongside the nations that are ravaging Judea, and who have sacked Jerusalem itself. We remember that even in the gospel parables he says something like this. For the king who was holding the wedding feast for his son, sent his servants to gather those who had been invited. But they, having impiously insulted and killed those who were calling them to the festival, finally laid hands on the son himself. Then what does the account of the parable say? "But the king was enraged, and sending his armies "he destroyed those murderers, and burned their city." Therefore, he says, it will be in the same way for those who in the day of battle-array nobly rise up against and destroy the enemy. This is a proof of the cessation of wrath and of the highest commotions, and of him inflicting a balanced justice on those who have acted insolently toward him. For they killed, as I said, the author of life. But since things beyond words and wonder would be fitting for the queenly nature of the universe to be able alone to accomplish, for this reason he says that his feet will stand, clearly those of Christ, in that day on the mount of Olives; and it will endure four cleavings, two, toward the dawn and toward the evening, that is, toward the sea; for it is the custom of the divinely-inspired scripture to call the place of the evening thus; and the other two somehow inclining, one toward the north and the bear, and the other to the southern region. He said that the peaks themselves would also be broken down, so as to fill the valleys between, unexpectedly shaken down as far as Asael; this is a village lying, as the story goes, at the furthest extremities of the mountain. Moreover, he compares the severe earthquake here to the one that happened in the times of Uzziah, who is also Azariah. For when he was governing the thrones of the kingdom in Jerusalem, since he was also from the tribe of Judah, he unlawfully dared to take up the ministries of the priesthood, he was immediately made a leper, and with God then showing his anger at these things, the land of the Jews was terribly shaken, and Jerusalem itself, and indeed they also say that mount Zion endured such a convulsion that it was rent into two parts, and its peaks were cast down into the adjacent valleys. Through these things the Prophet seems to us to indicate the earthquake which the ministers of the evangelical proclamations say happened at the time of the precious cross. For the Prophet mentions what happened more broadly in these things; but our most wise Matthew, summarizing the narrative, says thus: "And Jesus, crying out again with a loud voice, "yielded up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple "was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth was shaken, "and the rocks were split, and the tombs were opened, "and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised." But since it is necessary to apply a plausible account to the events, it seems to signify that the rocks being broken down, and the valleys being blocked up [symbolize] both the hardening of the Jews, and the change for the better of those who had served idols course. For those who worship the creation rather than the Creator have, as it were, a heart of stone, hard and unyielding, and like rocks that bear no fruit. But what did God say about them through the voice of Ezekiel? "And I will take away their heart of stone from their "flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh, that they "may know Me, that I am the Lord." Therefore, the hearts of those who had gone astray were rent, God opening them up, so that they might receive the word of the saving proclamation. and he indicates something of this kind through the voice of Jeremiah, saying, "Are not My "words like a burning fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer "that breaks a rock in pieces?" "For the word of God is living and "active and sharper, and piercing even to the division "of soul and spirit." Therefore, as I said, the tearing of the rocks would be a very clear sign of the change for the better of those who had gone astray. But the blocking up of the ravines, as I said, indicates the hardening of the Jews. For the divine Isaiah also said something of this kind: "And it shall be in that day that the Lord will block up "from the channel of the river to the brook of Egypt," that is, the mind of those throughout all Judea will be blocked up, "so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not hear, "nor understand." "For a veil lies upon their heart, "as it is written, at the reading of the old "covenant." And the shaking of the earth might signify, I suppose, the transition from one thing to another. And so the divine David cried out, saying, "You who are enthroned upon the Cherubim, let the earth be shaken." And we do not say at all that he exhorts the world under heaven to be shaken bodily and perceptibly; for that would be foolish, and bring us no benefit; rather, the Spirit-bearer intended this, that the earth should be changed from worshipping idols to knowing at last the God who is by nature and in truth, from thinking carnal things to desiring to live spiritually, and simply from earthly things to heavenly things. And if indeed he says that the very tombs of the departed were opened, we say that death itself had to be seen as conquered, when Christ died in the flesh for us according to the economy, "that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." And the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with him. In that day there will be no light, and there will be cold and frost for one day, and that day will be known to the Lord, and it will be neither day nor night, and toward evening there will be light. Having spoken cursorily of the impious deeds of the Jews against the Savior of us all, Christ, and of the capture of Judea and of Jerusalem itself, he now comes to the very end of the present age, and usefully relates the descent of Emmanuel from heaven. For he will descend with the holy angels in the glory of God the Father, in order "to judge the world in righteousness;" for as the divine Paul writes, "For we must all "appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one "may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether "good or bad." He will come, then, he will come, he says, and all the saints with him, that is, the most pure multitude of his own angels, surely attending him as a bodyguard and bringing their ministerial presence. For Emmanuel is Lord of all, and is glorified by all as God and co-ruler with the one who begot him. But if someone should say that the saints themselves will stand with him, having been caught up "in the "clouds to meet him in the air," after their resurrection from the dead, as seems right also to the most wise Paul, he would in no way miss the fitting quarry. For the divine Isaiah also said something of this sort concerning them: "There the harts "met and saw one another's faces; they passed by in "number, and not one of them was lost, another did not seek "for her mate, for the Lord commanded them, and his Spirit "gathered them." And somewhere the divine David also sings to us, the proclaiming beforehand the descent from heaven of the Savior of us all, Christ, "For the Lord will not cast off "his people, and his inheritance he will not for- "sake, until righteousness return to judgment, and they that "hold to it are all the upright in heart." For he calls Christ righteousness, and says that he will return to judgment. For having trampled on death, he was taken up, and ascended to the Father and God in heaven; but he will return at the appointed time for judgment, and with him all the upright in heart, that is, the saints, as I just said. But that at the time of the consummation there will be a different state of the visible creation, and that it itself will be transformed for the better, being renewed through Christ, the Prophet will confirm, saying In that day there will be no light, but cold and frost for one day, and that day is known to the Lord. For now day and night are distinguished, and they have been allotted their times by the will of the maker, and the light of day dawns, then night follows. But when the Judge comes, who refashions all things according to his will, creation, as I said, will receive a different ordering; for there will no longer be light and cold and frost for one day. And by light he signifies the day, but by frost and cold the night, for the night-and-day period has been reckoned as one day. It is as if he were to say, for instance: At that time, when having come from heaven, he remolds and refashions all things for the better, as Creator, there will not be light nor night, for one day. The blessed prophet Isaiah says something similar: "And the sun shall no longer be for you a light "by day, nor will the rising of the moon give you light by night; "but the Lord will be for you an everlasting light, and God your glory." And that at the appointed time the need for the elements themselves will cease, Christ himself will confirm, saying "Immediately after "the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and "the moon will not give its light." For Christ will suffice for us as an eternal light, and he himself will be a long and continuous day. And he says that day is known to the Lord. For only God the Father knows the day of the consummation. And the Son himself confirms this for us, saying "But concerning that day or that hour "no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the "Father alone." For in so far as he is understood as a man like us, he would not know the things in the Father; but in so far as he is God by nature, and has appeared from him, he surely knows the last day, even if he says he does not know it because of his humanity. And the Prophet, interpreting for us and making clearer what he said, adds to this: And it will be neither day nor night, but towards evening there will be light, that is, in the time of night there will be light again through Christ and it will illumine what is under heaven, with darkness being completely abolished, and no longer prevailing before the eyes of the saints. And it is indeed reasonable to think that creation itself is being reshaped for the better. And reliably the disciple of the Savior, saying that the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be dissolved by burning, and the earth and the works in it will all be burned up, and that we expect new heavens and a new earth and his promises. Nevertheless, we shall also proceed to this from necessary reasonings. For if our state will certainly be in newness of life, we also need a new creation. For as the divine Paul writes, "creation itself will also at the appointed time be "set free from its bondage to decay into the freedom of the "glory of the children of God." In that day living water will go out from Jerusalem, half of it to the former sea, and half of it to the latter sea, and so it will be in summer and in spring. And the Lord will be king over all the earth. He explains again to us enigmatically, that the [gift] of the Holy An outpouring of the Spirit will be distributed to the saints, especially at that time when they might be brought up to a holy and unending life, I mean, that which is in the age to come. For now, through faith in Christ, we have been enriched with the first-fruits of the Holy Spirit as a pledge; but after the resurrection from the dead, with sin being completely destroyed, the divine Spirit will no longer be in us as a pledge and in measure; but abundantly and lavishly, as I said, we will then fully delight in the gifts that are through Christ. He therefore calls the Spirit living water, which he also says will come forth from the Jerusalem above. For since the God-inspired scripture said that the God of all dwells in the heavens, even though He is everywhere and has filled all things, for this reason it says that the life-giving Spirit will also come forth from heaven. That it is the custom of the sacred writings to compare the divine Spirit to waters, the Giver of this, that is, the Son, will Himself confirm it, saying, "He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.'" And interpreting this and making it clear, the divine evangelist says, "This he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive." For since the Spirit is life-giving, it is for this reason compared to water, which gives life to bodies, and very rightly so. That the need to partake of the provision of the Holy Spirit will be richly available to those deemed worthy of the holy life, and to be filled, as it were, with life-giving waters, he implies by saying, that of the water expected to come forth from Jerusalem in due time, half of it will go towards the first sea, and half towards the last sea. And what is this? The divine scripture often compares the many nations of men and the multitude beyond number to seas and waters. Thus it says somewhere through one of the holy prophets, "For the whole earth was filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as much water covers the seas." And the divine Daniel also said somewhere, foreseeing the things that would happen in the last times to those throughout the whole world, "I, Daniel, was watching, and behold, the four winds of heaven were striving upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, different from one another." But making this same thing clearer, the blessed David sings, saying, "This is the great and wide sea, in which are creeping things innumerable, both small and great animals. There the ships go, this dragon which you have formed to play in it." For what dragon do we say is in the perceptible sea, formed to be played with by the God who rules over all? It is therefore the custom of the sacred writings to compare both the whole world and sometimes a great multitude of people to seas. That the grace of the Spirit will therefore be distributed by God in equal measure to those who have believed from Israel and to those from the Gentiles, he implies by saying concerning the life-giving water, that half of it will go out to the first sea, and the other half to the last sea. And he calls the first sea Israel; and the last, the multitude of those who believed after them, that is, the Gentiles. And we do not say at all that the Holy Spirit is divided, and will be incomplete in each because it is understood as half; far from it; but we shall rather suppose that the Prophet wishes to indicate this, that the distribution will be allotted to both these and those in equality of grace. For the half and half will be indicative of the equal-weighted honor and of the equality. That the grace is continuous, and the participation at all times, is easy to see, from his saying again, that it will be so both in summer and in spring. But it should be known that instead of "In spring," the Hebrew version says "In winter." Therefore, he says, it will be according to these things, and likewise the outpouring of the spiritual waters, in winter and in summer, that is, at all times. It makes no difference to say 'spring' instead of 'winter', according to the writing of the seventy; for it is placed as participating in both winter and summer, so that if one were to assign it to the times of winter, one would not violate the probable, or even correct, reasoning. But if someone should wish to understand what is said about the spiritual water in another way, that half of it will go out to the first sea and half of it to the last sea, and in summer and in spring it will be so, he will admit some such interpretation of what is set forth. For he calls the 'first sea' that which is probably situated toward the dawn, I mean beyond the limits of the whole earth; and the 'last sea', that which is at the very extremities of the west; for he defines the east as, in a way, the face and beginning of the inhabited world. And I suppose he calls the hot and southern parts of the inhabited world 'summer', and again, the northern and cold parts 'spring'. For thus also the divine David, wishing to signify the four climes under heaven, cried out to God, 'Summer and spring you have made them,' and again, 'The north and the sea you have created.' Therefore, he says, the living water will go out in equality and with equally distributed grace both to the first sea and indeed also to the last sea, that is, to the east and to the west, and in summer and in spring, that is again, to the south and to the north. For the world under heaven will be filled with the gifts through Christ, and the gift will certainly remain with those who have received it. Then indeed, then, And the Lord will be king over all the earth. For we shall be under him alone, and he will rule over all things, when the world-rulers of this age have been completely brought to nothing, and every evil power has been triumphed over, and Satan himself and the evil powers with him have been cast out from their advantage over us. In that day the Lord will be one and his name one, encircling all the land and the wilderness from Gebal to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Ramah shall remain in its place, from the gate of Benjamin to the place of the first gate, and to the gate of the corners, and to the tower of Hananeel, to the king's winepresses; they shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more a curse, and Jerusalem shall dwell securely. The word of the holy prophets is always somehow obscure, and this, I think, is wisely arranged by God, so that holy things may not be set before dogs; nor indeed, cast carelessly before the feet of swine, the truly precious pearl be treated with contempt. But Christ in the Spirit reveals knowledge to the worthy, and makes the powers of the age to come manifest. And for the most part, the hidden and spiritual things are prefigured in sensible things, and the visible things become, as it were, a body for the more invisible ones. He said, therefore, that in that day, that is, that time, when our affairs have been transformed into newness of life, and creation itself has been reconstituted for the better than before, the Lord will be one and his name one, encircling all the earth. For there was always and is and will be one Lord, the God of all things by nature and in truth, who brought into being things that once were not. But since the inventor of sin, that is, Satan, has deceived the world under heaven, we wretched ones have been carried astray into false and profane worship, and we continued in the world blind and foolish, calling our deceivers lords, and ignorantly applying the name of divinity to unclean demons. And we have been called to the knowledge of truth even in this world through Christ, but when the present age has passed away and already come to an end, then indeed, then, when all madness has been removed from us, and the enemies have already been placed under Christ's feet, there will finally be one Lord over all the earth, with no one seizing the glory of lordship over him. And in another way Christ will be one Lord, when every earthly kingdom has become inactive, and to him indeed alone the of that which is under heaven ascribing dominion over all. And the most wise Daniel said something of this sort. For recounting the manner of the visions, he says, "Just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain without hands, and it broke in pieces the clay, the iron, the bronze, the silver, and the gold. The great God has made known to the king what must happen after this, and the dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy." Therefore He will be one and alone, and He will fill the holy city with His glory, that is, the spiritual Jerusalem, whose breadth and length he shows again as a type in the earthly Jerusalem, saying that it will be widened from Gebel to Remmon. and Gebel or Geba is a village and an inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin; and they say it lies in the more northern parts of Jerusalem. And Remmon, on the other hand, is a certain rock, in the southern desert. Therefore the breadth of Jerusalem is from Gebel to Remmon. And he defines the length also, saying thus: From the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hanameel to the king's wine presses. and the First Gate, and indeed the Corner Gate; thus were certain gates in Jerusalem named; and there was a tower in between called Hanameel, after which were immediately the king's wine presses; these are places marking the length of Jerusalem as in a type. For just as the God of all commanded the blessed prophet Ezekiel to measure the house with a reed, darting here and there, indicating, that there are many mansions with the Father, and countless are the dwellings of the saints; so also here it seems to me that through visible places he describes for us the breadth and length of the spiritual Jerusalem, that is, the Church of Christ, to which also the divine Isaiah cried out, saying, "Enlarge the place of your tent and of your curtains, fix them, do not spare, lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes, still spread out to the right and to the left." Therefore the saints will inhabit the holy city, widened and extended to a fitting length, and there will be no more curse, he says, that is, in no way will it be alienated from God; for He will grant it a steadfast love; and they would no longer fall into offending God, since sin, as I said, has been utterly destroyed, along with the tempting satan. "For there shall be no lion there, nor any of the evil beasts shall go up on it, nor be found there." Therefore they will dwell in confidence. But since it is placed in between, "But Ramah shall remain in its place," we say this again, interpreting the meanings of what has been said, as far as possible. Ramah is a small town, or a village, an inheritance for those of the tribe of Asher; and there is another Ramah besides this for those of the tribe of Naphtali. And a holy Prophet also mentions either one of these, or another Ramah. For he said that "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and weeping and mourning; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted, because they are no more." We say such a thing was done in Bethlehem, when Herod had ordered the infants in it to be killed. Therefore he names Jerusalem Ramah, because of the great lamentation that occurred in it at its capture. For the prophet Jeremiah has introduced her, as it were, shedding tears and wailing for her own lost children. For he said that "She wept bitterly in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks." And what was the lament? "My virgins and my young men have gone into captivity; by sword and by famine you have slain, in the day of your wrath you have slaughtered, you have not spared." But if someone should wish the name to be applied to the spiritual Jerusalem, that is, the Church, and for it now to be called Ramah, we say that the argument is very correct. For many are those who weep in the churches, and have "godly sorrow, which produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret." And Christ Himself accepts such people thus saying "Blessed are those who mourn now, for "they shall be comforted." and again "Blessed are those who "weep now, for you will laugh." Therefore, even if the Church were called Ramah through the voice of the Prophet, the word would in this way also carry plausibility. But he says it will remain in its place, that is, it will not be shaken. For it is established, as I said, and the Church of Christ is unshakable. And this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have campaigned against Jerusalem; their flesh shall rot away while they are standing on their feet, and their eyes will rot out of their sockets, and their tongue will rot away in their mouth. "You will have tribulation in the world," Christ proclaimed to those who believed in him; but he makes them more courageous, usefully adding, "But take heart, I have overcome the "world." "For I have given you to tread upon snakes and "scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy." Who then are the scorpions and who are the snakes, if not clearly the foul and bloodthirsty ranks of the wicked demons, and of those who persecute the saints, who have also become ministers of the unrestrained madness of the spirits in the world, which also roam about this whole universe, plotting against the saints in many ways, although they have been triumphed over through Christ, who nailed the record of debt against us to his own cross, so that he might deliver us from their greed? Therefore, since he said that Jerusalem, which is the Church of the living God, would be inhabited with confidence, and it was indeed right to expect this to be accomplished with the enemies being destroyed, and those accustomed to persecuting her being overthrown, he makes the narration of these things also necessary for us. For this, he says, will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have campaigned against Jerusalem; their flesh shall rot away, and their eyes will rot out, with their tongue also wasting away. For this common death which is according to nature wastes away the flesh of all, and empties the eyes, and causes tongues to decay; but it would reasonably be a dreadful sign of the coming disaster for the flesh of those still living and standing to waste away, and their eyes to fall out, and their tongues to be punished. And he says that such things will very rightly happen to those who have practiced a God-hated and accursed life. For they will pay penalties, not only for the wrongs they have committed against the saints, but also for the love of the flesh which they have had in this world; which also became for them the cause of neither accepting the faith, nor choosing to live piously, and to love the glory of the life in Christ. For they became, as I said, uncontrollably inclined toward unnatural pleasures; and they have had unrestrained eyes, all but greedily pouring out desires for each of the things seen. For they also sharpened their tongue against Christ, and have made unholy denunciation of the sacred doctrines of the Church. Reasonably, therefore, they have received their justice in their flesh and eyes and tongues. For just as the woman who drinks the water of conviction and has sworn a false oath was punished in her thigh, in which the sins of fornication would also occur; "For it says, her thigh will swell "and fall away;" in the same way, I think, for those who persecute the holy city, the punishment is in the flesh and eyes and tongues; for for them the love of flesh, sensual pleasures, and besides these, the sins through the eyes, and the voices of an uninstructed tongue. And on that day there will be a great panic from the Lord upon them; and each will seize the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will be raised against the hand of his neighbor. And Judah will fight in Jerusalem, and will gather the wealth of all the surrounding peoples, gold and silver and clothing in very great abundance. In these words he again calls the fear, that is, the astonishment, a panic. Therefore, he says, at that time, when the enemies of the Church would look at one another, with such falling under terrible judgments, they will be struck down by terrors, and thus finally ceasing to dare to persecute the holy city, they will depart as fugitives, all but wringing their hands, and seeking help from one another in vain, they will be wretched and cast down and under the feet of the saints. But Judah, he says, that is, those justified through faith in Christ and bearing the spiritual Jew about them, and having been enriched with the circumcision in the Holy Spirit, will draw up for battle in Jerusalem, that is, they will campaign against their enemies, they will act youthfully against those who oppose them, trampling them like scorpions, and treading upon the asp and the basilisk, they will utterly disregard the lion and the dragon; and they will be brilliant and admirable, collecting the wealth from such achievements as gold and silver and clothing. For that the meaning of the prophecy is not in sensible things, how could anyone doubt? For the wealth of the saints is not corruptible and earthly, but spiritual and heavenly and everlasting, which those who teach and are esteemed in other ways in the churches gather for their own souls. For they plunder, as it were, the strength of all the peoples, bringing the choice things of the nations to Christ through faith. For thus He himself also said that he had plundered the goods of the strong man. But if someone should say that Judah gathers the strength of all the peoples round about, gold and silver and clothing, so that we may understand that by collecting the wisdom in the world they are illumined by it, striving for the doctrines of piety, the sense would have a probable reason. For once the wise women of Israel despoiled the Egyptians, having asked "from their neighbor and from her who dwelt with them articles of gold and silver, and clothing." Therefore, as in sensible things and as in visible materials, the splendor of spiritual goods is signified. And the wealth of teachers is especially their students. And so the divine Paul addressed those who had been saved and had come to believe through him, saying, "I protest by your boasting, brethren, which I have in Christ Jesus;" and again he called them his own "crown and joy." And this shall be the plague of the horses and of the mules and of the camels and of the donkeys and of all the beasts that are in those camps, like this plague. Having already defined the ways of punishment, which in every way and altogether those who have campaigned against the holy city, having become persecutors and insolent men, will at times endure, abominable and contentious, and speaking injustice against God, and lifting up their horn on high, according to the voice of the psalmist, he usefully adds that This shall be the plague of the horses and of the mules and of the camels and of the donkeys and of all the beasts. But by the beasts of burden he indicates those who ride them. For they attacked the Jews and Jerusalem itself, both the farthest and the neighboring nations; some riding on horses, like the Babylonians and Syrians and indeed the nations of the Egyptians; others having yoked camels and donkeys and mules, such as the Moabites, and the nomads of the desert, of whom the prophet Isaiah also makes mention, saying, "In the affliction and the distress, a lion and a lion's cub, thence also vipers and the offspring of flying vipers, who carried their wealth on donkeys and camels." and he says elsewhere that he saw "a rider of a donkey and a rider of a camel." He describes, then, the enemies of the truth as in the type of the nations, who always warred against the earthly Jerusalem, so that from them we might understand our visible and invisible enemies, against whom we have the battle. And if someone should wish to refer the characteristics of the beasts to the characters of the enemies of the Church, there is nothing wrong in saying and thinking that; as some have become impetuous and bold, like horses, for instance; one might also very reasonably attribute to them love of pleasure and madness for women; others, in the manner of mules, are savage and harsh, but it is customary for the Greek poets also to call them wilder; but those who are like camels in disposition, that is, both uneven and boastful, having their minds lifted up from madness; but others, differing in nothing from donkeys, have been afflicted with the utmost irrationality; for the donkey is sluggish and slow of perception, and an image of the utmost irrationality. But it should be noted that he compares those who have warred against the Church to none of the tame and clean animals, such as a sheep, I say, and an ox, but rather likens them to the abominable and untamed ones, which were also condemned by the words of the law as profane and unclean. And it shall be that whoever is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem, shall go up year by year to worship the King, the Lord God Almighty, and to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be that whoever of all the tribes of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord God Almighty, these also shall be added to those. Having said that those who have warred against the churches, and who have raised a high and boastful brow against holy Jerusalem, will be ensnared in the punishments befitting them, he foretells the worship of those who have been left after them, clearly that which is in Christ through faith. For he is the expectation of the nations according to the voice of the patriarch. And he has been set "for a light to the nations, and for a covenant of the "people, to open the eyes of the blind, and to bring out "the bound from bonds, and those sitting in darkness from the prison "house." That therefore, having left the mist of idolatry, and having broken the bonds of the devil's wickedness, those from the nations will come to the light of truth, and will submit to the yoke of the Savior, he will make clear, saying that the remnants of the punished, that is, of those who have fought against the churches; and these are beyond number; will go up year by year to worship the Lord God Almighty and to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. For the law through Moses commanded that the feast of tabernacles be celebrated on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when the abundance of the fields has been gathered into storehouses. For this reason he calls the feast an "exodus," as the works in the fields have already come to an end. And he commanded to take "ornaments of palm "trees and fruit of a beautiful tree, and branches of a thick tree "and willows and chaste-tree branches," and to drink water from a torrent, and to rejoice over it. And the law made the pretext for the feast the dwelling of Israel in tents, having been delivered from the greed of the Egyptians. But the matter was, then, a type of the mystery concerning Christ. For we ourselves have also been delivered from the greed of the devil, and we have been called, as I said, to freedom through Christ, and we have come under him who is King and God of all, having disregarded the wickedness of those who formerly held power. And we celebrate the true feast of tabernacles, that is, the day of the resurrection of Christ, when the bodies of all are, as it were, fixed in him, although they have been loosed by corruption and held by death. For he is the resurrection, he is the life, as it were a first-offering from the dead and "the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep;" who fills us with spiritual fruits, and prepares us to store up, as it were, the labors gathered from the fields in the storehouses above. He will give us the way of life and delight in paradise, clearly a spiritual one, to those who have conquered sin, who are spiritually fragrant, who have the beautiful and lovely fruit of the evangelical life, having lived purely and holily. And a sign of this again would be the having of ornaments of palm trees and fruit of a beautiful tree bound together with the other branches. He is the torrent of delight with which God the Father has given us to drink; he is the fount of life, and the river of peace, who has inclined to us who have been called from the nations ...ing. We have spoken about these things briefly in other places. Therefore, those who go up to worship the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the feast of tabernacles, are those who have been justified by faith in Christ. But he threatens destruction to those who do not go up, and the same punishments that their persecutors and insolent abusers would endure. For they will lie in the same lot as the enemies, those who have chosen not to love. And this, I think, is what Christ himself said: "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not "gather with me scatters." But if the tribe of Egypt does not go up and does not come there, upon them also shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the sin of Egypt and the sin of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. As from one nation, that of the Egyptians, I say, it makes clear concerning those who have reached the extreme of error, and who have chosen to practice idolatry in an excessively strange way, that for them a terrible and inescapable judgment and cause of destruction will be their not choosing to honor the worthy grace of salvation through Christ. For they might almost be convicted as murderers of their own souls, if it is true that, while it was possible for them to lay hold of eternal life and the gentleness from above which is set forth for participation by those willing to choose it, and indeed also to cast off sin, they have died in their own errors, and have kept the stain from their wandering and the pollution of their transgression unwashed, and they have also continued in error; and this, although the divine light shines around all things, calling to sight those in mist and darkness. And I would say also concerning each of such persons, "An untimely birth is better than he; "for it came in vanity, and departs in darkness, and in "darkness its name will be covered." "For it would have been good for "them if they had not been born," according to the voice of the Savior. But that the saying is not against the Egyptians only, but will also come against all the nations, which will be punished in every way and altogether, for having disregarded the salvation through Christ, and not having honored the festival in Him, he will confirm by saying: This shall be the sin of Egypt and the sin of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. For before the advent of the Savior, perhaps there was still, in part, a reasonable excuse for the nations, saying they had been called by no one; for no one had preached to them. Therefore the Savior also, showing this very thing to us in the gospel parables, said that the laborers who were called about the eleventh hour said this: "No one has hired us." But since Christ has now shone forth, has bound the strong man, has delivered those who were under his perversity, has justified by faith those who come to him, has laid down his own soul for the life of all, they will no longer find any sufficient reason for excuse, who have not accepted so venerable a grace. Therefore Christ will indeed speak the truth concerning them also, if he should say of the nations: "If I had not come and "spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse "for their sin." In that day that which is on the bridle of the horse shall be holy to the Lord Almighty. Since all war has now been calmed, and battle has been taken away, and enemies have been driven off, and an unbreakable peace now crowns the holy city, that is, the Church, he says that the instruments of war, both trappings and bridles, will now be useless. For what need at all will the horse-master have of such a thing, he who knows how to excel in battles, if there is no one at all to lead out against him? Therefore, he says, the things useful to warriors will be sacred vessels and offerings to God. For since he himself is the awarder of peace, to him rightly will be dedicated the now superfluous and henceforth useless instruments of war. For just as the blessed prophet Isaiah said concerning some, that "they shall beat their swords "into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, and "nation shall not lift up against nation a sword, and they shall not learn any more "to make war," the times of peace almost persuading them to devote their military implements to the needs of agriculture, and to turn, as it were, to other pursuits, having neglected the study of tactics; so also the divine Zechariah, as if peace, now unbreakable, has been given by God, says that the useful implements for those who fight will be refashioned into a votive offering to God. For the warlike spirit will certainly be idle, caring not for horse, nor for bridles, nor for trappings, but rather inclining toward choosing what is necessary for the pursuits that excel in virtue and piety. But to some, it seems that the power of the prophecy has been fulfilled in another way as well. For they say that in due time the wood of the cross was found, still having the nails pierced into it; and the pious Constantine, taking one of these, had it made into a bridle for his own horse, believing that he was blessed by God through this as well. And one might say this is not improbable, if it is so, and it would not be considered unreasonably outside of fitting discourse, that the most pious king was both remembered by God and honored in prophetic utterance. For the Word made mention and proclamation of very many people through the holy prophets at various times, as, for instance, of Josiah and certain others. And sometimes the gentleness and piety of the times are signified through those who rule in them. There is nothing unlikely, then, if the Prophet Zechariah now also recalls a most noteworthy matter, both truly beloved by God and of a pious kingdom, and of times dedicated to the love for Christ. For what else could the nail taken from the precious cross adorning the horses of kings suggest to us, if not the very great and truly admirable piety of the rulers? And the cauldrons in the house of the Lord shall be like the bowls before the face of the altar. There were cauldrons in the holy tabernacle, and in the temple built after these things, in which the flesh of the sacrifices was boiled, which the priests consumed in a holy place, as the law commanded this to be done, so that the sanctified things might not be carried out anywhere from the sacred precincts. But since those ancient customs have ceased, the mysteries have passed over for us into another manner of worship, and we have been taught through faith to honor the God of all no longer with the slaughter of sheep and with incense, but rather with bloodless sacrifices, and we spiritually minister in the churches to Christ Himself, the Savior of all, we use other sacred vessels instead of the cauldrons, which indeed the Prophet here calls bowls. And these are vessels most necessary for those who drink. And the wise listener will surely understand the power of what is signified, even if our account has been made somewhat more obscurely than it should, because it is necessary to make the narration of the hidden things with reserve. Therefore, at that time there were cauldrons, but now there are bowls before the face of the altar. And every cauldron in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy to the Lord Almighty; and all those who sacrifice will come and take from them and will boil for themselves. He calls the mystical vessels cauldrons, still using the ancient names, vessels which are holy, august, and precious, both for those in Jerusalem, that is, in the Church, clearly the divine ministers, and also in Judah itself, that is, again, for those who have received the circumcision in the spirit. And these would again be the ones who have believed. For the vessels of the holy altar are not taken by anyone at all for common use, but are, as I said, holy and kept for the glory of God, and are accustomed to serve only the needs of the holy table, and through them and in them the sacrifices of those who offer are accomplished, not with each person bringing his own vessel, but with all using only the sacred ones. For every cauldron, he says, shall be holy to the Lord. Therefore, the Prophet is speaking as if still on the subject of the sacrifices according to the law, mentioning cauldrons and boiling and He names those who offer sacrifice, but we shall fittingly understand it of the times through Christ and the worship accomplished by us in the Spirit. And we say that the word of the holy prophets was made obscure by divine economy, and not simply set forth for all, lest their holy things be thrown to the dogs, nor indeed should the word fitting only for saints be revealed to the profane and most abominable. And there shall be no more a Canaanite in the house of the Lord Almighty in that day. One might perceive the mind of the ancients to be corrupt and easily broken, and quite effortlessly. For the children of Israel were redeemed from Egypt through Moses, and they shook off the yoke of unbearable slavery, and after very many and admirable signs had been performed for them, they barely came out; and they were brought through the sea itself, and they had eaten the bread from heaven, and they have drunk water unexpectedly brought forth from a rock in the wilderness. What then, the wretches? In Moses' absence they made a calf, and as the prophet says, they took up "the tent of Moloch and the star "of their god Rephan, the figures which they made "to worship them." But they indeed were destroyed; for their bodies fell in the wilderness, as it is written. But when those after them had crossed the Jordan, with Joshua as their general, again as time went on, having come under judges, they served idols; but also in the times of the holy prophets they sacrificed to the golden heifers, which the accursed Jeroboam made for them, and in addition to these, still erecting precincts and altars, they no less worshiped Baal, Chemosh, Astarte, and Baal-peor. And what is still beyond these evils: for we do not say that only the common and vulgar multitude was involved in these things; but indeed we shall also find many from among the priests themselves who had turned aside. Therefore God also said through the prophet: "The priests did not say, Where is the Lord? and "those who handled my law did not know me, and the shep- "herds acted impiously against me, and the prophets prophesied by "Baal, and went after what does not profit." And the prophet Ezekiel also saw "about twenty-five men from the "elders of Israel, with their backs only toward the "temple of the Lord and their faces opposite, worship- "ing the sun toward the east." And it would not be at all difficult to pile up very many other examples in these matters; but I think these will suffice for a refutation of the ignorance inherent in them. Therefore the mind of the ancients was shaken, and was quite easily led astray. Therefore God also said concerning them: "They have loved to move their feet and have not refrained, and "God was not well pleased in them." For they were easily carried away into strange idolatries and, being of the blood of Israel, they were eager to imitate the foreign Canaanites. But since the Only-Begotten Word of God has come among us, and having justified by faith, has sealed with the Holy Spirit those who approach his grace, our mind has become steadfast, secure and unshakable, and fixed in piety. For no one will persuade the sanctified to know another god besides the one who is by nature and truly God, whom we have known as God in Christ. For he showed us the Father in himself, saying, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." Therefore, he says, "in that day," that is, at that time, there will not be a Canaanite, that is, a foreigner and an idolater, in the house of the Lord Almighty. For we are established, as I said, in faith, and we have been crowned with boasts of security through Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to God the Father, with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.