| Although the duration of the reign of Christ is designated on the whole as a thousand years, we should understand this to signify an era immeasurable and undesignated. Therefore, its length is nothing else except the period between the first and second comings of the Lord, or more precisely, the period of the consolidation of the Kingdom of God until His Second Coming. This is the explanation of the Kingdom of God and its duration upon this earth. Inq .: Father, recently I had a very disturbing conversation with some people concerning this question and came away with the opinion that the thousand-year reign could only be understood in earthly terms. This must be the case seeing that: it will be inaugurated at the Second Coming, will be preceded by the resurrection of the righteous who in turn will reign with Christ for a thousand years, after which will occur the resurrection of sinners, the judgement and the end of the world. This interpretation seems to me to proceed from the twentieth chapter of Revelation that you read earlier. It can be deduced from that chapter that there will be final resurrections: the first resurrection of the righteous at the beginning of the thousand years and the second resurrection of the sinful at the end of world. (vv. 4-5) During the period of a thousand years the active power of the Devil will be restricted up until just before the end when, after a brief but horrible flurry of aggression, he will be thrown into Hades together with all of his servants (vv. 7-14). Afterward, they will be resurrected, judged and condemned to eternal punishment (vv. 12-15). After the first period we will pass through to the end of the world (v. 11). This is, for example, what the Apostle Paul says when writing to the Christians of Thessalonica: For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first (1 Thess. 4:14-16). Consequently, at His Second Coming Christ will raise those who have died faithful to Him, i.e. those which, as the Apostle says, shall rise first, hence the first resurrection. The resurrection of the dead, or the second resurrection, will follow later—He does not tell us exactly when—but according to Revelation it will be after a thousand years. Listen to what Saint Paul says about this: But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits (1 Cor. 15:23); afterward they that are Christs at His coming. In other words, the Just join the choir of the Righteous at the beginning of the thousand-year reign and the sinful an assembly of their own at the end of the thousand-year period. Is this not the truth of matter, Father? |
| «You see, your Godliness! Great is the power of prayer, and it brings most of all the Spirit of God, and is most easily practiced by everyone. We shall be happy indeed if the Lord God finds us watchful and filled with the gifts of His Holy Spirit. Then we may boldly hope «to be caught up . . . in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air» (1 Thess. 4:17) Who is coming «with great power and glory» ( Mk. 13:26 ) »to judge the living and the dead» (1 Peter 4:5) and " to reward every man according to his works» (Matt. 16:27). «Your Godliness deigns to think it a great happiness to talk to poor Seraphim, believing that even he is not bereft of the grace of the Lord. What then shall we say of the Lord Himself, the never-failing source of every blessing both heavenly and earthly? Truly in prayer we are granted to converse with Him, our all-gracious and life-giving God and Savior Himself. But even here we must pray only until God the Holy Spirit descends on us in measures of His heavenly grace known to Him. And when He deigns to visit us, we must stop praying. Why should we then pray to Him, «Come and abide in us and cleanse us from all impurity and save our souls, O Good One,» when He has already come to us to save us, who trust in Him, and truly call on His holy Name, that humbly and lovingly we may receive Him, the Comforter, in the mansions of our souls, hungering and thirsting for His coming? «I will explain this point to your Godliness through an example. Imagine that you have invited me to pay you a visit, and at your invitation I come to have a talk with you. But you continue to invite me, saying: «Come in, please. Do come in!» Then I should be obliged to think: «What is the matter with him? Is he out of his mind?» «So it is with regard to our Lord God the Holy Spirit. That is why it is said: «Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth» ( Ps. 45 That is, I will appear and will continue to appear to everyone who believes in Me and calls upon Me, and I will converse with him as once I conversed with Adam in Paradise, with Abraham and Jacob and other servants of Mine, with Moses and Job, and those like them. |
| Then follow it up in order in the Apostolic Epistles and you will see (1) how necessary prayer is in all circumstances (Jas. v. 13–16); (2) how the Holy Spirit helps us to pray (Jude 20–21 and Rom. viii. 26); (3) how we ought all to pray in the spirit (Eph. vi. 18); (4) how necessary calm and inward peace are to prayer (Phil. iv. 6, 7); (5) how necessary it is to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. v. 17); (6) and finally we notice that one ought to pray not only for oneself but also for all men (1Tim. ii. 1–5). Thus, by spending a long time with great care in drawing out the meaning we can find many more revelations still of secret knowledge hidden in the Word of God, which escape one if one reads it but rarely or hurriedly. ‘Do you notice, after what I have now shown you, with what wisdom and how systematically the New Testament reveals the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ on this matter which we have been tracing? In what a wonderful sequence it is put in all four Evangelists? It is like this. In St Matthew we see the approach, the introduction to prayer, the actual form of prayer, conditions of it, and so on. Go farther. In St Mark we find examples. In St Luke, parables. In St John, the secret exercise of inward prayer, although this is also found in all four Evangelists, either briefly or at length. In the Acts the practice of prayer and the results of prayer are pictured for us; in the Apostolic Epistles, and in the Apocalypse itself, many properties inseparably connected with the act of prayer. And there you have the reason that I am content with the Gospels alone as my teacher in all the ways of salvation.’ All the while he was showing me this and teaching me I marked in the Gospels (in my Bible) all the places which he pointed out to me. It seemed to me most remarkable and instructive, and I thanked him very much. Then we went on for another five days in silence. My fellow-pilgrim’s feet began to hurt him very much, no doubt because he was not used to continuous walking. |
| 26. You ought then to seek for a lamp to be lighted, that you may find pure thoughts. Those are the natural thoughts, which God made. People brought up at sea learn to swim, and when waves and billows rise, they are not surprised at it; but those who are not used to these things, when even a little sea comes up, take fright and go under. So it is with Christians. As the mind of a child of three cannot take in or understand the mind of a grownup reasoner, because there is a great difference of age between them, so Christians contemplate the world like infant children, with their eyes fixed upon the measure of grace. They are strangers to this age. Their city and their rest is elsewhere. Christians have the comfort of the Spirit, tears, and mourning, and sighing; and even the tears are an enjoyment to them. They have fear also, in the midst of joy and rejoicing, and thus are they like men carrying their blood in their hands, having no confidence in themselves, or thinking themselves to be anything, but despised and rejected above all men. St. Macarius the Great 20 марта 2015 г. Macarius seems to be thinking of Jer. 2:37. Luke 15:7. Zech. 9:2. The passage is taken in substance from Ezek. 16. After these words the Holkham MS. has in the margin, prima manu , the sentence: Because even those who have tasted with all assurance of the grace of the Holy Spirit are subject to fear; for Satan has power against them if only he sees them grow negligent or highminded. Phil. 2:12. 1 Cor. 9:27. Cf. Hom. 8 § 6. 1 Cor. 15:26. Luke 21:18. 1 Tim. 2:8. The word for " disputations " in the Greek is the same which is used for " thoughts " in St. Matthew in the ensuing passage. Matt. 15:19. Rom. 8:3. a John 8:27; cp. verse 2. Deut. 6:5. Phil. 3:8. Macarius means that Satan can afford to let some persons alone. Like the taxes of the rich, or the charities of people in general, they mean no loss to him. Ps. 34:8. 1 Thess. 4:9. 2 Cor. 3:3. 2 Matt. 15:19. Heb. 1:14. Gen. 1:26. . Ps. 24:7. Смотри также Комментарии Мы в соцсетях Подпишитесь на нашу рассылку |
| When Jesus says that «all things» (πντα, neuter) that are his are also the Father " s (17:10), underlining the point of 17:7, he merely repeats the general wisdom of 16:15; the Father and Son are so intimate that they share everything in common. Likewise, the Son by inheritance is a lord over the Father " s house (cf. 8:35). In this context, he states this general principle to reinforce the more specific point of 17:9: the disciples for whom Jesus prays already belong to the Father as well as to himself (10:14, 28–29), and hence the Father will surely answer Jesus» prayer. Jesus is glorified in his followers (17:10; cf. 2 Thess 1:12) the same way the Father is: by their fruitfulness (15:8), especially by their love for one another (13:35) expressed in unity (17:21–23). Although the idea is less central to this chapter, he may also be glorified in their sufferings (21:19) and in their triumph following such sufferings (11:4; cf. 9:3). 2. Guarding His Own in the World (17:11–19) Though Jesus was leaving the world (17:11), he was sending the disciples into the world just as the Father had sent him into the world (17:18). Nevertheless, because they had his message, they were not of the world (17:14) but were being set apart by that message (17:17) as Jesus was set apart (17:19). Those whom the Father gave Jesus (17:9–10) now are again in the Father " s hands (17:11), except for the one destined to be lost (17:12). 2A. Separation from the World (17:11, 14–19) Although Jesus was leaving, his disciples would remain «in the world» (17:11; cf. 13:1), which carried with it the attendant challenge to be «in the world» yet not «of it» (17:14–18)–a task Israel usually proved unable to fulfill when confronted by pagan practices around it. The address «Holy Father» (17:11) is not unexpected in an early Jewish milieu 9445 but specifically fits this context: Jesus has been keeping the disciples separate from the world (17:12), and now the Father will continue to keep them set apart (17:11). 9446 God is the measure of holiness (cf. Rev 4:8), and whatever is «holy» is «separated» to him (e.g., Exod 28:36; 30:10, 32, 36–37; 31:14–15; 39:30; Lev 21:6–8 ). The goal of their being kept from the world is that they may be «one» (17:11; cf. 10:16; see comment on 17:21–23). Separation from the world naturally produces internal community cohesion (see comment on 15:18–25), but here the idea seems to be that the common unity with the Father and the Son, apart from the world " s quite contrary interests, yields unity among Jesus» followers (cf. 17:21–23). |
| Ср. 2 Кор. 6. 15; какое согласие между Христом и Белиаром? Этот вопрос поясняется сопоставлением со следующими текстами: Зав. XII патр. Дан 5: и взыдет вам из колена Иуды и Левия спасение Господне и Он сотворит брань против Белиара: Sibyll II, 67: κα Bλαρ ϑξει κα σματα πολλ ποισει νϑρποις ; 63 и 73; в Ancensio Jesaiae 4, 2 «Белиар, ангел великий, царь мира сего», сходит «в образе человека». Отцы церкви видели в антихристе воплощение сатаны, напр. блаж. Иероним к Дан. 7, 8 признает в нем человека in quo totus satanas habitaturus sit corporaliter , также Иоанн Златоуст ad. Thess. 2, 2 Нот. Ср. Bousset, Antichrist 88 и сл. Отсюда объясняются изображения антихриста в виде чудовища, см. ib. 101 сл. Ср. Texts and Studies ed. Robinson " a II, 3 Apocrypha anecd. James " a 151 сл. 395 Откр. 20, 7 сл. κα ταν τελεςϑ τ χλια τη, λυϑσεται Σατανς κ τς φυλακς ατο κα ξελεσεται πλανσαι τ ϑνη τ ν τας τσσαρσιν γωναις τς γς τν Гγ κα τν Μχγγ, συναγαγεν ατος ες πλεμον... κα νβησαν π τ πλτος τς γς, κα κκλωσαν τν παρεμβολν τν γων κα τν πλιν τν ηγαπημνην. Kα κατβη πρ π το Θεο κ το ορανο κα κατφαγεν ατος и т. д. 396 Ср. Dalman, Die Worte Jesu; 121 сл. о значении слова «век» (olam) по-арамейски. 397 Суд после смерти 9, 1 и 10, 3; общий суд 65, 6; ср. 18, 1–6. 398 Ис. 54, 11; Иезекииль 40–48; AIT. 2, 7–9 и др.; ср. описание в кн. Товита 13, 16. Ср. также свидетельство бл. Иеронима в его толковании на Ис. 49, 14 (opp. ed. Vallarsi IV, 570) о вере иудеев и иудействующих христиан в небесный Иерусалим – auream atque gemantem . Ср. Откр. 21–22. 399 Талмудические трактаты помещают горний Иерусалим на четвертое небо, а рай обыкновенно на третье, см. ниже, гл. IV. 400 Впервые мы находим это представление в слав. кн. (Тайн) Еноха, см. гл. 32–33 с ученым примечанием Чарльза в его издании этого памятника (1896), где приведены параллельные места из других апокрифов и патристической литературы. Ср. также стр. XXIX–XXX. 401 Ср. примечания Charles " a к этому месту. О грядущем плодородии см. кн. Еноха 10, 19 и Папия у Иринея 5, 33. О манне ср. Orac. Subul. VIII, 144: ...μννην τν δροσερν λευκοσι δοσι φγονται . О Левиафане и Бегемоте см. IV Ezrae 6, 49–52... servasti ea ut fiant in devorationem quibus vis et quantum vis; Енох, 40, 7, 9, 25 и Вебер, стр. 156, 195, 370, 384. Бл. Иероним in Jes. 59, 5 (opp. IV, 705) упоминает об иудейских преданиях относительно «тысячелетнего объядения» евреев. О пире последних времен ср. Завет Иакова (Texts and Studies, II, 2, 149), Dalman, Worte Jesu, 90 сл. и Spitta, Zur Gesch. und Literatur des Urchristentums, I, 268 след. Wellhausen, Skizzen 6, 232: dass der Behemoth den Braten und der Leviathan den Fisch fьr die Tafel des Messias liefert an dem die Reichsgenossen besmдndig sitzen ist aus dem Ps. 74 (73), 14 entsponnen; Theodotion ьbersemzm: δωκας (τν δρκοντα) βρμα τ λα τ σχτω . 402 |
| 35 «О случаях последнего времени», рукопись из библиотеки Московской Духовной Академии (писан. после 1761 г.) лист. 21 обор. «аще бо и человека рещи синиктохически единого вместо могих»... еще. «а что Павел единого человека глаголет, то разуметися может иносказательне: един вместо многих, яко же обычно писанию». 39 Hom. 4. in 2 Thess. II. Opp. T XI. p. 529. «здесь, замечает св. Златоусть, апостол говорит о Нероне... который во зле немногим чем уступал антихристу. 42 Протестанты· Calvin, in 1 Ioann. 2. Vid. Bellarmine. T. I. p. 393. Безпоповцы в рукописи из Библиотеки Московской Духовной Академии «О случаях последнего времени», лист 21. 49 «Апостол – говорит Феофилакть, – называет антихриста отступлением, потому что он будет таковым на самом деле». In. ер. Ар. Pauli comm. р. 724. ed. Londin. 1686.. 52 S. Irenaeus Lugdunensis Adversus Haereses. Lib. V. Cap 29. p. 446. «νακεφαλιωσις γνεται πσης αδικας κα παντς δλη, να ν υτ σρρευσασα κα συγκλειϑισα πσα διαμις ποςατικη κατ τν κμινον λσϑ τ πυρς» 53 Слово·грядет, ρχεται, поставленное в настоящем времени, по свойству греческого языка, имеет здесь знаменование будущего, наступление или исполнение чего неизвестно. Заменение же будущего настоящим показывает, что сие будущее, хотя и неизвестно, но непременно исполнится, и потому то о нем говорится как об исполняющемся. А посему и в переводе сего речения на другие языки толкователи употребляют его в будущем времени (на Латинском языке venturus est, – на русском – придет, а не приходит). В таком значении неизвестного будущего говорится в настоящем времени и о дне последнего суда· μρα κυρου ς κλπτης ν νυκτ οτως ρχεται. (1Сол. 5:2). Обе Иисусе Христе, имеющем придти для мздовоздаяния праведи ымт, также говорится в настоящем времени· грядый приидет ρχμενος ξει ( Евр. 10:37 ). 58 S. Hippolytus Romanus. «Demonstratio de Christo et Antichristo», cap. 49. ed. Fabricii, 1716. 59 Св. Кириллъ Огласительное слово XV, п. 13, 15, 16. въ Святыхъ Отцевъ». Том. XXV. стр. 257–260. |
| Further on the Saviour speaks about another kind of resurrection, a resurrection which even now is and yet will, however, will happen at the end of the world, which is not of the soul but of the body, and specifically of the dead in the graves. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (Jn. 5:28-29). In other words, marvel not at the power of Christ to raise spiritually (i.e. in the first resurrection), for indeed He will raise all the dead from the graves as well. This passage excludes outright the possibility of their being a period of a thousand years between the resurrection of the righteous and the resurrection of the sinful, for it shows clearly that the last or general resurrection is one and only and will happen to all. This is the second resurrection. As for the first, we saw that it is that resurrection which now is, the present resurrection, and not the general or last. Thus, through an analysis and comparison of the passages of Holy Scripture, we see how their meaning is clarified and elucidated, and how the possibility of an interpolation of a one thousand-year period between the two resurrections is ruled out. According to the teaching of the true Church of Christ, the one thousand-year period should be understood as extending between the first resurrection, which happens in Christian baptism, and the second or last resurrection. This is, in fact, what we find in Saint Pauls first letter to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 4:14-16), where he speaks only of one resurrection and not a second or last resurrection. It is true that here Saint Paul is referring to the resurrection of the Just who have fallen asleep in the Lord and not to the resurrection of sinners. However, this is not because they will be raised later, after a thousand years, but simply because the Apostle Paul and his listeners are only concerned about the fate of those asleep in Christ. The fact that he makes no reference to sinners does not mean that they will be raised a thousand years later. The Apostle is not in the least concerned here with other questions, for his aim in this epistle is to comfort his readers (v. 18), that they be not sorrowful, anxious or in ignorance concerning the fate of those reposed in Christ. |
| I think that the answer is no. This does not in any sense mean that we should abandon prayer and sobriety and grow weak and “get stuck” on the internet and computer games during the quarantine. Let us give an example. In the sixth chapter of Revelation we read the following: And I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him; and they were given power over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth (Rev 6:8). Eusebius of Caesarea mentions that many Christians associated these words not with the distant future, but with the time of the persecutions of Maximian. The mentioning of the troubles can be seen in words such as these: The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was in darkness; men gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores, and did not repent of their deeds (Rev 16:10-11). This discourse is about ulcers by which people will be seduced by the Antichrist, that is, a very specific physical punishment which can hardly be attributed to the corona virus, 80% of people with it suffering from the milder form and 3-4% from the deadly form, moreover those people afflicted on average between 70-80 years old. In the twelfth chapter we read about the appearance of a certain woman, with a crown of stars, clothed with the sun, and the moon at her feet, who was with child and cried out with her pangs of birth (Rev 12:2). Some commentators see in this image the Mother of God, but luminaries such as Hippolytus, Methodius and Andrew of Caesarea interpret this instead as representing the Church. Thus, “pangs of birth” — this clear terminology, signifies the sufferings which the Christians will face during the end times. A direct analogy begs here with the words of the Apostle Paul: When people say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a woman with child, and there will be no escape (1 Thess 5:3). |
| When we have achieved this we assuage the uncouth turbulence of our incensive power, for the desire that arouses it and persuades it to fight for its own pleasures has now been quelled by holiness. For anger, being by nature the protagonist of desire, stops of its own accord when once it sees that desire has been put to death. It is thus fitting that, anger and desire repudiated, we should next invoke the rule of the kingdom of God the Father with the words ‘Thy kingdom come’ (Matt. 6: 10), that is, ‘May the Holy Spirit comé ; for, having put away these things, we are now made into a temple for God through the Holy Spirit by the teaching and practice ofgentleness. ‘For on whom shall I rest,’ says Scripture, ‘but on him who is gentle and humble, and trembles at my words?’ (cf. Isa. 66: 2). It is clear from this that the kingdom of God the Father belongs to the humble and the gentle. For ‘blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth’ (Matt. 5: 5). It is not this physical earth, which by nature occupies a middle place in the universe, that God promises as an inheritance for those who love Him – not, at least, if He is speaking truly when He says, ‘In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels in heaven’ (Matt. 22: 30), and ‘Come, you whom my Father has blessed, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’ (Matt. 25: 34), and elsewhere again to someone else who has striven with goodwill, ‘Enter into the joy of your Lord’ (Matt. 25: 21). And after the Lord St Paul also says, ‘The trumpet will sound and first the dead in Christ will rise up incorrupt; then we who are alive and remain will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall be with the Lord for ever’ (cf. 1 Thess. 4: 16 – 17). Since these things have been promised to those who love the Lord, what man prompted by intelligence and wishing to serve it would ever say, from a literal reading of Scripture alone, that heaven, and the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world, and the mystically hidden joy of the Lord, and the perpetual dwelling with the Lord enjoyed by the saints, are to be identified with the earth? In this text (Matt. |
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