What is the Bible?
Old Testament
Preliminary information
Why is scripture dear to us?
The purpose of this book is to give the Orthodox reader
basic information about how, by whom and when the books of Scripture were
written, as well as to briefly state their contents. For us Orthodox, Scripture
is precious because it contains the foundations of our faith. However, it must
be recognized that while many heterodox Christians are diligently studying the
Bible, Orthodox people, with rare exceptions, read little of it, especially its
Old Testament part. Of course, millennia separate us from the time when the
holy books of the Bible were written, so it is not easy for the modern reader
to travel to the atmosphere of that time. However, when familiarizing himself
with the epoch, with the task of the prophets, and with the peculiarities of
the language of the Bible, the reader begins to better understand its spiritual
wealth. It becomes apparent to him the inner connection between the Old
Testament and New Testament books. At the same time, the reader of the Bible
begins to see religious and moral issues that concern him and modern society,
not new, specific problems, say, of the 20th century, but the original
conflicts between good and evil, between faith and unbelief, which have always
been inherent in human society. The historical pages of the Bible are dear to
us also because they not only truthfully present the events of the past, but
put them in the right religious perspective. In this regard, no other secular
ancient or modern book can compare with the Bible. This is because the
assessment of the events described in the Bible was not given by man, but by
God. So, in the light of the Word of God, mistakes or correct solutions to the
moral problems of past generations can serve as a guide for solving modern
personal and social problems. Getting acquainted with the content and meaning
of the holy books, the reader gradually begins to love the Holy Scripture,
finding at repeated readings more and more new pearls of Divine wisdom.
Therefore, the Holy Scripture is a science for life: not only a young student,
but also the greatest theologian, not just a layman of the newfound, but also
of the highest spiritual rank and wise old man. The Lord testament to the
leader of the people of Israel, Joshua: “May this book of law not depart from
your mouth; but learn in it day and night ”(Nav. 1: 8). The apostle Paul writes
to his disciple Timothy: “from childhood you know the scriptures that can make
you wise for salvation” (2 Tim. 3:15).
So, we begin to present the basic information about the
Bible and its authors.
Scripture Concept
Holy Scripture, or the Bible, is a collection of books
written by prophets and apostles, as we believe, inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The word "Bible" - Greek, means - "books". The main theme
of scripture is the salvation of mankind by the Messiah, the incarnate Son of
God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament speaks of salvation in the form
of prototypes and prophecies about the Messiah and the Kingdom of God. The New
Testament outlines the very realization of our salvation through the incarnation,
life and teachings of the God-man, sealed by His death on the Cross and
Resurrection. At the time of writing, the holy books are divided into Old
Testament and New Testament. Of these, the first contains what the Lord
revealed to people through the inspired prophets before the Savior came to the
earth, and the second contains what the Lord the Savior Himself and His
apostles discovered and taught on earth.
On the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures
We believe that the prophets and apostles did not write
according to their human minds, but by inspiration from God. He cleansed their
souls, enlightened their minds and revealed secrets inaccessible to natural
knowledge, including the future. Therefore, their Scriptures are called
inspired. “The prophecy was never uttered according to the will of man, but the
holy men of God spoke it, being moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21),
testifies the holy apostle Peter. And the apostle Paul calls the Scriptures
divinely inspired: “All Scripture is inspired” (2 Tim. 3:16). The image of
divine revelation to the prophets can be represented by the example of Moses
and Aaron. God gave the tongue-tied Moses to the intermediaries of his brother
Aaron. To the bewilderment of Moses, how he can proclaim God's will to the
people, being tongue-tied, the Lord said: “You” [Moses] “will be to him”
[Aaron] “to speak and put (My) words in his mouth, and I will be with your
mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what to do; and he will speak
instead of you to the people; therefore, he will be your mouth, and you will be
his instead of God ”(Exodus 4: 15-16). Believing in the divine inspiration of
the books of the Bible, it is important to remember that the Bible is the Book
of the Church. According to God's plan, people are not called to be saved
alone, but in the society that the Lord leads and dwells in. This society is
called the Church. Historically, the Church has been divided into the Old
Testament, to which the Jewish people belonged, and the New Testament, to which
Orthodox Christians belong. The New Testament Church inherited the spiritual
wealth of the Old Testament - the Word of God. The Church not only preserved
the letter of the Word of God, but also possesses its correct understanding.
This is due to the fact that the Holy Spirit, who spoke through the prophets
and apostles, continues to live in the Church and lead it. Therefore, the
Church gives us faithful guidance on how to use its written wealth: what is
more important and relevant in it, and what has only historical significance
and is not applicable in the New Testament time.
Initial View and Language of Scripture
The Old Testament books were originally written in Hebrew.
Later books from the time of the Babylonian captivity already have many
Assyrian and Babylonian words and turns of speech. And the books written during
the Greek rule (non-canonical books) are written in Greek, the Third Book of
Ezra is in Latin. The books of scripture have not come out of the hands of holy
writers in appearance as we now see them. They were originally written on
parchment or papyrus (which was made from the stems of plants growing in Egypt
and Palestine) with a cane (pointed reed stick) and ink. As a matter of fact,
it was not books that were written, but charters on a long parchment or papyrus
scroll that looked like a long ribbon and wound on a pole. Scrolls were usually
written on one side. Subsequently, parchment or papyrus ribbons, instead of
gluing them into scroll ribbons, were started to be stitched into books for convenience.
The text in the ancient scrolls was written in the same capital letters. Each
letter was written separately, but the words did not separate one from the
other. The whole line was like one word. The reader himself had to divide the
line into words and, of course, sometimes did it wrong. There were also no
punctuation marks and stresses in ancient manuscripts. And in the Hebrew
language also did not spell vowels - only consonants.
The division of words in books was introduced in the 5th
century by the deacon of the Alexandrian Church Eulalia. Thus, the Bible
gradually acquired its modern form. With the modern division of the Bible into
chapters and verses, reading the holy books and finding the right places in
them has become a simple matter.
The history of the Old Testament books Holy books in their
entirety did not immediately appear. The time from Moses (1550 years BC) to
Samuel (1050 years BC) can be called the first period of the formation of Holy
Scripture. The inspired Moses, who wrote down his revelations, laws, and
narratives, gave the following command to the Levites who wear the ark of the
covenant of the Lord: “Take this book of the law and lay it on the right hand
of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 31:26). Subsequent
sacred writers continued to attribute their creations to the Pentateuch to
Moses with the command to keep them in the same place where it was stored - as
if in one book. So, we read about Joshua that he “inscribed his words” “in the
book of the law of God” (Joshua 24:26), i.e. into the book of Moses. In the
same way, about Samuel, the prophet and judge, who lived at the beginning of
the tsarist period, it is said that he “set out” ... “the people of the
kingdom’s rights, and wrote in a book” (obviously already known to everyone),
“and put before the Lord ”(1 Sam. 10:25), i.e. on the side of the ark of the
covenant of the Lord, where the Pentateuch was kept. During the time from
Samuel to the Babylonian captivity (589 years BC), the collectors and custodians
of the holy Old Testament books were the elders of the Israeli people and
prophets. The latter, as the main authors of Jewish writing, are very often
mentioned in the Chronicles. One must also bear in mind the remarkable
testimony of the Jewish historian Josephus Flavius about the custom of the
ancient Jews to revise the existing scriptures after any vague circumstances
(for example, prolonged wars). It was sometimes, as it were, a new edition of
the ancient Divine Scriptures, the release of which was permitted, however,
only by God
inspired people - prophets who remembered the most ancient
events and wrote the history of their people with the greatest accuracy. The
ancient tradition of the Jews that the pious king Hezekiah (710 BC), with
selected elders, published the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, the Parables of the
Solomons, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes is worthy of note. The time from the
Babylonian captivity to the time of the Great Synagogue at Ezra and Nehemiah
(400 years BC) is the period of the final completion of the Old Testament list
of holy books (canon). The main work in this great work belongs to the priest
Ezra, this holy teacher of the law of Heavenly God (see 1 Ezra 7:10). With the
assistance of the scholar Nehemiah, the creator of an extensive library, which
collected “tales of kings and prophets and of David and the letters of kings
about sacred offerings” (2 Mak. 2:13), Ezra carefully reviewed and published in
one composition all the inspired scriptures before him and included in this
composition both the Book of Nehemiah and the Book with his own name. Then the
still living prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, no doubt, were employees
of Ezra, and their creations at the same time were included in the list of
books collected by Ezra. From the time of Ezra, inspired prophets cease to
appear in the Jewish people, and books published after this time are no longer
included in the list of holy books. For example, the Book of Jesus, the son of
Sirach, also written in Hebrew, with all its church dignity, was no longer
included in the holy canon. The antiquity of the holy Old Testament books is
visible from their very content. The books of Moses so vividly tell about the
life of a person of those distant times, so vividly depict the patriarchal
life, so correspond to the ancient legends of those peoples, that the reader
naturally comes to the idea that the author himself is close to the times of
which he tells. According to Jewish scholars, the syllable of the Moses' books
itself bears the seal
the most ancient times. The months of the year do not yet
have their own names, but are called simply the first, second, third, etc. and
the books themselves are called simply initial in their own words without
special names. For example, “protects” (“in the beginning” - the Book of
Genesis), “ve elle shemot” (“and these are the names” - the Book of Exodus),
etc., as if to prove that there were no other books yet, to distinguish from
which special names would be required. The same correspondence with the spirit
and character of ancient times and peoples is also observed among other sacred
writers who lived after Moses.
The Old Testament Scripture contains the following books:
1. Books of the prophet Moses, or Torah (containing the
foundations of the Old Testament faith): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers
and Deuteronomy.
2. Historical books: Book of Joshua, Book of Judges, Book of
Ruth, Books of Kings: First, Second, Third and Fourth, Books of Chronicles:
First and Second, First Book of Ezra, Book of Nehemiah, Book of Esther.
3. Teaching books (instructive): The Book of Job, the
Psalter, the book of parables of Solomon, the Book of Ecclesiastes, the Book of
the Song of Songs.
4. Prophetic books (mainly of prophetic content): The Book
of the Prophet Isaiah, The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, The Book of the
Prophet Ezekiel, The Book of the Prophet Daniel, The Twelve Books of the
"Small" Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Naum,
Habakkuk, Sophonia , Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
5. In addition to these books of the Old Testament list, the
Bible contains nine more of the following books, called “non-canonical”: Tobit,
Judith, the Wisdom of Solomon, the Book of Jesus, the son of Sirachov, the
Second and Third Books of Ezra, three Maccabees Books. So they are called
because they were written after the list (canon) of holy books was completed.
Some modern editions of the Bible do not have these “noncanonical” books, but
they are in the Russian Bible. The above names of the holy books are taken from
the Greek translation of seventy interpreters. In the Hebrew Bible and in some
modern Bible translations, several Old Testament books carry different names.
Summary of Essential Scripture Translations
1. Greek translation of seventy interpreters (Septuagint).
The closest to the original text of the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament is
the Alexandrian translation, known by the name of the Greek translation of
seventy interpreters. It was started at the behest of the Egyptian king Ptolemy
Philadelphus in 271 BC. Desiring to have sacred books of Jewish law in his
library, this inquisitive sovereign ordered his librarian Dimitri to attend to
the acquisition of these books and their translation into the most common Greek
language at that time. Six of the most capable people were selected from each
Israeli tribe and sent to Alexandria with an exact copy of the Jewish Bible.
Translators were placed on the island of Faros, near Alexandria, and completed
the translation in a short time. Since the apostolic time, the Orthodox Church
has been using the holy books on the translation of seventy.
2. Latin translation, Vulgate. Until the fourth century AD,
there were several Latin translations of the Bible, among which the so-called
Old Italian, made according to the text of seventy, was most popular for its
clarity and special proximity to the sacred text. But after Blessed Jerome, one
of the most learned fathers of the IV century Church, published in 384 his
Latin translation of the Holy Scriptures, made by him according to the Hebrew
script, the Western Church gradually began to leave the ancient Italian
translation in favor of the translation of Jerome. In the sixteenth century,
the Council of Trent introduced the translation of Jerome into general use in
the Roman Catholic Church under the name of the Vulgate, which literally means
"commonly used translation."
3. The Slavonic translation of the Bible was made according
to the text of seventy commentators by the holy Solun brothers Cyril and
Methodius in the middle of the 9th century according to R.X., during their
apostolic writings in the Slavic lands. When the Moravian prince Rostislav,
dissatisfied with the German missionaries, asked the Byzantine emperor Michael
to send capable mentors of the faith of Christ to Moravia, Emperor Michael sent
to this great work Saints Cyril and Methodius, who thoroughly knew the Slavic
language and began to translate Holy Scripture into this language in Greece. On
the way to the Slavic lands, the holy brothers stopped for a while in Bulgaria,
which was also enlightened by them, and here they worked hard on the
translation of the holy books. They continued their translation in Moravia,
where they arrived around 863. It was finished after Cyril's death by Methodius
in Pannonia, under the auspices of the pious prince Koczel, to whom he retired
due to civil strife in Moravia. With the adoption of Christianity under Holy
Prince Vladimir (988), the Slavic Bible, translated by Saints Cyril and
Methodius, also came to Russia.
4. Russian translation. When, over time, the Slavic language
began to differ significantly from Russian, for many reading the Holy
Scriptures became difficult. As a result, a translation of books into modern
Russian was undertaken. First, by decree of Emperor Alexander I and with the
blessing of the Holy Synod, the New Testament was published in 1815 at the
expense of the Russian Bible Society. From the Old Testament books, only the
Psalter was translated - as the most common book in Orthodox worship. Then,
already in the reign of Alexander II, after a new, more accurate publication of
the New Testament in 1860, a printed edition of the legislative books of the
Old Testament appeared in a Russian translation in 1868. The following year,
the Holy Synod blessed the publication of historical Old Testament books, and
in 1872 - educational. Meanwhile, in spiritual journals, Russian translations
of individual holy books of the Old Testament were often published. So the full
edition of the Bible in Russian appeared in 1877. Not everyone supported the
appearance of the Russian translation, preferring Church Slavonic. Saint Tikhon
Zadonsky, Metropolitan Filaret of Moscow, and later Saint Hierarch Theophan the
Recluse, Patriarch Tikhon and other prominent archpastors of the Russian
Orthodox Church spoke in favor of the Russian translation.
5. Other translations of the Bible. The Bible was first
translated into French in 1160 by Peter Wald. The first translation of the
Bible into German appeared in 1460. In 1522-1532, Martin Luther again translated
the Bible into German. The first translation of the Bible into English was made
by Bede Venerable, who lived in the first half of the 8th century. A modern
English translation was made under King James in 1603 and published in 1611. In
Russia, the Bible has been translated into many languages of small nations.
So, Metropolitan Innocent translated it into the Aleutian language, the Kazan
Academy into Tatar and others. The most successful in translating and
disseminating the Bible in different languages are the British and American
Bible Societies. Now the Bible has been translated into more than 1200
languages.
It must also be said that every translation has its
advantages and disadvantages. Translations striving to literally convey the
contents of the original suffer from heaviness and difficulty in understanding.
On the other hand, translations that seek to convey only the general meaning of
the Bible in the most understandable and accessible way, often suffer from
inaccuracy. The Russian synodal translation avoids both extremes and combines
maximum closeness to the meaning of the original with the ease of language.
The Pentateuch of Moses
Review of the first five books of the Bible
The first five books of the Bible were recorded by the
prophet Moses during the forty years of wandering Jews in the Sinai desert.
Initially, all the writings of Moses comprised one collection of God's
revelations, one book known to the Jews under the name Torah, which means Law,
or under the name of the Book of Moses (see Ezra 6:18). The five sections of
this single work of Moses among the ancient Jews are called the initial words
of each section. But subsequently, each book of Moses was named for its
content: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The totality of
these books came to be called the Pentateuch. Of these five books, the Book of
Genesis and the first 20 chapters of the Book of Exodus are the most important
for us.
Holy Prophet Moses
The name Moses (in Hebrew “Moshe”) presumably means “taken
from the water”. By this name he was called the Egyptian princess, who found
him on the banks of the river. The book of Exodus tells the following about
this. A very beautiful child was born to Abram and Jochebed from the tribe of
Levi. His mother, wanting to save him from death, which threatened him in view
of Pharaoh’s order to kill all male Jewish babies, put him in a tarred basket
in the reeds on the banks of the Nile. There the Egyptian princess who came to
bathe found him. Being childless, she adopted him. Moses, like the son of a
princess, received a brilliant education at that time at the court of the
pharaoh. It was the heyday of Egyptian culture. As an adult, Moses once,
defending a Jew, accidentally killed an Egyptian overseer who abused Jewish
slaves. Therefore, Moses was forced to flee from Egypt. Having settled on the
Sinai Peninsula, Moses lived there for 40 years, grazing herds at the priest
Jethro, whose daughter he married. At the foot of Mount Horeb, the Lord
appeared to Moses in the form of a fireproof bush and ordered him to go to the
Egyptian pharaoh and free the Jewish people from hard slavery. Obeying God,
Moses went with his brother Aaron to Pharaoh with a request to free the Jewish
people. The Pharaoh persisted, and this brought 10 executions (calamities) to
the Egyptian country. In the last “execution” the Angel of the Lord defeated
all the Egyptian first-born. The Jewish first-born were not injured, since the
doorposts of the Jewish houses were anointed with the blood of the Passover
lamb (lamb). Since then, Jews every year on the 14th day of the month of Nisan
(the day falling on the full moon of the spring equinox) celebrate Easter. The
word "Easter" means "pass by," because an angel that struck
the first-born passed by Jewish houses. After that, the Jews left Egypt,
crossing the Red Sea, which, by the power of God, was scattered. But the
Egyptian army pursuing the Jews was sunk at sea. On Mount Sinai, Moses received
from God ten commandments written on tablets of stone. These commandments as
well other religious and civil laws recorded by Moses formed the basis of the
life of the Jewish people. Moses led the Jewish people during his forty years
of wandering in the desert of the Sinai Peninsula. During this time, God fed
the Jews with semolina - white cereal, which they collected every morning
directly from the earth. The brother of Moses, Aaron, was ordained a high
priest, and the other members of the tribe of Levi were priests and “Levites”
(in our opinion, deacons). Since that time, Jews began to perform regular
worship and animal sacrifices. Moses did not enter the promised land; he died
at the age of 120 on one of the mountains on the east coast of the Jordan.
After Moses, the Jewish people, spiritually renewed in the desert, were led by
his disciple Joshua, who introduced the Jews to the promised land.
Moses was the greatest prophet of all time with whom God,
according to the Bible, “the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as if someone
spoke to his friend” (Exodus 33:11). Because of this proximity of Moses to God,
his face constantly shone. But Moses modestly covered his face with a veil.
Moses was very meek. From childhood, he suffered from tongue-tied tongues. His
life and miracles are described in the Books of Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
The Book of Genesis
In Scripture, the first book of Moses is called its initial
word "Bereshit", which means "in the beginning." The Greek
name of this book - “Genesis” - indicates its content: a narrative about the
origin of the world, the first people and the first human societies of the
patriarchal time. The description of the creation of the world does not pursue
a scientific, but a religious goal, namely: to show that God is the root cause
of all things. The world and everything that fills it did not arise by chance,
but by the will of the Creator. Man is not just an animal, but carries the
breath of God in himself - an immortal soul, in the image and likeness of God.
Man is created for the highest goal - to perfect oneself in love and virtue. The
devil is the culprit of the fall of man and the source of evil in the world.
God constantly cares about man and directs his life for good. Here, in a
nutshell, is that religious perspective in which the Book of Genesis describes
the emergence of the world, man, and subsequent events. The book of Genesis was
written with the aim of giving an idea to a person about the origin of the
world and the beginning of human history after the traditions began to be
forgotten in order to keep the original predictions about the Divine Deliverer
of the human race, the Messiah clean.
All Genesis narratives in 50 chapters can be divided into
three parts:
The first tells of the origin of the world and the fall of
man (Genesis 1-3 ch.).
The second sets forth the primitive history of mankind
before and after the Great Flood, as well as the life of Noah (Genesis 4–11).
The third contains the history of patriarchal times, the
life of Abraham and his closest descendants up to and including Joseph (Gen.
12-50 chap.).
The death of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, punished
primarily for the sin of sodomy, is described in chapter 19 (Genesis 19: 1-28).
Book of Exodus
The second book of Moses in the Holy Scriptures is called
the initial words "Elle-Shemot" - "these are the names",
i.e. the names of the sons of Israel who moved under Egypt under Joseph. The
Greek name of this book is “Exodus”, since it tells mainly about the subsequent
exodus of the Israelites from Egypt under the prophet Moses. The authenticity
of this event is confirmed by ancient evidence and the latest research and
discoveries in Egypt. The period of time that the Book of Exodus tells of is
several hundred years from the death of Joseph to the birth of Moses. Moses led
the people of Israel out of Egypt at the age of 80. Then next year he built the
Tabernacle of Revelation (a tent that served as a portable temple), which ends
the Book of Exodus. It is appropriate here to provide some historical data
related to the book of Exodus. Joseph was sold by his brothers to Egypt when
the Dynasty of the Hyks, or shepherds reigned there (about 2000 BC). Egypt was
at a high level of prosperity and power. Pharaoh then was probably Apophis. He
exalted Joseph, who saved the Egyptians from hunger, and showed great favor to
him and his family. But the original Egyptian princes united in Thebes and
gradually expelled the Hykses. Then the XVIII dynasty of the pharaohs, Amosis
I, entered the kingdom. The new rulers changed their attitude towards the Jews.
Harassment began, which later turned into a heavy captivity. The new pharaohs,
having enslaved the Jews and forcing them, like slaves, to build cities, at the
same time feared that the Jews would unite with the nomadic border tribes and
seize power in Egypt. The exodus of Jews from Egypt falls on the period 1500 -
1600 years BC. Probably, then reigned Pharaoh Totmes IV. The book of Exodus was
written by Moses in the Arabian Desert (Sinai Peninsula) after the adoption of
religious and civil laws from God. She wrote as Moses received divine
revelations.
The book of Exodus has two parts - historical and
legislative.
The historical part describes the suffering of the people of
God in Egyptian slavery (Ex. 1 gl.).
Then it tells about the ways of the Providence of God in the
life of Moses, called by the Lord to save the Jewish people (Exodus 2-4 ch.).
Further, the Book of Exodus tells how the Lord prepared the
Jews for liberation from slavery (Exodus 5-11 Ch.), Tells about the exodus of
Jews from Egypt, their wandering through the desert to the Sinai Mountain
(Exodus 12-18 ch.).
The legislative part gives the general setting of Sinai
legislation (Ex. 19 ch.), Gives a set of religious and civil laws, fastened by
the entry of Jews into the covenant (union) with God (Ex. 20-25 ch.).
Next is a set of church-liturgical laws - on the structure
of the tabernacle and priesthood (Exodus 25-31 gl.).
Despite the millennia that have passed since then, the
religious and moral laws of the Book of Exodus have not lost their strength to
this day. On the contrary, the Lord Jesus Christ taught us to understand them
deeper and more fully in His Sermon on the Mount. The ritual and civil laws of
the Book of Exodus and other books of Moses in the New Testament time lost
their binding significance and were canceled by the apostles at the council in
Jerusalem (Acts 15 of Ch.).
Leviticus and Numbers
The third book of Moses is entitled in the Old Testament
times with the initial word “Vai-ykra,” which means “and called out,” that is,
and the God of Moses called from the tabernacle to the adoption of the
Levitical laws. The Greek name of this book is “The Book of Leviticus”, because
it contains a set of laws on the ministry of the descendants of Levi (one of
the sons of Jacob) in the Old Testament church. The Book of Leviticus sets
forth the rite of the Old Testament worship, consisting of various sacrifices;
the institution of the priestly office is described through the consecration of
Aaron and his sons; The laws and rules of service in the temple are given. The
fourth book of Moses in the Old Testament times was entitled by the initial
word - “Wai-edaver” - “and said”, i.e. the Lord said to Moses about the
reckoning of the people of Israel. The Greeks called this book the word
"Numbers", since it begins with the calculus of the Jewish people. In
addition to the historical account of the wandering of Jews in the desert, the
book of Numbers contains many laws - partly new, partly already known from the
Books of Exodus and Leviticus, but repeated because of necessity. These laws
and rituals lost their significance in the New Testament time. As the apostle
Paul explains in Hebrews, the Old Testament sacrifices were a type of the
atoning sacrifice on Calvary of our Lord Jesus Christ. The prophet Isaiah also
wrote about this (Isa. 54 ch.). Priestly clothes, an altar, a menorah and other
accessories of the Old Testament church, made by revelation to Moses on Mount
Sinai and in accordance with the heavenly worship, are slightly modified in our
services.
Deuteronomy
The fifth book of Moses was entitled in the Old Testament
time with the initial words "Elle-gadedebarim" - "these are the
essence of the word"; in the Greek Bible, by its content, it is called
“Deuteronomy,” since it briefly repeats the code of Old Testament laws. In addition,
this book complements with new details of the events that were described in
previous books. The first chapter of Deuteronomy tells how Moses began to
clarify the Law of God in the land of Moab, on the other side of the Jordan, on
the plain against Suf, eleven days from Horeb, on the first day of the eleventh
month in the fortieth year after the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. Since at
the end of Moses' life there were almost no survivors of people who heard the
Law of God in Sinai, and a new generation born in the wilderness was to enter
the promised land, Moses, taking care of maintaining true reverence in the
Israeli people, before his death decided to collect the Law of God in a
separate book. In this book, Moses, by promises of blessings and threats of
punishment, wanted to capture as deeply as possible in the hearts of the new
generation of Israel the determination to follow the path of service to God.
The book of Deuteronomy contains a brief repetition of the history of the
pilgrimage of Jews from Mount Sinai to the Jordan River (Deut. 1-3 ch.). It
further contains a call for the observance of the Law of God, supported by
reminders of the punishment of apostates (Deut. 4-11 Ch.). Then come more
detailed repetitions of those laws of Jehovah that Moses called on the people
of Israel to observe (Deut. 12-26 gl.). At the end, the last instructions of
Moses for the establishment of the Law of God among the people of Israel
(Deuteronomy 27-30 chap.) Are described, the will of Moses is given and its death
is described (Deut. 31-34 chap.).
Prophecies about the Messiah in the books of Moses
The following important prophecies about the Messiah
(Christ) are found in the books of Moses: about the “Seed of the Woman”, who
will crush the head of the serpent-devil (Genesis 3:15); that all nations will
be blessed in the Descendant of Abraham (Genesis 22: 16-18); that the Messiah
will come at a time when the tribe of Judah will lose its civil power (Genesis
49:10); about the Messiah in the image of a rising star (Num. 24:17). And
finally, about the Messiah as the greatest Prophet (Deut. 18: 15-19).
Biblical narrative of the emergence of the world and man
“I believe in the One God the Father, the Almighty, the
Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible,” we confess in the
Creed. Thus, for us, the world is not only the subject of scientific knowledge,
but also the subject of faith. No matter how much science reveals secrets in
the fields of physics, chemistry, geology, cosmology, and so on, fundamental questions
remain unresolved for a person: where did the laws of nature and particles from
which the world came from, what is the purpose of all that us surrounds, and
what is the purpose in human life? Science is not only powerless to answer
these questions that concern us, but, in fact, they go beyond the scope of the
subject of science. The God-revealed Bible answers these questions. The
God-seer the prophet Moses in the first chapters of the Book of Genesis placed
a narrative about God's creation of the world and man. Until recently, science
could not say anything convincing about the emergence of peace. Only in the XX
century, thanks to major successes in astronomy, geology and paleontology, did
the history of the emergence of the world begin to succumb to scientific
research. And what? It turns out that the world arose in the order described by
the prophet Moses. Although the prophet Moses did not set himself the goal of
giving a scientific account of the emergence of the world, nevertheless his
narrative was many millennia ahead of modern scientific discoveries. His
description first testified that the world is not eternal, but arose in time.
To the conclusion that the universe did not always exist, modern astronomers
also came when they found that the universe is constantly expanding like an
inflating ball. For six days, God formed the world, and in the seventh -
“rested ... from his works” (Genesis 2: 2). How long these days lasted, Moses
does not determine. The seventh day, during which the history of mankind
unfolds, has been going on for many millennia. The number 7 itself in scripture
is often used in a symbolic rather than quantitative sense. It denotes
completeness, completeness. In the beginning God created heaven and earth
(Genesis 1: 1) - with these words the Bible covers everything that God created:
our visible material world and that spiritual angelic world that is beyond our
physical observation. The word created says that the world was created by God
"out of nothing." Many modern scientists come to the same conclusion:
the deeper nuclear physics penetrates the foundations of matter, the more its
emptiness and immateriality are discovered. Apparently, even the quarks that
make up the protons are not elementary and solid particles. It turns out that
matter is an inexplicable state of energy. Reading further the biblical
description of the origin of the world, we see that it essentially and in
general terms coincides with what modern science says on this subject. In the
biblical narrative, many details of interest to science about the appearance of
living beings are not given by Moses. But it must be recalled that the purpose
of his story is not in the list of details, but in showing the Root Cause of
the world and the wisdom of the Creator. Moses concludes his account of the
creation of the world with the following words: “and God saw everything that he
created, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).
In other words, the Creator had a definite goal in creating
the world: that everything serves good and leads to good. Nature has still
retained the seal of goodness and testifies not only to wisdom, but also to the
goodness of the Creator. According to Genesis, man was the last to be created.
Modern science also believes that humans appeared relatively recently, after
the emergence of other groups of living organisms. On the question of the
origin of man, the difference between science and the Bible lies in the
methodology and the goal. Science is trying to establish the details of the
appearance of the physical side of man - his body, and the Bible speaks of a
man in his finished form, having, besides the body, a rational god-like soul.
However, the Bible also asserts that the human body is created from the
"earth", i.e. from elements, like the bodies of other animals. This
fact is important because the Bible confirms the fact of physical closeness
between the animal world and man. But at the same time, the Bible emphasizes
the exceptional position of man in the animal world, as the bearer of the "breath
of God" - the immortal soul. This God-likeness attracts a person to
fellowship with God and the spiritual world, to moral perfection. Ultimately,
earthly pleasures alone cannot satisfy a person’s spiritual thirst. Revealing
this secret helps a person to find his place in the world, to see his vocation
to do good and strive for God.
In conclusion of our brief review of the biblical narrative
about the creation of God by the world, it should be said that in this
narrative, as in the subsequent story about the life in paradise of our first
parents and their fall, in addition to events that are understandable, there
are symbols and allegories, the meaning of which is not given to us completely
understand. The meaning of symbols is that they give a person the opportunity,
bypassing details that are difficult to understand, to learn the main thing
that God reveals to a person: in this case, the cause of evil in the world,
disease, death, etc. Science continues to study the world intensely. It opens
up a lot of new and interesting that helps a person to understand the Bible
more fully and deeper. But often by saying it turns out that scientists
"because of the pines do not see the forest." Therefore, for a person
an understanding of the principles should be more important than knowledge of
the details. The meaning of the Bible is that it reveals to us the principles
of being. Therefore, it has an enduring, eternal meaning.
Historical Books of the Old Testament
A Brief Review of Bible History Books
The historical books of the Old Testament cover the life of
the Jewish people from the time of its entry into the promised land under
Joshua (1451 BC) until the Maccabees (150 years BC). In particular, the Books
of Joshua and the Judges cover the early period of the life of the Jewish
people, when the Jewish tribes inhabiting the promised land were not yet united
into one state, but lived more or less isolated from each other. The books of
Kings and the Chronicles cover the monarchical period in the life of the Jewish
people, which lasted about five hundred years. This period ends with the fall
of the kingdom of Judah and the Babylonian captivity, 586 BC. The books of
Ezra, Nehemiah, Judith, Esther narrate the events after the Babylonian
captivity and the restoration of Jerusalem. Finally, the Maccabees Books cover
the last period of the Old Testament history of the Jewish people during their
struggle for independence, several centuries before R.H. Throughout its long
history, the Jewish people went through many phases of political and spiritual
development. God chose the Jewish people to bring salvation to all the peoples
of the earth through it. According to God's plans, the Savior of the world -
Christ, as well as the first citizens of the Kingdom of God and the distributors
of the Christian faith were to come from among the Jewish people. The Old
Testament prophets sent by God prepared spiritual ground among the Jewish
people for the creation of the Kingdom of God among people. The path of the
spiritual development of the Jewish people was not smooth; it had periods of
spiritual growth and prosperity, alternating with periods of religious cooling
and even retreat. Of course, not everything recorded in the holy books has the
same meaning for us. When reading the Old Testament history, one must not
forget that it describes pre-Christian time. High Christian principles of love
for enemies, forgiveness and abstinence were unknown and virtually inaccessible
to people at that distant gracious time. Jews lived surrounded by aggressive
pagan peoples - Canaanites, Moabites, Edomites, Ammonites, Philistines, then -
Syrians, Assyrians, Babylonians and others, who spiritually pulled Jews down by
their superstitious beliefs and rude pagan customs. There was no one to learn
good. Having the slightest opportunity, these pagans mercilessly enslaved and
oppressed the Jews. The struggle to maintain the purity of faith and physical
existence runs through the entire history of the Jewish people. To correctly
understand this story, it must be read in the context of the mores and customs
of that time. The historical books of the Bible value the truthfulness and
objectivity of this Holy Book. It does not idealize people or events, but gives
a strict and unflattering assessment to everything - even to great national
heroes - and therefore helps the reader learn from both positive and negative
examples: what to do and what to avoid. But, despite adverse external
conditions, many sons of the Jewish people reached great spiritual heights and
left examples worthy of imitation at all times. And although Jews sometimes
sinned no less than neighboring pagan peoples, however, they knew how and
sincerely repent. For these properties, I think, they were honored with God's
election. According to the Gospel word, much was given to them, and therefore
often much was asked of them.
The historical books of the Bible are also valuable in that
they clearly show that it is not a blind incident, but God directs and decides
the fate of every person and every nation. The Bible provides vivid examples of
God's Providence, showing how He exalts and rewards the righteous for their
virtue, pardons repentant sinners, and at the same time as a righteous Judge
punishes stubborn wrongdoers. In the specific life events of the Bible, the
reader sees the properties of the Great God, whose mercy is inexhaustible,
wisdom is incomprehensible, power and justice are inevitable. No other secular
historical book, only the Bible can convey such a spiritual perspective of life
events.
The Significance of the Old Testament Prophets
Before embarking on the historical narratives of the Bible,
let us say a few words about the significance of the prophets in the life of
the Jewish people. Although the law of Moses (Lev. 10: 1) obliged priests to
teach piety to the people, in practice this requirement was rarely fulfilled.
Most priests limited themselves to making sacrifices in the temple and did not
care about educating the people. For this reason, the people remained in
spiritual ignorance. The idolatry of neighboring pagan peoples and their gross,
immoral customs were easily adopted by the Jews and led to a retreat from faith
in God. Jewish kings and rulers, with few exceptions, often set a bad example
themselves. To instruct the people in true faith, God often sent him His
prophets. The prophets had a great influence on the faith of the people and
often saved the Jews from spiritual disaster. While the priesthood of the Jews
was inherited, people were individually called upon to prophesy by God. Prophets
came from all walks of life - among them were illiterate peasants and
shepherds, there were people of the royal family and great education. The main
task of the prophets was to point people to their religious and moral
violations and restore piety. Teaching people faith, prophets often predicted
the future, relating to public events or the coming Savior of the world - the
Messiah - and to the end of the world. Often the prophets attracted a
significant number of regular admirers and disciples. These regular students
united in brotherhoods or schools of the prophets (hosts) and assisted the
prophets in their spiritual work. The prophetic fraternities received special
development from the time of the prophet Samuel, who gave them a harmonious
organization, making them a source of spiritual and moral rebirth of the
people. Thus, the prophets were the spiritual leaders ("elders") of
their brotherhoods. The members of the fraternities lived in communities with
established discipline and order. There they studied the Scriptures, prayed to
God, copied books, and kept chronicles that served as material for compiling
historical books of the Bible. It happened that the more gifted pupils of the
prophetic fraternities were called by God to the prophetic ministry and continued
the work of their teacher-prophet. Fearless accusers of idolatry, unyielding
guardians and distributors of faith in God, seasoned men who were not afraid to
tell the kings and the powerful in this world came out of the prophetic
communities. Therefore, often the prophets were persecuted and ended their
lives with martyrdom. Since the days of Samuel, the prophets have been
continuing in a continuous sequence through the entire Old Testament history.
The prophecy reached great development during the time of the prophets Elijah
and Elisha, and later during the time of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel. Over the
centuries, the image of a true prophet has been established among Jews, as
opposed to false prophets: a true prophet was distinguished by perfect selflessness,
obedience to God, fearless fulfillment of his duty, deep humility and love for
people, strictness towards himself and a clean life.
Book of Joshua
The Mosaic books (Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) end
their narrative with the end of the forty-year journey of Jews in the desert of
the Sinai Peninsula. In the wilderness, the Jewish people were spiritually
renewed and strengthened in faith in God. The time has come for the Jews to
inherit the land promised by God to their righteous ancestors - Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob. The book of Joshua tells how the Jews, under the leadership of
Joshua, a disciple of Moses, conquered the promised land. Until this time, the
Canaanites, the descendants of Ham, inhabited the promised land, and why their
land was called the land of Canaan. In the Book of Joshua, God's constant help
to the Jewish people in seizing the promised land is clearly revealed. This
help was sometimes revealed by obvious miracles. For example, when at the very
beginning of the conquest the Jews were to cross the Jordan River, the water
stopped, and the Jews passed through a dry bottom (Nav. 3 Ch.). Then, during
the conquest of the border Canaanite city of Jericho, after it was bypassed by
the Jewish people and the proclamation of sacred pipes, the walls of the city
fell (Nav. 6 Ch.). Incidentally, on the site of ancient Jericho, interesting
archaeological excavations are now being conducted that shed light on the
ancient historical events described in the Book of Joshua. God's help in the
conquest of the Canaanite land was also found in the "stopping of the
sun" during the battle of Gibeon (Nav. 10 Ch.) After the conquest, the
promised land was divided between twelve Jewish "tribes" or tribes.
The tribe of Judah inhabited the southern part of the Holy Land. Only the tribe
of Levi did not receive their land, since the descendants of Levi had to carry
priestly duties for the inhabitants of the whole country. But the Levites took
possession of some cities scattered in different parts of the Promised Land.
After the death of Joshua, the period of the so-called
“judges” begins in the life of the Jewish people. This name was used to name
the temporary leaders of the rulers whom God put forward from among the Jews in
order to save the Jewish people from the oppressive neighbors. The four hundred
year period when Jews lived in tribes without permanent rulers is described in
the Book of Judges.
Judges
This book contains the history of the chosen people from the
death of Joshua to the judge of Samson (1425-1150 BC). Having settled in the
land of the Canaanites, the Jews began to draw closer to them, to enter into
kinship and adopt from them idolatry and vile pagan customs. God punished the
Jews for these sins. He allowed neighboring foreigners - Ammonites, Philistines,
Moabites and others - to enslave and oppress the Jews. Exhausted by the
oppression of their enemies, the Israelites repented and turned to God. Then,
having pity, sent His chosen ones to the Jews in the person of “judges”. The
judges organized the army and, with God's help, drove away the oppressors.
After some time, the Israelites again forgot God, began to serve idols and sin,
and again fell under the foreign yoke. After that, they again repented, and
again God sent them a deliverer-judge. So six times Israel fell under the yoke
of foreigners and six times God delivered him through judges. In the Book of
Judges, the fact that enslavement is followed by repentance and repentance is
deliverance is vividly revealed. At the same time, God's help comes miraculously:
here the number of soldiers, weapons and other military advantages do not
matter for the outcome of the events. The work of Judge Gideon vividly
illustrates this truth. He, with 300 soldiers, defeated the great Midianite
army and overthrew their heavy yoke (Judges 6-7 Ch.). Samson's life is also
remarkable. Having received extraordinary physical strength from God, he
inflicted sensitive defeats on several occasions to the Philistines, who at
that time oppressed the Jews (Judges 13-16). His adventurous life, his marriage
to the insidious Delilah and the heroic death in captivity served as the theme
for some contemporary works of art.
Books of kings
The following books of the Bible, the so-called Books of
Kings and Chronicles, recount the events of the monarchical period of the
Jewish people. After Samson, the judge was the prophet Samuel. Under him, the
Israeli tribes decided to unite in one state under the scepter of the king.
Samuel anointed Saul as king over Israel. After Saul, David reigned first, then
his son Solomon. Under the son of Solomon, Ravoam, the united kingdom was
divided into two: Judean in the south, and Israel in the north of the Holy
Land. The books of Kings describe a period of five hundred years: from the
birth of Samuel (1100 years BC) to the release of the Jewish king Jehonia from
prison (in 567 BC). In the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Kings is divided into two
parts under the name “Sepher Shemuel” (Book of Samuel) and “Sepher Melachim”
(Book of Kings). In the Bible, however, seventy interpreters (Greek
translation), as well as in the Russian Bible, the book “Sepher Shemuel” is
divided into two parts, which are called the First and Second Books of Kings.
The book, “Sepher Melachim,” is also divided into two parts, which are called the
Third and Fourth Books of Kings. According to legend, the writer of the first
part of the First Book of Kings was the prophet Samuel (1 Sam. 1-25 gl.), The
authors of the end of the First (1 Sam. 26-31 gl.) And the entire Second Book
of Kings are the prophets Nathan and Gad. The Third and Fourth Books of Kings
were written by several prophet chroniclers. The books of Chronicles partially
repeat and partially supplement the books of Kings. In the Hebrew Bible, they
make up one book called Dibregionion - Chronicle. Seventy interpreters called
this book "Chronicles", i.e. “About the missing” and divided it into
two books. The main events described in the books of Kings are as follows.
The first book of Kings begins with the birth of Samuel. The
pious but childless Anna begged her for a son from God. She called him Samuel
and ordained by vow to serve God under the high priest Elijah. Anna's laudatory
song on the occasion of the birth of a son (1 Samuel 2 Ch.) Formed the basis of
some irmos of the canons, singing at all-night vigils. In the life of the
prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1-4 Ch.) There is a lot of interesting and
instructive, for example, about the importance of raising children (after all,
the kind, but weak-willed high priest Elijah was rejected by God for the
lawlessness of his children). When Samuel was old, he resigned and was anointed
king of Saul from the tribe of Benjamin (1 Sam. 5-12 Ch.). Next, the book of
Kings tells of the reign of Saul. Saul was first obedient to God, but then
became proud and began to neglect the will of God. For this reason, Samuel,
according to God's direction, anointed the Bethlehem youth David from the tribe
of Judah to kings over Israel (1 Samuel 13-16 Ch.). At that time, a war between
Jews and the Philistines began, and young David with God's help defeated the
Philistine giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17 Ch.). The defeat of Goliath brought the
Jews victory over the Philistines and glory to David, which in turn aroused
Saul's envy. After this, Saul persecuted David to the end of his days, trying
to kill him (1 Sam. 18-24 Ch.). The First Book of Kings ends with a visit by
Saul to the Endor sorceress, an unsuccessful war against the Philistines, and
the death of Saul (1 Samuel 25-31). David, because of the unjust persecution of
Saul, captured his sorrows in his psalms.
The second book of Kings tells of the forty-year reign of
David. The first years of the reign of David were very successful, because God
helped him in everything. David took from the Jebusites their fortress
Jerusalem, making it his capital city. Here he moved the Ark of the Covenant
and wanted to build the first temple instead of a portable tabernacle (temple
tent). But the Lord, through the prophet, told David that his son would build
the temple (2 Kings 1-10 Ch.). The second half of David's reign was
overshadowed by his fall with married Bathsheba and the ensuing family and
state upheavals. In particular, David’s rebellion of his son Absalom and the
outbreak of civil war brought David much grief (2 Kings 11-24). David bitterly
mourned his adultery sin in his repentant 50th psalm. There is a lot of
instructive things for the Christian in the life of King David: his deep faith
in God, unshakable hope for His help, compassion for the weak and offended, the
ability to see his own shortcomings, repent and correct them. The apostles
speak of David with great respect. The Holy Fathers of the Church often cited
examples from the life of King David in their teachings. His inspired psalms
are an immortal monument of religious poetry and formed the basis of worship.
In the Second Book of Kings there is a prophecy about the eternal kingdom of
the Messiah - Christ. This prophecy was given to David through the prophet
Nathan (see 2 Kings 7: 12-16; cf. Matt. 22:42; Luke 1: 32-33).
The third book of Kings describes the reign of Solomon, whom
God endowed with great wisdom for faith and modesty. Solomon built a temple in
Jerusalem, which surpassed all palaces and pagan temples in its beauty and
wealth. Under Solomon, Israel reached the climax of its wealth and glory (1
Kings 1-11). However, large taxes and heavy construction work placed a heavy
burden on the people and caused discontent. Solomon overshadowed his glory as a
wise ruler by polygamy and the admission of pagan temples near Jerusalem.
Dissatisfaction with Solomon led to the fact that after his death, under
Rehoboam (1 Kings 12 Ch.), The kingdom of Israel was divided into two: the
Jews, with kings from the clan of David and the capital in Jerusalem, and
Israel, which had kings of various dynasties, with the capital city of Samaria
(980 years BC).
After Rehoboam, the Third and Fourth Books of Kings
simultaneously describe events in the kingdoms of Judah and Israel: the acts of
the kings, the deeds of the prophets, wars, and the religious condition in
these kingdoms. The Israeli kings, fearing that their subjects, visiting the
temple of Jerusalem, would wish to return to the scepter of the king of Judah,
began to build pagan temples in different parts of Israel and persuade the
people to worship idols. Their policies contributed to the retreat of the
Israeli people from God. In this decadent period for religion, God sent Israel
some wonderful prophets who delayed the process of spiritual corruption. Among
these God's messengers, two stand out especially - the prophets Elijah and his
disciple Elisha. The Prophet Elijah (900 BC) was one of the most ardent
champions of true faith and piety (1 Kings 17-21 Ch.). Grieving for the
spiritual death of his people, Elijah was decisive and steep in punishing the
wicked. Elijah was called to prophetic ministry by God under the wicked king of
Israel, Ahab. The bloodthirsty wife of Ahab, the daughter of the Sidon priest
Jezebel, slew many Jewish prophets and filled Israel with priests, servants of
Baal. To educate Ahab and the people of Israel, Elijah struck the earth with a
three-year drought. He himself hid himself at the Horaf stream, where a raven
brought him food daily. When the stream dried up, Elijah moved to the Sarepta
widow, who, through the prayer of the prophet, had not lost their flour and oil
in the vessels for two years. When her widow's only son died, Elijah raised him
from the dead with prayer. At the end of a three-year drought, Elijah gathered
the king, the pagan priests, and the Israeli people on Mount Carmel. Here,
through the prayer of Elijah, a fire in the form of lightning fell from heaven
and burned before everyone's eyes the sacrifice made by Elijah, and everything
around her. Seeing such an amazing miracle, the people believed in God and
immediately with tears repented of idolatry. The priests of Baal who came to
the mountain were captured and exterminated. After that, the long-awaited rain
began, the hunger stopped. For a holy life and for his fiery love for God, the
prophet Elijah was taken alive to heaven in a chariot of fire.
The Fourth Book of Kings begins with an event that tells of
the capture of Elijah in heaven. The prophet Elisha was a disciple of Elijah
and during his ascension to heaven received his cloak and prophetic gift.
Elisha worked for more than 65 years, with six kings of Israel (from Ahaz to
Joash). He unceremoniously spoke the truth to the wicked kings, exposing their
wickedness. He was deeply revered by the Israeli people, distinguished by
strength of spirit, firm faith and insight. By his time, the prophetic
fraternities in the kingdom of Israel reached their highest development. His
most glorious miracles include the resurrection of a young man, the
transformation of the water of the Jericho spring from salty to fresh and
healing from the leprosy of the Syrian commander Naaman. In addition, through
his insight and wise advice, the prophet Elisha many times brought victory to
the Israeli kings. Elisha died in old age in Samaria under King Joash (2 Kings
2-10 Ch.). The Lord Jesus Christ several times in His teachings referred to the
prophets Elijah and Elisha. Every believer should get acquainted with their
life and exploits. Despite the efforts of the prophets Elijah, Elisha, and
others, idolatry and vile pagan customs ultimately undermined the spiritual
base of the Israeli people. For the sin of retreat, God allowed the destruction
of the kingdom of Israel. After several defeats by the Assyrian troops in 722
BC. The kingdom of Israel has fallen (2 Kings 17 Ch.). After that, many
Israelis were resettled in Assyria, and some of the inhabitants of Assyria were
resettled in Israel. From the Israelis, mixed with the Assyrians, the
Samaritans formed. The rest of the Fourth Book of Kings focuses on the kingdom
of Judah. Of the kings of Judah, the pious Hezekiah should be mentioned. Having
ascended the throne after the death of his wicked father, Hezekiah set out to
bring the weakened Judea to a possible order. First of all, his eyes turned to
the internal state of the country - religion by that time had weakened. Under
the influence of pagan neighbors, the Jews gradually began to forget the true
God, and pagan gods began to build altars, sometimes near the temple. Hezekiah
boldly came out, destroying the temples of idols, cutting down pagan oak
forests and everything that reminded the people of idols. With these measures,
he restored true faith among the Jews. Of the events of his reign, the most
remarkable is the miraculous defeat by an angel of the 185 thousandth Assyrian
army, who besieged Jerusalem under the leadership of Sennacherib (2 Kings 18
Ch.). The narrative of the miraculous healing of Hezekiah, who was to die, but
he was pardoned by God for his faith and good deeds, is instructive. Hezekiah
left behind a fond memory among the people along with the pious kings David and
Josiah (2 Kings 22-23 gl.). At Hezekiah lived the prophet Isaiah, one of the
greatest prophets of all time. A deeply educated man and poet, the prophet
Isaiah wrote a wonderful book teeming with predictions about the Messiah and
his blessed kingdom. Isaiah is called the Old Testament Evangelist. The
successors of King Hezekiah encouraged idolatry. With them, the prophets were
persecuted and put to death. So, for example, under the son of Hezekiah, king of
Manasseh, the elderly prophet Isaiah was sawn with a wooden saw. The prophet
Jeremiah suffered a lot. The kingdom of Judea, as once Israel, was filled with
iniquities. Despite an alliance with the Egyptians, the kingdom of Judah after
several defeats by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar finally fell. The
magnificent temple and city of Jerusalem were destroyed to the ground. Many
inhabitants were killed or taken into captivity in Babylon (586 BC, see 2 Kings
19-25). The Babylonian captivity lasted 70 years (starting from the first
captivity in 605 BC). Ended in the third year after the conquest of the
Babylonian empire by the Persian king Cyrus (539 BC). Spiritual support was
provided to the captive Jews by the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel (see Table 1).
From the narratives of the books of Kings, a general and
immutable spiritual law clearly follows: faith in God and piety extend the
welfare of the country, and wickedness leads to inevitable death. Military
power, skillful diplomacy and other external advantages are only of secondary
importance for the welfare of the country in the history of many peoples.
Book of Ezra
The book of Ezra tells of the events at the end of the
Babylonian captivity. The Hebrew Bible contains only one book of Ezra, which is
called Ezra. In the Greek Bible of seventy interpreters and in the Slavic there
are two more “non-canonical” Books of Ezra - thus, there are only three of
them. The main content of the Book of Ezra is the return of the Jews from
Babylonian captivity. The first return of the Jews followed the decree of Cyrus
in the year 536, led by Zerubbabel and the high priest Jesus. Then the renewal
of the temple began. The second return of the Jews was led by Ezra under
Artaxerxes Longimanus. Ezra, the grandson of the high priest of Sarai, who was
killed by Nebuchadnezzar, was close to the court of the Persian king and was
the tutor of Artaxerxes Longiman. Artaxerxes issued a decree in the 7th year of
his reign (457 BC), according to which Ezra was given the opportunity to return
with willing Jews from Babylon to Jerusalem and there to engage in the
restoration of the city and religious education of Jewish society. After 14
years of governing the people, Ezra transferred all power to Nehemiah, and he
concentrated his activity on teaching the people the Law of God and on
collecting books of Holy Scripture in one code. He founded the "Great
Synagogue" - a society through which, under the leadership of the last
prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, Ezra revised and corrected the Holy
Scriptures, collecting them into one composition, and thus completed the
compilation of the canon of the Old Testament books. Books written after Ezra
were not included in the list of holy books and are therefore called
“non-canonical,” although they are highly respected and are included in many
Bible translations. Most of these books after Ezra were written in then common
Greek.
Book of Nehemiah
Nehemiah came from the tribe of Judah, and probably from the
royal family. He occupied the high rank of butler at the court of Persian
kings. In the 20th year of the reign of the Persian king Artaxerxes Longiman
(465-424 BC) in 446 BC Nehemiah learned from compatriots who came from
Palestine about the deplorable state of Jerusalem. He persuaded the king, and
he sent Nehemiah to his homeland as a ruler with extensive powers. Here he
built a city and erected walls around it, despite the resistance of the Samaritans.
Having built the city, settled it and sanctified the walls, Nehemiah, together
with Ezra, began to educate the people and streamline their moral and social
life: the Law of Moses was read, the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated, the
rich forgave the debts of the poor, the covenant of the people with God was
renewed. After this, Nehemiah returned to Artaxerxes, but then he again came to
Jerusalem and was engaged in the eradication of various crimes among the
people. So for 30 years, until his death, Nehemiah worked in favor of the
restoration of Jerusalem and the strengthening of faith among the people. As
the activity of Nehemiah was a continuation of the activities of Ezra, so the
book of the first is a continuation of the book of the second. Ezra describes
the beginning of the restoration of Jerusalem, namely, the temple and spiritual
and moral enlightenment, and Nehemiah describes the construction of walls, the
settlement and restoration of the city, and the civic organization on a
religious basis. The purpose of both books is to continue the history of the
people of God and to show the ways of the Providence of God, by which the
people were saved and prepared in anticipation of the promised Messiah. The
decree of Artaxerxes given to Nehemiah in 446 B.C. is of particular importance,
since the calculus of the Daniel weeks is begun with it regarding the coming of
the Messiah (Dan. 9: 22-27). Being a historical monument of God's mercies to
the chosen people, the book of Nehemiah is highly instructive. Nehemiah's
selfless love for his homeland and people, for which, like Moses, he neglected
the luxurious life at the royal court, his selfless and tireless work for the
well-being and glory of his homeland is a high role model.
Esther book
The book got its name from the main person acting in it
named Esther, which means "star". Due to its beauty, the Jewish
orphan Gadassah became the wife of the Persian king Artharkserks, having
received the name Esther. Esther was raised by her uncle Mordecai, who worked
as a gatekeeper at the royal court. Mordecai a few years before this saved the
life of the king, whom the conspirators wanted to kill. The merit of Mordecai
was noted in Persian documents. Some time after Esther became queen, the
omnipotent minister of the king, proud Aman, hating the Jews, decided to
destroy them within the Persian Empire. To this end, as if on behalf of the
king, he wrote a decree and began to look for an opportunity to give it to the
king for signature. By God's providence, Mordecai learned of the plan of Haman.
Haman, confident in the success of his plot and hating Mordecai, hastened to
prepare a gallows for him. But events did not go according to Haman's plan.
Esther at the banquet boldly revealed his plot and the fact that he was going to
hang her uncle, to whom the king owed his life. Upon learning of Haman’s
self-will, the angry king destroyed the decree he had prepared and ordered
Haman to be hung on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai (“Don’t dig
another hole - you will fall into it!”). In memory of the salvation of the Jews
from Aman, the holiday “Purim” was established (in Hebrew - “lot”).
Book of judith
The events described in the Book of Judith took place in
Israel during the time of King Manasseh. The book of Judith is named for the
principal person acting in the story of the book. Judith was a beautiful and
pious widow of a certain Manasseh from the tribe of Simeon in the city of
Vetilui. With her heroic deed, she saved her city and the whole country from
the Assyrian army, who came to ruin them under the leadership of Holofernes
(about 650 BC). Holofernes, capturing the entire coastal region, stopped with a
huge horde on the borders of Judea, under the walls of Vetilui in the tribe of
Issakharov. The inhabitants of Vetului, suffering hunger and thirst, were ready
to give up. But Judith, firmly believing in God's help, appeared in the enemy
camp. Having set Holofernes in her favor, Judith chopped off his head after a
feast at night. Then, taking the commander's head as a trophy, Judith brought
it to her fellow citizens. Encouraged by this, the Jews fled the Assyrian army.
Judith, surrounded by honor, after a long pious life, rested in old age, having
lived to 105 years.
Maccabees books
The Maccabees books are named for the heroes whose acts are
described in them. These books narrate the events of 330-130 BC. The Persian
Empire was replaced by the Greek one, founded by Alexander the Great. His huge
empire did not last long. After the death of Alexander the Great, it fell into
four kingdoms, of which two - Egyptian and Syrian - were very important in the
history of the Jews. During the ensuing succession wars, Palestine was an apple
of discord between the rulers of these two countries. In 203 BC power over
Judea passed into the hands of the Syrian kings, and since then a difficult
time began for the Jews, as the Syrian kings tried to plant paganism among
them. King Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BC) turned out to be a particularly
cruel persecutor of Jews believing in a true God. Under him, the Greek cult was
declared the state religion. People who refused to accept paganism were
persecuted and put to death. The temple of God has been desecrated.
The first Book of Maccabees, referring to the conquests of
Alexander the Great and the division of his kingdom between his generals
(330-310 BC), goes to the history of the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes
against the Jews (175 BC) and depicts the horrors of this persecution. Priest
Matthew and his five sons came forward in defense of the faith, nicknamed the
Maccabees "hammers" for their successful struggle against the
champions of paganism. Of the sons of Mattaphia, Judas, Jonathan, and Simeon
were especially famous.
The second Book of Maccabees supplements the previous book,
providing new details about the struggle of Palestinian Jews against the
oppression of faith by the Syrian kings, starting with Iliodor, sent by King
Seleucus Philopator to rob the Temple of Jerusalem, until the victory of Judah
Maccabee over Nikanor, military commander Dimitri Seleucus. During the
persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, the ninety-year-old priest Eleazar, seven
brothers and many others who were killed after severe torment were killed in
166 BC (2 Mac. 6-7 Ch.). These sufferers for faith were later called the
"Maccabees Martyrs" and are remembered by the Church on August 14 in
a new style.
The third Book of Maccabees tells of earlier persecution of
Jews in Egypt from Ptolemy IV Philopator, which began in 216 BC, i.e. 50 years
ahead of Judas Maccabee. The reason for the persecution was the bitterness of
King Ptolemy for the fact that he was not allowed by God into the Holy of
Holies of the Jerusalem Temple by the prayer of the high priest Simon. The book
further describes how King Ptolemy planned to exterminate the Jews: lure them
to the hippodrome and trample them with elephants. By the prayer of the high
priest, God sent two angels who terrified the elephants, and the Jews were
saved.
To summarize, it should be said that the Maccabee books
abound in stories of exploits for faith in God and examples of courage. In
times of persecution by pagans, Christians drew from the books of Maccabees
instructive examples of patience and firmness.
The last years to the Savior
Further events in the life of the Jewish people did not
appear in the Bible. In 63 BC The Holy Land was conquered by the Roman
commander Pompey. Since that time, Palestine, with its four provinces, became
subordinate to Rome and paid tribute to him. Soon, power was concentrated in
the hands of a cunning Edomite named Antipater, who managed to gain the
confidence of Rome. From Antipater, power passed to his son, the cruel Herod
the Great, who in 37 BC declared himself "king of the Jews." He was
the first king who called himself Jewish, without being of Jewish origin. Under
him, in the small city of Bethlehem, the true King and Savior of the world -
Christ, was born.
Thus fulfilled the prediction of Patriarch Jacob, said two
thousand years before the birth of Christ: "The scepter will not depart
from Judah and the legislator will not depart from his loins until the
Conciliator has come and the obedience of the people to Him" (Gen. 49:
10-11).
Educational books
The Lord gives wisdom; out of his mouth is knowledge and
understanding (Prov. 2: 6)
The Bible has books of moral and instructive content, which
are commonly called "educational." Compared to the books of Moses,
which contain the direct and obligatory commandments of God, the teaching books
are written with the aim of attracting and encouraging a person to a pious
lifestyle. They teach a person to build his life so that it is blessed by God,
brings prosperity and peace of mind. This group includes the Books of Job, the
Psalter, the Parables of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, the Wisdom
of Solomon and the Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirachov.
In their form, most of the Old Testament teaching books are
poetic works written in verse in the Hebrew script. A feature of Jewish
versification, noticeable even in translations into other languages, is poetic
parallelism. It consists in the fact that the writer’s thought is not expressed
immediately in one sentence, but in several, mostly in two, which together
reveal the idea by comparison or opposition, or justification. This so-called
parallelism is synonymous, antithetic and synthetic. The following passages
from the Psalms can be cited as examples of various poetic parallelisms:
“When Israel came out of Egypt, the house of Jacob came from
another nation, Judas became His sanctuary, Israel became His possession”
(synonymous parallelism, Psalm 113: 1-2).
“Some chariots, some horses, and we boast in the name of the
Lord our God: they hesitated and fell, and we stood up and stood straight”
(antithetic parallelism, Psalm 19: 8-9).
“The law of the Lord is perfect, strengthens the soul; the
revelation of the Lord is true, making wise the simple. The commands of the
Lord are righteous; they amuse the heart; the commandment of the Lord is
bright, enlightens the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, abides forever ”(synthetic
parallelism, Psalm 18: 8-10).
The Jews have educational books with some historical (Ruth,
Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, First and Second Chronicles) and prophetic books
(Crying Jeremiah, the book of Daniel) are known under the name
"Ketubim" (in Greek - "Hagiographers", ie - “The
scriptures”).
Book of Job
This book got its name from the main character - Job. Job
lived in patriarchal times, long before the prophet Moses, not far from the
Holy Land. He was a very rich, large and happy man. But wealth did not make him
proud or selfish. On the contrary, all who knew Job loved his kindness, wisdom,
and compassion for the poor. Many came to him for advice and considered it an
honor to visit him. The devil envied Job's virtuous life and wanted to take
revenge on him. The Lord, in order to reveal to all the great patience and
virtues of Job, did not prevent the devil from causing him grief. And the devil
in a very short time brought many misfortunes to Job. Job lost everything that
he had - family, great wealth and even health. Having become ill with cruel
leprosy, he no longer dared to live in a society of healthy people and was
forced to settle far beyond the borders of his city-village. Here friends began
to visit him. Job poured out his grief before them, trying to find an
explanation for his misfortunes. No one could help him or comfort him. However,
Job was far from murmuring against God. Suffering physically and mentally, he
surprised his friends with his boundless patience when he said: “Naked, I have
come out of my mother’s womb, and I will return. The Lord has given, the Lord
has taken; [whatever the Lord pleased, so it was;] so blessed be the name of
the Lord ... shall we really receive good from God, and we will not accept
evil! ”(Job 1: 21,2: 10). Job's suffering continued, probably about a year.
God, having shown everyone the great faith of Job, decided to shame the devil
and returned to Job what the devil had taken from him. Miraculously, Job
recovered from incurable leprosy, quickly became rich again and started a new
family. After this, Job lived for many years, using even greater honor and
love. He died at the age of one hundred and forty years, having seen the
descendants of the fourth generation. Job's life took place in the country of
Uz, which is believed to be located east of the Jordan and south of Damascus,
in ancient Vassan. This country got its name from Uts, the son of Abraham, a
descendant of Simonov (see Genesis 10: 22-23). Job was an Aramite, and his
friends mentioned in his book were Edomites who were also descendants of
Abraham. It is believed that the original writer of the book of Job was Job
himself, which he expressed in 23–24 verses in chapter 19 (Job 19: 23-24).
Itself the contents of the book indicate
that only a local person, a participant in the events described, could write
it. This initial narrative was subsequently transformed into an artistic poem
by an inspired Jewish writer. Otherwise, it could not be on the list of holy
books. The Book of Job is written in pure Hebrew. Later, the Jews found the
original record of Job during the conquest of Bassan and transcribed it into a
collection, such as the “book of the Righteous,” mentioned in the Book of
Joshua (see Nav. 10:13). It is possible that King Solomon processed it in its
present form, because in the book of Job there are many similarities with other
books of Solomon - Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Job is mentioned in several books
of scripture as a great righteous man. So, for example, in the book of the
prophet Ezekiel Job is placed on a par with the patriarch Noah and the prophet
Daniel (see Ezek. 14: 14-20). The apostle James cites Job as an example of
patience: “Behold, we delight those who have endured. You listened to Job's
patience and saw the end of it from the Lord, for the Lord is very merciful and
compassionate ”(James 5:11). During his illness, Job made an important
prediction about the Redeemer and the upcoming resurrection of the dead: “But I
know my Redeemer is alive, and on the last day He will restore my skin to fall apart,
and I will see God in my flesh. I will see Him myself; my eyes, and not the
eyes of another, will see Him ”(Job 19: 25-27).
The purpose of the Book of Job is to show that earthly
happiness does not always correspond to a person’s virtuous life. Sometimes
misfortunes are also sent to the righteous to greater affirmation of them in
good, to shame the slander of the devil and glorify the truth of God. In short,
the book of Job addresses the deep and difficult to understand theme of the
connection between righteousness and reward, evil and punishment. In addition,
the book of Job has very high literary merit.
Psalm book
Without exaggeration, we can say that for the Christian, the
Psalter is the most precious book of the Old Testament. The Psalter is a book
of prayers for all occasions: in sorrow, in a sense of hopelessness or fear,
distress, in tears of repentance and in joy after the comfort received, in the
need for thanksgiving and in order to offer pure praise to the Creator. Saint
Ambrose of Mediolansky writes: "The grace of God breathes throughout
Scripture, but in the sweet song of the psalms it breathes predominantly."
The Psalter got its name from the Greek word "psalm", which means
"to play the strings." King David was the first to accompany the singing
of inspired prayers compiled by him playing a musical instrument called the
psalterion, similar to a harp. For Jews, the Book of Psalms is called
“Tegillim,” which means “praise.” The Psalter, composed over eight centuries -
from Moses (1500 years BC) to Ezra and Nehemiah (400 years BC), contains 150
psalms. King David laid the foundation for this book, composing the greatest
number of psalms (more than 80). In addition to the Davidovs, the Psalms
included psalms: Moses - one (Psalm 89), Solomon - three (Psalm 71; Psalm 126;
Psalm 131), Asaph the seer and his descendants of the Asaphites - twelve; Eman
- one (Psalm 87), Efam - one (Psalm 88), sons of Koreans - eleven. The rest of
the psalms belong to unknown writers. Psalms are composed according to the
rules of Jewish poetry and often achieve amazing beauty and strength. Often at
the beginning of the psalms there are inscriptions that indicate their content:
for example, “prayer” (an intercessory psalm), “praise” (an eulogy psalm),
“teaching” (an edifying psalm). Or on the way of writing: “scribbling”, i.e.
epigrammatic. Other inscriptions indicate a way of performance, for example:
“psalm” - i.e. from accompaniment on a musical instrument - psalms; “Song” -
i.e. voice performance, vocal; “On string instruments”; "On an
eight-stringed"; “About sharpener” or in the Russian Bible “on the Gaphian
weapon” - i.e. on the zither; “About the changeable” - i.e. with a change of
tools. Above some psalms are inscribed the words of the song, on the model of
which this psalm should be performed, something like “similar” at evening and
morning services. The content of the psalms is closely related to the life of
King David. David was born a thousand years before the birth of Christ in
Bethlehem and was the youngest son of the poor and large shepherd Jesse.
Reigning in Jerusalem after the death of Saul, King David became the most
eminent king ever to rule Israel. He combined many of the valuable qualities of
a good king: love for the people, justice, wisdom, courage and, most
importantly, strong faith in God. Often David himself led religious holidays,
offering sacrifices to God for the Jewish people and singing psalms.
With their poetic beauty and deep religious feelings, the
psalms of David inspired many subsequent compilers of the psalms to imitate.
Therefore, although far from all the psalms were written by David, the name
that is often given to the Book of Psalms is still true: “Psalm of King David.”
The Importance of Psalms for Divine Services
In the Psalms there are many thoughts, appeals to your soul,
many instructions and words of comfort. Therefore, it is not surprising that
the Psalter is widely used in prayer. Not a single worship service, ever since
the Old Testament times, is complete without psalms. Psalms began to be used in
daily sacrifices, on Saturdays and holidays. When singing psalms, David
introduced the use of musical instruments: strings, winds and percussion -
gusli, tympanums, psalms, cymbals, trumpets and others. The Lord Jesus Christ
prayed in the words of psalms, for example: after the Last Supper, “having
sung, we went to the Mount of Olives” (Matthew 26:30). Following the example of
Jesus Christ and the apostles in the Church of the first centuries of
Christianity, the Psalter was often used for prayer (see Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16;
1 Cor. 14:26). In the IV century, for the convenience of reading the Psalms at
divine services, it was divided into 20 parts - “Kathism”. Nowadays, the
Psalter in the full sense of the word is Christianized. This means that the
Church puts Christian meaning in all its expressions, and the Old Testament
element that is in it fades into the background. The words in the psalms:
“rebel,” “resurrect, Lord,” lead our thought to the resurrection of Christ;
words about captivity are understood in the sense of captivity of sin; the
names of peoples hostile to Israel in the sense of spiritual enemies, and the
name of Israel in the sense of the church people; a call to beating enemies -
as a call to fight passions; salvation from Egypt and from Babylon is like
salvation in Christ. Here is a list of psalms used in worship:
In matins - at the beginning: Ps. 10, Ps. 20; sixth psalm:
Ps. 3, Ps. 37, Ps. 62, Ps. 87, Ps. 102, Ps. 142; before the canon: Ps. 50;
praising psalms: Psalm 148, Psalm 149, Psalm 150.
On the clock - First: Ps. 5, Ps. 89, Ps. 100. Third: Ps. 16,
Ps. 24, Ps. 50. Sixth: Ps. 53, Ps. 54, Ps. 90. Ninth: Ps. 83, Ps. 84, Ps. 85.
At Vespers - the initial psalm: Ps. 103; “Blessed is the
husband”: Ps. 1; on the “Lord's cries”: Ps.140, Ps.141, Ps.129, Ps.116; at the
end of Vespers: Ps. 33.
At the Liturgy: Ps. 102, Ps. 145.
To help the reader find psalms that correspond to his prayer
mood, we offer the following list of psalms by content.
Thankful and laudatory: Ps. 33, Ps. 65, Ps. 66, Ps. 91, Ps.
95, Ps. 96, Ps. 102, Ps. 103, Ps. 116, Ps. 145, Ps. 149, Ps. 150.
Glorifying God: Ps. 8, Ps. 17, Ps. 92, Ps. 102, Ps. 103.
Edifying: Ps. 1, Ps. 40, Ps. 32, Ps. 45, Ps. 84, Ps. 89, Ps.
100, Ps. 111, Ps. 126.
Sorrowing sorrows: Ps. 3, Ps. 12, Ps. 16, Ps. 37, Ps. 54,
Ps. 87, Ps. 141, Ps. 142.
Those expressing hope in God: Ps. 53, Ps. 85, Ps. 90, Ps.
111, Ps. 120.
Asking for protection from enemies and troubles: Ps. 3, Ps.
4, Ps. 24, Ps. 40, Ps. 54, Ps. 69, Ps. Ps. 142.
Penitent: Ps. 38, Ps. 50.
Expressing joy: Ps. 32, Ps. 83, Ps. 114.
Book of proverbs
The main author of the Book of Proverbs was Solomon, the son
of David, who reigned in Israel a thousand years BC. Some parts of this book
were written by other authors. So Solomon can be called the chief writer of the
Book of Proverbs, like David the Psalms. When Solomon, beginning his reign,
offered God his prayers and burnt offerings (sacrifices that were burned), God
appeared to him at night and said: “Ask me to give you” (2 Chronicles 1: 7).
Solomon asked God for only one thing - wisdom. To rule the people of God. And
God said to Solomon: “Because you asked for this and did not ask for a long
life, you did not ask yourself for wealth ... but you asked yourself for reason
... now, I will do according to your word: now, I give you a wise heart and
reasonable, so that the like of you was not before you, and after you will not
arise like you; and that which you did not ask, I give you wealth and glory, so
that there will be no like you ... all your days. " (1 Kings 3: 11-13).
And, indeed, Solomon became famous for his wisdom, so that people from distant
lands came to listen to him. Many sayings of Solomon are included in the Book
of Proverbs. In the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Proverbs is called “Michelet
Shelomo,” among Seventy interpreters, “Paremias,” and in the Slavic Bible,
“Proverbs of Solomon.” Among the Holy Fathers it is called "Panaretos
Sophia" - "The Wisdom of All Virtue." The book of Proverbs is
written in the form of poetic parallelism. The book of Proverbs is full of
practical instructions on how to wisely build your life on the fear of God, on
truth, honesty, work, and abstinence. These instructions are extremely truthful
and labels. They have a lot of imagery, liveliness, sharpness of mind. The book
of Proverbs has always been highly respected, and many writers of other sacred
books give instructions from it, such as: “God resists the proud, but gives
grace to the humble” (see James 4: 6; Proverbs 3:34). “If a righteous man is
barely saved, then where is the wicked and sinful?” (1 Pet. 4:18; cf. Proverbs
11:31). “Do not reject the punishment of the Lord, my son, and do not be
burdened by his conviction; for whom the Lord loves, he chastens and favors how
the father hath his son ”(Proverbs 3: 11-12; compare Heb. 12: 5-6), and so on.
The Book of Proverbs pays a lot of attention the acquisition of wisdom and the
description of its advantages over all the riches of the world. “Blessed is the
man who has gained wisdom, and the man who has gained intelligence, because
acquiring it is better than acquiring silver, and it’s more profitable than
gold: it’s more precious than precious stones; [no evil can resist her; she is
well known to everyone approaching her] and nothing of what you desire can be
compared with her. Dignity is in her right hand, and in her left is wealth and
glory; [truth comes out of her mouth; she bears the law and mercy in her
tongue;] her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peaceful. She is the
tree of life for those who acquire it — and blessed are they who preserve it!
”(Proverbs 3: 13-18). Further, the thought of the writer of Proverbs is carried
up to the source of wisdom, to God, and describes God's Wisdom with the
following inspired words: “The Lord had me the beginning of His way, before His
creatures, from the beginning; from the age I have been anointed, from the
beginning, before the being of the earth. I was born when there were no
abysses, when there were no sources abundant in water. I was born before the
mountains were set up, before the hills, when He had not yet created the earth,
or the fields, or the initial dust of the universe. When He prepared heaven, I
was there. When He drew a circular line over the face of the abyss, when he
established the clouds at the top, when he strengthened the sources of the
abyss, when he gave the charter to the sea, so that the waters would not cross
its borders, when he laid the foundation of the earth: then I was an artist
with Him, and was joy every day, having fun before Him all the time, rejoicing
in His earthly circle, and my joy was with the sons of men. So children, listen
to me; blessed are those that keep my ways! Listen to the instructions and be
wise, and do not depart from it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, awake
every day at my gate and standing guard at my door! because whoever found me,
he has found life, and will receive grace from the Lord ”(Prov. 8: 22-35). What
is remarkable here is that Wisdom is presented in a personal image, as it were,
a divine being. Such an embodiment of Wisdom, incomprehensible to the Old
Testament man, is clarified in the light of the New Testament teaching about
the Son of God - the Lord Jesus Christ, which is also called the Word. He, as
evangelist John the Evangelist testifies, created everything: “In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... Everything
through Him began to be, and without Him nothing began to be, that began to be”
(John . 1: 1, 3). The apostle Paul directly calls Jesus Christ “God's power and
God's wisdom” (1 Cor. 1:24).
Thus, the teaching of the Book of Proverbs about the
hypostatic Wisdom of God set the stage for the Jewish people to believe in the
Only Begotten Son of God.
Book of Ecclesiastes
The Greek word "Ecclesiastes" comes from
"Ecclesia" - "Church" - and means "church
preacher." In Hebrew it is called “Kogelet” from “kagal” - “meeting”.
Thus, the book is a collection of words by a church preacher. As can be seen
from the book itself, Ecclesiastes is the pseudonym that David's son who
reigned in Jerusalem called himself. This circumstance points to Solomon as the
author of Ecclesiastes. A further description of his wisdom, wealth, glory, and
luxury (see Eccl. 1: 12-18; 3 Kings 4:29) also corresponds to this. The main
subject of the book of Ecclesiastes is the image of the vanity and emptiness of
everything earthly - labor, knowledge, wealth, luxury and pleasures without
faith in God and the afterlife. The book teaches about the fear of God, about
the preservation of His commandments as the conditions of possible happiness in
the midst of a busy world. It is valuable that the writer sets forth this
teaching on the basis of his long personal experience and deep analysis. The
great wisdom of the author, enlightened by God's revelation, is felt in the
book. At the beginning of his reasoning, Ecclesiastes explains what the vanity
(sterility) of human affairs actually consists of. The earth and all the
natural phenomena on it rotate in a cycle, and nothing is added from all the
work either in the amount of matter or in the quality of the acting forces. The
first desire of man is to know. Therefore, Ecclesiastes tried to acquire
knowledge like no other. But the result of the acquired knowledge was the
languishing of the spirit, for knowledge does not make up for the missing, the
will, perverted by sin, is not corrected. Thus, with the multiplication of
knowledge, sorrow multiplies. Another desire is contentment and enjoyment. For
this, Ecclesiastes acquired wealth and indulged in sensual pleasures, but
everything turned out to be a fuss, because the accumulation of wealth is
accompanied by hard work and cares, and their enjoyment depends not on a
person, but on God, in whose hands life itself. Ecclesiastes further depicts
vanity in the sphere human life. Without God, all phenomena of earthly life are
limited by time and, just as in soulless nature, they represent a circulation:
birth and death, joy and sadness, truth and falsehood, love and hate. But the
desire of man for life, for truth, goodness and beauty is embedded by the
Creator in the spirit of man. Hence, it is undoubted that He will satisfy the
aspirations that He invested there - beyond the grave. Satisfying them here is
hopeless because of the cycle of opposites. A man on earth must believe in God
and obediently obey His commandments, must diligently fulfill religious and
moral duties and not be carried away by the deceptive blessings of this world.
Only in this mood will a person find peace. From this, Ecclesiastes concludes
that the purpose of human life is moral education for the afterlife, where a
correspondence will be established between human happiness and moral dignity.
Ecclesiastes concludes his observations with a statement of
the doctrine of the significance of man's earthly life in preparation for the
future: moderately using earthly goods, we must take care of good deeds. For
this, God created man. The time of writing the book of Ecclesiastes dates back
to the last years of the reign of Solomon, when he experienced a lot,
understood and felt a lot, and brought God repentance, knowing the futility of
physical pleasures. The book of Ecclesiastes is full of deep thoughts that the
reader, not experienced in abstract concepts, is not immediately able to
understand and appreciate.
Book of Songs
This book was written by Solomon in the best years of his
reign, shortly after the construction of the temple. In form, she presents a
dramatic work consisting of conversations between the Beloved and the Beloved.
At the first reading, this book can only appear to be an ancient artistic lyric
song: this is how many free interpreters who do not bind themselves with the
voice of the Church interpret it. One must go on to read the prophets in order
to see that in the Old Testament the image of the Beloved and the Beloved is
used in the exalted sense of the union of love between God and believers. If
this book was included in the code of Jewish sacred books, then it came because
the Old Testament tradition understood it in a lofty symbolic sense and ordered
it to be read on Easter. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul uses the same
symbol, only without using a poetic form, when, speaking of the husband’s love
for his wife, he compares Christ’s love for the Church with her (Eph. 5:
22-32). The same image of the bride and groom is often heard in church hymns,
as a symbol of the ardent love of the Christian soul for its Savior. Such an
impulse of the soul’s love for Christ is also found in the writings of Christian
ascetics.
It is instructive to compare the following passage of the
Book of Song of Songs with a similar image of love by the apostle Paul.
“Lay me as a seal on your heart, like a ring, on your hand:
for love is strong as death; jealousy, like hell; her arrows are arrows of
fire; she is a very strong flame. Large waters cannot extinguish love, and
rivers will not flood it. If anyone gave all the riches of his house for love,
he would be rejected with contempt ”(Cant. 8: 6-7).
“Who will excommunicate us from the love of God: sorrow, or
crowding, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or a sword? as it
is written: they kill us for you every day, consider us for the sheep that are
doomed to slaughter. But we overcome all these things by the power of the One
who Loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor Angels, nor the
Beginning, nor Strength, nor the present, nor the future, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God in Christ
Jesus our Lord ” . (Rom. 8: 35-39; 1 Cor. 13 Ch.).
Book of Wisdom of Solomon
This book tells of God's Wisdom. It was written under the
influence of the Book of Proverbs of Solomon, which is why it bears his name.
However, the book of Wisdom was born for many centuries after the death of
Solomon. Moreover, this book is written in Greek, and it is not in the Hebrew
Bible. The author of the Book of Wisdom was familiar with the philosophical
teachings and customs of the Greeks of the III century BC. The main subject of
the book is the doctrine of the true revealed religion of God as a
manifestation of the Wisdom of God and the doctrine of pagan idolatry as a
manifestation of a deluded and sinful human mind. The main goal of the book is
to show, on the one hand, the superiority of the Wisdom of God, preserved by
the Jews in their God-revealed religion, and on the other, the absurdity of
idolatry. The writer of the Book of Wisdom first depicts the modern beliefs and
customs of the Jews, who, being worshipers of the true God and righteous,
suffered persecution from the Gentiles (Prem. 1-3 ch.). In the following
chapters, he speaks of the certainty of the reward to the righteous sufferers
and the inevitability of punishing the pagan persecutors, if not here on earth,
then beyond the grave - undoubtedly. “The God of death did not create,” he
says, “its cause is the sin of man. Man is created for incorruption. Therefore,
if the righteous also dies, then he will be at rest, and his soul is in the
hand of God; suffering and death are atonement for him. So the cruel suffering
and his early death serve to assure us of the truth of his forthcoming
glorification. ”In the conclusion of the book, the writer sets out the high
qualities and advantages of the wisdom that God sends.
Book of the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach
The author of the book, calling himself Jesus, the son of
Sirach, was a Jerusalemite, collector, versed in the law, prophets, and
fatherly books. He was one of the last representatives of the Great Synagogue.
To gain knowledge, he traveled a lot in foreign countries and suffered many
disasters and persecutions. He collected his thoughts, observations and travel
notes in a book, which he completed during the time of High Priest Eleazar
(287-265 BC). This Eleazar sent seventy-two interpreters to Alexandria to
translate the Holy Scriptures into Greek. Between the messengers there was also
Jesus, whose name is on the list of translators at Aristeus. The book of Jesus
Sirach came to us in a Greek translation. The Jewish script was considered
lost. The Book of Jesus says:
the high dignity of wisdom from God (Sir. 1 gl.);
there are instructions about various virtues: patience in
suffering and hope in God (Sir. 2 Ch.);
on reverence for parents and humility (Sir. 3 Ch.);
about helping the poor and arrogance (Sir. 4 Ch.);
on the attitude to doctrine (Sir. 7 gl.);
on the attitude to the rich and strong (Sir. 8 Ch.);
on the treatment of women (Sir. 9 Ch.);
about pride, drunkenness, etc.
Chapters 24–33 contain a large section where, on behalf of
the Wisdom of God, brief instructions are given on how to succeed in virtues,
how to raise children, and to be abstained;
In chapters 42–43, Jesus praises the greatness of God, which
is so clearly displayed in the general harmony and expediency of nature. Jesus,
the son of Sirach, ends his book with a prayer of thanks: “I will glorify you,
Lord King, and praise you, God, my Savior; I glorify your name, for you were my
patron and helper, and delivered my body from perdition and from the net of
slanderous tongue, from the mouth of intertwining lies; and against those who
rebelled against me, You were my helper and delivered me, by the grace and for
Your name’s sake, from the grinding of teeth ready to devour me, from the hand
of my souls, from the many sorrows that I had, from the choking fire from all
sides and from the midst of a flame in which I did not burn, from the depths of
the womb of hell, from an unclean tongue and a false word, from slander before
the king of an unrighteous tongue. My soul was close to death, and my life was
near the hell of hell: they surrounded me on all sides, and there was no help;
I looked through the eyes of intercession from the people - and there was none.
And I remembered Thy Lord, mercy and Thy works from the ages, that You deliver
those who trust in You and save them from the hands of enemies. And I offered
my prayer from the earth and prayed for deliverance from death: I called to the
Lord, the Father of my Lord, so that He would not leave me in the days of
tribulation, when there was no help from arrogant people. I will praise Your
name unceasingly and sing in praise, for my prayer has been answered; You saved
me from perdition and saved me from evil time. For this I will glorify and
praise you and bless the name of the Lord. As a young man, before I went on a
pilgrimage, I openly sought wisdom in my prayer: before the temple, I prayed
for her, and until the end I will look for her; as if from the color of
ripening grapes, my heart rejoices about it; my foot went straight, I followed
her from my youth. Little by little, I tilted my ear and accepted it, and found
in it many instructions for myself: I was successful in it. I will give glory
to him who gives me wisdom. I decided to follow her, I was jealous of the good,
and not I'll be ashamed. My soul labored for her, and in my affairs I was
accurate; He extended my hands to heights, and recognized my ignorance. I sent
my soul to her, and my heart betrayed her from the very beginning - and with
purity I reached her; therefore I will not be abandoned by her. And my inside
moved to seek her; therefore, I have gained a good purchase. As a reward, God
gave me a tongue, and I will praise Him with them. Draw near to me,
unscientific, and be settled in the house of doctrine, for you need it, and
your souls are thirsty. I open my mouth and say: get it for yourself without
silver; tilt your vy under her yoke, and let your soul accept the doctrine; it
can be found close. See with your own eyes: I worked a little - and found
myself great reassurance. Acquire teaching for a large amount of silver, and
you will gain a lot of gold. May your soul rejoice over his mercy, and do not
be ashamed to praise him; do your work well in advance, and in due time He will
give your reward ”(Sir 51 Ch.).
Favorite Proverbs
Friendship: “Let there be many living in the world with you,
and your adviser one out of a thousand” (Sir. 6: 6).
“A faithful friend is a strong defense: whoever finds it,
finds a treasure” (Sir. 6:14).
“Do not leave your old friend, for the new cannot compare
with him” (Sir. 9:12).
“A friend is not known in happiness, and the enemy does not
hide in misfortune” (Sir. 12: 8).
See also: Eccl. 4: 9-12,10: 8; Sire. 7: 37.33: 6.
Health, treatment: “There is no wealth better than bodily
health, and there is no joy above the joy of the heart” (Sir. 30:16).
“Honor the doctor with honor because of the need for him,
for the Lord created him, and from the Highest - healing, and from the king he
receives a gift. The knowledge of the doctor will exalt his head, and between
the nobles he will be held in high esteem. The Lord created healing from the
land, and a prudent man will not neglect them. Is not water made sweet from a
tree so that His power is known? For this reason, He gave people knowledge to
glorify Him in His wonderful deeds: with them he heals a man and destroys his
illness. He who prepares medicines makes a mixture of them, and his studies do
not end, and through it there is benefit on the face of the earth. My son! in
your illness, do not be careless, but pray to the Lord, and He will heal you.
Forget the sinful life and fix your hands, and cleanse your heart from all sin.
Offer up the fragrance, and from that you will make a memorable sacrifice, and
make the offering fat, as though already dying; and give the doctor a place,
for the Lord also created him, and may he not depart from you, for he is needed
”(Sir 38: 1-12).
Truth, lies, flattery: “A thief is better than a constantly
speaking lie; but both of them inherit perdition ”(Sir. 20:25).
“Praise is unpleasant in the mouth of a sinner, for it was
not sent from the Lord” (Sir. 15: 9).
“Fight for truth to death, and the Lord God will overcome
for you” (Sir 4:32).
“Be firm in your conviction, and one thing be your word”
(Sir 5:12)
Alms: “Honor the Lord from your possessions and from the
firstfruits of all your profits, and your granaries will be filled to excess,
and your sharpeners will be overflowed with new wine” (Proverbs 3: 9-10).
“Another pours generously, and is added to him; and the
other is thrifty beyond measure, and yet poorer ”(Proverbs 11:24).
“Sin is cleansed by mercy and righteousness, and the fear of
the Lord leads away from evil” (Proverbs 16: 6).
“He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will
repay him for his good deed” (Prov. 19:17).
“Water will quench the flame of fire, and alms will cleanse
sins” (Sir. 3:30).
“Do not be lazy to visit the patient, for you will be loved
for this” (Sir. 7:38).
“Do not neglect a man in his old age, for we are aging”
(Sir. 8: 7).
See also: Proverbs. 3: 27-28.21: 13; Sire. 4: 1-8.4: 35.7:
36.18: 15.34: 18-19.38: 16.
Verbosity: “Golden apples in silver transparent vessels are
a decently spoken word” (Prov. 25:11).
“Another idle talk hurt like a sword, and the tongue of the
wise heals” (Prov. 12:18).
“There is profit from all labor, and only damage from idle
talk” (Prov. 14:23).
“And a fool, when he is silent, may seem wise, and he who
shuts his mouth can be prudent” (Proverbs 17:28).
“Have you seen a rash man in your words? there is more hope
for a fool than for him ”(Prov. 29:20).
“You have heard the word, let it die with you: do not be
afraid, it will not dissolve you” (Sir. 19:10).
“Many fell from the tip of the sword, but not as much as
those who fell from the tongue” (Sir. 28:21).
“Say the main thing, a lot in a few words. Be as one who
knows and, together, as one who is able to be silent ”(Sir 32:10),
See also: Proverbs. 13: 3.
Prayer: “Do not rush with your tongue, and let your heart
not be in a hurry to utter a word before God; because God is in heaven, and you
are on earth; therefore thy words be few. For just as dreams happen with many
worries, so the voice of a fool is known with many words ”(Eccl. 5: 1-2).
“Before you begin to pray, prepare yourself, and do not be
like a man who tempts the Lord” (Sir 18:23).
“The prayer of the humble will penetrate the clouds, and he
will not be comforted until she approaches God” (Sir. 35:17).
Wisdom: “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord;
[good understanding of all who are led by him; and reverence for God is the
beginning of understanding;] fools only despise wisdom and instruction ”(Prov.
1: 7).
“If you invoke knowledge and appeal to the mind; if you seek
him as silver, and seek him as a treasure, then you will enlighten the fear of
the Lord and you will find knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; out of
his mouth is knowledge and understanding; He saves for the righteous salvation;
He is a shield for those who walk immaculately; He guards the ways of
righteousness and preserves the path of His saints ”(Proverbs 2: 3-8).
“Because in much wisdom there is much sadness; and whoever
multiplies knowledge multiplies sorrow ”(Eccl. 1:18).
“And I saw that the advantage of wisdom over stupidity is
the same as the advantage of light over darkness” (Eccl. 2:13).
“Who - how wise, and who understands the meaning of things?
Man’s wisdom enlightens his face, and the severity of his face changes ”(Eccl.
8: 1).
“Dead flies spoil and make the stinking fragrant suit of a
world-maker: the same does a little stupidity of a respected person with his
wisdom and honor” (Eccl. 10: 1).
“Before you feel weak, humble yourself and show conversion
during your sins” (Sir 18:21).
“Only the one who devotes his soul to meditation on the law
of the Most High will seek the wisdom of all the ancients and practice the
prophecies: he will notice the tales of eminent men and delve into the subtle
turns of the parable; will explore the innermost meaning of sayings and deal
with the mysteries of parables. He will serve among the nobles and appear
before the ruler; He will travel the land of foreign nations, for he has
experienced good and evil between people. He will direct his heart to turn to
the Lord who created him from early morning and will pray before the Almighty;
He will open his mouth in prayer and will pray for his sins. If the great is
pleasing to the Lord, he will be filled with the spirit of reason, will exude
the words of his wisdom and praise the Lord in prayer; he will control his will
and mind and will reflect on the mysteries of the Lord; he will show the wisdom
of his teaching and will boast in the law of the covenant of the Lord. Many
will glorify his knowledge, and he will not be forgotten forever; his memory
will not perish, and his name will live in childbirth ”(Sir. 39: 1-12).
See also: Proverbs. 3: 13-26; Proverbs 4: 5-9; Proverbs
15:33; Sire. 6:18; Sire. 6:35; Sire. 21:18; Sire. 38:24.
Hope in God: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do
not rely on your mind. In all your ways, know Him, and He will direct your
paths ”(Proverbs 3: 5-6).
“They did not boast of tomorrow, because you do not know
what will give birth to that day” (Proverbs 27: 1).
“I ask you of two things, do not refuse me before I die: do
not give me vanity and falsehood, do not give me poverty and wealth, feed me
daily bread, so that, fed up, I will not deny you and say:“ who Lord? ”And so
that, impoverished, he would not steal and use the name of my God in vain”
(Prov. 30: 7-9).
“Like clay in a potter’s hand, and all her destinies are in
his arbitrariness, so people are in the hand of Him who created them, and He
repays them according to His judgment” (Sir 33:13).
“A man’s heart ponders his path, but the Lord rules his
procession” (Proverbs 16: 9).
See also: Proverbs. 16: 3; Eccl. 12:14; Sire. 5: 1; Sire.
16:13; Sire. 20: 9.
Repentance and forgiveness of insults: “So that they may
know that whatsoever sins, they are punished” (Prem. 11:17).
“So the righteous is rewarded on the earth, much less the
wicked and the sinner” (Prov. 11:31).
“For the righteous one shall fall seven times, and will rise
up; but the wicked will fall into perdition ”(Proverbs 24:16).
“Do not hesitate to turn to the Lord, and do not delay from
day to day” (Sir. 5: 8).
“In all your affairs, remember your end, and you will never
sin” (Sir 7:39).
“Do not reproach a person who turns from sin: remember that
we are all under epitimy” (Sir. 8: 6).
“The sinful man shies away from conviction and finds an
apology according to his will” (Sir 32:19).
“There is no righteous man on earth who does good and does
not sin; therefore, not every word that is spoken, pay attention not to hear
your servant when he curses you; for your heart knows many times when you
yourself have cursed others ”(Eccl. 7: 20-22).
Drunkenness: “Who has a howl? who has a moan? who has a
quarrel? who has grief? who has wounds for no reason? who has crimson eyes?
Those who sit for a long time for wine, who come to look for flavored wine. Do
not look at the wine, how it turns red, how it sparkles in the bowl, how it is
looked after evenly: subsequently, like a snake, it will bite and sting like an
asp; your eyes will look at other people's wives, and your heart will speak a
lecherous one, and you will be as one sleeping in the sea and as one sleeping
on the top of the mast ”(Proverbs 23: 29-34).
“Do not show yourself brave against wine, for wine has
destroyed many” (Sir. 31:29).
Restraint, temper: “The fool will immediately show his
anger, but the prudent will hide the insult” (Proverbs 12:16).
“Prudence makes a man slow to anger, and his glory is to be
condescending to transgressions” (Proverbs 19:11).
“That a city is destroyed, without walls, then a man who
does not possess his spirit” (Prov. 25:28).
“If you blow on a spark, it will flare up, and if you spit
on it, it will fade: both will come out of your mouth” (Sir. 28:14).
See also: Proverbs. 17:27; Proverbs 19:19.
Family, parenting: “He who pities his rod, hates his son;
but he who loves, he punishes him from childhood ”(Proverbs 13:25).
“Teach the young man at the beginning of his journey: he
will not shy away from him when he grows old” (Proverbs 22: 6).
“Do not leave the youth without punishment: if you punish
him with a rod, he will not die” (Proverbs 23:13).
About a virtuous wife: “It is better to live in a corner on
the roof than with a grumpy wife in a spacious house” (Prov. 21: 9)
“Who will find a virtuous wife? its price is higher than
pearls; her husband’s heart is confident in her, and he will not be left
without profit; she gives him good, and not evil, all the days of her life. It
obtains wool and flax, and eagerly works with its own hands. She, like merchant
ships, from afar procures her bread. She gets up at night and gives out food in
her house and the lesson to her maids. She will think of the field, and gain
it; from the fruits of his hands he plants a vineyard. He girdles his loins
with strength and strengthens his muscles. She feels that her occupation is
good, and - her lamp does not go out even at night. He reaches out his hands to
the spinning wheel, and her fingers are taken by the spindle. She opens her
hand to the poor, and gives her hand to the needy. Not afraid of a cold for her
family, because her whole family is dressed in double clothes. She makes
carpets for herself; fine linen and purple are her clothes. Her husband is
known at the gate when he sits with the elders of the earth. She makes
bedspreads and sells, and delivers belts to the Phoenician merchants. Fortress
and beauty are her clothes, and she cheerfully looks at the future. He opens
his mouth with wisdom, and gentle instruction in her tongue. She oversees the
household in her house and does not eat idle bread. The children get up and
appease her, - the husband, and praises her: "there were many virtuous
wives, but you surpassed them all." Charisma is deceiving and beauty is
vain; but a woman who fears the Lord is worthy of praise. Give her her hands
from the fruit, and let her work be glorified at the gates! ”(Proverbs 31:
10-31).
About parents: “For the blessing of the father affirms the
homes of the children, and the oath of the mother destroys to the foundation”
(Sir. 3: 9).
“It is better to die childless than to have children of the
wicked” (Sir. 16: 4).
See also: Sir. 3: 12-13; Sire. 33: 21-22.
Humility, pride: “If He chuckles at the blasphemers, then he
gives grace to the humble” (Proverbs 3:34).
“Pride precedes destruction, and arrogance precedes
destruction” (Prov. 16:18).
“Before a fall, the heart of man is exalted, and humility
precedes glory” (Prov. 18:13).
“How great you are, humble yourself so much, and you will
find grace from the Lord” (Sir 3:18).
“What is the earth and the ash proud of?” (Sir. 10: 9).
“The Lord uproots nations and plants the humble in their
place” (Sir 10:18).
See also: Sir. 3:21; Sire. 4: 7; Sire. 13: 1; Sire. 20:11.
About Dreams: “Like an embracing shadow or chasing after the
wind, he who believes in dreams” (Sir. 34: 2).
Conscience, bashfulness: “Most of all that you keep, keep
your heart, because it is the source of life” (Prov. 4:23).
“There is shame leading to sin, and there is shame — glory
and grace” (Sir 4:25).
Advice: “Without advice, enterprises will be upset, but with
many advisers they will take place” (Prov. 15:22).
Patience, sorrows: “Do not reject the punishment of the
Lord, my son, and do not be burdened by his conviction; for whom the Lord
loves, he chastens and favors how the father hath his son ”(Proverbs 3: 11-12).
“The long-suffering one is better than the brave, and one
who owns himself is better than the conqueror of the city” (Prov. 16:32).
“Lamentation is better than laughter; because with sorrow of
the face the heart is made better ”(Eccl. 7: 3).
"My son! if you begin to serve the Lord God, then
prepare your soul for temptation; rule your heart and be firm, and do not be
embarrassed during a visit; stick to Him and do not back down, so that you may
be exalted in the end. Whatever happens to you, take it with pleasure, and be
patient in the vicissitudes of your humiliation, for gold is tested in fire,
and people who please God are in the crucible of humiliation ”(Sir. 2: 1-5).
“Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, and not into the
hands of men; for what is his greatness, so is his mercy ”(Sir. 2:18).
Hard work, laziness: “Laziness plunges into sleepiness, and
a careless soul will endure hunger” (Proverbs 19:15).
See also: Proverbs. 6: 6-11; Proverbs 24: 30-34; Sire. 40:
1.
Moderation: “A little is better with the fear of the Lord
than a great treasure, and with it anxiety. A dish of greens is better, and
with it love, than a well-fed bull, and with it hatred ”(Prov. 15: 16-17).
See also: Sir. 31:21; Sire. 37: 33-34.
Chastity (and preservation of marital fidelity): “That a pig
has a golden ring in her nose, that woman is beautiful and reckless” (Proverbs
11:22).
“When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge will be
pleasing to your soul, then prudence will protect you, the mind will protect
you in order to save you from the evil path, from the person who speaks lies,
from those who leave straight paths to walk the paths darkness from those who
rejoice in doing evil, admire evil debauchery, whose ways are crooked, and who
wander on their paths; in order to save you from the wife of another, from a
stranger who softens her speech, who left the leader of her youth and forgot
the covenant of her God. Her house leads to death, and her paths to the dead;
none of those who came to her returns and enters the path of life ”(Prov. 2:
10-19).
“Can anyone take fire in his bosom so that his dress does
not burn out? Can anyone walk on burning coals so as not to burn their feet?
The same thing happens with someone who enters his neighbor’s wife: whoever
touches her will not be left without fault ”(Proverbs 6: 27-29).
“Turn your eye away from a noble woman and do not stare at
someone else's beauty: many have turned aside from the way through the beauty
of women; love burns from it like a fire ”(Sir. 9: 8-9).
See also: Proverbs. 5: 1-23; Sire. 42: 12-14.
Prophetic books
The meaning of prophecy in human life
The river of time swiftly carries our life ship across the
sea of life to the vast ocean of eternity. What awaits a person ahead - no
one knows people, demons, or even Angels - only one God! Some people try to
penetrate the mystery of the future by resorting to horoscopes, fortune
telling, witchcraft, superstitious signs and other sinful and vain means
prohibited by the Holy Scriptures (see Lev. 19:31; 20, 6; Deut. 18: 10-13; Jer
. 27: 9-10). What is useful for us to know about our future, God has already
revealed through His Only Begotten Son and through His chosen ones - prophets
and apostles. All scripture books, to one degree or another, contain
prophecies. However, some books in the Bible primarily speak of future events
and are therefore called prophetic. In the Old Testament part of the Bible we
find sixteen prophetic books, in the New Testament - one: The Apocalypse. The
Old Testament prophetic books include the following: The Book of the Prophet
Isaiah, The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, The
Book of the Prophet Daniel and the Books of the Prophets Hosea, Joel, Amos,
Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Naum, Habakkuk, Sophonia, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
The authors of the first four books — Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel —
are called the “great” prophets. Their books are larger than the books of the
twelve prophets, called "small." The following two are added to the
Book of the Prophet Jeremiah: The Lamentation of Jeremiah and the Book of
Baruch. The prophets sometimes recorded their conversations themselves,
sometimes their disciples kept records. Many of the predictions found in the
prophetic books have already been fulfilled, for example: regarding the fate of
ancient peoples, the coming of the Messiah, and New Testament times. Prophecies
regarding the last times of the world - the accession of the Antichrist, the
Second Coming of Christ, the general resurrection of the dead and the Last
Judgment - have yet to be realized. However, signs of approaching these final
events in the history of mankind are already beginning to be fulfilled.
Prophecies, like miracles, testify to God's chosenness of the prophets and the
divine inspiration of their books. The Christian faith teaches us that the
future of each individual person and of all mankind in the aggregate is not the
result of a combination of random circumstances, “fate”. Events in soulless
nature are wholly under the control of the Creator. As for the actions of man,
God gives him the freedom to do as he wants, helping him, however, to fulfill
his good intentions. All the sacred history, the lives of the saints and
thoughtful observation of our own lives convince us that God cares for the good
of man and directs his life to salvation. If a person’s actions are determined by
his own desire, then how can God foresee what a person decides to do? When
considering this issue, one must take into account that the concepts of the
past and the future are human concepts. God lives outside and above time, with
Him everything is real. All the great and small events in the life of every
living creature, his secret thoughts and desires, events in the life of human
society - in the past, present and future - everything that happens in the most
remote corners of the universe, in the angelic and hellish world, - all to the
smallest details are revealed in full view in front of His all-seeing eye. Why
does God hide some future events from us, while others reveal? “God does this
for our spiritual benefit.” From the tragic moment when the first person obeyed
the adversary and violated the commandment of God, an intense war broke out in
the world for the souls of people, and each person is at the very center of
this battle. His protectors and assistants are the Lord, angels and saints who
have reached perfection, his enemies are demons and people who have sided with
evil. To help a believer understand this difficult war and win, God shows him
where his actions lead, what networks the devil throws, and what the Lord
intends to do to help believers. On the other hand, hiding from a person
certain events, such as, for example, the day of his death, God makes him not
weaken in zeal. When circumstances so require, the prophets' predictions are
very concrete and describe the details of future events, calling countries,
cities, people, and even indicating dates. But most often the prophecies
combine several events in one picture, separated from each other for many
centuries, but akin to the spiritual plan. Such a comparison of different
events in one vision is possible because individual events are not as important
as those spiritual processes that occur in the depths of human hearts.
Therefore, the prophecies mainly speak of the moral state of people and show
the pattern between him and the events of the future. At the same time, the
prophecies with utter clarity reveal God's fatherly care for all people, His
directing hand in the life of every person, individual countries and in the
fate of the whole world; His boundless love and patience for those who strive
for good, and the anger of His justice towards those who persist in their sins
and contribute to the devil.
The purpose of this chapter, devoted to the prophetic books
of the Old Testament, is to familiarize the reader with their contents. The
chapter “The Old Testament of the Messiah” provides predictions regarding the
coming of the Messiah, His person, works, and miracles. Therefore, here, in
order not to repeat ourselves, we will dwell on other predictions and sermons
of the ancient prophets.
Description of the Prophetic Age
Prophetic books are easier to understand, knowing the
historical setting in which they were composed. Therefore, we will briefly
introduce the reader to the most important events of those times. Under the son
of Solomon, king Rehoboam (980 BC), the united kingdom of Israel was divided
into two - Judean and Israeli. In Judea, occupying the southern part of the
Holy Land, the descendants of King David ruled. The capital of the kingdom of
Judah was the city of Jerusalem, where a magnificent temple built by Solomon
towered on the hill of Zion. The law allowed Jews to have only one temple,
because it served as a spiritual center for the Jewish people. The kingdom of
Judea consisted of two tribes - the descendants of Judah and Benjamin. The remaining
ten tribes entered the kingdom of Israel, which was formed in the northern part
of the Holy Land. Its capital was Samaria, in which kings of different
dynasties ruled. The kings of Israel, fearing that their subjects, visiting the
temple of Jerusalem, would wish to return under the scepter of the king of
Judah, prevented their subjects from pilgriming to Jerusalem. To meet the
spiritual needs of the people, they built pagan temples in different parts of
Israel and persuaded the people to worship idols. The temptation of idolatry
was great, since all the nations surrounding Israel worshiped various deities.
In particular, the Phoenician deity Baal was popular. Along with idolatry,
rude, immoral pagan customs also passed to Jews. In this difficult time for the
Old Testament religion, God sent His prophets to Israel, who tried to delay the
process of spiritual decay and restore piety among the people. The first
Israeli prophets Elijah and Elisha lived under the Israeli kings Ahab, Jehu and
Joahaz (900-825 BC). They did not leave to the descendants notes of their
sermons, but their miracles and some teachings are recorded in the Third and
Fourth Books of Kings. During the long reign of Jeroboam II (782–740 BC), the
kingdom of Israel reached the highest degree of prosperity. The weakening
neighboring kingdoms — Syria, Phenicia, Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites — did
not bother the Jews. The expansion of the borders of the kingdom of Israel was
accompanied by peace and security. It was the heyday of art and commerce. But
at the same time, the morality of the people began to fall rapidly. The rich
oppressed the poor, the judges justified for bribes, debauchery found a wide
response among the superstitious masses. The Israeli prophets Joel, Amos, and
Hosea armed themselves against these evils. A special position among the
prophets is occupied by Jonah, who preached not among the Jews, but in Nineveh,
the capital of Assyria. After his preaching and repentance of the Ninevites,
the Assyrian kingdom begins to grow stronger, expands and finally turns into a
powerful military force. For two centuries, the Assyrian empire spread over the
territories now occupied by Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Israel. The king of
Israel in 738 had to pay Feglatfalasar of Assyria a huge tribute. In view of
the increasing demands of the Assyrian kings, the Israeli kings needed to find
allies among the kings of neighboring states. Thus, the king of Israel Thekoy,
together with Rezin of Syria, tried by force to draw the Jewish king Ahab into
an alliance against Assyria. But the frightened Ahab turned to Feglathfalasar
III for help. Feglathfalasar again invaded Israel in 734, annexed Galilee and
Damascus to his kingdom, and took many Israelis captive. During the life of
Feglathfalasar, the king of Israel Hosea dutifully paid tribute to Syria. After
his death, an alliance was concluded with Egypt. Then the Assyrian king
Salmanassar IV invaded Israel and ruined it, and his successor Sargon II in 722
took the capital of Israel Samaria and ruined it. The Israelites were resettled
in different parts of the vast Assyrian empire, and neighboring peoples were
resettled in their place. So the kingdom of Israel ceased to exist. In its
place then the Samaritans appeared - the descendants of the Israelis, mixed
with the Gentiles. The prophets Joel, Amos, and Hosea foretold the calamities
coming upon Israel. They saw in the repentant conversion of the Jewish people
to God the only possibility of salvation for him. After the fall of Israel, the
kingdom of Judah lasted another hundred-plus years. During the fall of Samaria
in Judea, the pious king Hezekiah ruled (725–696). He, following the policies
of his father Ahab, maintained an alliance with Assyria. However, after the
death of Sargon, Hezekiah joined the coalition of neighboring kingdoms seeking
to overthrow the oppression of Assyria. In 701, the Assyrian army, led by King
Sennacherib, invaded Judea and ravaged several Jewish cities. Hezekiah paid off
a large tribute. Soon Sennacherib again attacked Judea, collect the new tribute
he needed to maintain military power, and threatened Jerusalem with
destruction. Hoping for God's help, Hezekiah decided to defend himself in
Jerusalem. Then the prophet Isaiah spoke and predicted that the plans of
Sennacherib would not be realized and God would save the Jews. Indeed, the very
next night the Angel of the Lord defeated the 185 thousandth Assyrian army.
Sennacherib shamefully returned to Assyria, where he was soon killed by the
conspirators (2 Kings 20 Ch.). Isaiah revealed the heyday of a prophetic gift,
and his book is a remarkable monument to prophetic writing. We will talk about
it later in more detail. Around the same time, Micah and Naum prophesied. The
son of Hezekiah, the wicked Manasseh (696-641 BC), was the exact opposite of
his believer and good father. His reign turned out to be the darkest period in
the history of the Jewish people. It was time the persecution of the prophets
and the destruction of faith. Manasseh, having entered into an alliance with
Assyria, set himself the goal of making paganism the dominant religion in his
country. Defenders of the faith, he mercilessly destroyed. Under him suffered
the martyrdom and great Isaiah. The reign of Manasseh, which lasted about fifty
years, caused irreparable harm to the true faith. Those few prophets who
survived the persecution went underground, and we don’t know anything about
their activities. In old age, Manasseh tried to lose his dependence on Assyria,
but he paid heavily for it. In the end, he realized his guilt before God and
repented, but neither the aged Manasseh nor his successors could restore the
true faith in the people. After Manasseh, the pious king Josiah ruled (639-608
BC). Desiring to restore faith in God among the people, he zealously engaged in
religious reform, and regular church services began again in the church.
However, the success of his reforms was primarily external. Pagan customs and
superstition have deeply rooted in the people. High society was morally
corrupt. Nevertheless, the prophets Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, and especially
Jeremiah, tried to arouse a sense of repentance among the people and restore
faith in God. In 608, the Egyptian army of Pharaoh Necho II, going the war
against Assyria, passed through Judea. Josiah, trying to remain faithful to
Assyria, entered the battle with Necho, but was defeated at Megiddo
(Armageddon). For a short time, Judea became a subject of Egypt. It was a time
of the weakening of Assyria and the strengthening of the Babylonian monarchy.
The joint army of Nabopalassar of Babylon (Chaldean) and Xerxes of the Medes
destroyed Nineveh in 606 BC Thus, the warlike Assyrian empire perished,
terrifying and ruining the neighboring countries for one and a half years.
Nabopalassar's successor, Nebuchadnezzar, in his victorious expedition to
Egypt, invaded Judea, and King Joachim in 604 became a subject of Babylon.
Contrary to the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah, Jehonius the son of Joachim
rebelled against Babylon and, together with many close associates, was taken
captive to Babylon (597, this is the first Babylonian captivity). Among the
prisoners was the prophet Ezekiel. In 588, under King Zedekiah, Judea was again
rebelled against Babylon (Chaldeans). In 586, Jerusalem was besieged and taken.
The temple was burned, the city was destroyed. The blinded king, along with the
rest of the subjects, was taken captive to Babylon. Thus began the second
Babylonian captivity. Jews spent about 70 years in captivity, beginning from
597 to 536 BC.
The meaning of the ancient prophets
In Old Testament times, priests were limited mainly to the
provision of statutory sacrifices. They did not care about the morality of the
people. They were priests, but not shepherds. Jewish people were in spiritual
ignorance, and pagan superstitions and vices were easily assimilated to them.
Therefore, the main task of the prophets was to teach the Jewish people to
believe and live correctly. Seeing the deviations from the Law of God, the
prophets severely exposed the sinners, whoever they were — commoners or
princes, priests or judges, slaves or kings. Their inspired word possessed
great power to arouse a sense of repentance and a desire to serve God. Prophets
were the conscience of the people and "elders" for those who longed
for spiritual guidance. Only thanks to the prophets did true faith persist
among the Jewish people until the time of the birth of Christ. The first
disciples of Christ were the disciples of the last Old Testament prophet - John
the Baptist. While the priesthood of the Jews was inherited, people were
individually called upon to prophesy by God. The prophets came from the most
diverse sectors of the population - from the peasant and shepherd classes, such
as the prophets Hosea and Amos; or from high society, such as the prophets
Isaiah, Zephaniah, and Daniel. There were prophets of priestly origin, such as
the prophets Ezekiel and Habakkuk. The Lord chose the prophets not by their
social background, but by their spiritual qualities. Over the centuries, the
image of a true prophet of God has been established among Jews: a man
completely disinterested, infinitely devoted to God, fearless before the
powerful of this world and at the same time deeply humble, strict towards
himself, compassionate and caring, like a father. Many weak and offended by the
people found themselves patrons and intercessors in the person of the prophets
of God.
Revealing and Consolation
The prophets were sick when they saw violations of justice
and piety. They understood that violations of the Law of God even by a minority
of the people serve as a bad example and a temptation for the rest. They saw
how moral licentiousness leads the country to a spiritual and physical
disaster. Therefore, the prophets in the most strict words, with ruthless
frankness denounced the sinners, openly announced to them how severe the
punishments would be for their lawlessness. Here are some characteristic
accusatory phrases of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah: “Alas, the sinful
people, the people burdened with lawlessness, the tribe of villains, the
perishing sons! They left the Lord, despised the Holy One of Israel, - turned
back. What else to beat you, continuing their perseverance? The whole head is
in sores, and the whole heart is exhausted. From the sole of the foot to the crown
of the head he does not have a healthy place: ulcers, spots, festering wounds,
uncleaned and untied and not softened with oil. Your land is devastated; your
cities are burned with fire; strangers eat your fields in your eyes; everything
is empty, as after the ruin of strangers. And the daughter of Zion remained,
like a tent in a vineyard, like a hut in a garden, like a besieged city. If the
Lord of hosts had not left us a small remnant, then we would have been the same
as Sodom, we would have become like Gomorrah. Listen to the word of the Lord,
Sodom; heed the law of our God, the people of Gomorrah! Why do I need many of
your victims? says the Lord. I am fed up with burnt offerings of rams and a fat
of fattened cattle, and I don’t want blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When
you come to appear before My face, who requires you to trample My courtyards?
Carry no more vain gifts: smoking is disgusting to Me; I cannot endure the New
Month and the Sabbaths, holiday gatherings: lawlessness and celebration! ”(Isa.
1: 4-13). The words of God, spoken by the lips of the prophet Jeremiah shortly
before the fall of Jerusalem, sound terribly: "" Here is the temple
of the Lord "... How! You steal, kill, and commit adultery, and swear a
lie, and censure Baal and follow other gods that you do not know, and then come
and stand before My face in this house, over which my name is called, and say:
“We saved, "so that" the people do all these abominations? Has not
this house of thieves become a den in your eyes, this house over which my name
is called? .. ”(Jer. 7: 4-11). Seeing the bitterness of his people, the prophet
mourns with deep sorrow for his death in such words: “Oh, who will give water
to my head and my eyes a source of tears! And I would cry day and night for the
afflicted children of my people. Oh, who would give me a haven of travelers in
the desert! I would leave my people and leave them: for they are all
adulterers, a gathering of treacherous ones ... Each one deceives his friend,
and the truths "they" do not say; have taught your tongue to speak a
lie, they are cunning to fatigue ...
Can't I punish them for this? says the Lord ... I will make
Jerusalem a heap of stones, a habitation of jackals, and I will make the cities
of Judea a desert without inhabitants ”(Jer. 9: 1-11). But the prophets did not
only expose. When disasters shook and public misfortunes fell, the prophets
hurried to console those who repented with hope for God's mercy, promised
people help from above, predicted a better future. “Comfort, comfort My people,
says your God; Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and tell him that the time of
his struggle has been fulfilled, that satisfaction has been made for his
iniquities, for he twice took all his sins from the hand of the Lord ... Go up
to the high mountain, the gospel of Zion! Your voice, gospel of Jerusalem, be
exalted with strength! do not be afraid; say to the cities of Judah: behold,
your God! Behold, the Lord God is coming with power, and His muscle with power.
Behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. As a shepherd He
will shepherd His flock; "He will take the lamb in his arms and carry on
His chest, and lead the milked ones." (Isa. 40: 1-2, 9-11).
Chronological review of prophetic books
For clarity, we will look at prophetic books in
chronological order. We will talk about the prophets who lived in the period
from IX to VI century BC. - Joel, Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah and Micah. At the
center of this first period is Isaiah, whose book must be considered the heyday
of a prophetic gift. The gaze of the prophets of this period was turned to the
fall of the kingdom of Israel, which occurred in 722 BC. This first period ends
with the persecution and extermination of the prophets by King Manasseh.
Book of the Prophet Joel
In chronological order, Joel is the first prophet to leave
us a record of his sermons. Joel held his prophetic ministry in Judea, probably
under the Jewish kings Joas and Amasias, about 800 BC. Joel calls himself the
son of Bethuel. Those were the years of comparative calm and prosperity.
Jerusalem, Zion, the temple of Jerusalem, worship is constantly on the lips of
the prophet. However, in the calamities that befell Judea - drought and, in
particular, the terrible invasion of locusts, the prophet sees the beginning of
God's judgment on the Jewish people and all people. The main vice against which
the prophet Joel is arming is the mechanical, soulless execution of ritual law.
At that time, the pious King Joas sought to restore religion in Judea, but
achieved success, mainly in its outward manifestation. The Prophet sees ahead
even greater intensification of pagan superstitions and the subsequent
punishment of God and calls on the Jews to sincere repentance, saying: “But
even now the Lord says: turn to Me with all your heart in fasting, crying and
sobbing. Tear apart your hearts, and not your clothes, and turn to the Lord
your God; for He is good and merciful, long-suffering and multi-merciful, and
regrets the calamity ”(Joel 2: 12-13). Often in one prophetic vision of Joel,
events are united that are separated from each other by intervals of many
centuries, but close in religious terms. So, for example, in Joel’s vision, the
upcoming judgment of God over the Jewish people is combined with the judgment
of God over the universe at the end of the world: “Let the nations rise up and
descend into the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit down to judge all
nations from everywhere. Let the sickles into business, for the harvest is
ripe; go on come down, for the sharpener is full and the sub-flows overflow,
because their malice is great. Crowds, crowds in the valley of the court! for
the day of the Lord is near to the valley of judgment! The sun and moon will
fade and the stars will lose their luster. And the LORD thunders from Zion, and
gives his voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth tremble; but the Lord
will be a defense for His people and a defense for the sons of Israel. Then you
will know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion, on my holy mountain;
and Jerusalem will be a sanctuary, and foreigners will no longer pass through
it. And it will be that day: the mountains will drip with wine and the hills
will flow with milk, and all the channels of Judea will be filled with water,
and a spring will come out of the house of the Lord, and will give water to the
valley of Shittim ”(Joel 3: 12-18). But before the Great Judgment over the
world, the descent of the Holy Spirit and the spiritual renewal of the people
of God should take place: “And after that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all
flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy; your elders will dream,
and your young men will see visions. And also in those days I will pour out of
My Spirit upon slaves and slaves. And I will show signs in heaven and on earth:
blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun will turn into darkness and the
moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And it
will be: everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for there
will be salvation on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as the Lord said, and among
the rest whom the Lord will call ”(Joel 2: 28-32). The apostle Peter recalled
this prophecy of Joel to the Jews on the day of the coming of the Holy Spirit
on the feast of Pentecost.
The content of the Book of the Prophet Joel:
invasion of locusts (Joel 1: 2-20);
the approach of the Day of the Lord (Joel 2: 1-11);
a call to repentance (Joel 2: 12-17);
About God's mercy (Joel 2: 18-27);
spiritual rebirth (Joel 2: 28-32);
the prediction of the judgment of all nations (Joel 3:
1-17);
and the subsequent blessing of God (Joel 3: 18-21).
Book of the prophet jonah
The prophet Jonah, the son of Amathiah, was born in
Gefahover of Galilee (near the future Nazareth). Prophesied in the second half
of the 8th century BC in Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. It is believed that
he was a younger contemporary and disciple of the prophet Elisha. Jonah's tomb
is shown in the village of El Mashhad on the site of the ancient Gefahover. The
book of the prophet Jonah does not contain the usual sermons addressed to the
Jews, but tells of the embassy of Jonah in pagan Nineveh. At first, Jonah did
not want to go to strangers with a sermon where the Lord had sent him, and took
a ship at Iyaffa bound for the city of Fareis (in Spain). The Lord, in order to
enlighten the prophet, raised a great storm to the sea, from which the ship of
Jonah began to sink. The frightened sailors learned that the cause of such an
unprecedented storm was Jonah's disobedience, and threw him overboard the ship,
wanting to stop the wrath of God. Indeed, the storm subsided, while Jonah was
swallowed by a huge fish. After staying in the fish for about three days, Jonah
deeply repented of his disobedience and began to beg God to have mercy on him.
Then the Lord ordered the fish to throw Jonah on land, and the prophet was on
the shore near Beirut. Admonished by such incidents, the prophet implicitly
went to Nineveh with the preaching of conviction and the prediction of imminent
punishment to the city. The Ninevites believed the prophet and, having imposed
the strictest fast on themselves and on domestic animals, repented deeply. The
Lord had mercy on Nineveh and turned away His punishment. So saved from the
deaths of more than a quarter of a million people. Over time, Nineveh became
the capital of a powerful and warlike state. The book of the prophet Jonah
illustrates God's love for all people with a striking example, regardless of
their nationality. The Lord Jesus Christ reminded the Jews of the miracle of
the prophet Jonah and reproached them with the fact that the Ninevites repented
from Jonah's preaching, and they did not want to repent, although among them is
the prophet more than Jonah. The Lord pointed to the miracle of Jonah in the
womb of the whale for three days and three nights, as a type of his three-day
burial and resurrection (see Matthew 12: 39-41). The prayer of the prophet
Jonah in the womb of the whale, placed at the end of the second chapter of his
book, serves as a model for the irmos 6 songs of the matins of the Matins.
Jonah's prayer begins with the words: “I called to the Lord in my grief, and He
heard me; I cried out from the womb of the underworld, and You heard my voice
”(Jonah. 2, 3).
Book of the Prophet Amos
Amos was of poor origin. He was born in Fekoi, located
between the Dead Sea and Bethlehem. He says of his prophetic calling: “I am not
a prophet and not a son of a prophet; I was a shepherd and gathered sycamore.
But the Lord took me from the sheep and told me: “Go, prophesy unto my people
Israel” (Am. 7: 14-15). Amos prophesied in Bethel and other cities of the
kingdom of Israel during the time of King Jeroboam II. He was a contemporary of
the prophets Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah. Those were the years of comparative calm
and prosperity. Being of shepherd origin, the prophet mourned about the
oppression of the poor, about the retention of wages to employees, about the
injustices and bribery of judges, about the licentiousness of rulers, about the
negligence of priests. In restoring justice, the prophet sees the first
condition for aversion to God's punishment. The prophet was persecuted for his
convictions. So, according to the machinations of the Bethel priest Amasia, he
was even expelled from this city. At that time, pagan states and cities had
their patron gods. Similarly, some Jews viewed Jehovah God as their local
deity, comparing Him to the Phoenician idol Baal and other deities. The Prophet
Amos inspired the Jews that the power of God extends not only to the chosen
nations, but also to the whole universe and that pagan deities are nothing. Not
only Jews, but all nations are responsible before God for their actions and
will be punished for their iniquities. Thus, the Amos sermon extended far
beyond Israel and was directed to the Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites, and to
the capital cities of Damascus, Gaza, and Tire. Having called the Jewish people
to faith, the Lord showed him special mercy. Therefore, Jews should set a good
example to neighboring nations, and in judgment they will be more exacted than
others: “Listen to this word that the Lord spoke to you, sons of Israel, to all
the people that I brought out of the land of Egypt, saying: only you I
recognized from all the nations of the earth, therefore, I will seek from you
all your iniquities ”(Am. 3: 1-2). The prophet saw that, because of people's
wickedness, spiritual hunger is approaching, which will be worse than physical
hunger: “Here come the days, says the Lord God, when I send hunger to the
earth, not hunger for bread, not thirst for hearing the words of the Lord. And
they will go from sea to sea and wander from north to east, seeking the words
of the Lord, and they will not find it ”(Am. 8: 11-12).
The content of the Book of the Prophet Amos:
conviction of the sins of Israel and neighboring nations
(Am. 1-2 ch.);
exposing the powers that be, the rich, and the call for
justice (Am. 3-5 ch.);
a prediction of the judgment of God (Am. 5: 18-26);
the last chapters (Am. 6-9 ch.) contain five visions of the
Court of God;
At the end of the book, the prophet Amos predicts the
spiritual rebirth of people.
Book of Hosea
The prophet Hosea, the son of Vejeriah of the tribe of
Issachar, lived and prophesied in the kingdom of Israel shortly before its
destruction. The beginning of his prophetic ministry dates to the end of the
reign of Jeroboam II, approximately 740 years BC, and continued until the fall
of Samaria in 721. This was a period of spiritual decline of the Israeli
people, increased idolatry and moral licentiousness. The onslaught of warlike
Assyria contributed to the political instability in Israel and frequent palace
coups. The Prophet Hosea vigorously exposed the vices of his contemporaries,
especially the bad pagan customs that the Jews adopted from neighboring
nations. Hosea foretold of impending disasters. From his personal life it is
known that he married Homer, who began to cheat on him and openly fornication.
The prophet was forced to formally divorce her, but continued to pity and love
her. This personal drama showed the prophet how hard the spiritual betrayal of
the Israeli people to their God, who made a covenant with him on Mount Sinai,
and the Jews violated this union with God, defiled, fell into spiritual
fornication. Therefore, the Lord predicts through the prophet that the Jews
will be rejected, and the Gentiles will be called to the Kingdom of God: “And
at that time I will make an alliance for them with wild animals and with
heavenly birds, and with reptiles on the earth; I will destroy the bow and the
sword, and the war from that land, and I will give them life in safety. And I
will betroth you to Me forever, and I will betroth you to Me in truth and
judgment, in goodness and mercy. And I will betroth you to Me in fidelity, and
you will know the Lord. And it will be that day, I will hear, says the Lord, I
will hear heaven, and it will hear the earth, and the earth will hear bread and
wine and oil; and these will hear Jezreel. And I will sow it for Myself on the
earth, and I will have mercy on the Unforgiven, and I will not say to My
people: “you are My people,” but he will say: “You are my God!” "(Hos. 2:
18-23). He exposes the prophet and priests, who reduced faith in God to
soulless rites, neglecting the instruction of the people in the Law of God: “My
people will be destroyed for lack of knowledge: since you rejected the
knowledge, I will also reject you from the priesthood before Me; and as you
have forgotten the law of your God, then I will forget your children. The more
they multiply, the more sin against me; I will turn their glory to dishonor.
They feed on the sins of My people, and their soul strives for its iniquity.
And what will happen to the people, then to the priest; and I will punish him
according to his ways, and I will repay him according to his works ”(Hosea 4:
6-9). Further, the prophet calls those who are still able to listen to his
sermons: “So we know, we will strive to know the Lord; as the morning dawn is
His appearance, and He will come to us like rain, as the latter rain irrigates
the earth. What will I do to you, Ephraim? What will I do to you, Judas? your
piety is like morning fog and like dew, soon disappearing. Therefore, I struck
through the prophets and beat them with the words of My mouth, and My judgment
is like rising light. For I want mercy, not sacrifice, and theology of God more
than burnt offerings ”(Hosea 6: 3-6). At the sight of the impending destruction
of the kingdom of Israel, the prophet exerts every effort to arouse a sense of
repentance. But he also sees what will happen after the disasters, which refers
to the end of time, when the people of God will be completely renewed, when all
calamities and death itself will be destroyed: “I will atone for them from the
power of hell, I will deliver them from death. Death! where is your sting? hell!
where is your victory? ”(Hos. 13:14). Separate phrases from the Book of Hosea
are often quoted by New Testament writers: see Hos. 11: 1; Matt. 2:15; Os. 6:
6; Matt. 9:13; Os. 2:23; 1 Pet. 2:10; Os. 13:14; 1 Cor. 15:55; Os. 10: 8; Lx
23:30 and others
The content of the book of the prophet Hosea:
the unfaithful wife and the unfaithfulness of Israel (Hos.
1-2 ch.);
the faithfulness of God (Hos. 3 gl.);
conviction of Israel (Hos. 4-7 gl.);
God's Judgment on Israel (Hos. 8-10);
a series of brief conversations on previously raised topics
(Hos. 11-14 ch.);
The book ends with the promise of salvation by the righteous
(Hos. 14 Ch.).
Book of Isaiah
In the first half of the VIII century BC Isaiah lived - one
of the greatest prophets of all time. Endowed with high spiritual gifts from
God, Isaiah belonged to high society and had free access to the royal palace.
He possessed a broad state of mind and great poetic talent. The combination of
these exceptional qualities in him makes his book unique in ancient writing.
The book of the prophet Isaiah is replete with predictions about the Messiah,
about His blessed kingdom and about the New Testament times, due to which the
prophet Isaiah is called the "Old Testament Evangelist." The prophet
Isaiah, the son of Amos, was born in Jerusalem around 765 BC. The
twenty-year-old Isaiah was called to prophetic ministry by a special revelation
of God when he saw the God of hosts, sitting on a throne and surrounded by
angels (Isa. 6 gl.). Isaiah passed his prophetic ministry under the Jewish
kings of Azariah, Joatham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. It is known that he had a wife
and two children. Isaiah's prophetic activity ended in the 8th year of King
Manasseh with a martyrdom, when, according to legend, he was sawn with a wooden
saw (Heb. 11:37). In addition to the book of prophecies, he described the acts
of the kings of Uzziah and Hezekiah (which, however, did not reach us) and put
in order the last seven chapters of the Solomon Parables (Proverbs 25: 1).
Under the kings of Azariah (Uzziah) and Joatham, the Jewish people were
infected with idolatry, which intensified even further under Ahaz. This king
even “made cast statues of Baal ... and led his sons through the fire” (2
Chronicles 28: 2-3). Against Ahaz, the kings Fakey of Israel and Rezin of Syria
went to war. Ahaz sent great gifts to the Assyrian king Feglathfalasar, and he
defeated Fakey and Rezin, and imposed heavy tribute on Ahaz. The prophet Isaiah
encouraged the people during the attack of Fakey and Rezin and gave the king
the sign of victory over them in the prophecy about the birth of the Messiah
from the Virgin (see Isa. 7:14). But the prophet rebuked Ahaz for turning to
the Assyrian king for help. The son of Ahaz, king of Hezekiah, was pious.
However, morality fell so much among the city dwellers that the prophet likened
them to the ungodly pagans, once exterminated by God, saying: “The expression
of their faces testifies against them, and they tell their sin openly, as the
Sodomites do not hide: woe to their soul! for they bring evil upon themselves.
Tell the righteous that it is good for him, for he will partake of the fruits
of his deeds; and woe to the wicked, for there will be retribution to him for
the work of his hands ”(Isa. 3: 9-11). In particular, the prophet armed himself
with judges and those standing at the helm of power, whose duty was to protect the
innocent and take care of justice: “Woe to those who call evil evil, and good -
evil, reckon darkness, and light - darkness, bitter - reckon sweet, and sweet -
bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their eyes and intelligent before
themselves! Woe to those who are courageous to drink wine and strong to prepare
a strong drink, who justify the guilty for gifts and deprive the right of the
right for gifts! ... Woe to those who enact unjust laws and write cruel
decisions to eliminate the poor from justice and steal the rights of the weak
from My people, to make widows their prey and rob orphans ”(Isa. 5: 20-23, 10:
1 -2). For these glaring iniquities, the prophet predicts that “the Lord will
cut off the head and tail of Israel, the palm and the cane, in one day: the
elder and the noble, this is the head; and a false prophet is a tail ”(Isa. 9:
14-15). The servants of the temple and pilgrims, whom the prophet denounces in
the soulless performance of rites and hypocrisy, were not faultless: “The
princes of Zoans went mad; Memphis was deceived, and threw Egypt out of the way
of the head of his tribes ”(Isa. 19:13). The sorrow of the prophet because of
the sins of the people resulted in the following prayer: “We all became -
unclean, and all our righteousness - like soiled clothes; and we all faded like
a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, carry us away. And there is no one
calling on thy name that would lay hold fast on you; therefore You hid Thy face
from us and left us to perish from our iniquities. But now, Lord, You are our
Father; we are clay, and You are our educator, and we are all the work of Your
hand. Do not be angry, Lord, without measure, and do not always remember
lawlessness. Look, we are all your people ”(Isa. 64: 6-9). But the prophet
believes in the power of repentance, and that there is no sin that transcends
God's mercy: “Wash yourself, be cleaned; remove your evil deeds from my eyes; stop
doing evil; learn to do good, seek truth, save the oppressed, protect the
orphan, stand up for the widow. Then come and judge, says the Lord. If your
sins are like crimson, I will white as snow; if they are red, like purple, -
like a wave will be white. If you want and obey, you will partake of the
blessings of the earth; but if you deny and persevere, then the sword will
devour you: for the mouth of the Lord speaks ”(Isa. 1: 16-20). In the 14th year
of Hezekiah, Sennacherib of Assyria attacked Jerusalem. Through the prayers of the king and
the prophet, the 185,000th Assyrian army was defeated by the Angel of God, and
the city was saved (Isa. 36-37 chap.). Some time later, King Hezekiah was
mortally ill, but through the prayers of the prophet he received miraculous
healing (Isa. 38-39 chap.). The neighbors of the Israelites were the Syrians,
Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, and Edomites. They constantly threatened to
invade Judea, and the Jews were forced to either fight back from them or pay
tribute to them. The kings of Judah in the midst of such continuous clashes
needed a reliable leader, and the Lord sent Isaiah to them, who warned the
kings and people about the danger, encouraged and predicted the fate of the
Jewish people, the fate of neighboring nations and the coming salvation through
the Messiah. A special place among the prophet Isaiah is occupied by
predictions regarding the kingdom of Babylon, which the prophet identifies with
the kingdom of evil in recent times, and his king with the anti-christ
anti-messiah. Therefore, many elements of the prophecies about Babylon have yet
to be fulfilled (see Isa. 14:21; Isa. 46-47 ch., Cf. Rev. 16-17 ch.). The
chapters 24–25 of Isaiah speak of the judgment of the universe (Isa. 24–25).
Isaiah's prophecies are extraordinarily clear and poetic. The prediction of the
Savior's suffering (Isa. 53 ch.) Is written so vividly as if the prophet
himself was present at the Cross. Some of Isaiah's most prominent prophecies
include:
the birth of Emanuel from the Virgin (Isa. 7:14);
the many miracles that the Messiah was supposed to do (Isa.
35: 5-6);
His meekness and humility (Isa. 42: 1-4);
and about his other works, as described in more detail in
the chapter “The Old Testament of the Messiah”;
Isaiah's prophecy about King Cyrus, which became known to
this king two hundred years later, is remarkable for its accuracy (Isa. 44:
27-28,45: 1-3; 1 Ezra. 1: 1-3).
the prophet Isaiah said that the chosen people in their mass
will be rejected by God for their wickedness, only the holy remnant will be
saved (Isa. 6:13);
in the kingdom of the Messiah, the place of the rejected
Jews will be taken by the believing pagan peoples (Is. 11: 1-10,49: 6,54:
1-5,65: 1-3).
We find the prophet Isaiah's descriptions of God's glory and
majesty, His wisdom and His goodness, remarkable in their depth and poetry: “My
thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways are My ways, says the Lord. But
as heaven is above the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My
thoughts are higher than your thoughts. As rain and snow descends from heaven
and does not return there, but gives water to the earth and makes it able to
give birth and grow, so that it gives seed to he who sows, and bread to he who
eats, so is My word that comes out of My mouth “- it does not return to Me in
vain, but does what I please, and does what I sent it for” (Isa. 55: 8-11).
More than once the prophet testifies of God's mercy to the repentant and
humble. “Thus saith the Lord: heaven is my throne, and earth is the footstep of
my feet; where do you build a house for me, and where is my resting place? For
all this my hand did, and all this was, saith the Lord. And here is whom I will
look upon: the humble and afflicted in spirit and trembling before My word
”(Is. 66: 1-2). “He gives the weary man the strength, and gives the man who is
weary the fortress. Young men become weary and weaken, and young people fall,
and those who hope in the Lord will be renewed in strength: they will raise
their wings like eagles, they will flow and they won’t get tired, they will go
and they will not get tired ”(Isa. 40: 29-31). “Therefore strong nations will
glorify you; the cities of terrible tribes will be afraid of You, for You were
the refuge of the poor, the refuge of the poor in close time for him, protection
from the storm, shadow from the heat; for the wrathful breath of tyrants was
like a storm against a wall. Like the heat in a place without water, You have
tamed the riot of enemies; like the heat of the shadow of a cloud, the glee of
the oppressors is suppressed. And the Lord of hosts will make on this mountain
for all nations a meal of fat dishes, a meal of pure wines, of a pile of bones
and the purest wines; and on the mountain will destroy the veil covering all
nations, the veil lying on all tribes. Death will be swallowed up forever, and
the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and remove the reproach
from His people throughout the whole earth; for thus saith the Lord. And they
will say that day: here He is, our God! we trusted in Him, and He saved us!
This is the Lord; we trusted in him; we will rejoice and rejoice in his
salvation! ”(Isa. 25: 3-9). The last 27 chapters of the Book of Isaiah (Isa.
40-66 ch.) Contain many comforting predictions related to New Testament times
and the renewal of the world after the Universal Court. Here is a vision of the
new Jerusalem (Church), rising on the Holy Mountain: “No more violence will be
heard in your land, desolation and ruin within your limits; and you will call
your walls salvation, and your gates glory. The sun will no longer serve you
with daylight, and the radiance of the moon will shine with you; but the Lord
will be your eternal light, and your God your glory. Your sun will not set
already, and your moon will not be hidden, for the Lord will be an eternal
light for you, and the days of your lamentation will end. And your whole nation
will be righteous, it will forever inherit the earth - the branch of My
planting, the work of My hands, to My glorification ”(Isa. 60: 18-21).
The content of the Book of Isaiah:
conviction of the sins of Judah (Is. 1 ch.);
God's judgment on the world and the exaltation of the
kingdom of God (Isa. 2-3 ch.);
that the remnant of the people will be saved, and about the
Messiah (Isa. 4 ch.);
a song about the vineyard (Isa. 5 Ch.);
the vision of the Lord of hosts (Isa. 6 ch.);
the conflict with Syria and the birth of Emanuel (Isa. 7
Ch.);
about the wonderful Baby (Isa. 8-9 gl.);
Speech of Assyria (Isa. 10 Ch.);
about the Messiah and His Kingdom (Isa. 11 ch.);
song of praise to God (Isa. 12 ch.);
prophecies about pagan kingdoms, about Babylon and
antichrist (Isa. 13-14 gl.);
Moab (Isa. 15 ch.);
about Samaria and Damascus (Isa. 17 ch.);
speech about Ethiopia and Egypt (Isa. 18-20 gl.);
the prediction of the fall of Babylon (Isa. 21 ch.);
prediction of the invasion of Judea (Isa. 22 ch.);
about Tire (Isa. 23 gl.);
The trial of the universe and the renewal of the world (Isa.
24-25 gl.);
the resurrection of the dead (Isa. 26 ch.);
continuation of the song about the vineyard (Is. 27 ch.);
speeches about Samaria and Jerusalem (Isa. 28-29 gl.);
about Egypt (Isa. 30-31 ch.);
about the New Testament times (Isa. 32 ch.);
the prophecy of Assyria (Isa. 33 ch.);
judgment on nations and on the grace of God (Isa. 34-35
gl.);
historical part (Isa. 36-39 ch.);
the prediction of the end of the Babylonian captivity and of
John the Baptist (Isa. 40; Isa. 48 ch.);
a prediction about King Cyrus (Isa. 41; Isa. 45 ch.);
Youth of the Lord (Isa. 42 gl.);
consolation to the captives in Babylon (Isa. 43-44 ch.);
the fall of Babylon (Isa. 46-47 gl.);
about the Messiah (Isa. 49-50 gl.);
the restoration of Zion (Isa. 51-52 gl.);
the suffering Messiah (Isa. 53 ch.);
the calling of the Gentiles to the Kingdom of the Messiah
(Isa. 54-55 chap.);
about the New Testament times (Isa. 56-57 gl.);
denunciation of hypocrites (Isa. 58-59 gl.);
the glory of the New Jerusalem (Isa. 60 ch.);
about the Messiah and the New Testament times (Isa. 61-63
gl.);
the prayer of the prophet for his people (Isa. 62 ch.);
the calling of the Gentiles to faith (Is. 65 gl.);
the triumph of the Church and the final Judgment of the
apostates (Isa. 66 ch.).
Despite its antiquity, the Book of Isaiah sounds like it was
written yesterday. It is so informative, comforting and poetic that every
Christian should have it with his own handbook.
Book of the Prophet Micah
The prophet Micah came from the tribe of Judah. He
prophesied for fifty years about the fate of Samaria and Jerusalem, during the
time of King Hezekiah and in the first half of the reign of the wicked
Manasseh, being the youngest contemporary of Isaiah. Micah is mentioned in the
Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (see Jer. 26: 17-19), when they wanted to kill
Jeremiah for his prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem, some of the
elders in his defense said that Micah also predicted the same thing in the days
of King Hezekiah but he was not persecuted for the prophecy. The steepness of
the conversations in the Book of the Prophet Micah testifies to the fact that
only a certain part of his prophecies has survived, while the rest probably
died during the persecution of the prophets by Manasseh. The main idea of the
Book of the Prophet Micah is that the Lord, in His faithfulness to the Covenant
with the chosen people, having cleansed it with calamities and repentance, will
introduce it (and through it the Gentiles) into the kingdom of the Messiah.
Micah’s book contains a prediction of the destruction of Samaria and the
devastation of Jerusalem; the promise of the salvation of Israel through the
Elder of Bethlehem; directions to salvation. Micah speaks with a word of
protection of the poor and disadvantaged in his people and denunciations of the
heartlessness and arrogance of the rich. "Woe is me! for with me now - as
in the collection of summer fruits, as in the harvesting of grapes: not a
single berry for food, not a ripe fruit, which my soul desires. There were no
mercy on earth, no truth between people; everyone builds coves to shed blood;
each one puts a network to his brother. Their hands are turned to be able to do
evil; the chief demands gifts, and the judge judges for bribes, and the nobles
express evil desires of their souls and pervert the matter. The best of them is
like thorns, and the fair one is worse than a barbed hedge, the day of your
forerunners, your visit comes; now confusion will befall them. Do not believe a
friend, do not rely on a friend; from the guard of your mouth lying on your
bosom. For the son dishonors the father, the daughter rebels against the
mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; the enemies of man are
his household ”(Mic. 7: 1-6). Here is what the Lord expects of man: “But is it
possible to please the Lord with thousands of rams or uncountable streams of
oil? Will I give him my firstborn for my transgression and the fruit of my womb
for the sin of my soul? Oh man! told you that good is what it requires of you Lord:
to act fairly, to love the works of mercy, and to walk humbly and wisely before
your God ”(Mic.6: 7-8). The prophet ends his book with the following appeal to
God: “who is God, how are you, forgiving lawlessness and not charging crimes
with the remnant of your inheritance? He does not forever be angry, because He
loves mercy. He will again have mercy on us, will blot out our iniquities. You
will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea ”(Micah. 7: 18-19).
The content of the book of the prophet Micah:
the destruction of Jerusalem and Samaria (Mic. 1-2 ch.);
the sins of the inhabitants of Judea (Mic. 3 Ch.);
the Kingdom of the Messiah (Mic. 4 Ch.);
about the birth of Christ in Bethlehem (Mic. 5 Ch.);
The Judgment of Nations (Mic. 6 Ch.);
for mercy to the faithful (Mic. 7 gl.).
All the predictions of the prophets, with the exception of
those relating to the last times, have been fulfilled, and often with
astonishing accuracy. Particularly dear to us are the predictions about the
Savior of the world, about the Church and the grace of God given to believers.
It is comforting in the prophetic books that, no matter how evil temporarily
rejoices, it will be completely destroyed by God and the truth will triumph;
eternal life and bliss - that is what awaits believers! The main events of the
second prophetic period, which began after the king of Manasseh, that is being
analyzed here, i.e. according to the IV century BC, there were: religious
reform of King Josiah (639-608 BC), the strengthening of the Babylonian
kingdom, the destruction of Jerusalem (586 BC) and the removal of captive Jews
to Babylon ; the repentance of the Jews and their return to their homeland (536
B.C.), the restoration of the Jerusalem temple (475 B.C.). After this, the
expectation of the coming of the Messiah becomes more intense until the time of
the birth of Christ.
Book of the Prophet Zephaniah
The long reign of the wicked king of Manasseh (696-641 BC)
led to the fact that almost all the prophets of God who lived in Judea were
exterminated or went underground. It is possible that Zephaniah was the first
prophet to raise his voice after the half-century silence of the messengers of
God. Zephaniah preached under the pious Jewish king of Josiah, twenty years
before the destruction of Jerusalem (639-608 BC). Enumeration of the ancestors
of Zephania to the 4th kind indicates its noble origin. It is believed that
King Josiah began his religious reform, encouraged by the prophet Zephaniah.
However, the reform could do little: the religious foundations of the people,
undermined by Manasseh, were already difficult to restore. Sophonia watched
with sorrow the ever-growing spiritual savagery of people and the fascination
with pagan superstitions. Nevertheless, the prophet severely denounces those on
whom the responsibility lay to lead the life of the people and to set a good
example - the Jewish princes, judges and priests, saying: “Woe to the unclean
and desecrated city, the oppressor! He does not listen to his voice, he does
not accept instructions, he does not trust in the Lord, he does not approach
his God. His princes in the midst of him are roaring lions, his judges are
evening wolves that do not leave a single bone until morning. His prophets are
frivolous, treacherous people; his priests desecrate the shrine, trample the
law. The Lord is righteous in the midst of him, does not do untruth, every
morning He shows His judgment invariably; but the wicked knows no shame ”(Soph.
3: 1-5). Of course, the goal of these severe censures was to ward off disasters
impending on them from the Jews. Zephaniah also predicts the punishment by God
of the neighboring nations - the Moabites and the Ammonites, who lived in the
east, the Assyrians - in the north and Ethiopians - in the south. The purpose
of these punishments is not to destroy these peoples, but to admonish them and
lead to true faith. Zephaniah concludes his book with a description of the
Messianic times and the spiritual rebirth of the world: “Then I will give the
people a clean mouth, that all may call upon the name of the Lord and serve Him
with one accord” (Soph. 3: 9).
Contents of the Book of the Prophet Zephaniah:
God's judgment on Jerusalem (Soph. 1-2 ch.);
the trial of neighboring nations (Soph. 2: 4-15);
again, the judgment of Jerusalem (Soph. 3: 1-8);
about the Messiah and the salvation of the world (Soph. 3:
9-20).
Book of the Prophet Nahum
The prophet Nahum is called the “Elkoseyan,” which probably
indicates the name of his father. According to legend, the family of Naum came
from a village, which was later named in his honor. It is mentioned in the
Gospel as Capernaum, located on the northern shore of Lake Galilee. After the
ruin of the kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in 722 BC the ancestors of Naum
moved to Judea, and here Naum passed his prophetic ministry at the beginning of
the 7th century BC. In his three-chapter book, the prophet Nahum speaks
predominantly of the punishment of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian
kingdom. In the past, Nineveh served in God's hands as an instrument of
punishment and admonition of the Jewish people, therefore the prophet Isaiah
called Assyria the “rod of wrath” of God, “and the scourge in his hand” (Isa.
10: 5). Naum in the following figurative words depicts the punishment of the
Jews by the Assyrians: “The Lord is long-suffering and great in power, and does
not leave without punishment; in the whirlwind and in the storm the procession
of the Lord, the cloud is dust from His feet. He forbids the sea, and it dries
up, and all the rivers dry up; Wilan and Carmel wilt, and the color fades in
Lebanon. Mountains shake before Him, and hills melt, and the earth shakes
before Him, and the universe and all who live in it. Who will stand before His
indignation? And who will endure the flame of His wrath? His wrath spreads like
fire; the rocks fall before him. The Lord is good, a refuge on the day of
tribulation, and knows those who trust in him ”(Nahum 1: 3-7). Two hundred
years before, when the prophet Jonah, Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, was
pardoned by God for the repentance of its inhabitants. After this, Assyria
began to grow rapidly and intensify. Intoxicated by their victories, the
Assyrians became extremely arrogant and cruel with the peoples subjugated by
them. In his book, the prophet Nahum accurately describes the moral state of
modern Nineveh as a city of blood and treachery. In the impending punishment of
Nineveh, the prophet sees a righteous retribution to this city for shed
innocent blood. Indeed, the invincible Hitherto Nineveh was soon subdued by the
Nabopalassar of Babylon in 612 BC Her ruin and the ensuing disintegration of
the whole the powerful Assyrian empire was colorfully described by Herodotus,
Dioskor Sicilian, Xenophon and other Greek writers. Moreover, as the prophet
Naum predicted, Nineveh, after its destruction, seemed to completely disappear
from the face of the earth: “a lion abducting to saturate his puppies, and
strangling his lionesses, and filling his caves and his lairs with stolen
goods? Here I am - at you! says the Lord of hosts. And I will burn your
chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your lion cubs, and I will
destroy your prey from the earth, and you will no longer hear the voice of your
ambassadors ”(Nahum 2: 12-13). Indeed, for two thousand years, the very place
where Nineveh stood was forgotten, and only in the last century it was found
thanks to the excavations of Raulinson and others. These archaeological
discoveries even more clearly confirm the truth and amazing accuracy of the
prophecies of Naum.
Book of the Prophet Habakkuk
Habakkuk was a Levite (the descendants of Levi were priests
and ministers at the temple) and sang in the Jerusalem temple. He lived shortly
before the destruction of Jerusalem and was a contemporary of the prophet
Jeremiah. His book is distinguished by a pure, sublime and poetic language.
Scripture connoisseurs praise his book for the simplicity, brevity, and depth
of the images. The prophet Habakkuk taught that the unrighteous and the wicked
will perish, and the righteous will be saved by his faith. This thought opens
first in the form of a conversation between God and the prophet about the
judgment and death of the wicked, and then in the hymn-song of the prophet,
depicting the judgment of God, which will result in the extermination of the
wicked and the salvation of the righteous. “Even if the fig tree didn’t blossom
and there was no fruit on the vines, and the olive changed, and the cornfield
didn’t give food, even if there were no sheep in the paddock and cattle in the
stalls, but even then I will rejoice in the Lord and have fun about God my
salvation. The Lord God is my strength: He will make my feet like a deer, and
he will raise me up to my heights! ”(Hab. 3: 17-19). The prophet Habakkuk
foretold about gracious justification by faith in the Kingdom of the Messiah:
“Behold, the arrogant soul will not rest, but the righteous will live by faith”
(Hab. 2: 4; cf. Gal. 3:11; cf. Heb. 10:38). The second and third chapters of
the Book of the Prophet Habakkuk serve as a model for the irmos 4 songs of the
matins of the Matins. In some irmos, even the expressions from these chapters
are even literally repeated, for example, “I will stand watch over my guard” in
the Easter canon; or: “Lord! I heard your hearing and was afraid (I heard the
news of you and was scared) ... His greatness covered the heavens ... ”and others.
These phrases of the prophet Habakkuk are referred by the holy fathers to the
Messiah. The prophet Habakkuk saw that distant future when “the earth will be
filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters fill the sea”
(Hab. 2:14).
The content of the Book of the prophet Habakkuk:
perplexity of the prophet about the success of the wicked
(Hab. 1: 1-4);
the answer of the Lord (Hab. 1: 5-11);
further bewilderment of the prophet (Hab. 1: 12-17);
the answer of the Lord (Hab. 2: 1-5);
predictions of grief for the Chaldeans for their predation
(Hab. 2: 6-20);
hymn to God (Hab. 3 Ch.).
Book of the prophet jeremiah
The prophet Jeremiah (in Hebrew - “Exalted by God”) came
from a priestly family and was born in Anathoth, four kilometers northeast of
Jerusalem. He was called to the prophetic ministry in the reign of Josiah and
preached under the kings of Josiah, Joachaz, Joachim, Jehonia and Zedekiah. The
Lord revealed to Jeremiah that even before his birth he decided to make him a
prophet: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you came out
of the womb, I sanctified you: I made you a prophet for the people” (Jer. 1
:5). Speaking about how the Lord placed him in the prophetic ministry, Jeremiah
writes: “And the Lord extended His hand, and touched my mouth, and the Lord
said to me:“ Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. Look, I have set you up
this day over nations and kingdoms to root and ruin, to destroy and destroy, to
build and plant ”(Jer. 1: 9-10). From that moment, Jeremiah for forty years has
been constantly preaching, teaching people faith and piety. Jeremiah said in
the name of God: “Thus saith the Lord: let the wise not boast of his wisdom,
let the mighty boast of his strength, and boast of his wealth. But those who boasted
boasted that they understood and knew Me, that I - The Lord, doing mercy,
judgment and truth on earth; for only this is pleasing to Me, says the Lord
”(Jer. 9: 23-24). Under the pious king of Josiah, Jeremiah taught without
hindrance. Religiosity of the people was expressed mainly in rituals, and
spiritually he was moving away from God more and more: “My people did two
evils”: the Lord said through the lips of Jeremiah, “They left me, the source
of living water, and carved out broken waters that could not hold me water
”(Jer. 2:13). Over time, the truthful word of Jeremiah began to cause more and
more irritation in the audience, and, beginning with the reign of Joachim, the
prophet was subjected to ongoing persecution - even from his family members. It
got to the point that Joachim sentenced Jeremiah to death, as a result of which
he was forced to hide. However, Jeremiah dictated his accusatory speeches to
Baruch, his disciple, who announced them to the king and people. Desiring to
hide one of these speeches from the people, Joachim burned it sheet by sheet.
Knowing that it was useless to fight the Babylonians, Jeremiah persuaded the
successor Joachim (taken to Babylon), the last Jewish king Zedekiah, to submit
to Nebuchadnezzar. For this, as an enemy of the fatherland, he was put in
prison, and then thrown into a dunghill. In general, the years preceding the
fall of the Jewish state were a time of extreme spiritual bitterness and
blinding of the Jewish people. Therefore, the prophetic ministry of Jeremiah
was one of the most difficult and bitter. At times, sorrowful feelings
suppressed Jeremiah so much that he did not want to live: "" Woe to
me, my mother, that you gave birth to me as a man who argues and quarrels with
the whole earth! I didn’t give anyone growth, and no one gave me growth, and
everyone curses me. ” The Lord said: your end will be good, and I will make the
enemy do good to you during the tribulation and during the tribulation ... For
as soon as I begin to speak, I scream about violence, cry out for ruin, because
the word of the Lord has reproached me and in daily mockery ”(Jer. 15:
10-11,20: 8). Finally, Jeremiah decided to completely stop preaching: “And I
thought:“ I will not remind of Him and will no longer speak in His name. ” But
I could not hide my prophetic gift for a long time: “it was in my heart, as if
a burning fire, enclosed in my bones, and I He languished, holding him, and
could not ”(Jer. 20: 9). Compared to other prophetic books, the book of the
prophet Jeremiah is rich in autobiographical notes, which makes it especially
valuable for understanding the essence of the prophetic gift and the
relationship between God and His chosen ones. In view of the impending
catastrophe, the reproaching speeches of the prophet Jeremiah with increasing
fervor attack the main culprits of the spiritual savagery of the common people
- the rich and people standing at the helm of power: and does not give him his
pay, who says: “I will build myself a vast house and spacious rooms,” and cuts
through windows, and sheathes cedar, and paints with red paint. Do you think to
be king because you enclosed yourself in a cedar? thy father ate and drank, but
did judgment and truth, and therefore he was well. He examined the case of the
poor and the poor, and therefore he was well. Does this mean knowing Me? says
the Lord ”(Jer. 22: 13-16). However, the spiritual bitterness of the upper
strata of society no longer succumbed to healing: “The sin of Judah is written
with an iron chisel, with a diamond point inscribed on the tablets of their
hearts and on the horns of their altars” (Jer.17: 1). I must say that the
spiritual corruption of contemporaries of Jeremiah, like the Jews in the
seventies of our era, when Jerusalem was secondarily destroyed, in many ways
characterize the moral corruption of people of the last times before the second
coming of Christ. That is why, both the first and second destruction of
Jerusalem on the lips of the prophets and the Savior serve as a way of the end
of the world and unite with it in one prophetic picture (Matt. 24 gl.). In the
Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, we find frequent references to his encounters
with false prophets, which, in contrast to Jeremiah, reassured people, saying
that no disaster would happen and everything would be safe. With these
assurances they euthanized the people's conscience and actually accelerated the
process of spiritual decay. It is worth noting here that, according to the
Savior’s prediction, the appearance of a large number of false prophets will
also be a sign of the approaching end of the world: “Beware that anyone does
not seduce you ... many false prophets will arise and deceive many” (Matthew
24: 4, 11). In this way,
The convictions of the prophet Jeremiah in their essence
remain relevant today. Finally, under King Zedekiah in 586 BC what happened was
predicted by Jeremiah and other prophets: hordes of the army of Nebuchadnezzar
surrounded Jerusalem, took it and destroyed the temple and city. The surviving
inhabitants were taken prisoner, which, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah,
was to last 70 years (see Jer. 25:11). During the capture of Jerusalem,
Jeremiah was also bound and taken prisoner with the rest of the captives, but
on the way, according to the command of Nebuchadnezzar, he was released. Soon
after this, refugees from Jerusalem captured Jeremiah and taken to Egypt, where
he continued his prophetic ministry for several more years. In the Second Book
of the Maccabees (see 2 Mak. 2: 4-5) it is written that when the destruction of
the Jerusalem temple Jeremiah hid the Ark of the Testament with the tablets of
the Ten Commandments and the censerial throne in a cave on Mount Nebo.
Subsequent attempts to find these items were unsuccessful. There is a tradition
that Jeremiah was stoned in Daphne for predicting the invasion of
Nebuchadnezzar on Egypt. Alexander of Macedon (356-323 BC) honorably buried the
relics of the prophet Jeremiah in a precious tomb in Alexandria. The main idea
of the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah is that the Lord through the Babylonians
will judge the Jews and Gentiles in order to cleanse them from idolatry and
pagan wickedness. After captivity, the Jews will return to their land, and the
Lord in the person of the Messiah, the King Shepherd, will restore the throne
of David (in the spiritual sense) and make the New Testament. Jeremiah, in his
inner warehouse, was prone to lyrics, which is felt in his speeches and that
makes his book a wonderful monument of ancient poetry.
The content of the book of the prophet Jeremiah:
the calling of Jeremiah (Jer. 1 gl.);
contains the prophecies of the time of Josiah (Jer. 2-6
ch.);
prophecies of the time of Joachim (Jer. 7-20 gl.);
convictions of kings and false prophets (Jer. 21-25: 14);
prophecies about neighboring nations (Jer. 25: 15-38 and Jer.
46-51 gl.);
on ruin and restoration (Jer. 26-33 gl.);
Jeremiah and the last days of Jerusalem (Jer. 34-45 chap.);
historical appendix (Jer. 52 ch.).
The next book, The Lamentation of Jeremiah, was written
shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem. It consists of five chapters, in
which bright colors depict the miserable appearance of the destroyed temple and
city and the misery of the Jews. This book is originally written in verse, with
the initial letters of the lines (acrostic) arranged in the Hebrew alphabet,
like 36 and 118 psalms. On behalf of Jerusalem, Jeremiah addresses all those
who wish to avoid such a fate, explains the reasons for what happened and asks
for sympathy. The book ends with a prayer: “Turn us to Thee, Lord, and we will
turn; renew our days as old ”(Weeping 5:21).
The second book, adjacent to the books of the prophet
Jeremiah, the Book of the Prophet Baruch, is written by Baruch, the son of
Neriah. The mention of his ancestors until the fifth generation indicates the
nobility of its origin. Indeed, his brother Seraiah under King Zedekiah was in
charge of collecting taxes and participated in the embassy in Babylon to
Nebuchadnezzar (see Jer. 51: 59). The prophet Baruch was a disciple and
assistant to the prophet Jeremiah. Together with his teacher, Baruch suffered
persecution and persecution from contemporaries (see Jer. 36: 19-26,43: 3,45:
2-3). After the destruction of Jerusalem, Baruch with Jeremiah moved to Egypt,
where he remained until the death of his teacher. Then Baruch moved to Babylon,
where, according to legend, he died at 12 the year after the destruction of
Jerusalem. The reason for writing the book of the prophet Baruch was the desire
of the Jews who lived in Babylon to encourage their compatriots who remained in
the ravaged Judea with donations and a cover letter. Baruch composed the letter
on behalf of the captives. He read this letter first to the captive king of Ishonia
and the Jews who lived in Babylon, and then sent it to Judea to the high priest
Joachim. In his letter, the prophet Baruch explains to the Jews that the
misfortunes that befell them do not mean that they are finally rejected, but
only a temporary punishment for sins. Therefore, people should not lament over
their captivity, but about their sins. In due time, the Lord will free the
people from captivity, and glorious times will come for Jerusalem, when the
Hypostatic Wisdom of God will be embodied. The book of the prophet Baruch shows
how the misfortunes that have befallen the Jews had a beneficial effect on
them: very many understood their share of guilt, repented, and became more
humble and obedient to God.
Book of the Prophet Obadiah
The book of the prophet Obadiah is the smallest work of the
Old Testament writing, having only 21 verses. Its content is a vision of Edom,
a country located southeast of Judea, whose inhabitants, the Edomites, were
blood close to the Jews. About the prophet Obadiah and about his life no
information is reported either in his book or in the rest of the biblical
writing. The book of the prophet Obadiah was written shortly after the
destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, when the Edomites, instead of
helping or at least sympathizing with their blood brothers, gloated and
approved the plunder of the city. The bitterness of the Jews regarding this
behavior of the Edomites is expressed in the following words of Psalm 136:
“Remember, Lord, to the sons of Edom the day of Jerusalem, when they said:
destroy, destroy to the foundation of it” (Ps. 136: 7). With his prophetic
gaze, Obadiah sees the punishment of the Edomites for their cruelty. Predicts
the prophet and the return of the Jews from captivity.
Book of the prophet ezekiel
The prophet Ezekiel was the son of a priest of Buzi and was
born in Judea. Together with King Jehonia, he, among 10,000 Jews, was taken to
Babylon in 597 BC. and settled in Mesopotamia on the Khovar River, a tributary
of the Tigris River. At the age of 30, Ezekiel was called to the prophetic
ministry by "seeing the glory of the Lord." This was in the 5th year
of the capture of Jehonia, and from that time he passed his ministry between
the settlers of Mesopotamian Tel Aviv for 22 years, from 592 to 570 BC. The description
in this vision of four animals with the faces of a man, a lion, a calf and an
eagle was later used as symbols of the four evangelists (Ezek. 1:10). Ezekiel
preached not only to the captive Jews, but also to the “rebellious house of
Israel,” the immigrants of the kingdom of Israel assigned here after the
destruction of their kingdom by the Assyrians in 722 BC. These Israelis, having
no spiritual leaders in a foreign land, were completely morally coarse. Calling
Ezekiel to prophetic service, the Lord said to him: “And He said to me: Son of
man! I send you to the sons of Israel, to the rebellious people who rebelled
against Me; they and their fathers are traitors before Me to this very day. And
these sons with a hardened face and with a cruel heart; I am sending you to
them, and you will tell them: “Thus says the Lord God!” Will they listen, or
will not, for they are a rebellious house; but let them know that there was a
prophet among them. And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them and do not be
afraid of their speeches, if they are thistles and thorns for you, and you will
live with scorpions; Do not be afraid of their speeches and not be afraid of
their faces, for they are a rebellious house; and speak My words to them,
whether they will listen or not, for they are stubborn ... Behold, I have made
your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their
forehead. Like a diamond, which is stronger than stone, I have made your
forehead; do not be afraid of them, and not be afraid of their faces, for they
are a rebellious house ” (Ezekiel 2: 3-7.3: 8-9). Then the Lord revealed to
Ezekiel what his mission and responsibility as a prophet consisted of: “Son of
man! I have made you a guardian of the house of Israel, and you will hear the
word from My mouth, and you will admonish them from Me. When I say to the
wicked: “You will die death!”, And you will not admonish him and speak in order
to guard the wicked from his lawless way, so that he lives, then the wicked
will die in his lawlessness, and I will seek his blood from your hands. But if
you admonished the wicked, and he did not turn from his lawlessness and from
his lawless way, then he will die in his lawlessness, and you have saved your
soul. And if the righteous departs from his righteousness and acts unlawfully
when I put a stumbling block before him and he dies, then if you did not
admonish him, he will die for his sin, and his righteous deeds which he did
will not be remembered; and I will seek his blood from your hands. If you will
admonish the righteous so that the righteous do not sin, and he does not sin,
then he will live, because he was enlightened, and you saved your soul ”(Ezek.
3: 17-21). Obeying God, the prophet Ezekiel with all severity denounced the
addiction of the Israelites to pagan customs, their hypocrisy and disobedience.
However, so that they would not be completely discouraged, Ezekiel also
predicted the end of captivity and the restoration of the temple and Jerusalem.
Although Ezekiel lived far from Judea, with his prophetic spirit he was
transported to Jerusalem (see Ezek. 8: 1-3) and saw from Mesopotamia all the
details of the siege of Jerusalem: “And you, son of man, take a brick for
yourself and lay it before you , and draw the city of Jerusalem on it; and make
a siege against him, and make fortification against him, and fill up the
rampart around him, and set up the camp against him, and set up whaling
machines around him; and take for yourself an iron board, and put it like an
iron wall between you and the city, and turn your face on him, and he will be
besieged, and you besiege him. This will be a sign to the house of Israel. You
lie on your left side and lay the lawlessness of the house of Israel on it:
according to the number of days that you will lie on it, you will bear their
iniquity. And I determined to you the years of lawlessness by their number of
days: three hundred and ninety days you will be to bring the iniquity of the
house of Israel. And when you do this, then lie down again on your right side,
and for forty days bear the iniquity of the house of Judah, day after year, day
after year I have determined for you. And turn your face and your naked right
hand to the siege of Jerusalem, and prophesy against it. Behold, I have laid
the bonds on you, and you will not turn from one side to another until you
complete the days of your siege. Take for yourself wheat and barley, and beans,
and lentils, and millet, and spelled, and pour them into one vessel, and make
yourself bread out of them, according to the number of days on which you will
lie on your side; three hundred and ninety days you will eat them. And your
food, which you will eat, eat twenty shekels a day; eat it from time to time.
And drink the water by measure, drink the sixth part of the gin; drink from
time to time like that. And you eat like barley cakes, and their staves at
their eyes on human feces. And the Lord said: Thus the children of Israel will
eat their unclean bread among those nations to whom I will cast them out. Then
I said: oh Lord God! my soul was never defiled, and until now I have not eaten
carrion and torn by a beast from my youth; and no unclean meat entered my
mouth. And He said to me: behold, I allow you, instead of human feces, cow
droppings, and prepare your bread on it. And he said to me: Son of man! behold,
I will crush the bread support in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread with
weight and sorrow, and they will drink water in measure and in despondency,
because they will have a shortage of bread and water; and they will look at
each other with horror, and will wither away in their iniquity ”(Ezek. 4:
1-17), the capture of King Zedekiah, the destruction of the city and the
temple. The prophet conveyed his visions to Israelis who were interested in the
fate of their country. The prophet had a wife who died in the 4th year of his
prophetic ministry, as a prophetic symbol of the misery of the Jews, which was
revealed to Ezekiel on the eve of her death (see Ezek. 24: 15-24). According to
legend, Ezekiel was the “judge” of the captives, that is, their spiritual
leader. Once he saved a group of prisoners from robbers, and during a crop
failure with his prayer he multiplied food. For exposing the elders of Israel
in idolatry, the prophet Ezekiel suffered martyrdom. The language and
presentation of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel is distinguished by an
abundance of symbolic visions, actions, parables and allegories. In this Book
of Ezekiel, one can only compare with the Revelation of John the Theologian.
The vision of the glory of the Lord described in his first three chapters books,
so unusual that it’s hard to imagine it. In general, the imagery and symbolism
of the prophet’s speech make his book difficult to understand, which even such
a Bible scholar and Hebrew scholar complained as blessed Jerome. In the book of
the prophet Ezekiel, even his own special names are found: God -
“Adonai-Sabaoth”, i.e. “Lord of the armies of heaven”, “Saddai” - “Almighty”;
the people are "Israel", which means "fighting with God."
Often the prophet calls himself the "son of man" in the sense of his
humble and humiliated position as a prophet of a captive people. The vision of
Ezekiel is significant, in which the Angel of God made a special mark on the
foreheads of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "grieving and sighing about all
the abominations committed in this city." These people, marked by the
Angel, avoided the fate of the rest of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were
put to death during the capture of the city by the enemy. According to the vision,
the punishment of the wicked was to begin with the servants at the sanctuary
(see Ezek. 9: 1-7). This vision of the prophet Ezekiel is very similar to the
vision of the Evangelist John the Theologian (see Rev. 7: 1-4) and says that
the grace of God, as a kind of seal, distinguishes and protects people who love
God from the common fate of the wicked. According to the prediction of Ezekiel,
believers of the coming Kingdom of the Messiah will not only externally fulfill
God's commandments, as the best of the Old Testament Jews did, but will be
completely different people in their spiritual content: “I will give them one
heart, and I will put a new spirit in them, and I will take their heart of
stone from the flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh, that they go
according to my commandments, and keep my ordinances, and do them; and they
will be My people, and I will be their God ... And I will give you a new heart,
and a new spirit I will give you; and I will take a heart of stone out of your
flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put My spirit within you
and do what you walk in My commandments, and you will observe and execute My
statutes ”(Ezek. 11: 19-20,36: 26-27).
The content of the book of the prophet Ezekiel:
the vision of the glory of the Lord and the calling of
Ezekiel to prophetic ministry (Ezek. 1-3 ch.);
thirteen accusatory speeches against the Jews and symbolic
acts depicting the fall of Jerusalem (Ezek. 4-24 gl.);
denunciations against pagans - Jewish neighbors (Ezek. 25
ch.);
the inhabitants of Tire (Ezek. 26-28 gl.);
verses 13-19 28 of the chapter relate to the devil, the
personification of which was the king of Tire (Ezek. 28: 13-19);
prophecies about the Egyptians (Ezek. 29-32 ch.);
after the fall of Jerusalem, the new responsibilities of the
prophet are to console and strengthen (Ezekiel 33 ch.);
The Lord is the shepherd of reborn Israel (Ezek. 34 chap.);
the punishment of the Edomites (Ezek. 35 ch.);
the rebirth of Israel (Ezek. 36 ch.);
the revitalization of dry bones - a prophecy about the
resurrection of the dead (Ezek. 37 gl.);
apocalyptic prophecies about the enemies of the Church and
the extermination of the hordes of Gog (Ezek. 38-39);
about the new eternal Kingdom of God and the new temple
(Ezek. 40-48; see Rev. 21 ch.).
The prophecies of the last 14 chapters of the book of
Ezekiel relating to the last times have common features with the mysterious
visions of the prophet Daniel and the Apocalypse of the Evangelist John the
Theologian. They have yet to be fulfilled. These visions should be interpreted
carefully, given that they contain a lot of symbolism.
Book of the prophet daniel
The Prophet Daniel was a noble, perhaps even royal family.
In the 4th year of the reign of Joachim, during the first conquest of Jerusalem
by Nebuchadnezzar (in 606 BC), young Daniel fell into captivity in Babylon.
With other noble youths, Daniel was assigned to a school to prepare for service
at the royal court. Daniel was then from 14 to 17 years old. At school, his
three friends studied with him: Ananias, Azariah, and Misail. For several years
they had to study the local language and various Chaldean sciences. Upon
receipt of these Jewish students, they were renamed Belshazzar, Shadrach,
Avdenago, and Misach. However, with the adoption of pagan names, the young men
did not change the faith of their fathers. Fearing to be polluted by pagan
food, they begged their pagan teacher to give them food not from the royal
table, sprinkled with idolatry blood, but simple vegetable. The teacher
conditionally agreed and for ten days fed the young men with plant foods. At
the end of the trial period, these young men were healthier than others who ate
from the royal table. Since then, they have been allowed to continue to eat
plant foods. The Lord rewarded pious youths with successes in the sciences, and
the king of Babylon on trial found that they were wiser than his Babylonian
magi. After finishing classes, Daniel with three friends was assigned to the
service at the royal court and remained in the rank of court dignitary all the
time the reign of Nebuchadnezzar and his five successors. After the conquest of
Babylon, he became an adviser to the kings of Darius of Media and Cyrus of
Persia (see Dan.6: 28). God gave Daniel the ability to understand visions and
dreams, which he showed by explaining the two dreams to Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2
and Dan. 4 chap.). In the first dream, Nebuchadnezzar saw a huge and terrible
idol, which was broken by a stone torn off the mountain. Daniel explained to
the king that the idol symbolized four pagan kingdoms, which were to replace
each other, starting from Babylon and ending with Rome. The stone that crushed
the idol symbolized the Messiah, and the mountain - His eternal kingdom. Daniel
explains: You, king, had this vision: “behold, some great idol; This idol was
huge, in extreme brilliance he stood before you, and his appearance was
terrible. This head had a head of pure gold, his chest and his hands were of
silver, his belly and his hips were copper, his lower legs were iron, his legs
partly iron, partly clay. You saw him, until the stone came off the mountain
without the help of his hands, struck the idol, his iron and clay feet, and
broke them. Then everything was crushed together: iron, clay, copper, silver
and gold became like dust on the summer barn, and the wind blew them away, and
there was no trace of them; and the stone that broke the idol became a great
mountain and filled the whole earth. What a dream! Let us say before the king
and his significance. You, the king, the king of kings, to whom God of heaven
has granted kingdom, power, power and glory, and all the sons of men, wherever
they live, the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air, He has placed in
your hands and placed you sovereign over all of them. You are the golden head!
After you, another kingdom will arise, below yours, and another third kingdom,
copper, which will rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom will be as
strong as iron; for just as iron breaks and crushes everything, so it, like an
all-crushing iron, will crush and crush. And what you saw feet and toes partly
from pottery clay, and part from iron, then the kingdom will be divided, and
there will remain several iron fortresses, since you saw iron mixed with
pottery clay. And just as the toes were partly of iron and partly of clay, so
the kingdom will be partly strong, partly fragile. And what did you see iron
mixed with pottery clay, it means that they mix through the human seed, but do
not merge with one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the
days of those kingdoms the God of heaven will erect a kingdom that is not
forever it will be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be transferred to
another people; it will crush and destroy all kingdoms, and it will stand
forever, since you saw that the stone was not torn away from the mountain with
your hands and crushed iron, copper, clay, silver and gold. The great God let
the king know what would happen after this. And this dream is true, and its
interpretation is exactly! ”(Dan. 2: 31-45). This dream was a prophetic vision
of the Church. Indeed, the Christian faith that arose in the Roman Empire
filled the whole world and will exist until the end of the world, and there is
no trace of the former great pagan powers. The third chapter of the book of
Daniel tells about the feat of his three friends who refused to bow to the
golden idol, for which they were thrown into a red-hot furnace. But the angel
of God kept them unharmed in the fire. The prayer of thanks of the “three
youths” serves as the theme for the Hirmos 8 and 9 songs of the Matins of
Matins. Nothing is known about the activities of the prophet Daniel during the
seven years of the reign of the three successors of Nebuchadnezzar
(Evil-Meredach, Neriglisor and Lavosoardah). Lavosoardah's killer, Nabonidus,
made his son Belshazzar his co-ruler. In the first year of Belshazzar, Daniel
had a vision of the four kingdoms, which turned into a vision of heaven and God
in the form of the “Ancient of Days” and “Son of Man”, i.e. who had the incarnation
of the Son of God (Dan. 7 Ch.). As we know from the Gospels, the Savior often
called himself the Son of Man, reminding these Jews of the prophecy of Daniel.
At the court of the Sanhedrin, when the high priest asked Christ whether He was
the promised Messiah, the Lord directly pointed to this vision of Daniel and
reminded of the heavenly glory of the Son of Man (see Dan. 7 chap.; Matthew
26:64). The vision of the prophet Daniel in its main part dates back to the end
of the world and the Last Judgment, although some touches of it predict the
persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes in the 3rd century BC and the persecution of
the Church in the time of the Antichrist. The following vision, recorded in the
third year of the reign of Belshazzar, about two monarchies under the image of
a ram and a goat also refers to the end of the world. These visions have
similarities with the visions of the Evangelist John the Theologian recorded in
his book of Revelation (Dan. 7-8 chap.; Rev. 11-12 and Rev. 17 ch.). Babylon was
taken by the Medes king Darius in the 17th year of the reign of Belshazzar (539
BC). During the conquest of the city, Belshazzar died, as was predicted by a
mysterious hand writing on the wall: “mene, mene, flowed, uparsin ... you are
weighed on the scales and found very light ... your kingdom is divided and
given to the Medes and Persians” ( Dan. 5:25, 27, 28). This inscription to
Belshazzar was deciphered by the prophet Daniel. As we already mentioned, the
fall of Babylon was foretold by the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah (Isa. 13-14
and Isa. 21 ch., Jer. 50-51 ch.). In the Book of Revelation, Babylon
personifies the kingdom of world evil (Rev. 16-18 and Rev. 21 gl.). Under
Darius of India, Daniel was one of the three major nobles of the kingdom of Media.
Of the envy of the pagan nobles slandered Daniel before Darius and, by cunning,
ensured that Daniel was thrown into the moat to the lions. But God kept his
prophet unscathed (Dan. 6 Ch.). Daniel later received a revelation of seventy
weeks (70x7 = 490 years), which indicates the time of the coming of the
Messiah. In the reign of Cyrus, Daniel remained in the same court rank. Not
without his participation Cyrus issued a decree in 536 on the release of Jews
from captivity. According to legend, the prophet Daniel showed Cyrus the
prophecy of Isaiah about him (see Isa. 44: 28,45: 13). Struck by this prophecy,
the king recognized Jehovah's authority over himself and ordered the Jews to
build a temple in Jerusalem in honor of Him (1 Ezra. 1 Ch.). At the same time,
Daniel was miraculously saved a second time from the lions for the killing of a
dragon, which was worshiped by the Gentiles (Dan. 14 Ch.). In the third year of
Cyrus’s reign in Babylon, Daniel was rewarded with the revelation of the future
fate of the people of God in connection with the history of pagan states (Dan.
10-12 chap.). Predictions about the persecution of faith at the same time
relate to the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes and the Antichrist. Here are
two excerpts from the apocalyptic prophecies of Daniel: “And Michael will rise
at that time”, “the great prince standing for the sons of your people; and a
difficult time will come, which has not happened since people exist, until this
time; but at that time all that are found will be recorded in the book from
your people. And many of those sleeping in the dust of the earth will awaken,
some for eternal life, others for eternal reproach and shame. And the rational
ones will shine like the lights in the firmament, and those who turn many to
the truth - like stars, forever and ever ”(Dan. 12: 1-3, cf. Matt. 13:43).
“These words have been hidden and sealed until recently. Many will be cleansed,
whitewashed, and melted down in temptation, but the wicked will do wickedly,
and none of the wicked will understand this, but the wise will understand
”(Dan. 12: 9-10). In the three and a half years during which the persecution of
believers will intensify, some see an indication of the duration of the reign
of Antichrist. However, apocalyptic terms can have symbolic meaning. Little is
known about the subsequent fate of the prophet Daniel. Daniel died in old age,
about 90 years, probably in Susa (Ekbatany). The book of the prophet Daniel
consists of 14 chapters. The first six chapters of the book make up its historical
part. They indicate how, during captivity, the glory of God spread among Jews
and Gentiles. Chapters 7-12 are prophetic, containing visions about the future
fate of pagan peoples, among whom Jews lived, and about the fate of the Kingdom
of God - the Church. The authenticity of the book of the prophet Daniel is
contested by some modern biblical critics. However, for us believers,
sufficient evidence of the authenticity of the Book of Daniel is that the Lord
Jesus Christ himself twice referred to the prophecies contained in it. The
remarkable thing is that Daniel accurately predicted the time of the coming of
Christ and the beginning of the New Testament. This prophecy of the “weeks” is
unpleasant for those Jews who do not recognize Christ and are waiting for a new
“messiah”.
Book of the Prophet Haggai
The Prophet Haggai prophesied in Judea during the time of
the Persian king Darius I of Histapes (522–486 BC). At that time, many Jews,
led by Zerubbabel, returned from Babylonian captivity to Judea. The high priest
was then someone named Jesus. In the second year after returning from
captivity, the Jews began to build a temple in Jerusalem on the site of the
destroyed Solomon’s temple. But due to the intrigues of the Samaritans and
other ill-wishers, the construction was suspended for 15 years, until King
Darius ordered the construction to begin again. The people were poor.
Meanwhile, he had such an idea that the second temple with its splendor should
not concede to Solomon’s temple, destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Therefore, some
began to assure that it was not yet time to build a new temple. All this cooled
the zeal of the builders. To encourage the people, Haggai was sent to finish
the construction of the second temple by God. His prophetic ministry lasted about
a year. The Prophet Haggai in the following words urged the Jews to continue
the construction of the temple: “You sow a lot, but collect a little; eat, but
not full; drink, but do not get drunk; dress, not warm; earning pay earns for a
leaky wallet. Thus says the LORD of hosts: turn your heart in your way. Go up
the mountain and carry a tree, and build a temple; and I will favor him, and I
will be glorified, saith the Lord. Expect a lot, but little comes out; and
whatever you bring home, I will dispel. - For what? saith the Lord of hosts:
for My house, which is desolate, while you flee, each to his own house.
Therefore, heaven has concluded and does not give you dew, and the earth does
not give its products ”(Hag. 1: 6-10).
The chapter “Old Testament of the Messiah” contains the
promise of Haggai that the Messiah will come to this new temple. Through his
visit to the new temple, the Messiah will bring him glory greater in comparison
with the glory of the first temple, richly decorated (see Hag. 2: 5-9). The
book of the prophet Haggai has two chapters, in which are written four speeches
of Haggai, aimed at compelling the construction of the temple.
Book of Zechariah
The prophet Zechariah is called the sickle because of the
scroll he saw curved in the shape of a sickle (see Zech. 5: 1-4). Zacharias
came from a priestly family and was the son of Barachiah and the grandson of
Addai. He was called to prophetic ministry at an early age and began his
ministry in the second year of Darius I (520 BC), being a contemporary of the
prophet Haggai. Zacharias, like Haggai, encouraged the people to complete the
construction of the temple. He finished his prophetic book after the
consecration of the temple in 516 BC The book of the prophet Zechariah is
distinguished, like the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, by the abundance of
symbolic visions and, moreover, by detailed predictions about the last days of
the Savior's life and about such particulars of His life that cannot be found
in any of the prophets, for example: about the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem on a
donkey , about His betrayal for 30 pieces of silver, about the perforation of
His rib on the cross, about the flight of the apostles from the Garden of
Gethsemane. Through the mouth of Zechariah, God called the Jews to sincere
piety, saying: “Turn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will turn to you,
says the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 1: 3). “These are the things you must do: speak
the truth to one another; in truth and peace, judge at your gates. None of you
think evil in your heart against your neighbor, and do not love a false oath,
for I hate all this, says the Lord ”(Zech. 8: 16-17).
The content of the Book of Zechariah:
a call to repentance (Zech. 1: 1-6);
a vision of an angel among myrtle (Zech. 1: 7-17);
the vision of the four horsemen (Zech. 1: 18-21);
vision of an angel with a surveyor rope (Zech. 2 ch.);
the vision of the High Priest Jesus as the Messiah (Zech. 3
ch.);
vision of a golden lamp (Zech. 4 ch.);
the vision of a flying scroll and an ephah (Zech. 5 ch.);
the vision of the four chariots and the Messiah in the image
of the High Priest (Zech. 6 ch.);
Zechariah's prophetic speeches about the New Testament times
(Zech. 7-8 gl.);
messianic predictions (Zech. 9-11);
about the blessed gifts given to believers (Zech. 12 ch.);
prophecies about the Messiah and the atonement of Jerusalem
(Zech. 13-14 gl.).
Book of the Prophet Malachi
The prophet Malachi (in Hebrew - the "messenger")
was a junior employee of Ezra and Nehemiah and came from the tribe of Zavulonov.
As the last of the Old Testament prophets, it is called the "seal of the
prophets." He prophesied 475 years before the coming of Christ. It can be
seen from the Book of the Prophet Malachi that in his time the temple was
already restored and services were performed in it, but often not as reverently
as it should. The prophet convicts the priests of negligence, telling them in
the name of God: “The son honors the father and the slave - his master; if I am
the Father, then where is the reverence for me? And if I am the Lord, then
where is reverence for me? ”(Mal. 1: 6). In New Testament times, Jewish priests
will be replaced by people reverent to God: “The Son honors the father and the
slave, his master; if I am a father, then where is the respect for Me? and if I
am the Lord, then where is reverence for me? saith the LORD of hosts to you,
priests who glorify my name. You say: “by which do we dishonor your name?” You
bring My unclean bread to the altar, and say: “by which we dishonor you?” -
That you say: “the Lord’s meal is not worth respect”. And when you sacrifice
the blind, is it not evil? or when you bring the lame and the sick, is it not
bad? Bring it to your prince; will he be pleased with you and will he accept
you favorably? says the Lord of hosts. So pray to God to have mercy on us; and
when this comes from your hands, can He graciously receive you? says the Lord
of hosts. It would be better if any of you would lock the doors so that they
would not in vain keep fire on My altar. My favor is not with you, says the
Lord of hosts, and the offering from your hands is not pleasing to me. For from
the east of the sun to the west, my name will be great among the nations, and
in every place they will bring incense to my name, a pure sacrifice; My name
shall be great among the nations, saith the Lord of hosts ”(Mal. 1: 6-11).
Further, the prophet denounces the Jews for marrying foreigners, for improperly
making tithes, for sacrificing animals with vices, for outward soulless
rituals, for grumbling at God, as if He was slow in fulfilling His promises
regarding the coming of the Messiah. In the sin of idolatry, Malachi no longer
reproaches the Jews, because after all the calamities that befell them in
connection with the Babylonian captivity, they were completely cured of this
superstition. Malachi has a prediction about the prophet and forerunner John
the Baptist, who must come to prepare people for the acceptance of Christ:
“Behold, I send my angel, and he will prepare the way before me, and suddenly
the Lord whom you seek and the angel will come to his temple the covenant you
desire; behold, he comes, says the Lord of hosts ”(Mal. 3: 1; see Mark 1: 2-4;
Matt. 11: 14,17: 12). The following prophecy of Malachi, similar to the first,
speaks of the forerunner of Christ and, obviously, refers to His second coming:
“Behold, I will send Elijah the prophet before you before the great and
terrible day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that when I come,
I will not strike the earth with a curse ”(Mal. 4: 5-6; cf. Rev. 11: 3-6).
The Book of Malachi
lack of reverence among the people (Mal. 1: 6-14);
and among priests (Mal. 2: 1-9);
cruelty and departure from God (Mal. 2: 10-16);
neglect of God's promises and commandments (Mal. 2: 17-3:
6);
failure to pay tithes (Mal. 3: 7-12);
the judgment of God (Mal. 3: 13-4: 3);
last call to repentance (Mal. 4: 4-6).
The list of the most important predictions and topics in the
prophetic books
About God: About the omnipotence and greatness of God -
Is.6: 1-4; Isa. 55: 8-11; Isa. 64: 1-3; Jer 10:12; Jer.16: 21; Ez. 1-2 ch.;
Dan.2: 20; Dan. 7: 9-11; Naum. 1: 3-7.
On the mercy of God - Isa. 55: 6; Isa. 54: 10; Isa. 64: 5;
Crying 3: 22-28; Mic. 7: 18-19.
On the justice of God - Isa. 1: 27-30; Isa. 30:18; Isa. 33:
1-5; Is. 59: 16-19; Jer. 9: 23-24; Ezek. 18: 20-24; Dan. 9: 7.
On the omniscience of God - Jer. 17: 9-10.
On the holiness of God - Is.6: 3; Is. 57:15; Os. 11: 9.
About the eternity of God - Isa. 43:10.
On the Kingdom of God: On the New Testament - Isa. 55: 3;
Is. 59: 20-21; Jer. 31: 31-34; Dan. 9: 24-27; see Acts 13:34.
On the calling of the Gentiles to the Church - Is. 2: 2;
Is.11: 1-10; Isa. 42: 1-12; Isa. 49: 6; Isa. 54: 12-14; Is. 65: 1-2; see Gal.
3: 8.13-14.4: 27.
On the internal renewal - Is.44: 3; Zakh.12: 10-13,14: 5-9;
Isa. 35: 1-7; Isa. 55: 1; Isa. 55: 10-11; Is. 12: 3-5; Joel 2: 28-32.
One heart and a new spirit - Ezek.11: 19-20; Ezek. 36: 26.
On the Kingdom of God in the image of the mountain of God -
Isa. 2: 2-3; Is.11: 1-10; see Rom. 15:12; Dan. 2:34; Joel 3:17; Avd. 1:17;
Zach. 8: 3.
About Virtues: About reverence for God - Mal. 4: 2; Mal. 3:
16-18.
About faith - Hab. 2: 4.
On the hope of God - Isa. 8: 9-14; Isa. 25-27 ch .; Isa. 26:
2-12; Isa. 30: 7; Isa. 30:15; Isa. 40: 29-31; Isa. 51: 7-8; Isa. 51: 12-14;
Isa. 54: 10; Jer. 9: 23-24; Jer. 15: 20-21; Jer. 17: 7-8; Ezek. 34: 14-16;
Mic.7: 7-19; Hab. 3: 17-19.
On the knowledge of God - Is. 2: 2-3; Is. 11: 1-10; Is.
54:13; Jer. 9: 23-24; Jer. 31: 31-34; Os. 6: 3.
On Humility - Isa. 57: 15-16; Is.66: 1-2; Mic.6: 8.
On the quest for virtue - Isa. 1:17; Isa. 33: 14-16; Isa.
55: 6-7; Var. 4: 4; Zah.7: 9-10; Zech. 8: 16-17.
On Justice - Is. 1:27; Mic. 6: 8.
On mercy - Is. 1:17; Is. 58: 2-12; Os. 6: 6.
A Call to Repentance: Revelatory Speech - Is. 1: 3-6; Is. 3:
9-11; Is. 5: 20-23; Is. 10: 1-2; Is. 19:13; Is. 30: 1; Is. 42: 18-20; Is. 45:
9-10; Is. 57: 20-21; Is. 59: 1-4; Jer. 2:13; Jer. 5: 1-5; Jer. 7 chap .; Jer.
8: 9-11; Jer. 9: 8; Jer. 15: 1-2; Jer. 17: 1; Jer. 17: 5; Jer. 22: 13-17; Jer.
44: 4-6; Jer. 48:10; Mic. 7: 1-6; Soph. 3: 1-5; Mal 1: 6.
A call to repentance - Is. 1: 16-20; Is. 64: 6-9; Jer. 8:
4-5; Ezek. 18: 30-32; Os. 6: 1-3; Joel 2: 11-17; Zah. 1: 3-4; Mal 1: 9.
About the last times: About spiritual hunger - Am. 8:11 a.m.
About false prophets - Is. 9:15; Jer. 14: 14-16; Jer. 23:
15-17; Jer. 23: 26-28; Ezek. 13: 3-16; Ezek. 14: 9-11; Sof 3: 4; Mic. 3: 5-7.
About the good shepherds - Jer. 3:15.
About unsuitable shepherds - Is. 56: 10-11; Jer. 10:21; Jer.
23: 1-6; Ezek. 34: 1-6; Zah. 11: 16-17.
About Antichrist - Is. 14: 4-20; Ezek. 28: 13-19; Dan. 11:
35-40; Dan. 12: 9-13.
On the Judgment of the Nations - Is. 2: 10-21; Is. 13: 6-15;
Is. 24: 4-23; Is. 63: 1-6; Is. 66: 15-16; Jer. 46:10; Jer. 50: 31-32; Ezek. 9:
4-8; see Rev. 7: 3; Ezek. 30: 2-3; Ezek. 38: 20-23; Dan. 7: 9-12; see Rev. 4:
2; Revelation 5:11; Revelation 20:12; Joel 2: 1-10; Joel 3: 2-17; Am 5: 18-20;
Soph. 1: 14-18; Soph. 3: 8-9; Nahum 1: 3-7; Avd. 1:15; Mal 4: 5; see Rev. 11:
3-6.
On the destruction of evil and suffering - Chis. 24:17; Is.
11: 1-10.
On eternal joy - Is. 42: 1-12; Is. 54: 12-14; Is. 60: 1-5;
Is. 61: 1-4.
About the resurrection of the flesh of Job. 19:25 and the
destruction of death - Isa. 26 chap .; Is. 42: 1-12; Isa. 61: 1-4; Zah. 9:
9-11; Os. 13:14.
On the triumph of truth and justice - Is. 9: 6-7; Is.11:
1-10; Is. 26 ch .; Jer. 23: 5.
On the glory of the triumphant Church - Isa. 26-27 gl .; Is.
52: 1-2; Is. 60: 1-5; Is. 61: 10-11; Is. 62: 1-5.
On the renewal of the world - Is. 4: 2-6; Is. 11: 1-10; Is.
44: 22-24; Is. 49: 13-15; Is. 52: 1-9; Is. 60: 1-21; Is. 61:10; Is. 62: 11-12;
Is. 65: 17-20; Is. 65:25; Is. 66: 22-24; Jer. 32: 39-41; Jer. 33: 6-9; Jer. 33:
15-16; Var. 5: 9; Dan. 12: 1-3; Os. 3: 4-5; Os.13: 14; Hab. 2:14; Sof 3: 9;
Zah. 8: 3.
Final review of the content and meaning of the prophetic
books
With the moral coarseness of the people of the Old Testament
time and the absence of spiritual mentors, the prophets faced the difficult
task of teaching people to believe in God, to refrain from vices and lead a
righteous life. Naturally, therefore, reproaching prevails in the speeches of
the prophets. To stir up the conscience of the audience, these denunciations sometimes
took a very persistent and even harsh tone, which in the eyes of the modern
reader gives the prophetic books a certain severity. In the figurative
comparison of the Savior, the ancient prophets were the first to dig up the
soil of cruel human hearts, preparing it for the subsequent acceptance of the
seeds of the apostolic sermon (see John 4: 37-38). If a preacher or writer
these days would have used epithets at the address of the Jews, similar to
those that prophesied the prophetic books, then he would certainly have been
accused of extreme anti-Semitism. True, the prophets spoke of the glory of
Israel, the chosenness of the people of God and the defeat of the Gentiles. One
cannot see chauvinism in these expressions. In the understanding of the prophets
“Israel”, “Zion”, “chosen people” and similar names are not national, but
spiritual concepts. In other words, the prophets used these names as symbols of
the kingdom of God, into which many nations should join. Of course, the Jews
were the first to be called into this Kingdom, but the prophets foresaw the
fall of the majority of Jews and the call of pagan peoples to the Church (see
the index above for a list of predictions about the calling of the Gentiles to
the Kingdom of God). Incidentally, in the same spiritual sense, our Church also
uses the names "Zion", "Jerusalem", "Israel" in
worship, as synonyms for the word "Church". In New Testament times,
the prophets' predictions about the calling of pagan peoples to faith inspired
the apostles to boldly preach among the Gentiles. So, for example, the apostle
Paul wrote: “I, the least of all saints, have been given this grace — to preach
to the Gentiles the unexplored riches of Christ” (Eph. 3: 8). As the spiritual
leaders of their people, the prophets often acted as the sole intercessors of
all the weak and offended in their people. At the same time, they had to
mercilessly expose the venality of judges, the greed and cruelty of the
princes, the negligence and hypocrisy of priests, and the deceit of self-styled
prophets. For their truthful word, the prophets were constantly subjected to
severe persecution. Few of them died natural death. However, ordinary people
appreciated them, loved them and followed their instructions. During the years
of great tribulations and national upheavals, the prophets were the only
comforters of the mourners. The prophets revealed the great qualities of the
One God: His omnipotence, omniscience, justice to the unrepentant and infinite
mercy to the humble. In their prophecies, they showed people the
incomprehensible ways of the Providence of God, with which He directed to the
good fate of all mankind. They also spoke of the approaching New Testament
times, of spiritual renewal, and of the ultimate triumph of truth and justice.
Here, the focus of their prophetic gaze has always been the coming Messiah
Savior. The prophets primarily proclaimed Him and His work (see the chapter
“The Old Testament of the Messiah”). Calling for virtue, the prophets taught
people to sincerely believe in God and it is not hypocritical to serve Him, to
acknowledge their sinfulness and repent of it, to be meek, fair and merciful to
those in need. God revealed to His chosen ones the events of both the near and
distant future - and not only in the life of their people, but also in the life
of neighboring peoples and all of humanity. Their predictions have always
accurately come true, which confirms their chosenness and divine inspiration.
At the same time, the prophets certainly clarified the moral cause of events:
all good and evil does not happen by chance. Good is sent as a reward for
virtue, suffering - as a punishment for sin, but not as revenge, but in order
to reason and correct sinners. Only morally does it become clear why the
prophecies of the prophets often combine elements of different eras. For
example, Ancient Babylon combines with the kingdom of evil of the last times;
the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes are combined with the persecutions of
Antichrist; hordes of hostile ancient pagan peoples - with persecutors of the
Church on its historical path; the trial of the peoples of the Old Testament
time - with the trial of the universe; spiritual renewal in of the New
Testament Church and the complete renewal of the world after universal
resurrection. These parallel events in the life of mankind are spiritually
related and therefore are sketched by the prophets in one prophetic picture. A
believer, knowing which elements of a particular prophetic vision has already
been fulfilled, can better understand what else needs to be fulfilled. There is
no doubt that the Revelation of St. John the Evangelist speaks of the latest
events of the world, using the images gleaned from the Old Testament prophetic
books.
Thus, acquaintance with the Old Testament prophetic books
helps a Christian understand the essence of modern religious and moral
processes and see where they lead. At the same time, prophetic books should be
read with a prayer mood and humility, remembering that “knowing first of all
that no prophecy in Scripture can be resolved by itself. For the prophecy was
never uttered according to the will of man, but the holy men of God spoke it,
being moved by the Holy Spirit ”(2 Pet. 1: 20-21).
Old Testament of the Messiah
Foreword
The central theme of the Old Testament holy books is the
coming of the Messiah and the establishment of the Kingdom of God among people.
We have compiled the most important Old Testament predictions about the
Messiah, the Savior of the world, in order to reveal their content and show how
they were fulfilled on the Lord Jesus Christ and on the New Testament Church.
Despite its deep antiquity, the Old Testament prophecies have not lost their
relevance. They help a believer to deeper and more fully understand their
faith. To unbelievers, they serve as evidence of the existence of God and His
participation in human life. The fact that the prophets for many thousands and
hundreds of years could accurately and with such details predict the events of
the future testifies to the fact that God spoke through them. To the Jews who
recognize God and seek the truth, we hope this chapter will help to more
clearly understand the Scriptures of their glorious ancestors and see who,
according to the prophets, is their long-awaited King and Savior. In addition,
the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies on the Lord Jesus Christ, as we
will see, excludes the possibility of another messiah. The true Messiah can be
only one. He has already come. All other applicants for this title in the past
and in the future are impostors, deceivers, "wolves in sheep's
clothing." The last false messiah that will come before the end of the
world will be the Antichrist. According to the predictions of the ancient
prophets and apostles, many people will believe in him, as in the brilliant
leader and "savior" of mankind. But he will bring the world only
grief and ruin.
Review of Messianic Prophecies
The Old Testament books, as we will see later, are full of
prophecies about the Messiah and about His gracious Kingdom. The purpose of the
Old Testament prophecies was to prepare the Jews, and through them all of
humanity, for the coming of the Savior of the world, so that when He comes, He
could be recognized and believed in Him. However, the task of the prophets was
difficult for several reasons. Firstly, the Messiah was to be not only a great
man, but at the same time God or the God-man. Therefore, the prophets had the
task of revealing the Divine nature of the Messiah, but in such a way as not to
give rise to polytheism, to which the ancients were so inclined, including
Jews. Secondly, the prophets had to show that the work of the Messiah would
consist not only in the external improvement of living conditions: in the
elimination of disease, death, poverty, social inequality, crime, and so on.
But the purpose of his coming into the world is, first of all, to help people
get rid of inner evil - sin and passions - and show the way to God. Indeed,
physical evil is only the result of moral evil - sinful corruption. Therefore,
the Messiah was to begin the work of saving people by destroying evil in its
very root - in the soul of man. Without this, no external, artificial and
forced changes in living conditions could bring humanity happiness. But
spiritual rebirth is impossible without the voluntary and active participation
of man himself. Hence the whole difficulty of the work of the Messiah: it is
necessary to save a person with the voluntary participation of the person
himself! But since a person is given freedom of choice between good and evil,
it turns out that universal happiness unrealizable while the righteous and
sinners are together. In the end, there must be a selection between the one and
the other. Only after God's intervention in the destinies of mankind, the
Universal Judgment and selection, can a spiritually regenerated new life begin,
in which joy, peace, immortality and other blessings will prevail. The Old
Testament prophecies cover all aspects of this long, complex spiritual and
physical process associated with the coming of the Messiah. Of course, not
every person of the Old Testament time could rise to a clear understanding of
the purpose of the coming of the Messiah. Therefore, God through the prophets
revealed to people the Person of the Messiah and the structure of His Kingdom
gradually, as people, using the spiritual experience of previous generations,
reached a higher spiritual level. The period of messianic prophecies spans many
millennia - from the ancestors of Adam and Eve, and extending to the times
close to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ at the beginning of our era. In
the Old Testament books, one can count several hundred prophecies about the
Messiah and about His gracious Kingdom. They are scattered throughout almost
all the books of the Old Testament, from the Pentateuch of Moses to the later
prophets Zechariah and Malachi. Most wrote about the Messiah: King David, the
prophets Moses, Isaiah, Daniel and Zechariah. We will dwell only on the most
important prophecies and simultaneously emphasize those main thoughts that are
affected in them. Citing these prophecies, mainly in chronological order, we
will see how they gradually revealed to the Jews more and more new information
about the coming Messiah: about His divine-human nature, about His character
and mode of action, about many details of His life. Sometimes messianic
prophecies contain symbols and allegories. We will talk about them in our
review of the prophecies. Often the prophets in their prophetic visions compare
in one picture events that have been separated from each other for many
centuries and even millennia. The reader of the scriptures of the prophets
should get used to looking at events in such a multifaceted perspective, which
simultaneously shows the beginning, middle and end of a long and complex spiritual
process. Word “Messiah” is Jewish and means “anointed one”, i.e. anointed with
the Holy Spirit. Translated into Greek, it is spelled "Christ." In
ancient times, kings, prophets, and high priests were called anointed, since
during the initiation of these positions, sacred oil was poured on their heads,
a symbol of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which they received for the
successful fulfillment of the ministry entrusted to them. As a proper name, the
word “Messiah” has always been referred by the prophets to the special Anointed
of God, the Savior of the world. We will use the names Messiah, Christ, and
Savior alternately, referring to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Most Ancient Prophecies of the Messiah in the Pentateuch
of Moses
The Prophet Moses, who lived about 1,500 BC, recorded in his
books the most ancient prophecies about the Savior of the world, which, in
addition to books, have been stored in the oral traditions of the Jews for many
millennia. The first prediction about the Messiah was heard by our first
parents, Adam and Eve, back in Eden, right after eating the forbidden fruit.
Then God said to the devil, who took the form of a serpent: “I will put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it will strike
you in the head ”(or it will erase your head),“ and you will bite it on the
heel ”(Genesis 3:15). With these words, the Lord condemned the devil, comforted
our ancestors with the promise that once the Descendant of the wife would hit
the very “head” of the serpent-devil, who seduced them. But at the same time,
the Descendant of the wife himself will suffer from the serpent, which would
“sting him at the heel”, that is, inflict physical suffering on him. It is also
remarkable in this first prophecy that the Messiah was called “the Seed of the
Wife,” which indicates His extraordinary birth from the Wife, who would
conceive the Messiah without the participation of her husband. The absence of a
physical father follows from the fact that in the Old Testament time the
descendants were always called by father, and not by mother. This prophecy
about the supernatural birth of the Messiah is confirmed by the later prophecy
of Isaiah (Isa. 7:14), which we will talk about. According to ancient
interpretations of the books of Moses, Jews always referred the prophecy about
the Seed of the Wife to the Messiah. This prophecy was fulfilled when the Lord
Jesus Christ, having suffered on the Cross with His flesh, struck the devil -
this “ancient serpent”, that is, took all power over man from him.
The second prophecy of the Messiah is also found in the book
of Genesis and speaks of a blessing that will extend from Him to all people. It
was said to righteous Abraham when he, with his willingness to sacrifice his
only son Isaac, showed extreme devotion and obedience to God. Then God through
the Angel promised Abraham: “And all the nations of the earth will be blessed
in your seed for obeying My voice” (Genesis 22:18). In the original text of
this prophecy, the word "Seed" is singular, indicating that this
promise is not about many, but about one specific Offspring from whom the
blessing will extend to all people. The Jews always attributed this prophecy to
the Messiah, understanding it, however, in the sense that the blessing should
extend mainly to the chosen people. In the sacrifice, Abraham represented God
the Father, and Isaac the Son of God, who was to suffer on the Cross. This
parallel is drawn in the Gospel, where it is said: “For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The importance of the prophecy of
the blessing of all nations in the Descendant of Abraham is evident from the
fact that God confirmed His promise with an oath.
The third prophecy about the Messiah was delivered by the
patriarch Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, when before his death he blessed his
12 sons and predicted the future fate of their descendants. He predicted to
Judas: “The scepter of Judah shall not fail, and the legislator of his loins,
until the Mediator comes, and unto him the obedience of the nations” (Gen.
49:10). According to the translation of seventy interpreters, this prophecy has
the following option: "Until He comes to whom is postponed"
(determined to come) "and He will be the aspiration of the nations."
The scepter is a symbol of power. The meaning of this prophecy is that the
descendants of Judah will have their own rulers and legislators until the
Messiah, here called the Conciliator, comes. The word “Reconciler” reveals a
new line in the characterization of His activity: He will eliminate the enmity
between people and God that arose as a result of sin.
Patriarch Jacob lived two thousand years BC The first leader
from the tribe of Judah was King David, a descendant of Judah, who lived a
thousand years before R.H. Starting with him, the tribe of Judah had its kings,
and then, after the Babylonian captivity, its leaders, until the time of Herod
the Great, who reigned in Judea in 47 BC. Herod was an Edomite by birth, and
with him the national leaders from the tribe of Judah completely lost their
civil power. The Lord Jesus Christ was born at the end of the reign of Herod.
Here it is appropriate to cite a legend located in Medrash, one of the oldest
parts of the Talmud, where it is said that the members of the Sanhedrin, when
they were deprived of the right of a criminal court, were forty years before
the destruction of the Temple (in 30 A.D.), sackcloth and tormenting their
hairs, shouted: “Woe to us, woe to us: the king has long been impoverished from
Judah, and the promised Messiah has not come yet!” Of course, they spoke out
because they did not recognize in Jesus Christ the Mediator that he had
predicted Patriarch Jacob. "
It should be said that, since for more than two thousand
years the tribe of Judah has lost all civil power, and the Jews themselves, as
a tribal unit, have long been mingling with other Jewish tribes (tribes), then
apply this prophecy of Jacob to new candidates for the Messianic the title is
completely impossible. The following prophecy about the Messiah in the form of
a star rising from the posterity of Jacob was delivered by the prophet Balaam,
a contemporary of the prophet Moses, 1500 years before R.H. The princes of Moab
invited the prophet Balaam to curse the Jewish people, who threatened to invade
their land. They hoped that the curse of the prophet would help them defeat the
Israelites. The prophet Balaam, looking from the mountain at the approaching
Jewish people, in a prophetic vision in the distance also saw the distant
Descendant of this people. In spiritual delight, instead of a curse, Balaam
exclaimed: “I see him, but now there is none; I see him, but not near. A star
rises from Jacob and a rod rises from Israel, and smites the princes of Moab
and crushes all the sons of Seth ”(Num. 24:17). The figurative names of the
Messiah with a star and a rod indicate His guiding and pastoral significance.
Balaam predicts the defeat of the princes of Moab and the descendants of Seth
in an allegorical sense, implying here the crushing of the forces of evil,
militia against the Kingdom of the Messiah. Thus, the present prophecy of
Balaam complements the more ancient prophecy about the defeat of the head of
the serpent (see Genesis 3:15). He will amaze both the "serpent" and
his servants. Balaam's prophecy about the Star from the tribe of Jacob laid the
foundation for the belief of both the Israelites and the Persians, from whom
the Gospel magi came that the coming of the Messiah would be preceded by the
appearance of a bright star in the sky. Such an unusually bright star, as we
know, indeed shone in heaven shortly before the birth of Christ. The last,
fifth, prophecy about the Messiah, which we find in the books of Moses, was
told by God to the prophet Moses himself, when the earthly life of this great
leader and legislator of the Jewish people came to its end. The Lord promised
Moses that He would once raise up another prophet to the Jewish people, similar
in meaning and spiritual strength, and that He (God) would speak through the
mouth of this Prophet. “I will raise up a Prophet from among their brothers,
such as you, and I will put My words in His mouth, and He will tell them
everything that I will command Him; but whoever does not listen to My words
that [the Prophet] will speak in My name, from that I will seek ”(Deut. 18:
18-19). An addendum made at the end of the Book of Deuteronomy by Ezra's
contemporaries 450 years BC shows that among the many prophets that the Jewish people
have abounded throughout their centuries-old history, there was no prophet like
Moses. Consequently, the Jewish people from the time of Moses expected to see
in the person of the Messiah the greatest prophet-legislator.
Summing up the prophecies recorded here by Moses, we see
that long before the formation of the Jewish nation, even in the patriarchal
time, the ancestors of the Jews knew many valuable and significant information
about the Messiah, namely that He would crush the devil and his servants, bring
blessings to all peoples; He will be the Conciliator, the Leader, and His
Kingdom will abide forever. This information was transferred from the Jews to
many pagan peoples - Indians, Persians, Chinese, then - to the Greeks. They
were transmitted in the form of legends and legends. True, over the centuries,
ideas about the Savior of the world among pagan peoples have dimmed, distorted,
but nevertheless the unity of the origin of these traditions is undoubted.
Prophecies of King David
After the death of the prophet Moses and the Jewish
occupation of the promised land, the prophecies about the Messiah are silent
for many centuries. A new series of prophecies about the Messiah arises during
the reign of David, a descendant of Abraham, James, and Judah, who ruled the
Jewish people a thousand years BC. These new prophecies reveal the royal and
divine dignity of Christ. The Lord promises David, through the mouth of the
prophet Nathan, to establish an eternal kingdom in the face of his descendant:
“I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Kings 7:13). This
prophecy of the eternal kingdom of the Messiah has a number of parallel
prophecies, which should be discussed in more detail. In order to understand
and appreciate the significance of these prophecies, it is necessary to at
least briefly familiarize yourself with the life of King David. After all, King
David, being anointed by the king and the prophet, represented the supreme King
and Prophet - Christ. David was the youngest son of a poor and large shepherd
Jesse. When the God-sent prophet Samuel entered the house of Jesse to anoint
for Israel, the prophet thought to anoint one of the eldest sons. But the Lord
revealed to the prophet that the youngest son, still quite a youth of David,
was chosen by Him for this high service. Then, obeying God, Samuel pours sacred
oil on the head of his youngest son, thereby anointing the kingdom. From now
on, David becomes the anointed of God, the messiah. But David did not
immediately begin the actual reign. He still has a long way to go through the
trials and unjust persecutions of the then ruling king Saul, who hated David.
The reason for this hatred was envy, since the lad David defeated the
invincible Philistine giant Goliath with a small stone and thereby gave victory
to the Jewish army. After that, the people said: "Saul defeated thousands,
and David - tens of thousands." (1 Sam. 18: 7). Only strong faith in the
God of the Intercessor helped David endure all those numerous the persecution
and danger to which he was subjected by Saul and his servants for almost
fifteen years. Often, wandering for months in a wild and impenetrable desert,
King David poured out his grief to God in inspired psalms. Over time, the
psalms of David became an indispensable part and decoration of both the Old
Testament and then the New Testament services. Reigning in Jerusalem after the
death of Saul, King David became the most eminent king ever to rule Israel. He
combined love for the people, justice, wisdom, courage and, most importantly,
strong faith in God. Before deciding any state issue, King David earnestly
prayed to God, asking for admonition. The Lord helped David in everything and
blessed his forty-year reign with great successes in both domestic and foreign
policy. But David did not escape the ordeals. The hardest grief for him was a
military uprising, led by his own son Absalom, who dreamed of becoming king
prematurely. In this case, David experienced the bitterness of ingratitude and
betrayal of many of his subjects. But, as before under Saul, faith and trust in
God helped David. Absalom died ingloriously, although David tried his best to
save him. He had mercy on the other rebels. The meaningless and insidious
rebellion of his enemies, David vividly portrayed in his messianic psalms.
Caring for the material well-being of his people, David attached great
importance to his spiritual life. Often, he led religious holidays, sacrificing
to God for the Jewish people and composing his inspired religious hymns -
psalms. Being a king and a prophet, and also to a certain extent a priest, King
David became a type (foreknowledge, example) of the greatest King, Prophet and
High Priest - Christ the Savior, descendant of David. The personal experience
of King David, as well as the poetic gift that he possessed, gave him the
opportunity in a whole series of psalms with unprecedented brightness and
liveliness so far to draw the personality and feat of the coming Messiah. Thus,
in his 2 psalm, King David predicts enmity and rebellion against the Messiah
from His enemies. This psalm is written as a conversation between three
persons: David, God the Father, and the Son of God, anointed by the Father to
the Kingdom. These are the main places of this psalm.
King David: “Why are the nations worried, and the tribes
plotting in vain? The kings of the earth appeared and the princes gathered
together against the Lord and against His Anointed. ”
Son of God: “But I am made him king over Zion, his holy
mountain, to proclaim the commandment of the Lord. The Lord said to me: You are
My Son; I have given birth to you now. ”
King David: “Take advantage of the teachings, lest the Lord
be angry and you perish from the right path” (Psalm 2: 1-2, 6-7, 12).
The most remarkable thing in this psalm is the truth
revealed here for the first time that the Messiah is the Son of God. Mount
Zion, on which stood the temple and city of Jerusalem, symbolized the Kingdom
of the Messiah - the Church. David writes of the Divine Messiah in several
subsequent psalms. For example, in Psalm 44, David, referring to the coming
Messiah, exclaims: “Your throne, God, is in the age of the century. The rod of
righteousness is the rod of your kingdom. You loved the truth and hated
lawlessness, therefore anointed you, God, your God as the oil of joy more than
your participants ”(Psalm 44: 7-8). By identifying the difference between the
Persons in God, between the anointing God and the anointed God, this prophecy
laid the foundation for faith in the Tri-Apostolic (having three Persons) God.
Psalm 39 indicates the insufficiency of the Old Testament sacrifices for
atonement (forgiveness) of human sins and testifies to the impending suffering
of the Messiah. In this psalm, the Messiah himself says through the lips of
David: “You did not want sacrifices and offerings, but you have prepared a body
for Me, You did not demand burnt offerings and (sacrifices) about sin. Then I
said: here I go, (as) in the book scroll is written about Me. To fulfill your
will, my God, I have thirsted, and your law is in my gut. I have brought the
truth to the great congregation; behold, I will not forbid my mouth. You Lord
know ”(Psalm 39: 7-10). The atoning sacrifice of the Messiah will be discussed
further. Here we only mention that, according to Psalm 109, the Messiah is not
only a Sacrifice, but also a Priest who sacrifices Himself to God. Psalm 109
repeats the main thoughts of Psalm 2 about the Deity of the Messiah and enmity
against Him. But several new information is being reported, for example, the
birth of the Messiah, the Son of God, is portrayed as an eternal event. Christ
is eternal, as is His Father. “The Lord is the river to my Lord: sit on my
right hand, until I lay thy enemies at the foot of thy feet. A rod of power
will send the Lord to you from Zion, and rule among your enemies. With you is
power on the day of your strength in the splendor of your saints. “From the
womb before the first day I begat you.” The Lord swore and does not repent: You
are a priest forever according to the rank Melchizedek ”(Psalm 109: 1-4). The
words “from the womb” do not mean that God has organs similar to human ones,
but that the Son of God has one being with God the Father. The expression
"from the womb" was supposed to stop the temptation to understand
allegorically the name of Christ the Son of God. Psalm 71 is a hymn of the
praise of the Messiah. In him we see the Messiah in the fullness of His glory.
This glory should come true at the end of the time when the Messianic Kingdom
will triumph and evil will be destroyed. Here are some verses from this full
joy of the psalm. “The kings of Pharsia and the islands will bring gifts, the
kings of Arabia and Sava will bring gifts. And all the kings of the earth will
worship Him, all the nations will serve Him. For He delivered from the poor,
poor, and the poor and the souls of the poor will save. They will save their
souls from covetousness and iniquity, and honestly His name (will be) with
them. And he will live, and they will give him gold from Arabia and pray for
him without ceasing, every day they will bless him. And He will be a statement
on earth, at the top of the mountains, His fruit will rise above Lebanon, and
(the inhabitants) will prosper from the city, like grass on the earth. His name
will be blessed forever, before the sun His name abides, and all the tribes of
the earth will be blessed in Him, all nations will please Him ”(Psalm 71:
10-17).
In order for the reader to have an idea of how extensive
and detailed the prophecies about the Messiah are in the psalms, we give a list
of these prophecies in the order of their content.
On the coming of the Messiah: Ps. 17, Ps. 49, Ps. 67, Ps.
95-97.
On the Kingdom of the Messiah: Ps. 2, Ps. 17, Ps. 19, Ps.
20, Ps. 44, Ps. 65, Ps. 71, Ps. 109, Ps. 131.
On the priesthood of the Messiah: Ps. 109.
On the sufferings, death, and resurrection of the Messiah:
Ps. 15, Ps. 21, Ps. 30, Ps. 39, Ps. 40, Ps. 65, Ps. 68, Ps. 98.
About Judas the Traitor: Ps. 40, Ps. 54, Ps. 108.
On the Ascension of Christ to Heaven: Ps. 67.
About Christ - the foundation of the Church: Ps. 117.
On the glory of the Messiah: Ps. 8.
About the Last Judgment: Ps. 96.
On the inheritance by the righteous of eternal rest: Ps. 94.
To understand the prophetic psalms, one must remember that
David, like the other great righteous people of the Old Testament, was a type
of Christ. Therefore, often what he writes in the first person - as if about
himself, for example, about suffering (in Ps. 21) or about glory (about the
resurrection from the dead in Ps. 15) - does not apply directly to David, but
to Christ . Details of the 15 and 21 psalms will be discussed later.
Thus, the messianic prophecies of David recorded in his
inspired psalms laid the foundation for faith in the Messiah as the true and
consubstantial Son of God, the King, High Priest and Redeemer of mankind. The
influence of the psalms on the faith of the Old Testament Jews was especially
great due to the widespread use of psalms in the private and liturgical life of
the Jewish people.
The prophecies of Isaiah
As we already said, the Old Testament prophets had a huge
task to keep the Jewish people in faith in the One God and to prepare the
ground for faith in the coming Messiah, as a Person who, besides humanity,
still has a Divine nature. The prophets had to speak about the Godhead of Christ
so that it was not understood by the Jews in pagan terms - in the sense of
polytheism. Therefore, the Old Testament prophets revealed the secret of the
Deity of the Messiah gradually, as the Jewish people established their faith in
the One God. King David first predicted the deity of Christ. After him came a
250-year break in the prophecies, and the prophet Isaiah, who lived seven
centuries BC, renewed the prophecies about Christ, in which His divine nature
is revealed more clearly. Isaiah is an outstanding prophet of the Old
Testament. The book he wrote contains such a large number of prophecies about
Christ and about New Testament events that many call Isaiah the Old Testament
evangelist. Isaiah prophesied within Jerusalem during the reign of the Jewish
kings of Uzziah, Ahaz, Hezekiah and Manasseh. Under Isaiah, the kingdom of
Israel fell in 722 BC, when the Assyrian king Sargon II captured the Jewish
people who inhabited Israel. After this tragedy, the kingdom of Judah lasted
another 135 years. The Prophet Isaiah martyred ended his life under King
Manasseh, being sawn with a wooden saw. The book of the prophet Isaiah is
distinguished by its elegant Jewish language and has high literary advantages,
which is felt even in translations into different languages.
The prophet Isaiah also wrote about the human nature of
Christ, we learn from him that Christ was to be born miraculously from the
Virgin: “So the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the Virgin in the
womb will receive and bear the Son, and they will call His name: Immanuel” (
Isaiah 7:14). This prophecy was told to King Ahaz in order to assure that he
and his house would not be destroyed by the Syrian and Israeli kings. On the
contrary, the plan of his enemies will not be realized, and one of the
descendants of Ahaz will be the promised Messiah, who will be miraculously born
from the Virgin. Since Ahaz was a descendant of King David, the present
prophecy confirms previous prophecies that the Messiah would come from the
family of King David.
In his next prophecies, Isaiah reveals new details about the
miraculous Baby who will be born of the Virgin. So, in chapter 8, Isaiah writes
that the people of God should not be afraid of the wiles of their enemies,
because their plans would not be realized: “Think of the nations and submit:
For God is with us” (Emmanuel). In the next chapter, Isaiah speaks of the Baby
Emmanuel: “For the baby was born to us - the Son is given to us; dominion is on
His shoulders, and they will call his name: Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. There is no limit to the multiplication of
His dominion and the world on the throne of David and in his kingdom, so that
He can establish it and strengthen it with judgment and truth from now on and
forever. Jealousy of the Lord of hosts will do it ”(Isa. 9: 6-7). Both the name
Emmanuel and the other names given here to the Baby are not, of course, proper,
but indicate the properties of His Divine nature. Isaiah predicted about the
preaching of the Messiah in the northern part of the earth, within the tribes
of Zebulun and Naphtali, which was called Galilee: “Formerly it diminished the
land of Zabulon and the land of Naphtali; but the following will exalt the
coastal path, the Zayordan country, the pagan Galilee. A people walking in
darkness will see a great light; the light will shine on the shadows of the
people living in the country ”(Isa. 9: 1-2). The Evangelist Matthew cites this
prophecy when he describes the preaching of Jesus Christ in this part of the
Earth, which was especially religiously ignorant (see Matthew 4:16). In
scripture, light is a symbol of religious knowledge, of truth. In later
prophecies, Isaiah often calls the Messiah another name - “Branch”. This
symbolic name confirms earlier prophecies about the miraculous and
extraordinary birth of the Messiah, namely, that it will take place without the
participation of the husband, just as a process without seed is born directly
from the root of the plant. “And a branch shall come from the root of Jesse”
(that was the name of the father of King David), “and the branch shall grow
from its root; and the Spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortresses, the spirit of knowledge
and piety ”(Isa. 11: 1-2). Here, Isaiah predicts the anointing of Christ with
the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, that is, with the fullness of the grace of
the Spirit that took place on the day of His baptism in the Jordan River. In
other prophecies, Isaiah speaks of the works of Christ and His qualities,
especially His mercy and meekness. The following prophecy quotes the words of
God the Father: “Behold, My Child, whose hand I hold, my chosen one, whom my
soul favors. I will put My spirit upon Him, and will declare judgment to the nations;
He will not cry out or exalt his voice, nor will he let him be heard in the
streets; he will not break a broken cane, and he will not extinguish flax of
smokers; will judge in truth; He won’t be weak or exhausted until he affirms
judgment on the earth, and the islands will trust in His law ”(Isa. 42: 1-4).
These last words speak of that great patience and condescension to human
weakness with which Christ will relate to repentant and destitute people.
Isaiah said a similar prophecy a little later, saying on behalf of the Messiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for the Lord has anointed Me to preach the
poor, sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach to the prisoners the
deliverance and the prisoners to open the dungeon” (Isa. 61: 1). These words
accurately determine the purpose of the coming of the Messiah: to heal the
spiritual illnesses of people. In addition to mental illnesses, the Messiah was
to heal physical weaknesses, as Isaiah predicted: “Then the eyes of the blind
will open, and the ears of the deaf will be opened. Then the lame one will jump
up like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will sing: for the waters will pour
in the desert, and the streams in the steppe ”(Isa. 35: 5-6). This prophecy was
fulfilled when the Lord Jesus Christ, preaching the Gospel, healed thousands of
all kinds of sick, blind-born and possessed. By His miracles He witnessed the
truth of His doctrine and His oneness with God the Father. According to God's
plan, the salvation of the people was to be carried out in the Kingdom of the
Messiah. This gracious Kingdom of believers is sometimes likened by the
prophets to a slender building. The Messiah, being, on the one hand, the
founder of the Kingdom of God, and on the other hand, the foundation of true
faith, is called the prophets by the Stone, i.e. the foundation upon which the
kingdom of God rests. We meet such a figurative name of the Messiah in the
following prophecy: “the Lord says: behold, I lay a foundation in Zion, a
stone, tested, cornerstone, precious, firmly established: he who believes in
him will not be ashamed” (Isa. 28:16). Zion was called the mountain (hill), on
which towered the temple and the city of Jerusalem. It is remarkable that this
prophecy for the first time emphasizes the importance of faith in the Messiah:
“He who believes in him will not be ashamed!” Psalm 117, written after Isaiah,
mentions the same Stone: “The stone that the builders neglected became at the
forefront: from This was the Lord, and it was marvelous in our eyes ”(Psalm
119: 22-23). That is, despite the fact that the "builders" - the
people who are at the helm of the authorities, rejected this Stone, God
nevertheless put It at the foundation of the gracious building - the Church.
The following prophecy supplements the previous prophecies, which speak of the
Messiah as a Mediator and a source of blessing not only for Jews, but for all
nations: “Not only will you be My servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and to
return the remnants of Israel, but I will do You are the light of the nations,
that My salvation may reach the ends of the earth ”(Isaiah 49: 6). But no
matter how great the spiritual light emanating from the Messiah, Isaiah foresaw
that not all Jews would see this light because of their spiritual coarsening.
Here is what the prophet writes about this: “hear by hearing - and you will not
understand, and you will look with your eyes - and you will not see. For the
heart of this people has become coarser, and they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes, so that they will not be able to see with
their eyes, and they will not hear with their ears, and will not comprehend
with their hearts, and will not turn, that I may heal them ”(Isa. 6: 9-10). Due
to the striving only for earthly prosperity, not all Jews recognized in the
Lord Jesus Christ their Savior, promised by the prophets. As if foreseeing the
unbelief of the Jews, who lived before Isaiah, King David in one of his psalms
called them with these words: “Now, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts,
as you did when you were angry on the day of temptation in the wilderness” (
Psalm 94: 7-8). That is: when you hear the Messiah preaching, believe His word.
Do not persevere, as under Moses your ancestors in the wilderness, who tempted
God and murmured against Him.
Predictions of the Messiah's suffering
Cleansing sacrifices were central to the religious life of
the Jewish people. Every faithful Jew from childhood knew from the Law that sin
can only be blotted out with atoning blood sacrifice. All great holidays and
family events were accompanied by sacrifices. The prophets did not explain what
the purifying power of sacrifices was. However, their predictions about the
sufferings of the Messiah show that the Old Testament sacrifices foretold the
great atoning sacrifice of the Messiah, which He had to bring to cleanse the
sins of the world. From this great sacrifice the Old Testament drew its meaning
and strength sacrifices. The internal connection between sin and the subsequent
suffering and death of a person, as well as between voluntary suffering and the
subsequent salvation of a person, is still not fully understood. We will not
try to explain this inner connection here, but dwell on the predictions
themselves about the upcoming saving sufferings of the Messiah. The most vivid
and detailed prediction of the sufferings of the Messiah is the prophecy of
Isaiah, which takes one and a half chapters of his book (end 52 and all 53).
This prophecy contains such details of the sufferings of Christ that the reader
is under the impression that the prophet Isaiah wrote it at the very foot of
Golgotha. Although, as we know, the prophet Isaiah lived seven centuries BC. We
give this prophecy here. “[Lord!] Who believed what was heard from us, and to
whom was the muscle of the Lord revealed? For He ascended before Him, as a
offspring and as a sprout from a dry land; there is neither kind nor greatness
in Him; and we saw Him, and there was no form in Him that would draw us to Him.
He was contemptible and dumb in front of people, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with illnesses, and we turned our faces away from Him; He was
despised, and we put Him in nothing. But He took upon us our weaknesses and
bore our diseases; and we thought that He was afflicted, punished, and humbled
by God. But He was wounded for our sins and tormented for our iniquities; the
punishment of our world was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed. We all
wandered like sheep, each turned on his own path: and the Lord laid on him the
sins of us all. He was tortured, but he suffered voluntarily and did not open
His mouth; He was led to the slaughter like a sheep, and as a lamb silent
before the shearer, so He did not open His mouth. From bonds and judgment He
was taken; but who will explain his kind? for he is cut off from the living
earth; for the transgressions of my people he has been executed. He was
appointed a coffin with villains, but He was buried by the rich, because he had
not done sin, and there was no lie in His mouth. But the Lord was pleased to
defeat Him, and He tormented Him; when his soul brings a sacrifice of
propitiation, he will see long-lasting offspring, and the will of the Lord will
be successfully fulfilled by his hand. He will look at the feat of His soul
with contentment; through His knowledge, He, the Righteous, My Servant, will
justify many, and will bear their sins on Him. Therefore, I will give Him a
part between the great ones, and I will share the spoils with the mighty, for I
have given His soul to death, and I have been counted among the villains, while
He bore the sin of many on Himself and became an intercessor for criminals
”(Is. 53 Ch. .). The introductory phrase of this prophecy: “Who believed in
what was heard from us” indicates the extraordinary nature of the described
event, which requires considerable volitional effort on the part of the reader
to believe in it. Indeed, the previous prophecies of Isaiah spoke of the
greatness and glory of the Messiah. The real prophecy speaks of His voluntary
humiliation, suffering and death! The Messiah, being completely pure from
personal sins and holy, suffers all these sufferings for the sake of cleansing
the iniquities of people. With great vividness, King David described the cross
suffering of the Savior in his 21 psalm. Although this psalm speaks in the
first person, but, of course, King David could not write to himself, because he
could not bear such suffering. Here he, as a prototype of the Messiah,
prophetically related to himself that which actually referred to his Descendant
- Christ. It is remarkable that some of the words of this psalm were literally
spoken by Christ during His crucifixion. Here are some phrases from 21 psalms
and parallel corresponding gospel texts.
Verse 8: “All who see me have taunted me” (Ps. 21: 8; cf.
Mark 15:29).
Verse 17: “They pierced my hands and my feet” (Ps. 21:17;
cf. Luke 23:33).
Verse 19: “They divided my garments for themselves and cast
lots for my clothes” (Ps. 21:19; cf. Matt. 27:35).
Verse 9: "He trusted in the Lord; may He deliver
him." This phrase was almost literally spoken by the Jewish high priests
and scribes (Ps. 21: 9; cf. Matt. 27:43).
Verse 2: “God, God, come to me! Why did you leave me? ”- so
the Lord exclaimed before His death (Ps. 21: 2; cf. Matt. 27:46).
The Prophet Isaiah wrote down the following details about
the sufferings of the Messiah, which were also literally fulfilled. It is in
the first person: “The Lord God gave me the tongue of the wise, so that I could
strengthen the exhausting with a word; every morning He awakens, awakens My
ear, so that I listen, like students. The Lord God opened My ear, and I did not
resist, did not step back. I have betrayed My backbone to those who slain, and
My Lanites to their slaughter; I did not hide My face from reproach and
spitting. And the Lord God helps Me: therefore I am not ashamed, therefore I
hold My face like a flint, and I know that I will not remain in shame. Close
justifies Me: who wants to compete with Me? stand together. Who wants to sue
me? let him come to me. Now, the Lord God helps Me: who will condemn Me? Now,
all of them, like clothes, are dilapidated; the mole will eat them. How many of
you are afraid of the Lord, obey the voice of his servant? Whoever walks in
darkness, without light, may he trust in the name of the Lord and may he be
established in his God. Here, all of you who kindle fire, armed with incendiary
arrows, - go to the flame of your fire and arrows that are burning you! It will
be to you at My hand; in anguish will die ”(Isa. 50: 4-11; cf. Matt. 26:67).
In the light of these prophecies about the sufferings of the
Messiah, the ancient mysterious prophecy of Patriarch Jacob, told to his son
Judas, which has already been partially cited above, is made clear. We will now
cite this prophecy of Jacob in full: “The young lion of Judah, from the prey,
my son, rises. He bowed, lay down like a lion and like a lioness: who will lift
him? The scepter will not depart from Judah and the legislator from his loins,
until the Mediator comes to him, and to him the humility of the peoples. He
binds his foal to the vine and to the vine of the best grapes of his donkey's
son; washes his clothes in wine, and his robe in the blood of clusters
”(Genesis 49: 9-11). In this prophecy, the lion, with its grandeur and power,
symbolizes the Messiah, who was to be born from the tribe of Judah. The
patriarch’s question about who will raise the sleeping lion speaks
allegorically of the death of the Messiah, referred to in Scripture as a lion
from the “tribe of Judah” (Rev. 5: 5). The subsequent prophetic words of Jacob
regarding the washing of clothes in grape juice also speak of the death of the
Messiah. Grapes are a symbol of blood.
The words about the donkey and the young donkey were
fulfilled when the Lord Jesus Christ, before His Godly suffering, sitting on a
foal, rode into Jerusalem. The time when the Messiah was to suffer, the prophet
Daniel predicted, as we will see later. To these ancient testimonies of the
sufferings of the Messiah, one should also add a no less definite prophecy of
Zechariah, who lived two centuries after Isaiah (500 years BC). The prophet
Zechariah describes in chapter 3 of his book a vision of the great priest
Jesus, dressed first in bloodied and then in light robes. The robe of priest
Jesus symbolized the moral condition of the people: first sinful, and then
righteous. In the described vision there are many interesting details related
to the mystery of the atonement, but we will only give here the final words of
God the Father: “Listen, Jesus, great priest, you and your fellows who are
sitting in front of you, significant men: behold, I bring my servant , Branch.
For this is the stone that I lay before Jesus; on this one stone seven eyes;
behold, I will cut out his inscriptions on it, says the LORD of hosts, and I
will erase the sin of this earth on the same day ... And I will pour out the
spirit of grace and tenderness on the house of David and on the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and they will look upon Him, whom they pierced, and will weep about
Him, as they weep for their only begotten son, and grieve, as they grieve for
their firstborn. That day a great cry will rise in Jerusalem, like the cry of
Gadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the earth will weep, each tribe is
special: the tribe of the house of David is special, and their wives are
special; the tribe of Nafanov’s house especially, and their wives especially;
the tribe of the house of Levi, especially, and their wives especially; the
Simeon tribe is special, and the women are especially them ”(Zech. 3: 8-9,12:
10-13). The name Branch we met with the prophet Isaiah. It refers to the
Messiah, as does the symbolic name of Him (the cornerstone). The remarkable
thing is that, according to prophecy, the cleansing of the sins of the people
will happen in one day. In other words, one certain Sacrifice will perform the
cleansing of sins! The second part of the prophecy, located in chapter 12,
speaks of the Cross suffering of the Messiah, of piercing Him with a spear, and
of the repentance of the people. All these events have happened and are
described in the Gospels. No matter how hard it was for the Old Testament
person to rise to faith in the necessity of the atoning suffering of the
Messiah, several Jewish Old Testament writers correctly understood the prophecy
53 of the book of Isaiah. We bring here valuable thoughts on this subject from
the ancient Jewish books “What is the name of the Messiah?” Asks the Talmud
replies: “Painful, as it is written: He bears our sins, and it hurts us”
(Tract. Talmud Babil distinct. Chelek). In another part of the Talmud, it says:
“The Messiah takes upon himself all the suffering and torment for the sins of
Israel. If He had not taken upon himself this suffering, then no man in the
world could have endured the executions inevitably following the violation of
the law. ” Rabbi Moshe Goddarshan writes in the Medrash (a book that interprets
the Holy Scriptures): “The holy and blessed Lord entered the following
condition with the Messiah, saying to Him: Messiah, My righteous one! The sins
of men will put a heavy yoke on you: your eyes will not see the light, your
ears will hear terrible reproaches, your mouth will taste bitterness, your
tongue will stick to your larynx ... and your soul will be exhausted from
bitterness and sighing. Do you agree to that? If you take all this suffering on
yourself: good. If not, then this very minute I will destroy the people -
sinners. The Messiah answered this; Lord of the universe! I am happy to accept
all this suffering, only on condition that You, in my days, raise the dead,
starting with Adam and to this day, and save not only them alone, but also all
those that you proposed to create and have not yet created . To this the holy
and blessed God said: yes, I agree. At that moment, the Messiah joyfully
accepted all the suffering, as it is written: He was tortured, but he suffered
voluntarily ... like a sheep was brought to the slaughter ”(from a conversation
on the Book of Genesis).
These testimonies of faithful Jewish scholars of Scripture
are valuable in that they show how great the prophecy of Isaiah was to
strengthen the faith in the salvation of the Messiah's Cross suffering.
Predictions on the Resurrection of the Messiah
But, speaking of the necessity and salvation of the
sufferings of the Messiah, the prophets predicted both His resurrection from
the dead and subsequent glory. Isaiah, describing the suffering of Christ, ends
his story with the following words: “when his soul brings a sacrifice of
propitiation, he will see the long-lasting offspring, and the will of the Lord
will be successfully fulfilled by his hand. He will look at the feat of His
soul with contentment; through His knowledge, He, the Righteous, My Servant,
will justify many, and will bear their sins on Him. Therefore, I will give Him
a part between the great, and I will share the spoils with the mighty ”(Isa.
53: 10-12). In other words, the Messiah after death will come to life to lead
the kingdom of the righteous, and will be morally satisfied with the result of
His sufferings. King David also predicted the resurrection of Christ in psalm
15, in which on behalf of Christ he said: “Therefore my heart rejoiced and my
tongue rejoiced, and also my flesh rejoices with the hope that you will not
leave my soul in hell and will not allow your reverend to see smoldering. You
have shown me the ways of life, fill me with joy before Your face, bliss in
Your right hand forever ”(Psalm 15: 9-11). The prophet Hosea has a mention of a
three-day resurrection, although his prophecy speaks in a plural person: “In
their grief they will seek Me from early morning and say:“ let us go and return
to the Lord! for He hurt - and He will heal us, smite - and bandage our wounds;
He will revive us in two days, on the third day he will raise us up, and we
will live before Him "" (Hos 6: 1-2; see 1 Cor. 15: 4). In addition
to the direct prophecies about the immortality of the Messiah, all the places
of the Old Testament in which the Messiah is called God (see Ps. 2; Ps. 44; Ps.
109; Isa. 9: 6; Jer. 23: 5) actually testify to the same fact. ; Mic. 5: 2;
Mal. 3: 1). After all, God in His essence is immortal. Also, the immortality of
the Messiah should be concluded when we read the predictions about His eternal
kingdom (see Gen. 49:10; 2 Sam. 7:13; Ps. 2; Ps. 131: 11; Ezek. 7:27; Dan. 7:
13). After all, the eternal Kingdom presupposes an eternal King!
Thus, summing up the contents of this chapter, we see that
the Old Testament prophets very definitely spoke of the atoning suffering,
death, and then - about the resurrection and glory of the Messiah. He was to
die for the cleansing of human sins and resurrected to head the eternal Kingdom
of His saved. These truths, first revealed by the prophets, later formed the
basis of the Christian faith.
Prophecies of Daniel
Patriarch Jacob, as we showed above, timed the time of the
coming of the Mediator to the time when the descendants of Judah would lose
their political independence. This time of the coming of the Messiah was
specified by the prophet Daniel in his recorded prophecy about seventy weeks.
The prophet Daniel recorded a prediction about the time of the coming of the
Messiah, being with other Jews in Babylonian captivity. Jews were taken
prisoner by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the city of Jerusalem
in 588 BC The prophet Daniel knew that the seventy-year period of Babylonian
captivity predicted by the prophet Jeremiah (in chapter 25 of his book: Jer.
25: 8-12) is coming to an end. Desiring to soon return the Jewish people from
captivity to their native land and restore the city of Jerusalem, Daniel often
began in earnest prayer to ask God about it. At the end of one of these
prayers, the archangel Gabriel suddenly appeared before the prophet and said
that God had heard his prayer and would soon help the Jews restore Jerusalem.
At the same time, Archangel Gabriel told another more joyful message, namely,
that since the issuance of the decree on the restoration of Jerusalem, the
calculation of the year of the coming of the Messiah and the adoption of the
New Testament should begin. Here is what Archangel Gabriel said about this to
the prophet Daniel: “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and your holy
city, so that crime will be covered, sins can be sealed and lawlessness can be
sealed, and eternal truth be brought, and the vision and the prophet sealed,
and the Holy of Holies was anointed. So know and understand: from the time that
the command to restore Jerusalem is issued, until Christ the Lord there are
seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; and the people will return and streets and
walls will be built, but in difficult times. And after sixty-two weeks, Christ
will be put to death, and he won’t; and the city and the sanctuary will be
destroyed by the people of the leader who will come, and its end will be like a
flood, and until the end of the war there will be devastation. And a single
week will endure the covenant for many, and in the middle of the week the
sacrifice and offering will cease, and on the wing of the sanctuary there will
be an abomination of desolation, and the final predetermined death will befall
the devastator ”(Dan. 9: 24-27). In this prophecy, the entire period from the
decree on the restoration of Jerusalem to the approval of the New Testament and
the secondary destruction of this city is divided into three periods. The dates
of each period are calculated in weeks of years, i.e. - seven years. Seven is a
sacred number, symbolically meaning fullness, completeness. The meaning of this
prophecy is this: for the people of Judea and for the Holy city, seventy weeks
are defined (70x7 = 490 years) until the Holy of Holies (Christ) comes, who
eradicates lawlessness, brings eternal truth and fulfills all prophecies. The
beginning of these sevens will be the issuance of a decree on the new
construction of Jerusalem and the temple, the end - the repeated ruin of both.
In order events these weeks are divided as follows: in the continuation of the
first seven weeks. (i.e. 49 years) Jerusalem and the temple will be renewed.
Then, by the end of the next sixty-two weeks, (i.e., 434 years), Christ will
come, but he will suffer and be put to death. Finally, during the last week,
the New Testament will be approved, and at half this week, the usual sacrifices
in the Jerusalem temple will cease, and the sanctuary will be an abomination of
desolation. Then a people will come, ruled by a leader who will destroy the
Holy City and the temple. It is interesting and instructive to trace how
historical events actually unfolded in the time period indicated by the
Archangel Gabriel. The decree on the restoration of Jerusalem was issued by the
Persian king Artaxerxes Longimanus in 453 BC. This significant event is
described in detail by Nehemiah in the 2nd chapter of his book (Nehemiah 2).
From the moment this decree is issued, the Daniil Sedmin account should begin.
According to the Greek calendar, this was 3 years of the 76th Olympiad,
according to the Roman calendar - 299 years from the foundation of Rome. The
restoration of the walls of Jerusalem and the temple dragged on for as long as
40-50 years (seven weeks) because some pagan peoples living in the neighborhood
of Jerusalem in every way prevented the restoration of this city. According to
the prophecy, the Messiah was to suffer for the cleansing of human sins between
69 and 70 weeks. If we add 69 weeks to the year of the decree on the
restoration of Jerusalem, i.e. 483 years, you get 30 years of Christian
chronology. Around this time - from 30 to 37 years of Christian reckoning -
according to the prophecy, the Messiah was to suffer and die. Evangelist Luke
writes that the Lord Jesus Christ went out to preach in the 15th year of the
reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius. This coincided with the year 782 from the
foundation of Rome or the year 30 after the birth of Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ preached for three and a half years and suffered in 33 or 34 AD, just in
the time interval indicated by Daniel. After the Resurrection of Christ, the
Christian faith began to spread very quickly, so, really, the last, 70 weeks, was
a New Testament statement among many people. Jerusalem was again destroyed in
70 CE by the Roman commander Titus. During the siege of Jerusalem by Roman
legions, because of strife among the Jewish leaders, complete chaos reigned in
this city. As a result of these feuds, divine services took place very
irregularly, and finally, in the temple, as the Archangel prophesied to the
prophet Daniel, “the abomination of desolation” reigned. The Lord Jesus Christ
in one of His conversations reminded Christians of this prophecy and warned His
hearers that when they saw in the holy place “the abomination of desolation”,
they should soon escape from Jerusalem, because it came to an end (see Matthew
24: 15-21). So the Christians living in Jerusalem did when the Roman troops
temporarily lifted the siege of the city and retreated because of the election
of a new emperor by order of Vespasian. Therefore, Christians did not suffer
during the subsequent return of the Roman army and the destruction of
Jerusalem, and thus escaped the tragic fate of many Jews who remained in the
city. The destruction of Jerusalem concludes Daniel's prediction of the weeks.
Thus, the coincidence of this prophecy with subsequent
historical events in the life of the Jewish people and the narratives of the
Gospels is amazing. It should be mentioned here that the Jewish rabbis
repeatedly forbade their compatriots to calculate the Daniil weekly weeks. The
Gemar rabbi even curses those Jews who will count the year of the coming of the
Messiah: “Let the bones of those who count the times shake” (Sanedrin 97). The
rigor of this prohibition is understandable. Indeed, the Daniil Weeks directly
indicate the time of the work of Christ the Savior, that it is very unpleasant
to recognize unbelievers in Him. At the Prophet Daniel, we also find another
important prophetic testimony of the Messiah, recorded in the form of a vision
in which the Messiah is portrayed as the eternal Lord. It is recorded in the
seventh chapter of his book. “I saw in night visions, behold, with the clouds
of heaven came the Son of man, as it were, came to the Ancient of days and was
brought to Him. And given to him power, glory and kingdom, so that all nations,
tribes and languages serve Him; His dominion is eternal dominion that will
not pass away, and His kingdom will not be destroyed ”(Dan. 7: 13-14). This
vision speaks of the last destinies of the world, the cessation of the
existence of earthly kingdoms, the Last Judgment of the nations gathered before
the throne of the Ancient of Days, i.e. - God the Father, and about the
beginning of glorious times for the Kingdom of the Messiah. The Messiah here is
called the “Son of Man,” which indicates His human nature. As we know from the
Gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ often called Himself the Son of Man, reminding
the Jews of this name to the prophecy of Daniel (cf. Mt. 8: 20,9: 6,12: 40,24:
30, etc.).
In the conclusion of this chapter, we give the prophecy of
Baruch, a disciple of Jeremiah, in which he writes about the coming of God to the
earth: “This is our God, and no one else can compare with Him. He found all the
ways of wisdom and gave it to His servant Jacob and His beloved Israel. After
that he appeared on earth and turned between people ”(Var. 3: 36-38).
Unfortunately, during the Babylonian captivity, the Jewish original of the Book
of the Prophet Baruch was lost, which is why the Greek translation of his book
was on the list of non-canonical ones. For this reason, among the heterodox
biblical scholars, the prophecy of Baruch does not enjoy proper authority.
Predictions of the “Small" Prophets
In addition to the books of the “great” prophets, which
include the Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, among the Old
Testament holy books there are 12 more books of the so-called “small” prophets.
These prophets are called small because their books are relatively small in
size, with only a few chapters. Of the small prophets, the Messiah was written
by Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Micah, contemporaries of the prophet Isaiah who lived
about 700 BC, as well as the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, who lived
after the Babylonian captivity, in the VI and V centuries before R. X. With
these last three prophets, the second Old Testament temple was built in
Jerusalem, on the site of the destroyed Solomon’s temple. The book of the
prophet Malachi ends with the Old Testament Scripture. The prophet Micah wrote
down the well-known prophecy about Bethlehem, which Jewish scribes quoted when
King Herod asked them where Christ should be born. “And you, Bethlehem-Ephrath,
are you small among the thousands of Judah? from you shall come to Me That One
who should be the Ruler in Israel and Whose origin from the beginning, from the
days of eternity ”(Mic. 5: 2). Here, the prophet Micah says that, although
Bethlehem is one of the most insignificant cities of Judea, he will be honored
to become the birthplace of the Messiah, whose true origin goes to eternity.
Eternal existence, as we know, is the distinguishing attribute of God.
Therefore, this prophecy testifies to eternity and, therefore, to the oneness
of the Messiah with God the Father (remember that Isaiah called the Messiah the
Father of eternity (see Isa. 9: 6)). The following predictions of Zechariah and
Amos relate to the last days of the earthly life of the Messiah. The prophecy
of Zechariah speaks of the joyful entry of the Messiah, sitting on a donkey, to
Jerusalem: “rejoice with joy, daughter of Zion, triumph, daughter of Jerusalem:
behold your king is coming to you, righteous and saving, meek, sitting on a
donkey and on a young donkey, son sub jugular. Then I will destroy the chariots
of Ephraim and the horses in Jerusalem, and the bow will be crushed; and He
will proclaim peace to the nations, and His dominion will be from sea to sea
and from the river to the ends of the earth. And as for you, for the sake of
the blood of your covenant I will free your prisoners from a ditch in which
there is no water ”(Zech. 9: 9-11). A donkey is a symbol of peace, while a
horse is a symbol of war. According to this prophecy, the Messiah was to
proclaim to people the world - reconciliation with God and the end of hostility
between people. The second part of the prophecy - on the release of prisoners
from the ditch - predicted the release of the souls of dead people from hell as
a result of the atoning suffering of the Messiah. In the next prophecy,
Zechariah predicted that the Messiah would be betrayed for thirty pieces of
silver. The prophecy speaks on behalf of God, who invites the Jewish leaders to
charge him for everything that he has done for their people: “And I will tell
them: if you please, give me my payment; if not, do not give; and they will pay
thirty pieces of silver to Me. And the Lord told me: throw them in the church
vault, - the high price at which they valued Me! And I took thirty pieces of
silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter ”(Zech. 11:
12-13). As we know from the Gospels, Judas Iscariot betrayed His Master for
thirty silver coins. However, Judas did not expect Christ to be condemned to
death. Upon learning of this, he regretted his act and threw the coins given to
him in the temple. For these thirty pieces of silver, the high priests bought a
piece of land from the potter to bury the wanderers, as Zechariah had predicted
(see Matthew 27: 9).
The Prophet Amos predicted that the sun was darkened during
the crucifixion of Christ: “And it will be that day, says the Lord God: I will
make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight” (Am. 8:
9). We see a similar prediction in Zachariah: “There will be no light, the
stars will be removed. This day will be the only one, known only to the Lord:
neither day nor night, only in the evening light will appear ”(Zech. 14: 6-7).
Further predictions about the Messiah of the prophets Haggai, Zechariah and
Malachi are closely related to the construction of the second Jerusalem temple.
Returning from captivity, the Jews without much enthusiasm built a new temple
on the site of the destroyed Solomon’s temple. The whole country was ruined,
and many Jews preferred to rebuild their own houses first. Therefore, the
prophets, after a period of captivity, had to force the Jews to build the house
of God. To encourage builders, the prophets said that although the new temple
is inferior to Solomon in its appearance, it will surpass it many times in its
spiritual significance. The reason for the glory of the temple under
construction will be that the expected Messiah will visit it. We give here
successive prophecies about this Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, as they
complement one another. God says through the mouths of the prophets: “For thus
says the Lord of hosts: once more, and it will be soon, I will shake heaven and
earth, the sea and the land, and I will shake all the nations, and Desired will
come all the nations, and fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts .
My silver and My gold, says the Lord of hosts. The glory of this last temple
will be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I
will give peace, saith the Lord of hosts ”(Hag. 2: 6-9). “Here is the Man, -
His name is Branch, He will grow from His root and create the temple of the
Lord. ... will also be a priest on his throne ”(Zech. 6: 12-13). “Behold, I
send my angel” (the prophet John the Baptist), “and he will prepare the way
before me, and suddenly the Lord whom you seek, and the angel of the covenant
whom you desire, will come to his temple; behold, he comes, saith the Lord of
hosts ”(Mal. 3: 1). God the Father, calls the Messiah "Desired by all
nations", "Branch", "Lord" and "Angel of the
Covenant." These names of the Messiah, known to Jews by previous
prophecies, connected all the previous numerous prophecies about Christ into
one whole. Malachi was the last Old Testament prophet. His prophecy about the
message of the “Angel” to prepare the way for the Lord, who will come soon,
ends the mission of the Old Testament prophets and the period of waiting for
the coming of Christ begins. According to the prophecy of Zechariah just
quoted, the Messiah was to create the Temple of the Lord. Here we are talking
about the creation of not a stone (which could not accommodate all peoples),
but a spiritual temple - the Church of the faithful. After all, God dwells in
the souls of believers, as in a temple (see Lev. 26:12).
Waiting for the Messiah to Come
Summing up the content of the Old Testament prophecies about
the Messiah, we see that the Jews, possessing such an abundant and
comprehensive description of His Person and many events of His life, could easily
acquire the correct faith in Him. In particular, they should have known that
the Messiah will have two natures: human and Divine, that He will be the
greatest prophet, king and high priest, anointed by God (Father) in these
services, and will be a good Shepherd. The prophecies also testified that the
important work of the Messiah will be the defeat of the devil and his servants,
the atonement of people from sins, the healing of their mental and physical
ailments and reconciliation with God; that He will sanctify believers and
establish the New Testament, and that His spiritual blessings will extend to
all of humanity. The prophets also revealed many events in the life of the
Messiah, namely: He comes from Abraham, from the tribe of Judah, from the clan
of King David, will be born from the Virgin in the city of Bethlehem, will
preach to the world to people, heal diseases, will be meek and compassionate,
will be betrayed, innocent condemned, will suffer, will be pierced (with a
spear), will die, will be buried in a new tomb, during His crucifixion darkness
will come. Then the Messiah will descend to hell and lead the souls of people
out of him, after which He will rise from the dead. They also predicted that
not all would recognize Him as the Messiah, but some would even be at odds with
Him, albeit without success. The fruit of His atonement will be the spiritual
renewal of believers and the outpouring of the grace of the Holy Spirit on
them. Finally, the prophets determined that the time of His coming would
coincide with the loss of political independence by the tribe of Judah, which
would happen no later than seventy weeks (490 years) after the decree on the
restoration of the city of Jerusalem and no later than the destruction of the
second Jerusalem temple, that He would destroy the Antichrist, would come back
to glory. The end result of His work will be the attainment of justice, peace
and joy. The nature of the Messiah and the greatness of His works are also
evidenced by the names given to him by the prophets, calling him: Leo, Branch,
Strong God, Emanuel, Counselor, Head of the world, Father of the next century,
Mediator, Star, Seed of the Wife, Prophet, Son of God , King, Anointed
(Messiah), Redeemer, God, Lord, Slave (God), Righteous, Son of Man, Holy of
Holies. All this abundance of prophecies about Christ in the Old Testament holy
books tells us how much importance the prophets attached to their mission to
teach the Jews to correctly believe in the coming Christ. Moreover, the hope
that once an extraordinary Man will come, Who will deliver people from
disasters, spread through Jews among many nations, therefore Haggai calls
Christ Desired by all nations. Indeed, many ancient peoples (Chinese, Indians,
Persians, Greeks, and others) long before the birth of Christ had a legend
about the coming of the God-man into the world. Some called Him “Holy,” others
called “Savior.” So the Old Testament prophets prepared the necessary
conditions for the successful spread of the New Testament faith. Indeed, many
ancient written monuments of the II century BC. - the beginning of the II
century after R. X. testify that at that time the Jewish people were anxiously
awaiting the coming of the Messiah. Among these written monuments, one can
point to the book of Enoch, the Sibyls of the book, the ancient parts of the
Talmud, the Dead Sea scrolls, the writings of Josephus Flavius (a Jewish
historian of the 1st century after R.H.), etc. To quote from these sources
would require too much space. Reading the ancient written monuments, we can
conclude that the faith of the Jews in the Messiah reached sometimes amazing
power. For example, some ancient writers called the coming Messiah the Son of
Man and the Son of God, who existed before the advent of the universe, the king
and judge righteous, rewarding the good and punishing the evil (in the second
part of the apocryphal book of Enoch).
Fulfilling the Prophecies of the Messiah
How many Jews were spiritually prepared to receive the
Messiah is evident from the opening chapters of the Gospel of Luke. Thus, the
blessed Virgin Mary, the righteous Elizabeth, the priest Zachariah, the
righteous Simeon the God-Receiver, the prophetess Anna and many people of
Jerusalem combined the birth of Jesus Christ with the fulfillment of ancient prophecies
about the coming of the Messiah, the forgiveness of sins, the overthrow of the
proud and the ascension of the humble, the restoration of the Covenant with
God, about the service of Israel to God from a pure heart. After Jesus Christ
began to preach, the Gospels testify to the ease with which many
sensitive-hearted Jews recognized the promised Messiah in Him, as reported to
their friends, for example, the apostle Andrew and Philip, later Nathanael and
Peter (see John 1:40 -44). Jesus Christ recognized Himself as the Messiah and
related prophecies to the prophets, for example: Isaiah's prediction of the
Spirit of the Lord, Which is to descend on the Messiah (see Isa. 61: 1; Luke
4:18). He referred to his prediction about the healing of the sick by the Messiah
(see Isa. 35: 5-7; Matthew 11: 5). Jesus praised the Apostle Peter for calling
Him Christ, the Son of the Living God, and promised to found His Church on
faith in Him (see Matthew 16: 16-19). He told the Jews to penetrate the
Scriptures, for the Scriptures testify of Him (see John 5:39). He also spoke of
the fact that He is the Son to whom the right hand of the Father should sit,
referring to Psalm 109 (see Matthew 22:44). Jesus Christ said that He was the
“Stone” rejected by the “builders”, referring to the well-known prediction in
Psalm 117 (see Matthew 21:42). Before His sufferings, Jesus Christ reminded His
disciples that everything that was written about Him should be fulfilled (Luke
22:37; Isa. 53 ch.). During the trial at Caiaphas to the direct question of the
high priest, whether He is Christ, the Son of God, Christ answered in the
affirmative and recalled the prophecy of Daniel about the Son of Man (Matthew
26: 63-64; Dan. 7:13), and this recognition was formal cause to condemn him to
death. After His resurrection from the dead, Christ reproached the apostles for
being slow in heart to believe everything that the prophets wrote about Him
(see Luke 24:25). In a word, Jesus Christ from the very beginning of His public
ministry, to His very suffering on the Cross and after His Resurrection,
recognized Himself as the Messiah promised by the prophets. If Christ in the
presence of the people avoided directly calling Himself the Messiah, but only
referred to the prophecies about Him, then He did this because of those gross
and distorted ideas about the Messiah that were established in the people.
Christ in every possible way avoided worldly glory and from interference in
political life. Because of their humiliating dependence on Rome, many Jews
wanted the Messiah to have a mighty conquering king who would give them
political independence, glory and earthly goods. Jesus came to bring about
spiritual rebirth among people. He promised the blessings, not earthly, but
heavenly, as a reward for virtue. That is why many Jews rejected Christ.
Although the apostles shook their faith in Him before the crucifixion of
Christ, after the resurrection of Christ from the dead, they no longer had the
slightest doubt that He was the Messiah promised by God. After the resurrection,
their faith in Him was so strengthened that for Christ's sake they were ready
to give and really gave their lives. To convince the Jews of the truth of the
Christian faith, the apostles constantly quoted ancient prophecies about the
Messiah in their epistles.
Therefore, their word, in spite of unbelief and opposition,
mainly from high priests and scribes, was such a great success, first among
Jews, and then among pagans. By the end of the first century, the Christian
faith spread to almost all parts of the vast Roman Empire.
Misrepresentations of the Messiah
Despite the abundance of prophecies about the Messiah in the
Old Testament scriptures, during the earthly life of Christ, not all Jews had a
correct idea of Him. The reason was that many Jews could not rise to a
spiritual understanding of the Messianic prophecies, for example, about the
Divine nature of the Messiah, about the need for moral rebirth, about the grace
of God operating in the Kingdom of the Messiah. The period from the III century
BC before the beginning of the II century after R.H. was a time of intense
struggle of the Jewish people for their political independence. This difficult
struggle and the associated hardships contributed to the prosperity among many
Jews of hopes for better times when the Messiah would subdue the enemies of the
Jewish people. They dreamed that with the accession of the Messiah, the days of
a happy, full of material abundance of life would begin. Because of such
narrowly national and utilitarian aspirations, as we have already mentioned,
the Lord Jesus Christ avoided publicly calling Himself the Messiah. However, He
often quoted ancient prophecies that spoke of the Messiah as a spiritual
leader, and thereby restored the faith of the Jews on the right path (see Matthew
26:54; Mark 9:12; Luke 18:31; John 5:39 ) Jews, who wanted to have an earthly
king in the Messiah and dreamed of earthly blessings, were annoyed by the
humble and sometimes humiliated appearance of Jesus Christ. His doctrine of
meekness, of love for enemies, of the pursuit of the kingdom of heaven - was
completely alien to them. The Jewish leaders for several years did not know how
to get rid of the unwanted miracle worker. They were also afraid of the loss of
their influence on the people, since many ordinary people believed in Jesus
Christ. Finally, a convenient opportunity presented itself when Judas, one of
the 12 apostles, offered the high priests his services — to bring Jesus Christ
to them for trial. At the trial, however, the judges could not bring such an
accusation against Christ for which He could be sentenced to death. Only after
Jesus answered in the affirmative to the question of Caiaphas whether He
considers Himself to be Christ (the Messiah), the Son of the Living God, He was
accused of blasphemy. This "sin" by law was punishable by death. But
the Jewish leaders did not have the right to carry out their sentence, since
Judea obeyed the Romans. As we know from the Gospels, Pilate is against his
will, fearing for his fate, approved the sentence of the Jewish chiefs - the
high priest and members of the Sanhedrin. Christ was crucified on the eve of
Passover in the year 33 or 34 AD. Under such circumstances, the Jewish people,
in the person of their superiors, rejected the Messiah sent by God. However,
the expectations of the Messiah, the conquering king, both before Jesus Christ,
and especially in the 1st and 2nd centuries after Him, created convenient
ground for the appearance of all kinds of self-proclaimed messiahs among the
Jews. After all, that was the time, according to the prophecies of the
patriarch Jacob and the prophet Daniel, when the true Messiah was to come. Over
the long history of the Jewish people, he has about sixty false messiahs. They
were mainly all kinds of adventurers: sometimes just the leaders of the robber
gangs, sometimes the more prominent military leaders, sometimes religious
fanatics and reformers. The most prominent false messiah was Bar Kochba, who
led a desperate struggle with Rome in 132-135 years of our era. He called
himself the Star of Jacob (referring to Numbers 24:17) and the Messiah the
deliverer. He possessed an iron will and was able to completely subjugate the
Jewish population in Palestine. He was the absolute owner of both the property
and the lives of his subjects. Jews blindly believed in his messianism and were
ready to sacrifice everything to fulfill their dreams of messianic happy times.
But little Judea could not compete with mighty Rome. The war ended in terrible
destruction throughout Palestine. A significant part of the population died in
this war, the rest were taken prisoner and sold in slave markets. Bar-Kokhba
himself died too. Over the following centuries, Jews, scattered throughout the
world, all efforts were directed to preserve their Old Testament religion and
nationality. And they succeeded. However, not accepting Christ and His
teachings, the Jews deprived themselves of the very valuable that the prophets
had left them - hopes for a spiritual rebirth.
After World War II, some Jews woke up to their Messiah -
Jesus Christ. Among them, active missionaries arose, attracting their
compatriots to the Christian faith. The missionary work went very well because
they resorted to the messianic predictions of the Old Testament prophets. I
must say that the Holy Scriptures, even among Jews indifferent to God, enjoy
great respect.
Thus, the writings of the prophets, despite the past
centuries, remain a living and effective word of God. It seems that these new
Christians from the Jews will face the difficult task of exposing the
deceitfulness of the coming last false messiah - the Antichrist. This impostor,
like the ancient false messiahs, will promise earthly blessings and happiness.
According to predictions, many blindly believe in him, and he will achieve
significant political success, but not for long. Then he will die, as well as
the more ancient impostors.
New Testament Predictions
According to the prophets, the purpose of coming to the
world of the Messiah was the foundation of the Kingdom of God, into which a
new, spiritually renewed Israel was to enter. Prophets describe this kingdom in
great detail. In our work, we set ourselves the goal of bringing prophecies
related to the Messiah and showing how they were fulfilled on Jesus Christ.
Prophecies relating to His Kingdom, we will give here fluently, dwelling only
on the main and most general qualities of this Kingdom. Speaking of the
Messianic Kingdom, the prophets portrayed him as a society of spiritually
renewed people. Moreover, other nations were supposed to enter this society,
except for Jews. The main feature of this kingdom was to be the abundance of
blessed gifts in it. Being the kingdom of God, it is stronger than all earthly
kingdoms and will survive them.
Having got its start from the time of the coming of the
Messiah into the world, it should be transformed in its appearance at the end
of the existence of the world, after God's universal trial of nations. Then, on
a new, transformed earth, all physical calamities will disappear, and bliss, immortality,
and the fullness of God's blessings will reign among the citizens of this
Kingdom. Here, in a few words, the essence of these prophecies. Now dwell on a
few particulars. Speaking of the messianic times, the prophets indicated that
they would be the time of the New Testament (union) of God with people. As we
know, the Old Testament of God with Israel was made under Moses at the Mount of
Sinai. Then the Jews undertook to fulfill the commandments written on the
tablets of stone, receiving as a reward from God the land promised to Abraham
(the promised land). Here is what the prophet Jeremiah writes about the New
Testament: “Here are the days, the Lord says, when I make a new covenant with
the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not the same covenant as I made
with their fathers that day, when I took them by the hand, to lead them out of
the land of Egypt; they broke My covenant, although I remained in alliance with
them, says the Lord. But here is the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law into their innards
and write it on their hearts, and I will be God to them, and they will be My
people. And they will no longer teach one another, brother of the brother, and
say: “Know the Lord,” for everyone will know Me, from small to large, says the
Lord, because I will forgive their iniquity and their sins no longer will be
remembered ”(Jer . 31: 31-34). The Prophet Isaiah calls the New Testament
eternal: “Incline your ear and come to Me: listen, and your soul will live, and
I will give you an everlasting covenant, unchanging mercies promised to David”
(Isa. 55: 3; Acts 13:34) . The peculiarity of the New Testament, in contrast to
the Old Testament, was to be that other nations would be attracted to it, which
together form the new Israel, the blessed Kingdom of the Messiah. The prophet
Isaiah wrote in the name of God the Father about this calling of pagan peoples:
“Not only will you (the Messiah) be my servant for the restoration of the
tribes of Jacob and for the return of the remnants of Israel, but I will make
You the light of the nations so that My salvation extends to the ends of the
earth ”(Isa. 49: 6). And a little later, the prophet Isaiah expresses joy on
this occasion: “Rejoiced, barren, unborn; Exclaim and exclaim, unchallenged by
childbirth; because the abandoned one has much more children than the one who
has a husband, says the Lord. Spread the place of your tent, expand the cover
of your dwellings; Do not be shy, let your throws be longer and establish your
stakes; for you will spread right and left, and your seed will take possession
of the nations and inhabit the devastated cities ”(Isa. 54: 1-3, see Gal.
4:27). Here, the prophet depicts the Old Testament Jewish Church in the form of
a married woman, and pagan peoples - in the form of an infertile woman, who
then gives birth to more children than the first wife. Hosea also predicted the
call of the Gentiles to the place of the Jews who fell away from the Kingdom
(see Hosea 1: 9, 2:23). In the Old Testament time, belonging to the kingdom was
determined by nationality. In New Testament times, a necessary condition for
belonging to the Kingdom of the Messiah will be faith, as Habakkuk wrote: “The
righteous ... will live by faith” (Hab. 2: 4; see Isa. 28:16). Unlike the Old
Testament law written on tablets of stone, the new God's law will be written on
the very hearts of the members of the New Israel, that is, the will of God will
become, as it were, an integral part of their being. This writing of the law in
the hearts of renewed Israel will be performed by the Holy Spirit, as the
prophets Isaiah, Zechariah and Joel write about. As we shall see, the prophets,
speaking of the grace of the Holy Spirit, often called it water. Grace, like
water, refreshes, purifies and gives life to the soul of man. The prophet
Isaiah first predicted spiritual renewal: “I will pour out water on the thirsty
and streams on the withered; I will pour out My spirit upon your people and My
blessing upon your descendants ”(Isa. 44: 3). In Zechariah we read: “And I will
pour out the spirit of grace and tenderness upon the house of David and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and they will look upon Him, whom they pierced, and
will weep for Him, as they weep for their only begotten son, and grieve as they
mourn for the firstborn” (Zech. 12:10). Here, incidentally, the penitential
sorrow that the inhabitants of Jerusalem experienced after the death of Christ
at Calvary is predicted (see John 19:37; Acts 2:18). The prophet Ezekiel also
wrote about spiritual renewal: “And I will take you from the nations, and
gather you from all the countries, and bring you to your land. And I will
sprinkle you with pure water, and you will be cleansed of all your filth, and I
will cleanse you of all your idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will
give you a new spirit; and I will take a heart of stone out of your flesh, and
I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put My spirit within you and do what
you walk in My commandments, and you will observe and fulfill My statutes
”(Ezek. 36: 24-27). Joel's next prophecy complements three previous: “And after
that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your
daughters will prophesy; your elders will dream, and your young men will see
visions. And also in those days I will pour out of My Spirit upon slaves and
slaves. And I will show signs in heaven and on earth: blood and fire and
pillars of smoke. The sun will turn into darkness and the moon into blood,
before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And it will be: everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for there will be salvation on
Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as the Lord said, and among the rest whom the Lord
will call ”(Joel 2: 28-32). These predictions began to be fulfilled on the
fiftieth day after the resurrection of Christ (see Acts 2:18; cf. Isa. 44: 3-5;
Ezek. 36: 25-27; Rom. 10:13). The end of Joel's prophecy of the darkening of
the sun refers to events before the end of the world. The Messianic Kingdom is
sometimes portrayed by the prophets in the form of a high mountain. This
symbol, taken from the sacred mountain of Zion, approaches the Messianic
Kingdom because it, like a mountain, resting on the earth, leads people up to
heaven. This is how the prophet Isaiah writes about the Kingdom of the Messiah:
“And in the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be put at the
head of the mountains and rise above the hills, and all the nations will flow
to it. And many nations will go and say: come, and we will go up to the
mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us
His ways and we will walk in His paths; for the law will come out of Zion, and
the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem ”(Isa. 2: 2-3). The prophets called
Jerusalem not only the most capital city of the Jewish state, but also the
Kingdom of the Messiah. So, for example, Isaiah exclaimed: “Rise, shine,
Jerusalem, for thy light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you”
(Isa. 60: 1). This allegorical depiction of the Messianic Kingdom is repeated
with new details in the vision of the prophet Daniel. In addition to the
mountain, he also speaks of a stone that was torn away from the mountain and
crushed an idol (idol) standing in the valley. The stone, as we have already
explained, symbolizes the Messiah. Here is a description of this vision: “You
saw him until the stone came off the mountain without the help of his hands,
struck the idol, his iron and clay feet, and broke them. Then everything was
crushed together: iron, clay, copper, silver and gold became like dust on the
summer barn, and the wind blew them away, and there was no trace of them; and
the stone that broke the idol became a great mountain and filled the whole
earth. ” Further, the prophet Daniel explains this vision: “And in the days of
those kingdoms” (Babylonian, then Persian, Greek, and finally Roman) “God of
heaven will erect a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will
not be transferred to another people; it will crush and destroy all kingdoms,
and will itself stand forever ”(Dan. 2: 34-35, 44). Here the idol denotes
earthly kingdoms. No matter how many enemies of the Messiah are at enmity
against His Kingdom, their efforts will not bring success. All earthly kingdoms
will sooner or later disappear, only the messianic kingdom will remain forever.
Sometimes, as we will see, prophecies about the Messianic Kingdom speak of
ideal living conditions of peace, joy and bliss. Here the reader may experience
the following perplexities: Are these Kingdom descriptions an impossible dream?
Or, perhaps, the New Testament Church itself does not have the right to claim
the title of the Kingdom of God, since there are so many deviations from the
ideal that is traced in the prophecies on its historical path? In order to
correctly understand the prophecies about the Messianic Kingdom, one must
remember that often different eras unite in them, separated from each other for
many centuries, and sometimes millennia. Indeed, in the Messianic Kingdom, the
external is conditioned by the internal: happiness, immortality, bliss,
complete harmony, peace and other blessings are not imposed by God forcibly and
mechanically. They are the result of that voluntary internal renewal through
which the members of this Kingdom were to pass. The process of spiritual
renewal was to begin immediately after the coming of the Messiah, but to end at
the end of the existence of the world. Therefore, the prophetic visions of the
blessed Kingdom of the Messiah encompass in one grandiose picture many
centuries of its existence - times close to the prophets and the coming of the
Messiah, and at the same time, distant, relating to the era of the end of the
world and the beginning of a new life. This juxtaposition of near and far in
one picture is very characteristic of prophetic visions, and if you remember
about it, the reader will be able to correctly understand the meaning of the
prophecies about the Messianic Kingdom. In the next prophecy, Isaiah writes of
joyful conditions in the triumphant kingdom of the Messiah. “He will judge the
poor in truth, and decide the affairs of the sufferers of the earth in truth;
and with the rod of his mouth he will smite the earth, and with the spirit of
his mouth he will kill the wicked. And the girdle of His loins shall be truth,
and the girth of His thighs shall be truth. Then the wolf will live with the
lamb, and the leopard will lie with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion,
and the ox will be together, and the little child will lead them. And the cow
will graze with the she-bear, and their cubs will lie together, and the lion,
like an ox, will eat straw. And the baby will play over the hole of the asp,
and the child will stretch out his hand to the snake's nest. They will not do
evil and harm on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters fill the sea. And it will be that day: the
Gentiles will turn to the root of Jesse, which will become, as a banner for the
nations, and his rest will be glory ”(Isa. 11: 4-10; see Rom. 15:12). Here, by
the “wicked” that the Messiah will strike, we should understand the last and
greatest wicked - the Antichrist. Here are two more predictions of the “great”
prophets from the same era. Prophet Jeremiah: “Behold, the days are coming, the
Lord says, and I will rebuild the righteous branch of David, and the King will
reign, and he will act wisely, and will execute judgment and truth on earth ...
In those days, Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live safely, and they
will call His name: "Lord is our justification!" "(Jer. 23: 5,
33:16). Prophet Ezekiel: “And I will set over them one shepherd who will
shepherd them, My servant David; he will shepherd them and he will be their
shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David will be a
prince among them. I, the Lord, have said this ”(Ezek. 34: 23-24). “My Servant
David will be King over them and Shepherd of them all, and they will walk in My
commandments, and My statutes will observe and fulfill them” (Ezek. 37:24).
Among the Old Testament prophets, the coming Kingdom of the Messiah invariably
ends with the hope of overcoming the ultimate evil of mankind - death. The
resurrection of the dead and eternal life is the last victory of the Messiah
over evil. Chapters 25 to 27 in the Book of Isaiah contain a laudatory song to
God and the Church, triumphant victory over death: “Therefore, strong nations
will glorify Thee; the cities of terrible tribes will be afraid of You, for You
were the refuge of the poor, the refuge of the poor in close time for him,
protection from the storm, shadow from the heat; for the wrathful breath of
tyrants was like a storm against a wall. Like the heat in a place without
water, You have tamed the riot of enemies; like the heat of the shadow of a
cloud, the glee of the oppressors is suppressed. And the Lord of hosts will
make on this mountain for all nations a meal of fat dishes, a meal of pure
wines, of a pile of bones and the purest wines; and on the mountain will
destroy the veil covering all nations, the veil lying on all tribes. Death will
be swallowed up forever, and the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all
faces, and remove the reproach from His people throughout the whole earth; for
thus saith the Lord. And they will say that day: here He is, our God! we
trusted in Him, and He saved us! This is the Lord; we trusted in him; we will
rejoice and rejoice in his salvation! For the hand of the Lord will rest on
this mountain, and Moab will be trampled in his place, as the straw in manure
is trampled upon ”(Isa. 25: 3-10). The prophet Hosea also wrote about the
victory over death: “I will redeem them from the power of hell, I will deliver
them from death. Death! where is your sting? hell! where is your victory?
”(Hos. 13:14). The hope for the resurrection was expressed by the
long-suffering righteous man who lived in antiquity, Job in the following
words: “But I know my Redeemer is alive, and on the last day He will restore
this broken skin from dust, and I will see God in my flesh. I will see Him
myself; my eyes, not the eyes of another, will see Him. My heart fades in my
bosom! ”(Job 19: 25-27). In conclusion, we give the following prophecy
regarding the Second Coming of the Messiah. “I saw in night visions, behold,
with the clouds of heaven came the Son of man, as it were, came to the Ancient
of days and was brought to Him. And He has been given power, glory, and a
kingdom so that all nations, tribes, and languages serve Him; His dominion is
eternal dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom will not be destroyed
”(Dan. 7: 13-14; see Matthew 24:30).
Summarizing the prophecies given above about the Messianic
Kingdom, we see that they all speak of spiritual processes: the need for faith,
the forgiveness of sins, the cleansing of the heart, spiritual renewal, the
outpouring of blessed gifts on believers, the knowledge of God and His law, and
the Eternal Testament with God, about victory over the devil and the forces of
evil. External benefits — the victory over death, the resurrection of the dead,
the renewal of the world, the restoration of justice, and finally eternal bliss
— will come as a reward for virtue. If the prophets, portraying future bliss,
used words expressing wealth, abundance, and similar earthly terms, then they
did this because in human language there are no necessary words to express a
blissful state in the spiritual world. These words of the prophets about
external goods, understood by some in a crude materialistic sense, gave rise to
all kinds of distorted ideas about the earthly Messianic Kingdom. I must say
that not only the Jews of the time of Christ misconceived the Messianic times
in the sense of earthly well-being. Similar dreams continue to arise to this
day among sectarians in the form, for example, of the doctrine of the
1000-year-old Kingdom of Christ on earth (chiliasm). Prophets, Jesus Christ and
the apostles predicted the transformation of the physical world, after which
complete justice, immortality and heavenly bliss will be realized. These
desired benefits will come after this material world, poisoned by sins, is
transformed by the power of God into a new heaven and a new earth on which
truth dwells. Then a new, eternal life will begin. Those who wish to inherit
the transformed Kingdom of the Messiah must go to this new life in the narrow
way of correcting themselves, as Christ taught. There is no other way.
The relationship between the Old Testament and the New
Testament Easter
Undoubtedly, the most important event in the life of the
Jewish people was its exit from Egypt and the receipt of the promised land. The
Lord saved the Jewish people from overwhelming slavery, made them a chosen
people, gave them His Divine Law on Mount Sinai, made an alliance with them and
brought them into the land promised to the forefathers. All these great events
in the life of the chosen people were concentrated in the Easter holiday. On
this holiday, the Jews annually celebrated all of God's countless good deeds to
the Jewish people. Now we compare the Jewish Old Testament Passover with the
greatest event of the New Testament. The Lord Jesus Christ suffered, died on
the Cross, and rose from the dead precisely during the Passover. This
coincidence of two great events - the formation of the Old Testament Israel and
the founding of the New Testament Church - cannot be accidental! It indicates
that there is a deep internal connection between the Easter events of the Old
and New Testaments, namely: the most important events in the life of the Jewish
people were prototypes of the New Testament events. To see this spiritual
connection, let us compare these events (see Table 2). Indeed, the resemblance
is striking! The presence of this parallel between the Old Testament and New
Testament events connected with Easter was pointed out both by the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself and His apostles. Thus, we see that not only the prophets wrote
about the Messiah and the New Testament times, but the whole religious life of
the Jewish people in the Old Testament time had the closest relationship to the
work of the Messiah. This fact indicates to us the complete spiritual unity of
the New Testament Church with Old Testament Israel. Therefore, all the
prophecies that mention the names of Israel, Jerusalem, Zion, etc. have their
full and perfect fulfillment in the blessed Church of Christ.
Predictions of the Jewish people turning to Christ before
the end of the world
As we already wrote, most Jews of the time of Jesus Christ
did not recognize the Messiah promised by God in Him and rejected Him. They
wanted in the person of the Messiah to have a powerful conquering king who
would bring glory and wealth to the Jewish people. Christ preached voluntary
poverty, meekness, love for enemies, which was unacceptable to many. Over the
centuries, the religious mood of the Jewish people has changed little, and Jews
continue to not recognize Christ. However, the apostle Paul clearly predicted
that in recent times there will be a mass conversion of Jews to Christ. This
recognition of Christ and the faith in Him of many Jews as the Savior of the
world will coincide with a sharp cooling of faith among Christian peoples and a
massive retreat. The apostle Paul’s prediction of converting the Jewish people
to faith is contained in chapters 10 and 11 of Romans. These two chapters are
imbued with great sorrow over the religious bitterness of contemporary Jews.
Here are the main ideas of the prophecy of the Apostle Paul that interests us.
“For I do not want to leave you, brethren, in ignorance of this mystery — lest
you dream of yourself — that the bitterness happened in Israel partly, until
the full number of Gentiles came in; and so all Israel will be saved, as it is
written: the Redeemer will come from Zion, and turn away wickedness from Jacob
”(Rom. 11: 25-26). Who will be this “Redeemer” - the apostle does not explain
whether Christ himself or the prophet Elijah, who, according to legend, has to
come before the end of the world to expose the deceit of the Antichrist, or
someone from the Jewish people? There are now signs of the beginning of a
resurgence of faith in Christ among the Jews. In a number of cities, missionary
centers of Jewish Christians appeared, preaching among their blood brothers the
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We pray to God to help the Jews see their Savior and begin
to serve Him as diligently as their glorious ancestors served God!
List of Messianic Prophecies
The prophets wrote that the Messiah will have two natures:
human - Genesis. 3:15; Is. 7:14; Gen. 22:18; Dan. 7:13;
and Divine - Ps. 2; Ps. 44; Ps. 109; Is. 9: 6; Jer. 23: 5;
Var. 3: 36-38; Mic. 5: 2; Mal 3: 1.
He will:
the greatest prophet - Deut. 18:18;
the king - Gen. 49:10; 2 Kings 7:13; Ps. 2; Ps. 131: 11;
Ezek. 37:24; Dan. 7:13;
high priest - Ps. 109; Zah. 6:12;
anointed by God (the Father) in these services: (Psalm 2;
Psalm 44; Isa. 42; Isa. 61: 1-4; Dan. 9: 24-27);
Good Shepherd - Ezek. 34: 23-24; Mic. 5: 3.
The prophecies also testified that the important work of the
Messiah would be:
defeat of the devil and his strength - Gen. 3:15; Chis.
24:17;
the atonement of people from sins and the healing of their
physical and mental illnesses - Ps. 39; Is. 35: 5-7; Is. 42: 1-12; Is. 50: 4;
Is. 53 chap .; Is. 61: 1-4; Zah. 3: 8-9;
Reconciliation With God - Gen. 49:10; Jer. 23: 5.31: 34;
Ezek. 36: 24-27; Dan. 9: 24-27; Zah. 13: 1;
that He will sanctify the faithful: - Zah. 6:12 a.m.
will establish the New Testament in exchange for the Old -
Is. 42: 1; Is. 55: 3; Is. 59: 20-21; Dan. 9: 24-27;
and this Testament will be eternal - Jer. 31:31; Is. 55: 3.
The prophets predicted:
the calling of the Gentiles to the Kingdom of the Messiah -
Ps. 71:10; Is. 11: 1-11; Is. 49: 6; Is. 65: 1-3;
on the spread of faith, beginning with Jerusalem - Is. 2: 2;
that His spiritual blessings will spread to all mankind -
Genesis. 22:18; Ps. 131: 11; Is. 11: 1, Isa. 42: 1-12; Is. 54: 1-5; Ezek.
34:23; Ezek. 37:24; Am 9: 11-12; Agg. 2: 6-7; Sof 3: 9; Zah. 9: 9-11;
on the spiritual joy of believers: (Isa. 12: 3).
The prophets revealed many details in connection with the
coming of the Messiah, namely:
that He comes from Abraham - Genesis. 22:18;
from the tribe of Judah - Gen. 49: 9;
from the family of King David - 2 Kings. 7: 12-16;
born of the Virgin - Is. 7:14;
in the city of Bethlehem - Mic. 5: 2;
will spread spiritual light - Is. 9: 2;
to heal the sick - Is. 35: 5-6;
will suffer, be pierced, die, be buried in a new tomb and
then rise again - Gen. 49: 9-11; Ps. 39: 7-10; Is. 50: 5-7; Is. 53 chap .; Zah.
12:10; Ps. 15: 9-11;
and lead souls out of hell - Zach. 9:11 a.m.
not all recognize Him as the Messiah - Is. 6: 9;
but some will even be at enmity with Him, albeit without
success - Chis. 24:17; Deut. 18:18; Ps. 2; Ps. 94: 6-8; Ps. 109: 1-4; Is. 50:
8-9; Is. 65: 1-3;
Isaiah wrote about the meekness of the Messiah - Isa. 42:
1-12.
the fruit of His redemption will be the spiritual renewal of
believers and the outpouring of the grace of the Holy Spirit on them - Is. 44:
3; Is. 59: 20-21; Zah. 12:10; Joel 2:28; Ezek. 36:25;
on the necessity of faith - Is. 28:16; Hab. 2: 4.
The prophets determined that:
the time of His coming coincides with the loss of his
political independence by the tribe of Judah - Gen. 49:10;
this will happen no later than seventy weeks (490 years)
after the decree on the restoration of the city of Jerusalem - Dan. 9: 24-27;
and no later than the destruction of the second Jerusalem
temple - Hag. 2: 6-9; Mal 3: 1.
The prophets predicted that:
He will destroy the Antichrist - Is. 11: 4;
will come again in glory - Mal. 3: 1-2;
the end result of His activity will be the attainment of
justice, peace and joy - Is. 11: 1-10; Jer. 23: 5.
Worthy of mention are those numerous details from the life
of the Messiah that the prophets predicted:
about the beating of infants in the vicinity of Bethlehem -
Jer. 31:15;
about the preaching of Christ in Galilee - Is. 9: 1;
about the entrance to Jerusalem on a donkey - Zach. 9: 9;
Gen. 49:11;
Judas betrayal - Ps. 40:10; Ps. 54:14; Ps. 108: 5;
about thirty pieces of silver and the purchase of potter's
land - Zach. 11: 12-13;
about scolding and spitting - Is. 50: 4-11,
about the details of the crucifixion - Ps. 21;
on reckoning the Messiah with the wicked and burial among
the rich - Is. 53 chap .;
of darkness during the crucifixion of the Messiah - Am. 8:
9; Zah. 14: 5-9;
about the repentance of the people - Zach. 12: 10-13.
Prophecies about the Kingdom of the Messiah:
the cleansing of sins - Is. 59: 20-21; Jer. 31: 31-34; Ezek.
36: 24-27; Dan. 9: 24-27; Zah. 6: 12.13: 1;
message to people of righteousness and a pure heart - Jer.
31:31; Ezek. 36:27;
New Testament Conclusion - Isa. 55: 3,59: 20-21; Jer. 31:
31-34; Dan. 9: 24-27;
the abundance of grace - Isa. 35: 5.44: 3.55: 3.59: 20-21;
Joel 2: 28-32; Zah. 12: 10-13;
the calling of the Gentiles - Ps. 21:28; Ps. 71: 10-17; Is.
2: 2.11: 1-10.42: 1-12.49: 6.54: 12-14.65: 1-3; Dan. 7: 13-14; Agg. 2: 6-7;
the spread of the Church throughout the earth - Isa. 42:
1-12.54: 12-14;
steadfastness and irresistibility - Is. 2: 2-3; Dan. 2:44;
Dan. 7:13; Zah. 9: 9-11;
the destruction of evil, suffering - Chis. 24:17; Is. 11:
1-10;
affirmation of joy - Is. 42: 1-12.54: 12-14.60: 1-5.61: 1-4;
the resurrection of the flesh - Job 19:25;
extermination of death - Is. 26 chap .; Is. 42: 1-12.61:
1-4; Zah. 9: 9-11; Os. 13:14;
knowledge of God - Isa. 2: 2-3,11: 1-10; Jer. 31: 31-34;
likening the kingdom of the Messiah to grief - Ps. 2; Is. 2:
2-3,11: 1-10; Is. 26 chap .; Dan. 2:34;
the triumph of truth and justice - Ps. 71: 10-17; Ps. 109:
1-4; Is. 9: 6-7.11: 1-10; Is. 26 chap .; Jer. 23: 5;
glory of the triumphant Church - Is. Chapters 26-27
Jerusalem was the Canaanite city of Ushalim (“founded by the
god Shalem”). It is known by Akkadian documents of the XIV century BC.
(Correspondence of Tell el Amarna). The biblical tradition sees in it the city
of Melchizedek, a contemporary of Abraham (See Genesis 14:18), and identifies
his whereabouts with Mount Moriah, on which Abraham performed the sacrifice.
According to the prophecies, Elijah will again have to come
before the end of the world to expose the deceit of the Antichrist. Then he
will suffer martyrdom.
Probably Xerxes (485-465 gg.).
Antiochus, claiming divine honors, called himself
"Kiifaiom" - which means "the manifestation of God." For
his fierce persecution of believers, he became the prototype of the coming last
persecutor of faith - the Antichrist. The Apostle Paul, speaking of the
Antichrist, predicts that he will sit in the temple of God, posing as God (2
Thess. 2: 4). Recalling a similar case with Antiochus, Jesus Christ, speaking
of the “abomination of desolation” of the sanctuary of the temple of God,
predicted by the prophet Daniel (see Dan. 9:27; Matt. 24:15), recalls this
state of the Jerusalem temple under Antioch Epiphanes. Antiochus suffered a
terrible disease, from which he died, being alive eaten by worms.
The word "kafizo" in Greek means "sit."
Greek translation of the Bible of the III century BC
This event, although extremely rare, but possible. There are
whales that reach up to 30 meters in length. The stomach of these whales has
from 4 to 6 compartments, in any of which a small group of people could freely
fit. Whales breathe air and have in their head an air reserve chamber measuring
25 cubic meters. Sometimes animals and people were found alive in the head of
such whales. A whale shark, reaching 24 meters, can also accommodate a person
in itself, without physically damaging it.
Isaiah means "the Lord saves."
In Hebrew - "Yelgosh."
Those. the village of Nauma.
The Son of God - the Second Hypostasis, or Second Person of
the Most Holy Trinity, is referred to in the Book of Proverbs as “Wisdom”
(Compare Prov. 8: 22-30).
Look at Isaiah for a similar talk about the Antichrist (Isa.
14: 5-20).
Wed Revelation 20: 7 about the hordes of Gog and Magog.
Chapter 9 is given; see the explanation of this vision in
the Old Testament of the Messiah chapter.
Archangel Michael (see Rev. 20:11).
Incidentally, Jesus Christ also preached for three and a
half years.
Myrtle (myrtle) is a southern evergreen tree with white
fragrant flowers.
Dry measure.
Angels sang about the elimination of enmity between heaven
and earth when Christ was born: “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on
earth, good will in men” (Luke 2:14).
As the apostle Paul explains, Melchizedek, which is also
described in Genesis (Genesis 14:18), was a type of the Son of God - the
eternal priest (see Heb. 7 chap.)
See Ex. 17: 1-7.
A Christian writer of the second century, who lived in Palestine,
Justin the Philosopher reports the atrocities of Bar Kochb during the heyday of
his power. He demanded that Christians renounce Christ and blaspheme His name.
He did not want to do this, he betrayed severe suffering and death, sparing
neither women nor children.
New Testament
Gospel
Preliminary information
The word Gospel means “good news,” or “pleasant, joyful,
good news.” This name refers to the first four books of the New Testament,
which tell about the life and teachings of the embodied Son of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ, about all that He did to establish a righteous life on earth and
save us sinful people. Before the coming of the Son of God to the earth, people
represented God as the omnipotent Creator, the formidable Judge, who was in impregnable
glory. Jesus Christ gave us a new concept of God as close to us, merciful and
loving Father. “He who saw me saw the Father” (John 14: 9), Jesus Christ told
His contemporaries. Indeed, the whole face of Christ, His every word and
gesture was imbued with infinite compassion for the fallen man. He was like a
Physician among the sick. People felt His love and reached out to him for
thousands. No one heard the refusal - Christ helped everyone: cleansed the
conscience of sinners, healed the relaxed and blind, comforted the desperate,
freed those possessed by the devil. His omnipotent word was subject to nature
and death itself. In this chapter, we want to introduce the reader to the time
and circumstances of writing the Gospels. In the end, we give the selected
teachings of the Savior. I would like to see more deeply into the life and
teachings of our Savior. After all, the more we read the Gospel, the more
firmly we learn the right way of thinking. By acquiring personal spiritual
experience, we begin to become convinced of the real closeness of our Savior.
We feel that He is our Good Shepherd, who daily saves us from adversity and
leads our lives. In our age, when people hear and read so many contradictory
and unfounded judgments, the Gospel should be made its reference book. Indeed,
while all other books contain the opinions of ordinary people, in the Gospel we
hear the immortal words of the Lord God.
History of the Gospel Text
All the New Testament holy books are written in Greek, but
not in classical Greek, but in the Alexandrian folk dialect of the Greek
language, the so-called “Koine”, which was spoken or, in any case, understood
by the entire cultural population of the Eastern and Western Roman Empire. It
was the language of all educated people of that time. Therefore, the
Evangelicals wrote in this language to make the New Testament holy books
accessible for reading and understanding of all educated citizens. For writing,
only large letters of the Greek alphabet were used, without punctuation marks
and even without separating one word from another. Small letters began to be
used only from the 9th century, as well as separate writing of words.
Punctuation marks were introduced only after the invention of typography in the
15th century. The current division into chapters was made in the West by
Cardinal Gug in the 13th century, and the division into verses by the Paris
typographer Robert Stefan in the 16th century. In the face of its learned
bishops and elders, the Church has always taken care to preserve the text of
the holy books from any distortions that are always possible, especially before
the invention of typography, when books were copied by hand. There is evidence
that Christian scholars such as Origen, the Hesychian Bishop of Egypt, and
Antioch Presbyter Lucian (they lived in the second half of the 3rd century
after R.H.) worked hard to correct the text in the faulty lists. With the
invention of printing, they began to ensure that the New Testament holy books
were printed only according to the best ancient manuscripts. In the first
quarter of the 17th century, two printings of the New Testament Greek text
appeared almost simultaneously: the Complutensky Polyglot in Spain and the
publication of Erasmus of Rotterdam in Basel. In the XIX century, it should be
noted as exemplary, the works of Tischendorf - edition, which appeared as a
result of comparing up to 900 New Testament Manuscripts. Just as these
conscientious critical works, and in particular, of course, the vigilant care
of the Church in which the Holy Spirit lives and leads, serve us as a
sufficient guarantee for what we currently have the clean, intact Greek text of
the New Testament holy books. In the second half of the 9th century, the New
Testament holy books were translated by the Enlightenment of the Slavs by the
Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius into the "Slovenian
language", to some extent common and more or less clear to all Slavic
tribes, the Bulgarian-Macedonian dialect, which was spoken in the vicinity of
the city of Soluni, the homeland holy brothers. The oldest monument of this
Slavic translation has been preserved in Russia under the name "Ostromir
Gospel", so called because it was written for the Novgorod posadnik
Ostromir by deacon Gregory in 1056-1057. Over time, the original Slavic text
underwent some minor Russification. Modern Russian translation was made in the
first half of the XIX century.
Gospel Writing Time
The time of writing of each of the holy books of the New
Testament cannot be determined with absolute accuracy, but it is absolutely
certain that they were all written in the second half of the 1st century. This
can be seen from the fact that a number of such writers of the second century
as the holy martyr Justin the Philosopher in his apology written around 150,
the pagan writer Celsus in his work, also written in the middle of the 2nd
century, and especially the holy martyr Ignatius the God-bearer, in his
epistles related to 107 year - everyone makes a lot of references to the New
Testament holy books and give them verbatim excerpts. The first of the New
Testament books was written by the epistles of the holy apostles, caused by the
need to confirm in the faith the newly founded Christian communities; but soon
there was a need for a systematic presentation of the earthly life of the Lord
Jesus Christ and His teachings. No matter how the so-called “negative
criticism” attempted to undermine the faith in the historical authenticity and
authenticity of our Gospels and other holy books, attributing their appearance
to the world much later (for example, Bauer and his school), the latest
discoveries in the patristic field (creations Holy Fathers of the Church)
literature with all convincing evidence that they were all written in the I
century. For a number of reasons, we can conclude that the Gospel of Matthew
was written before everyone else and not later than 50-60. by R.Kh. The Gospels
of Mark and Luke were written a little later, but in any case earlier than the
destruction of Jerusalem, that is, before the year 70 CE, and the Evangelist
John the Theologian wrote his Gospel later than all, at the end of the first
century, being already in old age as some suggest, around 96 years old. A
little earlier he wrote the Apocalypse. The book of Acts was written shortly
after the Gospel of Luke, because, as can be seen from the introduction to it,
it serves as its continuation.
The Meaning of the Four Gospels
All four Gospels according to the story of the life and
teachings of Christ the Savior, of His miracles, suffering of the Cross, death
and burial, His glorious Resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven.
Mutually supplementing and clarifying each other, they represent a single whole
book that does not have any contradictions and disagreements in the most
important and basic. A common symbol for the four Gospels is the mysterious
chariot that the prophet Ezekiel saw at the Howar River (Ezek. 1: 1-28) and
which consisted of four creatures resembling in their appearance a man, a lion,
a calf and an eagle. These creatures, taken separately, became emblems for the
evangelists. Christian art, starting from the 5th century, depicts Matthew with
a man or an angel, Mark with a lion, Luke with a calf, John with an eagle. In
addition to our four Gospels, up to 50 other scriptures were known in the first
centuries, calling themselves also “gospels” and attributing their apostolic
origin. The church assigned them to the list of "apocryphal" - that
is, unreliable, rejected books. These books contain distorted and dubious
narratives. Such apocryphal Gospels include the “First Gospel of Jacob,” “The
Story of Joseph the Carpenter,” “the Gospel of Thomas,” “the Gospel of
Nicodemus,” and others. Incidentally, they first recorded legends related to
the childhood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel relationship
Of the four Gospels, the content of the first three - from
Matthew, Mark, and Luke - largely coincides, close to each other both in the
narrative material itself and in the form of presentation. The fourth Gospel -
from John in this respect stands apart, significantly different from the first
three, both in the material set forth in it, and in the style and form of
presentation. In this regard, the first three Gospels are usually called
synoptic, from the Greek word "synopsis", which means
"exposition in one common image." But although the first three
Gospels are very close to each other both in plan and in content, each of them,
however, has its own peculiarities. Synoptic Gospels tell almost exclusively
about the activities of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Galilee, and the
Evangelist John in Judea. Weather forecasters mainly talk about miracles,
parables, and external events in the life of the Lord, the Evangelist John
discusses its deepest meaning, and gives the Lord's speech on the sublime
objects of faith. With all the differences between the Gospels, they have no
internal contradictions. With careful reading, it is easy to find clear signs
of agreement between weather forecasters and the Evangelist John. Thus, John
does not tell much about the Galilean ministry of the Lord, but he undoubtedly
knows about His repeated prolonged stay in Galilee. Forecasters do not convey
anything about the early activities of the Lord in Judea and Jerusalem itself,
but they often have hints of this activity. So, according to their testimony,
the Lord had friends, disciples and devotees in Jerusalem, such as the owner of
the upper room where the Last Supper took place, and Joseph of Arimathea.
Especially important in this regard are the words cited by weather forecasters:
“Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often did I want to collect your children, "-
an expression clearly implying the Lord's repeated presence
in Jerusalem. The main difference between the weather forecasters and the
Evangelist John lies in the conversations of the Lord. For weather forecasters,
these conversations are very simple, easy to understand, for the Evangelist
John - they are deep, mysterious, often difficult to understand, as if intended
not for the crowd, but for some closer circle of listeners. But this is so:
forecasters cite the Lord’s speeches addressed to the Galileans to simple and
ignorant people, John mainly conveys the Lord’s speeches addressed to the Jews,
scribes and Pharisees - people who were more or less highly skilled in
knowledge of the Law of Moses on the steps of then education. In addition,
John, as we will see later, has a special goal - to reveal the doctrine of
Jesus Christ as the Son of God more fully and more deeply, and this topic, of
course, is much more difficult to understand than the forerunners that are so
understandable and easily accessible to understanding . But there is no great
discrepancy between the weather forecasters and the Evangelist John. If weather
forecasters expose the more human side of Christ, and John predominantly - the
Divine, then this does not mean that weather forecasters do not have the Divine
side of Christ at all or that John has the human side. The synoptics also have
the Son of man, the Son of God, who has been given all authority in heaven and
on earth. Likewise, the Son of God, John also has a true man who accepts the
invitation to the wedding feast, speaks friendly with Martha and Mary, and
cries over the tomb of His friend Lazarus.
Thus, weather forecasters and John are mutually
complementary and only in their totality give the whole image of Christ, as he
is perceived and preached by the Church.
The nature of each of the four gospels
The Orthodox doctrine of divine inspiration of scripture
books has always held the view that, inspiring the holy writers, giving them
both thought and word, the Holy Spirit did not constrain their own mind and
character. The influx of the Holy Spirit did not suppress the human spirit, but
only cleansed and exalted it above its ordinary borders. Therefore, being a
single whole in the presentation of Divine truth, the Gospels differ among
themselves depending on the personal properties of the character of each
evangelist, differ in the structure of speech, syllable, some special
expressions, they differ among themselves and due to the circumstances and
conditions under which they were written, and depending on the purpose that
each of the four evangelists set for themselves. Therefore, for a better
interpretation and understanding of the gospel, we need to become more familiar
with the personality, character, and life of each of the four evangelists and
the circumstances in which each of the four gospels was written.
Matthew
The Evangelist Matthew, also bearing the name of Levi, was
among the 12 apostles of Christ. Prior to his call to the apostolic ministry,
he was a tax collector, that is, a tax collector, and, as such, of course, was
unloved by his compatriots - Jews, who despised and hated tax collectors for
serving the unfaithful enslavers of their people and oppressed their people by
levying taxes. in their quest for profit, they often took much more than they
should. Matthew talks about his calling in chapter 9 of his Gospel (Matthew 9:
9-13), calling himself the name of Matthew, while the evangelists Mark and
Luke, speaking of the same thing, call him Levi. Jews used to have several
names. Touched to the core by the grace of the Lord, who did not abhor him,
despite the general contempt for him of the Jews and especially the spiritual
leaders of the Jewish people, scribes and Pharisees, Matthew wholeheartedly
accepted the teaching of Christ and especially deeply enlightened his
superiority over Pharisee traditions and views bearing the stamp of external
righteousness, self-conceit and contempt for sinners. That’s why he gives such
a detailed account of the Lord’s strong accusatory speech against the scribes
and Pharisees, the hypocrites, which we find in chapter 23 of his gospel
(Matthew 23). It must be assumed that for the same reason, he especially took
to heart the work of salvation of his own native Jewish people, so saturated at
that time with false notions and Pharisee views, and therefore his Gospel was
written mainly for Jews. There is reason to believe that it was originally
written in Hebrew and only a little later, perhaps by Matthew himself, was
translated into Greek.
Having written his Gospel for the Jews, Matthew sets as his
main goal to prove to them that Jesus Christ is precisely the Messiah about
whom the Old Testament prophets predicted that the Old Testament revelation,
obscured by the scribes and Pharisees, is understood only in Christianity and
perceives its perfect meaning. Therefore, he begins his Gospel with the
genealogy of Jesus Christ, wanting to show the Jews His origin from David and
Abraham, and makes a huge number of references to the Old Testament to prove
the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies on Him. The purpose of the first
Gospel for the Jews is evident from the fact that Matthew, referring to Jewish
customs, does not consider it necessary to explain their meaning and
significance, as other evangelists do. Likewise, it leaves without explanation
some Aramaic words used in Palestine. Matthew for a long time and preached in
Palestine. Then he retired to preach in other countries and ended his life with
a martyrdom in Ethiopia.
Gospel of Mark
The Evangelist Mark was also named John. He was also a Jew
by birth, but was not among the 12 apostles. Therefore, he could not be a
constant companion and listener of the Lord, like Matthew was. He wrote his
gospel with the words and under the guidance of the apostle Peter. In all
likelihood, he himself was an eyewitness of only the last days of the earthly life
of the Lord. Only one Gospel of Mark tells of a young man who, when the Lord
was taken into custody in the Garden of Gethsemane, followed him, wrapping a
blanket over his naked body, and the soldiers seized him, but he left the
blanket and ran away from them (Mark 14: 51-52). In this young man, an ancient
tradition sees the very author of the second Gospel - Mark. His mother Mary is
mentioned in the Book of Acts as one of the wives most devoted to the faith of
Christ. At her house in Jerusalem, believers gathered for prayer. Mark
subsequently participated in the first journey of the Apostle Paul, along with
his other companion Barnabas, to whom he was his mother’s nephew. He was with
the Apostle Paul in Rome, from where the Epistle to the Colossians was written.
Further, as you can see, Mark became a companion and collaborator of the
Apostle Peter, which is confirmed by the words of the Apostle Peter in his
first Epistle of the Council, where he writes: “The church chosen in Babylon
and Mark my son greets you” (1 Pet. 5:13, here Babylon is probably the
allegorical name of Rome). Before his departure, the apostle Paul again calls
to him, who writes to Timothy: “Take the mark ... with you, for I need him for
service” (2 Tim. 4:11). According to legend, the apostle Peter made Mark the
first bishop of the Church of Alexandria, and Mark martyrically ended his life
in Alexandria. According to the testimony of Papius, Bishop of Hierapolis, as
well as Justin the Philosopher and Irenaeus of Lyon, Mark wrote his Gospel
according to the words of the Apostle Peter. Justin even bluntly calls him
"Peter's memorabilia." Clement of Alexandria claims that the Gospel
of Mark is essentially a record of the oral sermon of the Apostle Peter, which Mark
did at the request of the Christians living in Rome. The very content of the
Gospel of Mark indicates that it is intended for Gentile Christians. It says
very little about the relationship of the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ to
the Old Testament and very few references to the Old Testament holy books. At
the same time, we find in it Latin words, such as, for example, speculator and
others. Even the Sermon on the Mount, which explains the superiority of the New
Testament Law over the Old Testament, is skipped. But the main attention Mark
draws to give in his Gospel a strong vivid narration of the miracles of Christ,
emphasizing the royal greatness and omnipotence of the Lord. In his Gospel,
Jesus is not the “son of David”, as in Matthew, but the Son of God, Lord and
Lord, King of the Universe.
Luke's Gospel
The ancient historian Eusebius of Caesarea says that Luke
came from Antioch, and therefore it is generally believed that Luke was, by
origin, a pagan or the so-called "green", that is, a pagan who
accepted Judaism. By the nature of his studies, he was a doctor, as can be seen
from the Epistle of Paul to the Colossians. Church Tradition adds to this that
he was also a painter. From the fact that his Gospel contains the instructions
of the Lord to 70 disciples, set out in detail, they conclude that he belonged
to the number of 70 disciples of Christ. The extraordinary liveliness of his
story about the appearance of the Lord to two disciples on the way to Emmaus -
and only one of them, Cleopas is named - as well as the ancient tradition
testify that he was one of these two disciples who were honored with the
appearance of the Lord (see Luke 24: 13-35). Then it can be seen from the Book
of the Acts of the Apostles that, starting with the second journey of the
Apostle Paul, the Evangelist Luke becomes his permanent collaborator and almost
inseparable companion. He was under the Apostle Paul, both during his first
bonds, of which the Epistle to the Colossians and the Philippians was written,
and during his second bonds, when the Second Epistle to Timothy was written.
There is evidence that after the death of the Apostle Paul, the Evangelist Luke
preached and received martyrdom in Achaia. His holy relics under the emperor of
Constance (in the middle of the 4th century) were transferred from there to
Constantinople along with the relics of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called. As
can be seen from the very preface of the third Gospel, Luke wrote it at the
request of one noble husband, “the venerable” Theophilos, who lived in Antioch,
for whom he then wrote the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, which serves as a
continuation of the gospel narrative (see Luke 1: 1 -4; Acts 1: 1-2). However,
he used not only the accounts of eyewitnesses of the Lord’s ministry, but also
some written records of the life and teachings of the Lord that existed then.
In his own words, these written records were subjected to the most careful
study of him, and therefore he The gospel is particularly accurate in
determining the time and place of events and strict chronological sequence. The
Sovereign Theophilus, for whom the third Gospel was written, was not a resident
of Judea and was not in Jerusalem, otherwise the evangelist Luke would not have
to give him various geographical explanations, such as the fact that Eleon is near
Jerusalem, at a distance of the Sabbath, etc. P. On the other hand, he
apparently knew more about Syracuse, Riga, Puteol in Italy, Appia Square and
the Three Hotels in Rome, which the Evangelist Luke makes no mention of in the
Book of Acts. According to Clement of Alexandria (beginning of the III
century), Theophilus was a rich and noble inhabitant of Antioch (Syria),
professed the faith of Christ, and his house served as a temple for Antioch
Christians. The influence of the apostle Paul, whose companion and collaborator
was the evangelist Luke, clearly affected the Gospel of Luke. As the “Apostle
of the Gentiles,” Paul tried most of all to reveal the great truth that the
Messiah - Christ - came to the earth not only for the Jews, but for the
Gentiles and that He is the Savior of the whole world, of all people. In
connection with this basic idea, which the third Gospel clearly conducts
throughout its narrative, the genealogy of Jesus Christ was brought to the
forefather of all mankind Adam and to God Himself to emphasize His significance
for the whole human race (see Luke 3: 23-38 ) Places such as the embassy of the
prophet Elijah to the widow of Zarephath of Sidon, the healing of the leprosy
by the prophet Elisha Naaman Syriyanin, the parables of the prodigal son, the
tax collector and the Pharisee, are closely connected with the elaborate
teaching of the apostle Paul on the salvation of not only Jews, but and of the
Gentiles and of the justification of man before God, not by the works of the
Law, but by the grace of God, bestowed solely by infinite mercy and the love of
God. No one has so vividly portrayed the love of God for repenting sinners, as
did the Evangelist Luke, who cited in his Gospel a whole series of parables and
real events on this subject. It is enough to recall, in addition to the
parables already mentioned about the prodigal son and the tax collector and the
Pharisee, the parable of the lost sheep, the lost drachma, the merciful
Samaritan, the tale of the repentance of the tax collector Zacchaeus and other
places, as well as the significant words about “what’s so in heaven there will
be more joy over one sinner repenting than about ninety-nine righteous people
who do not need repentance ”(Luke 15: 7).
The time and place of the writing of the Gospel of Luke can
be determined on the basis of the consideration that it was written earlier
than the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, which constitutes, as it were, its
continuation (see Acts 1: 1). The book of Acts ends with a description of the
two-year stay of the apostle Paul in Rome (see Acts 28:30). It was about 63
A.D. Consequently, the Gospel of Luke was written no later than this time and,
presumably, in Rome.
Gospel of john
The Evangelist John the Theologian was a beloved disciple of
Christ. He was the son of a Galilean fisherman Zavedey and Solomiya. Zavedy was
apparently a wealthy man, since he had workers, was apparently not an
insignificant member of Jewish society, for his son John had an acquaintance
with the high priest. His mother, Solomia, is mentioned among the wives who
served the Lord with their property. She accompanied the Lord in the Galilee,
followed him to Jerusalem for the last Passover, and participated in the
purchase of fragrances to anoint His body along with other myrrh-bearing wives.
Tradition considers her the daughter of Joseph the Betrothed. The Evangelist
John was first a disciple of John the Baptist. Hearing his testimony of Christ
as the Lamb of God, taking upon himself the sins of the world, he immediately
followed Andrew with Christ (see John 1: 35-40). However, he became a constant
disciple of the Lord a little later, after a wonderful catch of fish on Lake
Hennisaret (Galilee), when the Lord himself called him together with his
brother Jacob. Together with Peter and his brother Jacob, he gained a special
affinity for the Lord, being with him in the most important and solemn moments
of his earthly life. So, he was honored to be present at the resurrection of
Jairus' daughter, to see the transfiguration of the Lord on the mountain, to
hear a conversation about the signs of His second coming, and he witnessed His
Gethsemane prayer. And at the Last Supper he was so close to the Lord that, in
his own words, he “reclined at the bosom of Jesus” (John 13: 23-25), whence his
name “confidante” came from, which later became a household word for a person,
especially to someone close to you. By humility, not calling himself by name,
he, nevertheless, speaking of himself in his Gospel, calls himself a disciple
whom Jesus loved. This love of the Lord for him was also reflected in the fact
that the Lord, hanging on the Cross, entrusted His Most Holy Mother to him,
saying to him: “Behold your mother!” (See John 19:27). Lovingly Burning the
Lord, John was Full indignation against those who were hostile to the Lord or
alienated from Him. Therefore, he forbade a person who did not go with Christ
to cast out demons in the name of Jesus Christ (Luke 9:49; Mk. 9:38) and asked
the Lord for permission to lower fire on the inhabitants of a Samaritan village
because they did not accept Him when He traveled to Jerusalem through Samaria
(see Luke 9:54). For this, he and his brother Jacob received from the Lord the
nickname “Voanerges”, which means “sons of Thunder”. Feeling the love of
Christ, but not yet enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit on the day of
Pentecost, he decides to ask himself and his brother Jacob for the closest
place to the Lord in His coming Kingdom, in response to which he receives a
prediction about the cup of suffering that awaits both of them (see Matthew .
20: 20-23). After the Ascension of the Lord, we often see John with the apostle
Peter. Along with him, he is considered the pillar of the Church and has his
presence in Jerusalem (see Gal. 2: 9). Since the destruction of Jerusalem, the
city of Ephesus in Asia Minor has been made the place of life and activity of
John. During the reign of Emperor Domitian, he was sent into exile on the
island of Patmos, where he wrote the Apocalypse (see Rev. 1: 9). Returned from
this link to Ephesus, he wrote his Gospel there and died his own death (the
only one of the apostles), according to legend, very mysterious, in old age,
being about 105 years old, during the reign of Emperor Trajan. According to
tradition, the fourth gospel is written by John at the request of the Ephesian
Christians. They brought him the first three Gospels and asked him to
supplement them with the speeches of the Lord that he had heard from Him. The
Evangelist John confirmed the truth of everything written in these three
Gospels, but found that much needs to be added to their narrative, and in
particular, to expound the doctrine of the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ more
extensively and brighterly so that people do not think of Him over time as “
The Son of man. " This was all the more necessary because by this time
heresies had already begun to appear, which denied the Divinity of Christ - the
Evionites, the heresy of Kerinth and the Gnostics. These circumstances are
mentioned by Irenaeus of Lyons (mid-3rd century). From all that has been said,
it is clear that the purpose of writing the fourth Gospel was to complement the
narrative of the three evangelists. A distinctive feature of the Gospel of John
is clearly expressed in the name that was given to him in antiquity. Unlike the
first three Gospels, it was primarily called the spiritual gospel. The gospel
of John begins with a presentation of the doctrine of the Deity of Jesus
Christ, and further contains a number of very exalted speeches of the Lord, in
which His Divine dignity and the deepest sacraments of faith are revealed, such
as, for example, a conversation with Nicodemus about being born again with
water and the spirit and the sacrament of redemption (John 3: 1-21), a
conversation with a Samaritan woman about living water and about worship of God
in spirit and truth (John 4: 6-42), conversation about bread that came down
from heaven and the sacrament of communion (John 6: 22-58), conversation about
a good shepherd (John 10: 11-30) and especially remarkable in its content, the
farewell conversation with the disciples at the Last Supper (John 13-16) with
the final wondrous, the so-called “high priest” prayer ”of the Lord (John 17).
Here we find a whole series of our own testimonies of the Lord about Himself,
as the Son of God. For the doctrine of God the Word and for the revelation of
all these deep and exalted truths and secrets of our faith, the Evangelist John
was named the Theologian. A pure-hearted virgin, who wholeheartedly surrendered
himself to the Lord and loved by Him for this with special love. John
penetrated deeply into the sublime mystery of Christian love - and no one, like
him in his Gospel and in his three Epistles of the Sobors, revealed so fully,
deeply and convincingly, the Christian doctrine of the two basic commandments
of the Law of God - love of God and love to the neighbor. Therefore, he is also
called the apostle of love. An important feature of the Gospel of John is the
fact that, while the first three evangelists tell mainly about the preaching of
the Lord Jesus Christ in the Galilee, John presents the events and speeches
that took place in Judea. Thanks to this, we can calculate the duration of the
Lord’s public ministry and, at the same time, the duration of His earthly life.
Preaching for the most part in Galilee, the Lord traveled to Jerusalem for all
the major holidays. There were only three such journeys to Jerusalem on Easter,
as can be seen from the Gospel of John, and before the fourth Easter of His
public ministry, the Lord accepted the Cross death. It follows that the Lord’s
public ministry lasted about three and a half years, and He lived on earth for
only thirty-three and a half years (for he entered the public ministry, as Luke
testifies (see Luke 3:23), about 30 years old ) Savior's Selected Instructions
Faith: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal
life” (John 3:16);
“Blessed are they who have not seen and believed” (John
20:29).
See also Matt. 16: 17-18; Lx 17: 5-10; Mk. 16:16.
God's will, follow it: “Thy will be done on earth as it is
in heaven” (Matthew 6:10);
“Not everyone who says to me:“ Lord! Lord! ”, He will enter
the Kingdom of Heaven, but fulfilling the will of My Father in Heaven” (Matthew
7:21).
Thanks to God: “Walking to Jerusalem, He passed between
Samaria and Galilee. And when He entered one village, ten lepers met him, who
stopped far away and in a loud voice said: Jesus the Mentor! have mercy on us.
When he saw them, He said to them: Go, show yourself to the priests. And when
they walked, they were cleansed. One of them, seeing that he was healed,
returned, glorifying God with a loud voice, and prostrated himself at His feet,
thanks to Him; and it was a Samaritan. Then Jesus said: have not ten been
cleansed? where are nine? how did they not return to give glory to God, besides
this foreigner? And he said to him: Rise, go; your faith has saved you ”(Luke
17: 11-19).
Grace, Holy Spirit: “Born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:
6);
“Jesus answered her: everyone who drinks this water will
thirst again, and whoever drinks the water that I will give him will not thirst
forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a source of
water flowing into eternal life ”(John 4: 13-14);
“So, if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, all the more Heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who
ask of Him” (Luke 11:13);
“The Spirit of Truth ... He will guide you into all truth”
(John 16:13).
See also John. 7: 37-39; John 14: 15-21; John 16:13; Mk. 4:
26-29 - the parable of the invisibly growing seed; Matt. 13: 31-32 - parable of
mustard seed; Matt. 25: 1-13 - parable of the ten virgins.
Wakefulness: “Watch therefore, for you do not know when the
master of the house will come: in the evening, or at midnight, or at the
singing of roosters, or in the morning; so that when he comes suddenly, he does
not find you sleeping ”(Mark 13: 35-36).
See also: Lk. 11: 24-26; Lx 21: 34-36; Matt. 13: 24-30 - the
parable of the tares.
To do good: “In all that you want people to do with you, so
do you with them” (Matthew 7:12);
“So let your light shine before people, so that they can see
your good deeds and glorify your Heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:16);
“And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of
cold water, in the name of a disciple, verily I tell you, will not lose his
reward” (Matthew 10:42).
See also: Lk. 19: 11-27; Matt. 25: 31-46; Lx 10: 25-37 - the
parable of the merciful Samaritan; Lx 13: 6–9 is the parable of the barren fig
tree.
About the development of good qualities in oneself: The
Beatitudes, in which the path to perfection is traced - Matt. 5: 3-12. Sermon
on the Mount - Matt. 5-7 chap.
The parable of the sower (see Matthew 13: 3-23), and
especially the parable of talents (see Matthew 25: 14-30), speaks of the need
to develop in ourselves the natural abilities that God has given us. The
combination of blessed gifts with developed abilities (talents) makes up the
true wealth of a person; therefore it is said that “the kingdom of God is
within you” (Luke 17:21).
Unity, striving for it: “There will be one flock and one
Shepherd” (John 10:16);
“May all be one, as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee, that
they may be one in Us, that the world may believe that you sent Me” (John
17:21);
“Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in
the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).
Truth, love for her: “Pilate said to him: so are you a king?
Jesus answered: you say that I am the King. For this I was born and then came
into the world to testify to the truth; everyone who is of the truth listens to
my voice ”(John 18:37).
See also: Matt. 13: 44-46 - parable of the treasure in the
field.
The cross, its bearing, the narrow path: “Enter with narrow
gates, because the gates are wide and the path leading to destruction is wide,
and many go by them; because the gates are narrow and the path leading to life
is narrow, and few find them ”(Matt. 7: 13-14);
“The kingdom of heaven is taken by force, and those who use
it will delight him” (Matthew 11:12);
“He who does not take his cross and follows Me, is not
worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:38).
See also: Lk. 13: 22-30; Mk. 8: 34-38; Lx 14: 25-27; John
12: 25-26.
Love for God and people: “Love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your thoughts, and with all
your strength ... love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12: 30-31);
“I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13); (John 14:
21-23);
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you
have love among one another” (John 13:35);
“There is no longer that love, as if someone would lay down
his soul for his friends” (John 15:13).
See also: Matt. 5: 42-48; John 13: 34-35.
Prayer: “Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you
will find, knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7: 7);
“All that you ask in prayer in faith, you will receive”
(Matthew 21:22);
“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in
spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).
See also: Matt. 6: 5-15; Lx 18: 1-8; Matt. 18: 19-20; Mk.
11:23; John 16: 23-27; Mk. 14:38; Lx 11: 5-8; Lx 18: 1-8 - the parable of the
unjust judge.
Alms: “Enter with narrow gates, because the gates are wide
and the path leading to perdition is wide, and many go by them; because the
gates are narrow and the path leading to life is narrow, and few find them
”(Matt. 7: 13-14).
See also: (Matt. 6: 1-4; Luke 14: 12-15; Luke 21: 1-4).
Condemnation: “Do not judge, but you will not be judged, for
by what court you judge, you will be judged” (Matt. 7: 1-2).
Hope for God: “Are five small birds sold for two assariums?
and not one of them is forgotten by God. And your head hair is all numbered. So
do not be afraid: you are more valuable than many small birds ”(Luke 12: 6-7);
“Therefore I say unto you, Do not worry for your soul what
you eat and what to drink, nor for your body what to dress. Is not the soul
more food and the body of clothes? Look at the birds of the sky: they neither
sow, nor reap, nor gather in the granaries; and your Heavenly Father feeds
them. Are you not much better than them? And how many of you, caring, can add
at least one elbow to your height? And what clothes do you care? Look at the
field lilies, how they grow: neither work nor spin; but I tell you that Solomon
in all his glory did not dress like any of them; if the grass of the field,
which is today, and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, God dresses like
that, if more so than you, of little faith! So do not care and do not say: what
do we have? or what to drink? or what to wear? because the Gentiles seek it
all, and because your Heavenly Father knows that you need all this. Seek first
the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you. So
do not worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will take care of itself: it’s
enough for each day of its care ”(Matthew 6: 25-34);
“Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God and believe
in Me” (John 14: 1);
“Impossible to humans is possible to God” (Luke 18:27);
“The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost” (Luke
19:10).
Lackiness, everyday worries: “What is the use of man if he
gains the whole world, and damages his soul? or what ransom a man will give for
his soul? ”(Matthew 16:26);
“How difficult it is for those who hope for wealth to enter
the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:24).
See also: Lk. 10: 41-42; Mk. 10: 17-27; Lx 12: 13-21 - the
parable of the reckless richer.
Repentance: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come”
(Matt. 3: 2);
“I came to call not the righteous, but sinners to
repentance” (Matthew 9:13);
“Everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin ... if the Son
sets you free, you will be truly free” (John 8:34, 36);
“If you do not repent, you will all likewise perish” (as
crushed by the tower in Jerusalem, Luke 13: 3).
See also: (Matthew 4:17; John 5:14; Luke 7:47; Luke 13: 1-5;
Matt. 18: 11-14 - the parable of the missing sheep; Luke 15: 11-32 - parable of
the prodigal son; Luke 18: 4-14 - parable of the publican and the Pharisee).
Fasting: “This race is cast out only by prayer and fasting”
(Matthew 17:21).
See also: (Mark 2: 19-22; Matt. 6: 16-18; Mark 9:29).
Righteousness, striving for it: “Blessed are those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5: 6);
“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom
of their Father” (Matthew 13:43);
“Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew
5:48).
Reconciliation with neighbors, forgiveness of insults:
Farewell to “up to seventy-seventy times” (Matthew 18:22; Matthew 6: 12-14).
See also: Matt. 5: 23-26; Lx 23:34; Matt. 18: 13-35 - the
parable of the evil debtor.
Communion, its necessity: “Jesus said to them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink
His Blood, you will not have life in you. He who eats My flesh and drinks My
Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day ”(John 6:
53-54).
See also: (Luke 22: 15-20).
Joy in God: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great
in heaven” (Matthew 5:12);
“Come to Me all you who work and are heavy laden, and I will
reassure you ... My yoke is good, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28, 30);
“I give them eternal life, and they will not perish forever;
and no one shall steal them from My hand ”(John 10:28);
“No one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22).
Reasonableness: “Beware that no one deceives you” (Matthew
24: 4).
See also: Lk. 14: 28-33; Lx 16: 1-13 is the parable of the
wrong housekeeper.
Humility, modesty: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5: 3);
“Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who
humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11);
“Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29);
“Whoever wants to be great among you, let him be your
servant” (Matthew 20:26).
See also: Lk. 10:21; Lx 18: 9-14; Mk. 10: 42-45; John 13:
4-17; Matt. 20: 1-16 - about employees who received equal pay.
Temptations, struggle with them: “If your hand seduces you,
cut it off: it is better for you to enter into life for the mutilated than to
go to hell with two hands” (Mark 9:43);
“Woe to the world from temptations, for temptations must
come; but woe to that man through whom temptation comes ”(Matt. 18: 7).
See also Lk. 17: 1-2.
Patience: “With your patience save your souls” (Luke 21:19);
“He who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:22);
“To bear fruit in patience” (Luke 8:15);
“Remember that you” (rich) “already received good ... in
your life, and Lazarus - evil; now he is here ”(in paradise)“ consoled, and you
suffer ”(Luke 16:25 - parable of the rich and Lazarus).
Chastity, marital fidelity: Matt. 5: 27-32; Matt. 19: 3-12.
Purity of heart: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
will see God” (Matthew 5: 8);
“Evil thoughts come from the heart ... it defiles a person”
(Matt. 15: 19-20);
“Keep the word” (of God) “in a pure heart” (Luke 8:15);
“He who does not accept the kingdom of God as a child, he
will not enter into it” (Mark 10:15);
“You are already cleansed through the word that was
preaching to you” (John 15: 3).
See also: (Mark 7: 15-23).
Tongue, watch out for it: “Spawn of the vipers! how can you
speak good while being evil? For out of an abundance of heart the mouth speaks.
A good person brings good from a good treasure, and an evil person brings evil
from a bad treasure. I tell you that for every idle word that people say they
will give an answer on the day of judgment: for you will be justified from your
words, and you will condemn your words ”(Matthew 12: 34-37).
See also: Matt. 5:22.
Conclusion
The Lord Jesus Christ came to create the Kingdom of God
among people - a righteous way of life. He taught us to constantly take care of
this and ask: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven and on earth”
(Matthew 6:10). But He did not want to plant this Kingdom by artificial,
coercive means. Therefore, He shied away from any interference in the political
life of the country, but urged people to correct their hearts - to spiritual
rebirth. And this, in turn, was supposed to lead to an improvement in all
aspects of social life. Reading the history of the spread of Christianity, we
see that as people have adopted the teachings of the Savior, favorable social
and economic changes have occurred in human society. Indeed, Christianity
contributed to the abolition of slavery, elevated the position of women,
strengthened the family, created charitable organizations, brought the highest
moral and humane principles to humanity. We see a completely different
situation in those countries where non-Christian ideas like fascism or
“scientific” materialism are propagated. There, instead of the promised earthly
Paradise, something like hell arises, instead of worshiping God, a cult of the
leader is created. Only God knows all the flaws and weaknesses of human nature
damaged by sin. Only He can help a person overcome his bad inclinations and
solve personal, family and social problems. Therefore, in the teaching of
Christ we must seek guidance on what to strive for and what to do. It also puts
faith in God and love for people at the heart of life. It teaches mercy,
compassion, humility and meekness. It calls for doing good, creatively developing
in ourselves all the abilities that God has given us. The teaching of Christ
brings peace and joy to the soul. It teaches that man is created for eternal
bliss in the kingdom of heaven, and helps man to achieve it. That is why the
Christian must constantly carefully and with a prayerful mood read the Gospel,
drawing from it the heavenly Wisdom.
Book of Acts and Cathedral Messages
Preliminary information
With the spread and increase in the composition of Christian
communities in different parts of the vast Roman Empire, naturally, Christians
had questions of a religious, moral and practical order. The apostles, not
always having the opportunity to personally examine these questions on the
spot, responded to them in their letters of epistle. Therefore, while the
Gospels contain the foundations of the Christian faith, the apostolic epistles
reveal some aspects of the teachings of Christ in more detail and show its
practical application. Thanks to the apostolic epistles, we have a living
testimony of how the apostles taught and how the first Christian communities
were formed and lived. The Church has always looked at the apostolic epistles
as the words of the Holy Spirit and the pure source of Truth (see Luke 12:12;
John 16:13; John 17: 17-19). Although living conditions are constantly changing
and raise new problems every year, the essence of these problems is the same as
in the apostolic time and throughout the centuries of the existence of mankind.
Therefore, in the apostolic epistles, the Christian will find the right
guidance for solving his personal problems and the enduring treasure of the
Christian doctrine of faith and life. In this chapter, we introduce the reader
to the authors and circumstances of writing the Book of Acts and the Apostolic
Synods of the Apostles. In the end, we give selected teachings from these holy
books.
Acts of the Holy Apostles
The book of Acts is a direct continuation of the gospel. The
purpose of its author is to describe the events that followed the ascension of
the Lord Jesus Christ and give an outline of the original structure of the
Church of Christ. This book is particularly detailed about the missionary work
of the apostles Peter and Paul. St. John Chrysostom in his conversation about
the Book of Acts clarifies its great significance for Christianity, confirming
with the facts from the life of the apostles the truth of the gospel doctrine:
"This book contains in itself the main evidence of the resurrection."
That is why on Easter night before the glorification of the resurrection of
Christ begins in Orthodox churches, chapters from the Book of Acts are read.
For the same reason, this book is read in its entirety from Easter to Pentecost
for daily liturgies. At the direction of the writer of the Book of Acts (see
Acts 1: 1-3), this is his second book, written for Theophilus, who lived in
Antioch. It follows from this that the book of Acts was written as a
continuation of the third Gospel and its author is the evangelist Luke, a
companion and collaborator of the apostle Paul. There is also a stylistic
similarity between the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. We find references
to the Book of Acts among early writers, such as, for example, Ignatius the
God-bearer, Polycarp of Smyrna, and Justin the Philosopher. On the affiliation
of the Book of Acts to the work of Luke, we find information from writers of
the 2nd century - Irenaeus of Lyon, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen,
as well as in the ancient Syriac translation of the Bible (Pescito). The book
of Acts tells of events from the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ to the
arrival of the Apostle Paul in Rome and covers a period of about 30 years.
Chapters 1-12 tell of the activities of the Apostle Peter among the Jews of
Palestine; Chapters 13–28 are about the activities of the Apostle Paul among
the Gentiles and the spread of the teachings of Christ already outside
Palestine. The narrative of the book ends with an indication that the apostle
Paul lived in Rome for two years and preached without precedence the doctrine
of Christ (Acts 28: 30-31). The martyrdom of the apostle that followed in Rome
under Emperor Nero around 67 A.D. is not mentioned here. From Church Tradition
it is known that the apostle Paul, acquitted at the trial of Caesar, again
returned to Jerusalem and made another, fourth, missionary journey. From this
we can conclude that the Book of Acts was completed around 63 or 64 years after
R.H. in the city of Rome. The Apostle Paul in the Epistles to the Colossians
and Philemon refers to Luke as being with him in Rome. Thus, the Book of Acts
paints us a picture of how the Church of Christ, having established itself
among the Jews in Palestine, according to the predictions of the Lord Himself,
with the stubborn disbelief of the bulk of the Jewish people, went into the
pagan world and gradually spread to Asia Minor and Southern Europe. In the Book
of Acts we see the fulfillment of the Savior's prophecies regarding the
miracles that the apostles will perform in His name, and the triumph of
Christ's faith over the world. We see how, despite the human weakness of the
apostles, who did not possess any external material means and data for
spreading the gospel doctrine, after the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them,
they became like other people, fearlessly, with great courage and selflessness,
despite all the persecution, preached the teachings of Christ in all parts of
the then cultural Greco-Roman world and in a short time founded many Christian
communities. The book of Acts is bright testifies that the preaching of the apostles
is not a human thing, but the work of God. Particularly instructive is the
description of the life of the first Christians who had “one heart and one
soul” (Acts 4:32), which was the exact opposite of the life of the rest of the
world, drowning in selfishness and all kinds of sins and vices. For pastors of
the Church of Christ, the Book of Acts is important because it provides them
with a model of church life and church governance based on the principle of
collegiality (Acts 15 of Chap.). It describes in narratives and direct
instructions what a minister of the Church should be (see Acts 20: 18-35).
But the most important thing in this book is that it, like
no other book, testifies to the greatest truth of Christianity - the
Resurrection of Christ. Indeed, miracles performed in the name of Christ are
the best proof of the truth of the Resurrection of Christ, and the book of Acts
predominantly describes the miracles of the apostles.
Cathedral Messages
The name of the “Council” refers to seven epistles written
by the apostles: one by Jacob, two by Peter, three by John the Theologian, and
one by Judas (not Iscariot). As part of the books of the New Testament of the
Orthodox edition, they are placed immediately after the Book of Acts. They were
called cathedral by the Church in early times. "Cathedral" is a
"district" in the sense that they are not addressed to private
individuals, but to all Christian communities in general. The entire
composition of the Cathedral Epistles was named by this name for the first time
by the historian Eusebius (beginning of the 4th century AD). From the letters
of the Apostle Paul, Cathedral letters are distinguished by the fact that they
have more general basic doctrine, and the content of the Apostle Paul is
adapted to the circumstances of those local Churches to which he refers and has
a more special character. The apostle Paul is distinguished by the personality
of the apostle himself and the circumstances in his apostolic activity, and the
Cathedral Epistles set forth universally binding rules of faith and piety for
all Christians and almost no biographical information.
Epistle of James
The writer calls himself “Jacob, a servant of God and the
Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1: 1). In Gospel history, three persons are known
with the name of James: 1) James, son of the Zebedees, one of the 12 apostles
and brother of John the Theologian; 2) Jacob Alfeyev, the brother of the
evangelist Matthew, also one of the twelve, and 3) Jacob, called the “brother
of the Lord,” who was one of the 70 disciples of Christ and had brothers
Josiah, Jude, and Simon (see Matthew 13:55), who became then the first bishop
of Jerusalem and received the title of “righteous” from the Jews. Unlike the
other two, which belonged to the number 12, he was called even "smaller."
Saint James the Zebedees very early ended his life with martyrdom (about 44
years in Jerusalem, Acts 12: 2). Saint James Alfeyev preached among the
Gentiles. Meanwhile, the conciliar epistle of Jacob is addressed to the Jews
who are scattered (James 1: 1), and the Church Tradition ascribes it to the
third Jacob - the brother of the Lord, the first bishop of Jerusalem. For his
righteousness, he enjoyed authority among all Jews (even those who did not
believe) and, as a bishop of Jerusalem, could consider under his hierarchical
authority all Christians from Jews, wherever they were. About Jacob, the
brother of the Lord, it is known that he led a strictly ascetic life, was a
virgin, did not drink wine and other alcoholic beverages, did not eat meat, wore
only linen clothes, strictly abided by the Law of Moses and often retired to
pray in the Jerusalem temple. He was the eldest son of Joseph the Betrothed
from his first wife. According to legend, he accompanied Joseph and Mary with
the baby Jesus during their flight to Egypt. At first, like his brothers, he
did not fully believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah. But then he
believed with all his heart, and the Lord after His resurrection honored him
with His special appearance (see 1 Cor. 15: 7). Highly respected among the
apostles, he presided over the first Apostolic Council in Jerusalem (Acts 15
Ch.). It must be assumed that all his activities were concentrated in
Palestine. He ended his life as a martyr, having been dumped in about 64 by the
Jewish rulers from the portico of the Jerusalem Temple. Jewish historian
Josephus, listing the reasons for the fall of Jerusalem as a result of the war
with the Romans, says that the Lord also punished the Jews for the murder of
Jacob the Righteous. Tradition ascribes to Jacob the compilation of the ancient
rite of the Divine Liturgy, which is still performed in Jerusalem and in other
churches on the day of his memory on October 23. The message of the apostle
Jacob was intended for the Jews: “to the twelve tribes that are scattered,”
which did not exclude the Jews who lived in Palestine. The time and place of
the message are not indicated. Apparently, he wrote the message shortly before
his death, probably in the years 55-60. The place of writing is probably Jerusalem,
where the apostle stayed constantly. The reason for writing was those sorrows
that the Jews scattered from the Gentiles and, in particular, from their
unbelieving brothers. The trials were so great that many began to lose heart
and hesitate in faith. Some grumbled at external calamities and at God Himself,
but still saw their salvation in descent from Abraham. They looked at prayer
incorrectly, did not underestimate the importance of good deeds, but willingly
became teachers of others. At the same time, the rich were extolled over the
poor, and brotherly love cooled. All this prompted Jacob to give them the
necessary moral healing in the form of a message. In chapter 2 of the Epistle
of James, there is a most valuable instruction about the essence of faith,
which should not consist in the abstract recognition of Christian truths, but
also in its living manifestation in the works of mercy. Chapter 5 (James 5:14)
speaks of the purpose and power of the Sacrament of Sanctification.
Epistles of the Apostle Peter
The apostle Peter, formerly called Simon, was the son of the
fisherman Jonah of Bethsaida of Galilee (see John 1: 42-45) and the brother of
the apostle Andrew the First-Called, who brought him to Christ. The apostle
Peter was married and had a house in Capernaum (see Matthew 8:14). Called by
Christ the Savior for fishing on Lake Genisaret (see Luke 5: 8), he always
expressed particular devotion and determination, for which he was honored with
a special approach to the Lord with the sons of Zavedeev (see Luke 9:28).
Strong and fiery in spirit, he naturally took an influential place among
Christ's apostles. He was the first to resolutely confess the Lord - by Christ,
that is, the Messiah (see Matthew 16:16), and for this he was awarded the name
- Stone (Petros). On this stone of Peter's faith, the Lord promised to create
His Church, which the gates of hell will not prevail (see Matthew 16:18). The
apostle Peter washed his threefold denial of the Lord (on the eve of the
crucifixion of the Savior) with bitter tears of repentance, as a result of
which, after His resurrection, the Lord again restored him to apostolic
dignity, three times, according to the number of denials, entrusting him to
feed His lambs and sheep (see John 21: 15-17). The first apostle Peter helped
to spread and affirm the Church of Christ after the descent of the Holy Spirit
by delivering strong speech to the people on the day of Pentecost and turning
3000 souls to Christ. After some time, having healed the lame, by the second
sermon he converted 5,000 more Jews to the faith (see Acts 2-4 of Ch.). The
book of Acts, from chapters 1 to 12, tells of his apostolic activities.
However, after his miraculous release by the Angel from prison, when Peter was
forced to hide from Herod (see Acts 12: 1-17), he is mentioned only once again
in the story of the Apostolic Council (Acts 15 of Ch.). Other information about
him was preserved only in the Church Traditions. It is known that he preached
the gospel along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, in Antioch (where
ordained Bishop Euodius). The apostle Peter preached in Asia Minor to Jews and
proselytes (pagans converted to Judaism), then - in Egypt, where he ordained
Mark to the first bishop of the Church of Alexandria. From here he went to
Greece (Achaia) and preached in Corinth (see 1 Cor. 1:12), then he preached in
Rome, Spain, Carthage and Britain. By the end of his life, Peter again arrived
in Rome, where he suffered a martyrdom around the year 67 according to R.H.,
being crucified upside down on the cross. The first Sobor of the Apostle Peter
addressed the “newcomers scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and
Bithynia” - the provinces of Asia Minor. By "newcomers" it is
necessary to understand mainly the believing Jews, as well as the Gentiles who
were part of the Christian communities. These communities were founded by the
apostle Paul. The reason for writing the epistle was the desire of the apostle
Peter to “confirm his brothers” (see Luke 22:32) in the event of inconvenience
in these communities and persecutions suffered by the enemies of the Cross of
Christ. Among the Christians, internal enemies appeared in the person of false
teachers. Taking advantage of the absence of the apostle Paul, they began to
distort his teaching on Christian freedom and to patronize all moral
licentiousness (see 1 Pet. 2:16; Pet. 1: 9; 2, 1). The purpose of this Epistle
of Peter is to encourage, comfort, and affirm the faith of Asia Minor
Christians, as the apostle Peter pointed out: “I wrote this briefly to you through
Silvanus, faithful, as I think, your brother, to assure you, comforting and
testifying that this is true the grace of God in which you stand ”(1 Pet.
5:12). The place of the first epistle is Babylon (see 1 Pet. 5:13). In the
history of the Christian Church, the Babylonian Church in Egypt is known, where
Peter probably wrote his epistle (there is also a widespread interpretation of
what Babylon means Rome). At this time, Silouan and Mark were with him, leaving
the Apostle Paul after he was sent to court in Rome. Therefore, the date of the
first message is determined between 62 and 64 years according to R.H.
The Second Sobor Letter is written to the same Asia Minor
Christians. In this epistle, the apostle Peter specifically warns believers
against depraved false teachers. These false teachings are similar to those
denounced by the apostle Paul in the epistles to Timothy and Titus, as well as
the apostle Judas in his epistle. The false teachings of heretics threatened
the faith and morality of Christians. At that time, Gnostic heresies began to
spread rapidly, absorbing elements of Judaism, Christianity and various pagan
teachings. In life, the adherents of these heresies were immoral and boasted of
their knowledge of “secrets”. The second epistle was written shortly before the
martyrdom of the Apostle Peter: “knowing that he should soon leave my temple,
as our Lord Jesus Christ revealed to me” (2 Pet. 1:14). Its writing can be
attributed to 65-66 years. The apostle Peter spent the last years of his life in
Rome, thanks to which it can be concluded that the second epistle was written
in Rome as his last will and testament.
Epistles of the Apostle John the Theologian
The style of the message and individual expressions remind
us of the Gospel of John, and already an ancient tradition considered it to
belong to the beloved disciple of Christ. John the Theologian was the son of a
Galilean fisherman Zavedey and his wife Salome, according to legend, the
daughter of Joseph the Betrothed from his first marriage. Thus, he was,
according to the ideas of others, the nephew of the Lord. His elder brother
Jacob was also among the 12 apostles. For the strength of their spirit, the
Lord called both brothers “the sons of thunder” - Voanerges (Mark 3:17).
Obeying the Lord’s call (see Matthew 4:21; Luke 5:10), John left his parental
home, becoming one of His disciples close with Peter and James (see Mark 5:37;
Matthew 17: 1; Matthew 26:37). The Lord honored John with a special love: John
reclined on the Lord's Persians at the Last Supper, and at the Cross the Savior
adopted John of His Most Holy Mother (see John 13: 23-25; John 19:26). John
himself, without naming himself, speaks of himself as a disciple whom Jesus
loved (see John 19:26). Of all the disciples, only John did not leave his
Master and stood at Calvary at the Cross itself. According to legend, after the
Ascension of the Lord and the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Evangelist John
for 15 years did not leave Jerusalem until the blessed assumption of the Mother
of God. He and Peter and James took an active part in the organization of the
Jerusalem Church and, together with them, was considered one of its pillars
(see Gal. 2: 9). To bring the Holy Spirit to the baptized Samaritans, John went
to them with Peter (see Acts 8:14).
Later he went to preach in the province of Asia Minor and
settled in Ephesus, from where he managed all the Churches of Asia Minor. From
Ephesus he was exiled to the island of Patmos, under the emperor Domitian,
after he miraculously saved his life by being plunged into a cauldron with
boiling oil. In exile he wrote his Apocalypse - Revelation. He later returned
to Ephesus and at the end of the 1st century wrote his Gospel and three Sobor
messages. He remained a virgin and died a somewhat mysterious death at the
beginning of the II century in the city of Ephesus. Without identifying himself
in the epistle, John speaks of himself as an eyewitness and a seer of the
events of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ (see 1 John 1: 1-4).
The first Synodal Epistle is written after the Gospel of
John: “What was from the beginning, what we heard, what we saw with our own
eyes, what we examined and what our hands touch, about the Word of life — for
life appeared, and we saw and testify, and we announce to you this eternal life
that was with the Father and appeared to us - that we have seen and heard, we
announce to you that we have fellowship with us: and our fellowship with the
Father and His Son, Jesus Christ ”( 1 John 1: 1-3) and probably in Ephesus at
the end of the 1st century. It was written for the Christians of the Asia Minor
Churches, long established and composed primarily of former pagans (see 1 John
5:21). By then, Asia Minor had multiplied Gnostic teachings that replaced
ritual Judaism and rude paganism, against which the apostles Judas, Peter and
Paul fought. False Gnostic teachers rejected the Deity of Jesus Christ and His
dignity as Savior of the world, rejected the reality of His incarnation. They
indulged in vices, arguing that knowledge gives a person the right to complete
freedom and moral revelry. Accordingly, the nature of the message is exhorting
and revealing. The purpose of the message is to establish faith in Jesus Christ
as the Son of God, so that all through Him will receive eternal life and abide
in truth and love.
There is no reliable information on the appointment of the
Second Council Epistle, except for those contained in the epistle itself. Who
was named "the chosen mistress" and her children is unknown. It is
only clear that they were Christians (there is an interpretation that “Madame”
is the Church, and “children” are Christians). As for the time and place of
writing this letter, one might think that it was written at the same time that
the first was written, and in the same Ephesus. The second epistle of John has
only one chapter. In it, the apostle expresses his joy that the children of the
chosen lady walk in the truth, promises to visit her and with insistence
exhorts not to have any communication with false teachers.
Third Sobor: addressed to Gaius or Caius. Who it was is not
exactly known. From the apostolic writings and from the Church Tradition it is
known that several persons carried this name (see Acts 19:29; Acts 20: 4; Rom.
16:23; 1 Cor. 1:14 and others), but to whom of these or to whom else this
message is written, there is no way to determine. Apparently, this Guy did not
occupy any hierarchical position, but was simply a pious Christian, a stranger.
The time and place of writing the third epistle can be assumed that: both of
these letters were written at approximately the same time, all in the same city
of Ephesus, where the apostle John spent the last years of his earthly life.
This message also consists of only one chapter. In it, the apostle praises Gaia
for his virtuous life, firmness in faith and “walking in the truth,” and
especially for his virtue of accepting strangers in relation to the preachers
of the Word of God, condemns the power-loving Diotreph, reports some news and
sends greetings.
Epistle of Judah
The writer of this epistle calls himself "Judas, the
slave of Jesus Christ, the brother of Jacob." From this we can conclude
that this is one person with the apostle Judas from among the twelve, who was
called Jacob, as well as Levway (not to be confused with Levi) and Thaddeus
(see Matthew 10: 3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6: 16; Acts 1:13; John 14:22). He was the
son of Joseph the Betrothed from his first wife and brother of the children of
Joseph - Jacob, later the Bishop of Jerusalem, nicknamed the Righteous, Josiah
and Simon, later also the Bishop of Jerusalem. According to legend, his first
name was Judas, he received the name of Thaddeus by being baptized by John the
Baptist, and he received the name Levway by entering the face of the 12
apostles, perhaps to distinguish him from the name of Judas Iscariot, who
became a traitor. Regarding the apostolic ministry of Judah on the Ascension of
the Lord, the legend says that he preached first in Judea, Galilee, Samaria and
Going, and then in Arabia, Syria and Mesopotamia, Persia and Armenia, in which
he died a martyr, crucified on the cross and pierced by arrows. The reasons for
writing the epistle, as seen from verse 3, were Judas's concern “for the
general salvation of souls” and anxiety about the strengthening of false teachings
(Jude 1: 3). Saint Jude directly says that he writes because ungodly people
have crept into the Christian community, turning Christian freedom into a cause
for debauchery. Undoubtedly, these are false Gnostic teachers who encouraged
debauchery under the guise of “killing” sinful flesh and considered the world
not a creation of God, but a work of lower forces hostile to Him. These are the
same Simonians and Nicolaitans whom they denounce. Evangelist John in chapters
2 and 3 of the Apocalypse. The purpose of the epistle is to warn Christians
from being carried away by these false doctrines, flattering sensuality. The
message is assigned to all Christians in general, but its contents show that it
was intended for a certain circle of people into which the false teacher found
access. It can be assumed with certainty that this epistle was originally
addressed to the same Minoasian Churches, to which the Apostle Peter later
wrote. Undoubtedly, this message was written before the destruction of
Jerusalem, which occurred in the year 70, for Judas, who mentioned in his
letter almost all the wonderful manifestations of the Divine Court, would not
fail to mention this amazing event. The similarity of this epistle to that of
the Apostle Peter suggests that it was written after Petrov, and Judas used the
characterization of the false teachers given by Peter in almost the same words
and phrases. The communal epistle of the Apostle Jude consists of only one
chapter and is from beginning to end one continuous speech directed against
false teachers.
Selected Instructions from the Epistles
Here we present the selected teachings of the apostles,
distributed by topic in alphabetical order.
Piety: “Pure and immaculate piety before God and the Father
is to watch (feed, protect)“ orphans and widows in their sorrows and keep
themselves undefiled from the world ”(James 1:27).
God, hope in Him and His love: “Therefore, humble yourself
under the mighty hand of God, that he may lift you up in due time. Put all your
worries on Him, for He cares for you ”(1 Pet. 5: 6-7);
“The Lord does not hesitate in fulfilling the promise, as
some consider it to be slow; but is patient with us, not wanting anyone to
perish, but that everyone should come to repentance ”(2 Pet. 3: 9);
“See what kind of love the Father has given us to be called
and to be children of God. The world therefore does not know us because it did
not know Him ”(1 John 3: 1).
Diseases: “Does any of you suffer, let him pray. Is anyone
merry, let him sing psalms. Is any of you sick, let him call the elders of the
Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
Lord. And the prayer of faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will raise him
up; and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him ”(James 5: 13-15).
Faith: “But His commandment is that we believe in the name
of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He has commanded us” (1 John
3:23);
“He who believes in the Son of God has a testimony in
himself; He who does not believe God presents Him as lying, because he does not
believe in the testimony with which God testified of His Son. This testimony is
that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son ”(1 John 5:
10-11);
“But let him ask in faith, not in the least doubting,
because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea lifted and flown by the wind.
May such a person not think to receive anything from the Lord ”(James 1: 6-7);
“What is the use, my brethren, if anyone says that he has
faith, but has no works? can this faith save him? If a brother or sister is
naked and has no daily food, and one of you tells them: “go in peace, warm
yourself and eat,” but will not give them what is needed for the body: what is
the use? So faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. But someone will say:
“you have faith, but I have works”: show me your faith without your works, and
I will show you my faith from my works. You believe that God is one: you do
well; and demons believe, and tremble. But do you want to know, an unreasonable
person, that faith without works is dead? Did not Abraham our father justify
himself by deeds, laying on the altar of Isaac his son? Do you see that faith
contributed to his works, and by works his faith reached perfection? And the
word of Scripture was fulfilled: "Abraham believed God, and this was
credited to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God."
You see that a person is justified by works, and not by faith only? Like Rahab,
did the harlot not justify herself by accepting spies and letting them go the
other way? For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so faith without works
is dead ”(James 2: 14-26).
Anger: “The wrath of man does not create the truth of God”
(James 1:20).
Sin: “Conceived lust gives birth to sin, and sin done gives
birth to death” (James 1:15).
“If we walk in the light, like He in the light, we have
fellowship with each other, and the Blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us
from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, then He, being faithful and
righteous, will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If
we say that we have not sinned, we present Him as lying, and His word is not in
us ”(1 John 1: 7-10);
“My children! I am writing this to you, so that you do not
sin; but if anyone had sinned, then we have an intercessor before the Father,
Jesus Christ, the righteous; He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only
for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. And we know that we know
Him from the fact that we keep His commandments ”(1 John 2: 1-3);
“And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself as
He is pure. Everyone who commits sin also does lawlessness; and sin is
lawlessness. And you know that He appeared in order to take away our sins, and
that in Him there is no sin. Anyone abiding in him does not sin; everyone who
sinned did not see Him and did not know Him ”(1 John 3: 3-6);
“Whoever commits sin is from the devil, because at first the
devil sinned. For this reason the Son of God appeared to destroy the works of
the devil. Everyone born of God does not commit sin, because His seed abides in
him; and he cannot sin, because he was born of God ”(1 John 3: 8-9);
“If anyone does not see his brother sinning with sin not to
death, then let him pray, and God will give him life, that is, sinning sin is
not to death. There is a sin to death: I’m not talking about praying. All
untruth is sin; but there is no sin to death. We know that everyone born of God
does not sin; He that is born of God preserves himself, and the evil one does
not touch him ”(1 John 5: 16-18).
Good deeds and righteousness: “Be the executors of the word,
and not listeners only, deceiving yourself” (James 1:22);
"Brethren! if one of you deviates from the truth, and
whoever turns it, let him know that he who turns a sinner from his false path
will save his soul from death and cover many sins ”(James 5: 19-20);
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of
God and Christ Jesus our Lord. How, from His Divine power, everything that was
needed for life and piety was granted to us, through the knowledge of the One
who called us the glory and goodness, which gave us great and precious
promises, so that through them you would become partakers of the Divine nature,
departing from the corruption that is prevailing in the world: you are making
every effort to this, show virtue in your faith, virtue in judgment, temperance
in reasoning, patience in temperance, godliness in patience, brotherly love in
godliness, love in brotherly love. If this is in you and multiplies, then you
will not be left without success and fruit in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ. But in whom there is none of this, he is blind, closed his eyes, forgot
about the cleansing of his former sins ”(2 Pet. 1: 2-9);
“If you know that He is righteous, also know that everyone
who does the truth is born of Him” (1 John 2:29);
"Beloved! do not imitate evil, but good. He who does
good is from God; but he who does evil did not see God ”(3 John 1:11).
Life: “For life appeared, and we saw and testify, and we
proclaim to you this eternal life that was with the Father and appeared to us”
(1 John 1: 2);
“The promise that he promised us is eternal life” (1 John
2:25);
“We know that we have passed from death to life because we
love the brothers; He who does not love a brother abides in death ”(1 John
3:14).
Temptations and sorrows: “With great joy, accept, my
brethren, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the test of your
faith produces patience; patience must have a perfect action so that you can be
perfect in its entirety, without any flaw ... Blessed is the man who endures
temptation, because, having been tested, he will receive the crown of life that
the Lord promised to those who love Him. In temptation, nobody say: God tempts
me; because God is not tempted by evil and He does not tempt anyone, but
everyone is tempted, carried away and deceived by his own lust ”(James 1: 2-4,
12-14);
“Rejoice in this, now mourning a little, if necessary, from
various temptations, so that your tested faith would be more precious than
dying gold, although with fire, to praise and honor and glory in the appearance
of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1: 6-7 );
“For what praise is it if you endure when you are beaten for
misconduct? But if, doing good and suffering, endure, it is pleasing to God.
For you are called to this, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an
example, so that we would follow His tracks ”(1 Pet. 2: 20-21);
“So, as Christ suffered flesh for us, you too will arm
yourself with the same thought; for the sufferer of the flesh ceases to sin, so
that the rest of the flesh will live no longer according to human desires, but
according to the will of God ”(1 Pet. 4: 1-2);
“Beloved ones! the temptation of fire, to send you a test,
do not be fooled, as a strange adventure for you, but how you participate in
the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, and even in the manifestation of His glory
you will rejoice and triumph. If you are reproached for the name of Christ,
then you are blessed, for the Spirit of Glory, the Spirit of God rests on you.
He blasphemes, but is glorified by you. If only one of you had not suffered as
a murderer, or a thief, or a villain, or as an encroachment on someone else's;
but if as a Christian, then do not be ashamed, but glorify God for such a fate
”(1 Pet. 4: 12-16).
Truth: “I was very glad that I found from your children
walking in the truth, as we received the commandment from the Father” (2 John
1: 4);
“Everyone who violates the doctrine of Christ and does not
abide in it does not have God; He who abides in the teaching of Christ has both
the Father and the Son. He who comes to you and does not bring this teaching,
do not take him into the house and do not greet him. For he who greets him is
involved in his evil deeds ”(2 John 1: 9-11);
“For me there is no greater joy than to hear that my
children walk in truth” (3 John 1: 4).
The End of the World, Judgment: “The Lord knows how to
deliver the pious from temptation, and keep the wicked on the day of judgment,
for punishment” (2 Pet. 2: 9);
“The day of the Lord will come, like thawing at night, and
then the heavens will pass away with noise, but the elements, burning up, will
be destroyed, the earth and all things on it will be burned” (2 Pet. 3:10);
“However, according to His promise, we expect a new heaven
and a new earth, on which truth dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13).
Love: “Above all, have earnest love for one another, because
love covers many sins” (1 Pet. 4: 8);
“But he who keeps his word, in that the love of God is truly
fulfilled: from this we know that we are in him” (1 John 2: 5);
“We knew love in the fact that He laid down His soul for us:
and we must lay down our souls for our brothers. But who has wealth in the
world, but, seeing his brother in need, closes his heart from him - how does
the love of God abide in it? My children! let us not love in word or in tongue,
but in deed and in truth ”(1 John 3: 16-18);
“Beloved ones! we will love one another, because love is
from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not
love does not know God, because God is love ”(1 John 4: 7-8);
“Love reaches that perfection in us that we have boldness on
the day of judgment, because we act in this world like Him. There is no fear in
love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He who fears
is imperfect in love. We will love Him, because He first loved us. Who says: “I
love God,” but hates my brother, that liar: for he who does not love his
brother, whom he sees, how can he love God, whom he does not see? And we have
such a commandment from Him that the one who loves God loves his brother as
well ”(1 John 4: 17-21);
“What we love the children of God, we learn from when we
love God and keep His commandments. For this is love for God, that we keep his
commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome ”(1 John 5: 2-3);
“But love consists in us doing according to his
commandments. This is the commandment that you heard from the beginning, that
you should do it ”(2 John 1: 6).
Prayer: “Confess to one another in misconduct and pray for
each other to be healed: the strengthened prayer of the righteous can do a lot”
(James 5:16);
“Beloved ones! if our heart does not condemn us, then we have
boldness towards God, and, whatever we ask, we will receive from Him, because
we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing to Him ”(1 John 3: 21-22);
Grace: “And here is the boldness we have for Him, that when
we ask for something according to His will, He listens to us. And when we know
that He listens to us in everything, whatever we ask, we also know that we
receive what is requested from Him ”(1 John 5: 14-15).
The world in evil lies: “Adulterers and adulterers! don’t
you know that friendship with the world is enmity against God? So, whoever
wants to be a friend to the world, he becomes an enemy to God ”(James 4: 4);
“Do not love the world, nor that of the world: whoever loves
the world does not have the love of the Father. For all that is in the world:
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not from
the Father, but from this world. And the world passes away, and its lust, but
he who does the will of God abides forever ”(1 John 2: 15-17);
"Children! you are from God, and have overcome them;
for He that is in you is greater than he that is in the world ”(1 John 4: 4);
“For everyone born of God conquers the world; and this is
victory, conquering the world, our faith. Who conquers the world, if not the
one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? ”(1 John 5: 4-5);
“We know that we are of God and that the whole world is in
evil” (1 John 5:19).
Wisdom: “If one of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who
gives to all simply and without reproach, and he will be given to him” (James
1: 5);
“Is any of you wise and intelligent, prove this in fact by
good behavior with wise meekness” (James 3:13);
“But wisdom, descending from above, is first pure, then
peaceful, humble, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and
impartial” (James 3:17).
Repentance: “Draw near to God, and draw near to you; cleanse
your hands, sinners, correct your hearts, double souls ”(James 4: 8).
Knowledge of God: “And we know that we know him from the
fact that we keep his commandments. He who says: “I have known him,” but he
does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and there is no truth in him ”(1
John 2: 3-4);
“However, you are anointed from the Holy One and you know
everything” (1 John 2:20).
Obedience (service): “Serve one another, each with the gift
that he received, as good housekeepers of the varied grace of God. Does anyone
speak, speak like the words of God; Does anyone serve? Serve according to the
strength that God gives, that God may be glorified in everything through Jesus
Christ, to whom glory and power are forever and ever. Amen ”(1 Pet. 4: 10-11).
Staying in God: “He who says that he abides in Him, he must
do as He did” (1 John 2: 6);
“So, children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we
will have boldness and not be ashamed of Him at His coming” (1 John 2:28);
“No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, then God
abides in us, and His love is perfect in us. We know that we abide in Him and
He in us from what He has given us from His Spirit ”(1 John 4: 12-13).
Birth from Above: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the
Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the One loves the One born of
Him” (1 John 5: 1).
Spiritual Light: “And here is the gospel that we heard from
Him and proclaim to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him” (1 John
1: 5);
“If we walk in the light, like He in the light, we have
fellowship with each other, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us
from all sin” (1 John 1: 7);
“Whoever says that he is in the light, but hates his
brother, is still in darkness. He who loves his brother is in the world, and
there is no temptation in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness, and
walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because darkness blind
his eyes ”(1 John 2: 9-11).
Family: “Also, you wives, obey your husbands, so that those
who do not obey the word can be acquired by the life of their wives when they
see your clean, God-fearing life. May your external hair weaving, not golden
dress or dress in clothes, be your adornment, but a man hidden from the heart
in the imperishable beauty of a meek and silent spirit, which is precious
before God. So once the holy women who trusted in God adorned themselves,
obeying their husbands. So Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You are her children,
if you do good and are not embarrassed by any fear. Also, you husbands, treat
your wives wisely, as if you were a weak vessel, showing them honor as co-heirs
of a blessed life, so that you would not be hindered in prayers ”(1 Pet. 3:
1-7).
Conscience: “And by this we know that we are of the truth,
and soothe our hearts before Him; for if our heart condemns us, then God knows
how much more, because God is greater than our heart and knows everything.
Beloved ones! if our heart does not condemn us, then we have boldness toward
God ”(1 John 3: 19-21).
Salvation: “Knowing that you were not redeemed by decayed
silver or gold from the vain life devoted to you from the fathers, but by the
precious Blood of Christ, as an immaculate and pure Lamb” (1 Pet. 1: 18-19);
“But you are the chosen race, the royal priesthood, the holy
people, people taken as an inheritance, in order to proclaim the perfection of
He who called you from darkness into His wonderful light; once a people, but
now a people of God; once unforgiven, but now have mercy ”(1 Pet. 2: 9-10);
“If the righteous barely escapes, then where is the wicked
and sinful?” (1 Pet. 4:18).
Passion: “Beloved! I ask you, as aliens and wanderers, to
move away from the carnal lusts that arise in the soul ”(1 Pet. 2:11);
“They promise them freedom, being themselves the slaves of
corruption; for whoever is defeated by whom is also a slave. For if, having
avoided the filth of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome by them, then the
latter is worse for those worse than the former. It would be better for them
not to know the paths of truth than, having known, to return back from the holy
commandment devoted to them. But it happens to them according to a true
proverb: the dog returns to his vomit, and: the washed pig goes to wallow in
the mud ”(2 Pet. 2: 19-22).
Language: “If one of you thinks he is pious, and does not
bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, he has empty piety” (James 1:26);
“For we all sin a lot. He who does not sin in the word is a
perfect man, able to curb his whole body. Now, we put the bit into the mouth of
the horses, so that they obey us, and we control their whole body. So, the
ships, no matter how big they are and no matter how strong the winds rush, head
off with a small rudder where the helmsman wants; so language is a small
member, but does a lot. Look, a little fire ignites how much substance! ”(James
3: 2-5);
“For he who loves life and wants to see good days, keep your
tongue from evil and your mouth from crafty speeches” (1 Pet. 3:10).
Epistles of the Apostle Paul
The Significance of the Epistles of St. Paul
Of all the New Testament holy writers, the apostle Paul, who
wrote 14 epistles, worked the most in the presentation of Christian doctrine.
By the importance of their content, they are rightly called the “second Gospel”
and have always attracted the attention of both philosopher thinkers and
ordinary believers. The apostles themselves did not disregard these edifying
creations of their “beloved brother”, the youngest in conversion to Christ, but
equal to them in the spirit of teaching and gracious gifts (see 2 Pet. 3:
15-16). Composing a necessary and important addition to the gospel doctrine,
the epistles of the Apostle Paul should be the subject of the most careful and
diligent study of each person who seeks to better understand the Christian
faith. These messages are distinguished by the special height of religious
thought, reflecting the vast scholarship and knowledge of the Old Testament
Scriptures of the Apostle Paul, as well as his deep understanding of the New
Testament teachings of Christ. Sometimes finding the necessary words in modern
Greek, the apostle Paul was sometimes forced to create his own verbal
combinations to express his thoughts, which later became widespread among
Christian writers. Such phrases include: “to be resurrected”, “to be clothed
with Christ”, “to be clothed in Christ”, “to be clothed with the old man”, “to
be saved by the bath of Pakybyt”, “the law of the spirit of life”, etc.
The connection of the teachings of the Apostle Paul with his
life
The epistles of the Apostle Paul are the fruits of his
apostolic zeal in revealing the teachings of Christ. They are remarkable in
that the apostle reveals in them the Christian teaching not abstractly, but in
close connection with the development of the Churches founded by him, his
apostolic writings and personal experiences. Since the doctrine set forth in
the epistles of the Apostle Paul is closely intertwined with his personality,
acquaintance with his life and personality contributes to their understanding.
Therefore, we will introduce the reader to the facts of the life of the Apostle
Paul, which, at the direction of the apostle himself, served as a source for
him to solve questions of the Christian doctrine of faith and morality. “For I
am the least of the Apostles, and am not worthy to be called an Apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am that which
I am; and His grace in me was not futile, but I worked harder than all of them:
not me, however, but the grace of God, which is with me ”(1 Cor. 15: 9-10) -
this is how the great“ apostle of tongues ”describes itself (pagans ) Under
this name, the apostle Paul went down in the history of the Christian Church.
Endowed by nature with rich mental abilities, he was brought up and trained in
strict Pharisee rules and, in his own words, excelled in Judaism for more than
many of his peers, being in his youth an immoderate adherent of his fatherly
traditions (see Gal. 1:14). When the Lord, who chose him from his mother’s
womb, called him to apostolic ministry, he devoted all his energy, all the
forces of his great spirit to preaching the name of Christ among the Gentiles.
In doing this, he suffered many sorrows from his fellow tribesmen blinded by
unbelief and fiercely against Christ. Studying the life and works of Paul
according to the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, one really cannot but be
amazed at the unusual, indestructible energy of this great “apostle of
tongues”. It is hard to imagine how this person, who did not have good health
and powerful physical strength (see Gal. 4: 13-14), could endure as many
incredible difficulties and dangers as the apostle Paul had to endure for the
glory of the name of Christ. And what is especially remarkable: as these
difficulties and dangers multiply, his fiery jealousy and energy are not only
not weakened, and even more ignited and strengthened. Forced to recall, for the
edification of the Corinthians, his exploits, he writes of them this way:
“Servants of Christ? (I say more in madness. I was much more in labor,
immensely in wounds, more in dungeons and many times at death. From the Jews
five times I was given forty times without one blow; three times I was beaten
with sticks, once I was beaten with stones, three I was shipwrecked, I spent
the night and day in the depths of the sea; I traveled many times, in dangers
on rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from pagans, in dangers from
pagans, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the desert, in dangers at sea, in
dangers between false brethren, in labor and exhaustion, often in vigil, in
hunger and thirst, often in fasting, in cold and in nakedness ”(2 Cor. 11:
23-27). Comparing himself to the other apostles and in humility calling
himself“ the lesser ”of them Nevertheless, Paul could in all fairness declare:
“but I worked harder than all of them: not me, however, but the grace of God,
which is with me.” (1 Cor. 15:10) And indeed, without the grace of God, an
ordinary person does not I could raise such works and accomplish so many feats.
As courageous, direct and unshakable in his convictions the apostle Paul showed
himself to kings and masters, he was just as decisive and sincere in his relations
with his fellow apostles. So one day he did not stop even before convicting the
apostle Peter himself, when this apostle gave rise to criticism of the paganism
of Antioch in the Asia Minor capital (see Gal. 2: 11-14). This fact is
important, by the way, in that it clearly speaks against the false assertion of
the Roman Catholics that the apostle Peter was appointed by the Lord “a prince
over the other apostles” and, as it were, the deputy of the Lord Himself (from
which the popes appropriate the title of “deputies of the Son of God” ) Would
Paul, the former persecutor of the Church of Christ and later than others come
to the apostolic ministry, dare to expose the “substitute” of the Lord Jesus
Christ? This is absolutely unbelievable. The apostle Paul convicted Peter as an
equal, as a brother of his brother.
The Life and Works of the Apostle Paul
The apostle Paul, originally bearing the Jewish name of
Saul, belonged to the tribe of Benjamin and was born in the Cilician city of
Tarsus (in Asia Minor), which was then famous for its Greek academy and the
education of its inhabitants. As a native of this city and as descended from
Jews who came out of slavery from Roman citizens, Paul had the rights of a
Roman citizen. In Tarsus, Paul received his first upbringing, and probably got
acquainted with pagan culture there, for in his speeches and messages the
traces of acquaintance with pagan writers are clearly visible (see Acts 17:28;
1 Cor. 15:33; Tit. 1 :12). He received his final education in Jerusalem at
the then-famous rabbinical academy from the famous teacher Gamaliel (see Acts
22: 3), who was considered an expert on the Law and, despite being a member of
the Pharisee party, was a free-thinking man (see Acts 5:34 -39) and a lover of
Greek wisdom. Here, according to the custom accepted by the Jews, young Saul
studied the art of making tents, which later helped him earn his living by his
own labor (see Acts 18: 3; 2 Cor. 11: 8; 2 Thess. 3: 8). Young Saul,
apparently, was preparing for the post of rabbi, and therefore, immediately
after finishing his upbringing and education, he proved himself a strong zealot
of the Pharisee traditions and persecutor of the faith of Christ. Perhaps, on
the appointment of the Sanhedrin, he witnessed the death of the first martyr Stephen
(see Acts 7:58; Acts 8: 1), and then received the authority to officially
persecute Christians even outside Palestine in Damascus (see Acts 9: 1- 2). The
Lord, who saw in him a “chosen vessel,” miraculously called him to the
apostolic ministry on the way to Damascus. During the journey, Saul was
illuminated by the brightest light, from which he blindly fell to the ground. A
voice came from the light: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” To Saul’s
question: “Who are you?” - the Lord answered: “I am Jesus, Whom you persecute.
" The Lord told Saul to go to Damascus, so that he would be told what to
do next. Saul's companions heard the voice of Christ, but they did not see the
light. Brought to hand in Damascus, the blinded Saul was taught faith and was
baptized by Ananias on the third day. At the time of immersion in water, Saul
saw his sight. From that time he became a zealous preacher of the teachings he
had previously persecuted. For a time, he went to Arabia, and then returned to
Damascus to preach about Christ. The fury of the Jews, outraged by his
conversion to Christ, forced him to flee to Jerusalem (see Acts 9:23) in 38 CE,
where he joined the community of believers and met with the apostles. Due to
the attempt of the Hellenists to kill him, he went to his hometown of Tara.
From here, for about 43 years, he was called by Barnabas to Antioch to preach,
and then traveled with him to Jerusalem, where he brought help to those in need
(see Acts 11:30). Shortly after returning from Jerusalem - at the command of
the Holy Spirit - Saul and Barnabas set off on their first apostolic journey,
lasting from 45 to 51 years. The apostles traveled all over the island of
Cyprus, and from that time Saul, who turned to the faith proconsul Sergius
Paul, is already called Paul. During this missionary trip of Paul and Barnabas,
Christian communities were founded in the Asia Minor cities of Antioch of
Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra and Derbia (Asia Minor cities). In 51, the apostle
Paul took part in the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem, where he ardently
rebelled against the need for Gentile Christians to observe the rites of the
Mosaic Law. Returning to Antioch, Paul, accompanied by the apostle of Silas,
took the second apostolic journey. First, he visited the churches he founded
earlier in Asia Minor, and then moved to Macedonia, where he founded
communities in Philippi, Soluni, and Veria. In Lystra, Paul acquired his
beloved disciple, Timothy, and from Troas continued the journey with the
apostle Luke who joined them. From Macedonia, Paul moved to Greece, where he
preached in Athens and Corinth, staying the last year and a half. From here he
sent two letters to the Thessalonians. The second journey lasted from 51 to 54
years. In 55, Paul went to Jerusalem, visiting Ephesus and Caesarea on the way,
and from Jerusalem arrived in Antioch (see Acts 17 and 18 of Ch.). After a
short stay in Antioch Paul took the third apostolic journey (56-58 gg.), First
visiting, according to his custom, the previously founded Churches of Asia
Minor, and then stayed at Ephesus, where for two years he preached daily in the
school of a certain Tyrannus. From here he wrote his letter to the Galatians
(regarding the strengthening of the party of the Judaic) and the First Epistle
to the Corinthians (regarding the unrest that occurred and in response to the
letter from the Corinthians). A popular uprising, raised against Paul of silver
by the master Demetrius, forced the apostle to leave Ephesus, and he went to
Macedonia (see Acts 19 of Ch.). On the way, he received news from Titus about
the state of the Corinthian Church and the favorable effect of his message.
Therefore, he sent with Titus from Macedonia the Second Epistle to the
Corinthians. Soon he himself arrived in Corinth, from where he wrote the Epistle
to the Romans, intending after Jerusalem to go to Rome and further west. Having
said goodbye to the Ephesian elders in Melite, he arrived in Jerusalem, where,
due to the popular rebellion against him, he was taken into custody by the
Roman authorities and was imprisoned first with the proconsul Felix, and then
with the proconsul Festus who replaced him. This happened in 59, and in 61,
Paul, as a Roman citizen, was sent to Rome at the request of Caesar at his
request. Having suffered a shipwreck at about. Malta, the apostle only in the
summer of 62 reached Rome, where he enjoyed great indulgence of the Roman
authorities and freely preached. This ends the story of his life, available in
the Book of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 27-28 gl.). From Rome, Paul wrote
his Epistles to the Philippians (with gratitude for the money allowance sent to
him with Epaphrodite), to the Colossians, to the Ephesians, and to Philemon, a
resident of Colossus (regarding the slave Onesimus who fled from him). All
three of these messages were written in 63 and sent with Tikhik. From Rome, in
the year 64, it was also written Epistle to the Palestinian Hebrews. The
further fate of the Apostle Paul is not exactly known. Some believe that he
remained in Rome and, at the behest of Nero, was put to death in the year 64.
But there is reason to believe that after two years of imprisonment, Paul was
given freedom and he took the fourth missionary journey, which is indicated by
his so-called “pastoral letters” - to Timothy and Titus. After defending his
case before the Senate and the Emperor, Paul was released from his bonds and
traveled again in the East. After spending a long time on the island of Crete,
he left his disciple Titus there for the ordination of elders in all cities
(see Tit. 1: 5), which testifies to his ordination of Titus as bishop of the
Cretan Church. Later, in his epistle to Titus, the apostle Paul instructs him
how to go about the duties of a bishop. From the same message it is clear that
he intended to spend the winter of 64 years in Nikopol (see Titus 3:12), near
his native Tarsus. In the spring of 65, he visited the rest of the Asia Minor
Church and in Miletus left the sick Trofim, because of which there was
indignation against the apostle in Jerusalem, which entailed his first ties
(see 2 Tim. 4:20). It is not known whether Paul passed through Ephesus, since
he said that the elders of Ephesus would not see his face (see Acts 20:25), but
he apparently ordained Timothy at that time as bishop for Ephesus. Then the
apostle passed through Troas, where he left his felon (liturgical outer
clothing) and books (probably also liturgical, with some Carp, see 2 Tim.
4:13), and then went to Macedonia. There he heard about the strengthening of
false teachings at Ephesus and wrote his First Epistle to Timothy. After
spending some time in Corinth (see 2 Tim. 4:20) and meeting on the way with the
apostle Peter, Paul continued with him along the road through Dalmatia (see 2
Tim. 4:10) and Italy, and reached Rome, where he left Apostle Peter, and
himself already in 66 went further west, probably reaching Spain. After
returning to Rome, he was again imprisoned (second time), in which he was until
his death. There is a legend that upon his return to Rome, he preached even at
the court of Emperor Nero and converted his beloved concubine to faith in
Christ. For this he was put on trial. And although by the grace of God he was
delivered, in his own expression, from the lion's jaws, that is, from being
eaten by animals in the circus (see 2 Tim. 4: 16-17), he was imprisoned. From
these second bonds, he wrote the Epistle to Timothy at Ephesus, inviting him to
Rome, in anticipation of his near death on his last date. Tradition does not
say whether Timothy managed to catch his teacher alive, but it tells us that
the apostle himself did not wait long for his martyr's crown. After a
nine-month sentence, he was truncated with a sword, like a Roman citizen, near
Rome. This was in the year 67 according to R.H., in the 12th year of the reign
of Nero.
A general view of the life of the Apostle Paul shows that it
is sharply divided into two halves. Prior to his conversion to Christ, Paul,
then Saul, was a strict Pharisee, an executor of the Law of Moses and fatherly
traditions, who thought to be justified by the works of the Law and jealousy of
the faith of the fathers, which reached fanaticism. After his conversion, he
became the apostle of Christ, fully devoted to the work of the gospel, blessed
in his calling, but aware of his own powerlessness in the performance of this
high service and ascribing all his works and merits to the grace of God. The
whole life of the apostle before conversion, according to his deep conviction,
was a delusion, a sin, and led him not to justification, but to condemnation,
and only the grace of God extracted him from this destructive error. From now
on, Paul tries only to be worthy of this grace of God and not to shy away from
his calling. Therefore, there is no and cannot be any talk of any merit - the
whole work of God. Being a complete reflection of the life of the apostle, all
the teachings of Paul, revealed in his epistles, carry out precisely this basic
idea: “a person is justified by faith, regardless of the works of the law”
(Rom. 3:28). But from this it is impossible to deduce that the apostle Paul
denies all the meaning of good works (see, for example, Gal. 6: 4; Eph. 2:10; 1
Tim. 2:10 and others). By “deeds of the law” in his letters is meant not “good
deeds” in general, but ceremonial deeds of the Law of Moses. It must be remembered
that the Apostle Paul during his missionary work had to endure a stubborn
struggle against the opposition of Jews and Jewish Christians. Many of the
Jews, even after the adoption of Christianity, held the view that for
Christians it was necessary to carefully fulfill all the ritual prescriptions
of the Mosaic Law. They deceived themselves with the proud idea that Christ
came to earth to save only the Jews, and therefore the Gentiles, who want to be
saved, must accept circumcision and perform all the Jewish rites. This
misconception hindered so much the spread of Christianity among the Gentiles,
that the apostles were to convene a Council in Jerusalem in 51, which abolished
the binding ritual decrees of the Mosaic Law for Christians. But even after
this Council, many Jewish Christians continued to persevere in their former
view and subsequently completely separated from the Church, having formed their
heretical society. These heretics, personally opposing the Apostle Paul,
brought confusion to church life, taking advantage of the absence of Paul in
one or another Church. Therefore, Paul in his epistles and was forced to
constantly emphasize that Christ is the Savior of all mankind, both Jews and
Gentiles, and that man is saved not by performing the ritual deeds of the law,
but only by faith in Christ. Unfortunately, this idea of the apostle Paul was
perverted by Luther and his followers by the Protestants in the sense that the
apostle Paul generally denies the importance of all good deeds for salvation.
If this were so, then Paul would not have said in the First Epistle to the
Corinthians in chapter 13 that if I have all the faith, so that I can rearrange
the mountains, but I have no love, then I am nothing, for love shows yourself
in good deeds.
List of Epistles of the Apostle Paul
Based on reliable evidence, the common voice of the Church
assigns to the apostle Paul the authorship of fourteen messages, which are
placed in the Bible in the following order:
1. The Epistle to the Romans.
2. First Corinthians.
3. Second Corinthians.
4. The Epistle to the Galatians.
5. Epistle to the Ephesians.
6. The Epistle to the Philippians.
7. The Epistle to the Colossians.
8. First Epistle to the Thessalonians (to the Solunians).
9. Second Epistle to the Thessalonians (to the Solunians).
10. First Epistle to Timothy.
11. Second Epistle to Timothy.
12. The Epistle to Titus.
13. Message to Philemon.
14. The Epistle to the Hebrews.
This order is not chronological. This placement is made, as
it is easy to notice, by the importance and vastness of the epistles themselves
and by the comparative importance of the Churches and the persons to whom the
epistles are addressed. The epistles to the seven Churches are followed by the
epistle to three persons, and the epistle to the Hebrews is placed behind all,
because its authenticity is recognized most recently. The Epistles of the
Apostle Paul are usually divided into two unequal groups: 1) Epistles of the
general Christian and 2) Epistles of the pastor. These latter include the two
Epistles to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus, because they indicate the
foundations and rules of good shepherding. Some passages in the epistles of
Paul, such as 1 Cor. 5: 9; Count 4:16, - gave reason to think that there were
still other Pauline epistles that did not reach us. The correspondence
attributed to the apostle Paul with an unknown philosopher Seneca, the brother
of the proconsul Gallion mentioned in Acts (see Acts 18:12), did not deserve
recognition of its authenticity.
Overview of the teachings of the Apostle Paul
The epistles of Paul are of great importance in the New
Testament, for in them we find a deep and comprehensive disclosure and
clarification of the truths of the gospel doctrine. In addition to the
individual, especially beloved by the Apostle Paul, truths of the Christian
faith, such as: the significance of the Old Testament Law in relation to the
New Testament, the corruption and corruption of human nature and the only means
of justification before God through faith in Jesus Christ, no, we can say , not
a single private point in all Christian dogma, which would not find its
justification and reinforcement in the Pauline Epistles. Most of the messages
are built on the same plan. They begin with a greeting to the readers and
gratitude to God for His providential actions about the place where the message
is addressed. Further, the message is usually divided into two parts - dogmatic
(creed) and moral. In conclusion, the apostle deals with private affairs, makes
assignments, speaks about his personal situation, expresses his good wishes and
sends greetings of peace and love. His language is vibrant and vibrant,
reminiscent of the language of the Old Testament prophets and testifies to a
deep knowledge of the Old Testament Scripture.
Selected Texts from the Epistles of the Apostle Paul
Not being able to more thoroughly cover the various aspects
of the Christian teaching of the Apostle Paul, we restrict ourselves to quotes
from his epistles, which are primarily moral in nature. In them, as we shall
see, the apostle explains what a genuine spiritual life consists of and what a
Christian should strive for. For convenience, we provide these quotes in
alphabetical order by topic so that the reader can easily find the instruction
of the apostle Paul that he needs.
On the grace of God and spiritual gifts: “For all who are
led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. Because you did not accept the
spirit of slavery in order to live in fear again, but you accepted the Spirit
of adoption, by which we cry: “Abba, Father!” This very Spirit testifies to our
spirit that we are the children of God ”(Rom. 8: 14-16) ;
“The gifts are different, but the Spirit is the same; and
the services are different, but the Lord is one and the same; and the actions
are different, but God is one and the same, producing all in all. But everyone
is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the benefit. The Spirit is given
the word of wisdom to one, the word of knowledge to another, by the same
Spirit; another faith, the same Spirit; to others the gifts of healing, by the
same Spirit; another miracles, another prophecy, another discernment of
spirits, another different languages, another interpretation of languages.
Nevertheless, the same Spirit works these things, dividing each one
individually as he pleases ”(1 Cor. 12: 4-11);
“For the grace of God has appeared, saving for all people,
teaching us that, having rejected wickedness and worldly lusts, we should live
chastely, righteously and piously in this century, waiting for the blessed hope
and manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ”
(Titus. 2: 11-13);
See also: Rome. 5: 2; 1 Cor. 12: 1-11; 2 Cor. 3: 5; 2 Cor.
4: 7; 2 Cor. 6: 1-2; 2 Cor. 8: 9; Gal. 3: 5; Eph. 4: 7-12; Flp. 2:13; Heb.
4:16; Heb. 12:15.
On the attitude to wealth: “Have a non-loving disposition,
being content with what you have. For he himself said: I will not leave you nor
forsake you ”(Heb. 13: 5);
See also: 1 Tim. 6: 9-11.
Life is a spiritual war: “Put on the whole armor of God, so
that you can become against the wiles of the devil, because our battle is not
against blood and flesh, but against the authorities, against the authorities,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spirits of
wickedness under heaven. For this, accept the whole armor of God, so that you
can resist the evil day and overcome everything and resist. So stand, having
girded your loins with truth, and having put on the armor of righteousness, and
your shoes in your readiness to preach the world; and most of all, take the
shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the red-hot arrows of the
evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the spiritual sword, which is
the Word of God ”(Eph. 6: 11-17);
See also: 1 Thess. 5: 4-8; 2 Cor. 10: 3-5; Count 2: 14-15.
Faith and its meaning: “Through Whom” (Christ) “by faith we
also gained access to that grace in which we stand and boast in the hope of the
glory of God” (Rom. 5: 2);
“Because they believe in righteousness with their hearts,
and confess with their lips for salvation” (Rom. 10:10);
“For we walk by faith, and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5: 7);
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision
has power, but faith working through love” (Gal. 5: 6);
“For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not
of you, God's gift” (Eph. 2: 8);
“Without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11: 6);
See also: Rome. 3: 28-30; Rome. 14:23; 2 Cor. 13: 5; Gal.
2:16; Gal. 3:26; Eph. 6:16; Heb. 11: 1.
On the Resurrection of the Dead: 1 Cor. 15: 12-57; 2 Cor. 5:
1-10; 1 Thess. 4: 13-18; Flp. 3: 10-11; Flp. 3: 20-21; Heb. 2: 14-15; Heb. 4:
1-11.
On the second coming of Christ: 1 Thess. 5: 1-3; 2 Thess. 1:
6-10.
On virginity and marriage: 1 Cor. 7: 1-17.
About good deeds: “While doing good, let us not be
discouraged, for we will reap in due time, if we do not weaken. So, as long as
there is time, we will do good to all, but according to our faith according to
faith ”(Gal. 6: 9-10);
“So whether you eat, drink, or do anything else, do all
things for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31);
“For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for the
good works that God has intended for us to do” (Eph. 2:10);
“Do not forget also beneficence and sociability, for such
sacrifices are pleasing to God” (Heb. 13:16);
See also: Eph. 6: 8; Flp. 2: 4; Count 3:23; Count 4:17; 1
Thess. 5:15; Titus. 3:14; Heb. 13: 1-3.
Thanksgiving to God: “The great gain is to be pious and
contented. For we have brought nothing to the world; obviously we can’t get
anything out of it. Having food and clothing, we will be pleased with that. And
those who want to get rich fall into temptation and into the net and into many
reckless and harmful lusts that immerse people in calamity and destruction; for
the root of all evils is the love of money, to which, having surrendered, some
deviated from the faith and subjected themselves to many tribulations ”(1 Tim. 6:
6-10);
See also 1 Tim. 6: 17-19.
About spiritual renewal and Christian life: “Admonish the
rich in this century, so that they do not think highly of themselves and trust
not in unfaithful wealth, but in the living God, who gives us everything
abundantly for enjoyment; that they would benefit, be rich in good deeds, be
generous, and sociable, collecting treasure for themselves, a good foundation
for the future, to achieve eternal life ”(1 Tim. 6: 17-19);
“All of you who were baptized into Christ are clothed in
Christ. There is no longer Judea, nor a heathen; no slave, nor free; no male,
no female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you are Christ's, then you
are the seed of Abraham and heirs according to the promise ”(Gal. 3: 27-29);
“So, if you are resurrected with Christ, then look for the
highland, where Christ sits at the right hand of God; think of the highlands,
and not of the earthly. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in
God. When Christ your life appears, then you will also appear with him in
glory. So, put to death your earthly members: fornication, uncleanness,
passion, evil lust and covetousness, which is idolatry, for which the wrath of
God is coming against the sons of resistance, in which you once turned when you
lived between them. And now you put aside everything: anger, rage, anger,
slander, the foul language of your mouth; don't tell lies to each other combining
the old man with his deeds and putting on a new one, which is renewed in
knowledge in the image of His Creator, where there is neither Greek nor Jude,
no circumcision, no uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but
everything is Christ in everything. So clothe yourself, as the elect of God,
saints and lovers, in mercy, goodness, humble wisdom, meekness, longsuffering,
condescending to each other and forgiving each other, if anyone has a complaint
against anyone: as Christ has forgiven you, so do you. Most of all, put on
love, which is the totality of perfection. And may the peace of God rule in
your hearts, to which you are called in one body, and be friendly. Let the word
of Christ dwell in you richly, with all wisdom; Teach and admonish one another
with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing in grace to the Lord in your
hearts. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, thanks to God and the Father through Him ”(Col. 3: 1-17);
“Rejoice in the Lord always; and I also say: Rejoice. Your
meekness be known to all people. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything,
but always in prayer and petition with thanksgiving reveal your desires before
God, and the peace of God, which is above all mind, will keep your hearts and
your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Finally, my brethren, that it is only true, that
is honest, that is fair, that is pure, that is kind, that is glorious, that
only virtue and praise, think about that. What you learned that you received
and heard and saw in me, then do it, and the God of peace will be with you
”(Phil. 4: 4-9);
“We also beg you, brethren, admonish the unreasonable,
console the faint-hearted, support the weak, be patient with everyone. See that
no one gives evil to anyone for evil; but always look for good to each other
and to everyone. Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks for
everything: for such is the will of God about you in Christ Jesus. Do not
quench the spirit. Do not disparage prophecies. Try everything, hold on to the
good. Keep from all kinds of evil ”(1 Thess. 5: 14-22).
In baptism, a Christian dies for sin: “So now there is no
condemnation to those who in Christ Jesus do not live according to the flesh,
but according to the spirit, because the law of the spirit of life in Christ
Jesus freed me from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8: 1 -2);
“For those who live in the flesh think of the carnal, and
those who live in the spirit think of the spiritual. Thoughts of the carnal
mind are death, and spiritual thoughts are life and peace, because carnal
thoughts are enmity against God; for they do not obey the law of God, and
indeed cannot. Therefore, those who live in the flesh cannot please God. But
you do not live according to the flesh, but according to the spirit, if only
the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,
he is not His. And if Christ is in you, then the body is dead for sin, but the
spirit is alive for righteousness ”(Rom. 8: 5-10);
See also: 1 Cor. 5: 7-8; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 3: 27-29; Gal. 5:
16-26; Gal. 6: 8; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2: 1-6; Eph. 2: 14-15; Eph. 3: 16-17; Eph. 4:
22-5: 11; Eph. 5:14; Count 3: 1-17; Count 3: 23-24; Flp. 2: 14-15; Flp. 3:
8-15; Flp. 3: 17.3: 20-21; Flp. 4: 4-9; Flp. 4: 11-13; 1 Thess. 5: 14-22.
For death for sin and baptism see also: Rom. 6: 1-7; Rome.
8: 1-17, 32-34, Gal. 2: 19-20.3: 27; Count 2: 11-14; 2 Tim. 2: 11-13.
On the unity of all believers: “Paul, by the will of God,
the Apostle of Jesus Christ called, and brother Sosthenes, the church of God,
located in Corinth, sanctified in Christ Jesus, called the saints, with all
those calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in every place, among them
and with us: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. I constantly thank my God for you, for the grace of God bestowed on you
in Christ Jesus, because in Him you have been enriched with all, every word and
all knowledge, for the testimony of Christ has been established in you, so that
you have no shortage of any gift , waiting for the appearance of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who will establish you to the end so that you can be innocent on the
day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you are called into
fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord. I beseech you, brethren, in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing and that there
are no divisions between you, but that you are united in the same spirit and in
the same thoughts ”(1 Cor. 1: 1-10);
“So, if there is any consolation in Christ, if there is any
joy of love, if there is any communion of the spirit, if there is any mercy and
compassion, then add to my joy: have the same thoughts, have the same love, be
unanimous and unanimous; Do not do anything by benevolence or vanity, but by humble
wisdom respect one another as your higher self. Not only take care of yourself,
but each of the others. For you must have the same feelings as in Christ Jesus
”(Phil. 2: 1-5);
“If you bite and eat each other, beware that you are not
destroyed by each other” (Gal. 5:15);
“If it is possible on your part, be at peace with all
people” (Rom. 12:18);
See also: Eph. 4: 1-5; Eph. 4:13; Flp. 1:27.
Cases of the law do not justify man: Rome. 3:19 and
Galatians.
On the attitude to life and death: Phil. 1: 21-24.
Atonement by Christ and the Cross: 1 Cor. 1: 18-24; 1 Cor.
2: 2; Gal. 6:14; Flp. 3: 18-19; Rome. 5:10; Count 1: 20-23; Heb. 5: 1-9; 2 Cor.
5: 19-21; Gal. 3: 13-14; Eph. 1: 7; Eph. 2:16; Titus. 2:14; Heb. 9: 11-28; Heb.
10: 5; Heb. 10: 14-22.
Qualities and responsibilities of the servants of God:
bishop (1 Tim. 3: 1-7), elder (Tit. 1: 5-9) and deacon (1 Tim. 3: 8-13).
About meekness and forgiveness: “Do not avenge yourself,
beloved ones, but give a place to the wrath of God. For it is written:
Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. So, if your enemy is hungry,
feed him; if thirsty, give him a drink: for by doing this, you will gather
burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with
good ”(Rom. 12: 19-21);
“Let your meekness be known to all people. The Lord is near
”(Phil. 4: 5);
See also: Gal. 6: 1; Count 3:12; 2 Tim. 2:25.
About love for God: “Who will excommunicate us from the love
of God: sorrow, or crowding, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or
danger, or a sword? as it is written: they kill us for you every day, consider
us for the sheep that are doomed to slaughter. But we overcome all these things
by the power of the One who Loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor
life, nor Angels, nor the Beginning, nor Strength, nor the present, nor the
future, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature can separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord ” (Rom. 8: 35-39).
About love for neighbors: “If I speak in human and angelic
languages, but I have no love, then I am copper ringing or a cymbal sounding.
If I have the gift of prophecy, and I know all the secrets, and I have all
knowledge and all faith, so that I can rearrange mountains, but I do not have
love, then I am nothing. And if I give away all my possessions and give my body
to be burned, but I have no love, there is no use to me in that. Love is
longsuffering, merciful, love does not envy, love is not exalted, not proud,
does not act outrageously, does not seek its own, does not get irritated, does
not think evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth;
covers everything, believes everything, hopes everything, transfers everything.
Love never ceases, although prophecies cease, and tongues fall silent, and
knowledge is abolished ”(1 Cor. 13: 1-8);
“For the whole law in one word is: love your neighbor as
yourself” (Gal. 5:14);
See also: 1 Thess. 4: 9; 1 Tim. 5-6.
About prayer: “Be constant in prayer, awake in it with
thanksgiving” (Col. 4: 2);
See also: Rome. 8: 26-27; Eph. 5: 19-20; Eph. 6:18; 1 Tim.
2: 1-3,2: 8; Heb. 13:15.
On the wisdom of God in the salvation of man: 1 Cor. 4-16; 1
Cor. 3: 18-21; Eph. 1: 17-19; Eph. 3: 18-19; Eph. 1: 15-17; Count 1: 9; Count
2: 3; Count 3:16.
About courage: “And do not be afraid of opponents in
anything: this is for them an omen of perdition, and for you - salvation. And
this is from God ”(Phil. 1:28);
See also: 1 Cor. 16:13.
On the worthlessness of those who live idly: Heb. 6: 4-8;
Heb. 10: 26-31.
About the reward for virtue: Rome. 2: 6-17.
On justification by faith and grace: Gal. 2: 16-21; Gal. 3:
18-26; Titus. 3: 4-7.
Disclaimer: Rome. 2: 6-17.
About Christ and His two natures: Col. 1: 15-20; Count 2: 9;
Flp. 2: 5-11; Heb. 1: 1-4; Heb. 2: 7-11.
About the last times and about the Antichrist: 2 Thess. 2:
1-12; 1 Tim. 4: 1-2; 2 Tim. 3: 1-5.
On the meaning of the feat, on fasting and mortification of
sinful flesh: “So I beseech you, brethren, by the mercy of God, present your
bodies as a living, holy, well-pleasing God, for your rational service, and do
not conform to this age, but be transformed by renewing your mind so that you
may know that there is God's will, good, acceptable, and perfect ”(Rom. 12:
1-2);
“Do you know that everyone running on the arena is running,
but one gets a reward?” So run to get it. All ascetics abstain from everything:
those to receive the crown of perishable, and we - imperishable. And therefore
I do not run as if on the wrong, I fight not so much as to beat the air; but I
pacify and enslave my body, so that, preaching to others, I myself will not
remain unworthy ”(1 Cor. 9: 24-27);
“But those who are of Christ crucified the flesh with
passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24).
Scripture is inspired by God: (2 Tim. 3: 15-16; Heb. 4:12).
On the knowledge of God in nature: (Rom. 1: 19-32).
For help to those in need: “At this I will say: he who sows
sparingly, he spares sparingly; and he who sows generously, he will also reap
generously. Give each according to the disposition of the heart, not with grief
or compulsion; for God loves the willing giver. But God is able to enrich you
with all grace, so that you, always and in every way having every contentment,
be rich in every good deed, as it is written: squandered, distributed to the
poor; his truth abides in the age. He who gives the seed to the sower and the
bread for food will give an abundance of what you have sown and multiply the
fruits of your truth, so that you are rich in all the generosity that through
us gives thanks to God. For the work of this ministry not only makes up for the
poverty of the saints, but also makes many thanksgiving to God ”(2 Cor. 9:
6-12);
See also: 1 Cor. 16: 1-4; 2 Cor. 8: 11-15.
Examples of the faith of the former righteous: Heb. 11:
1-12: 3.
On the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ: 1 Cor. 10:
16-17; 1 Cor. 11: 23-32.
About joy: “The kingdom of God is not food and drink, but
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17);
“The fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace” (Gal. 5:22);
“Rejoice in the Lord always; and I also say, Rejoice ”(Phil.
4: 4).
On Christian freedom: “So stand in the freedom that Christ
has given us, and do not again suffer the yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5: 1);
“You brethren are called to freedom, if only your freedom
were not an occasion to please the flesh, but serve one another with love”
(Gal. 5:13);
“However, beware that this freedom of yours does not serve
as a temptation for the weak. For if someone sees that you, having knowledge,
are sitting at the table in a pagan temple, then his conscience, like the weak,
will he not even have idolatry? And your knowledge will destroy the weak
brother, for whom Christ died. And in this way, by sinning against the brethren
and stinging upon their feeble conscience, you sin against Christ. And
therefore, if food seduces my brother, I will not eat meat forever, so as not
to seduce my brother ”(1 Cor. 8: 9-13);
See also: Rom. 14:13.
About holiness to which we should strive: “What is the
compatibility of the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the
living God, as God said: I will dwell in them and will walk in them: and I will
be their God, and they will be my people ... So, beloved, having such promises,
we will cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, making the
sanctuary in the fear of God ”(2 Cor. 6: 16,7: 1);
“For the will of God is your sanctification, that you
abstain from fornication; so that each of you knows how to keep his vessel in
holiness and honor ”(1 Thess. 4: 3-4);
See also: 1 Cor. 6: 15-20; Eph. 1: 4; Count 1: 22-23; Heb.
10:10; Heb. 10:14; Heb. 12: 14-15.
About the family and the responsibilities of its members:
Eph. 5: 22-33; Eph. 6: 1-4; Count 3: 18-21; 1 Tim. 2: 9-15.
On the meaning of sorrows and temptations: “Through whom by
faith we also gained access to that grace in which we stand and boast in the
hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also boast in sorrows,
knowing that patience comes from sorrow, from experience patience, from hope
experience ”(Rom. 5: 2-4);
“Think of the One who suffered such a reproach from sinners
over Himself, lest you become exhausted and weaken by your souls. You have not
yet fought to the blood, struggling against sin, and forgot the comfort that is
offered to you as sons: my son! Do not neglect the punishment of the Lord, and
do not be discouraged when He convicts you. For the Lord whom he loves punishes
him; he beats every son he receives. If you endure punishment, then God treats
you like sons. For is there any son that his father would not punish? If you
remain without punishment, which is common to all, then you are illegal
children, not sons. Moreover, if we, being punished by our carnal parents, were
afraid of them, wouldn’t we have to submit more to the Spirit Father to live?
They punished us arbitrarily for a few days; and this is for the good, that we
may have a part in his holiness. All punishment does not seem to be joy at
present, but sadness; but after being taught through it delivers the peaceful
fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen your downcast hands and weakened
knees and go straight with your feet, so that the lame one does not turn away,
but rather is corrected ”(Heb. 12: 3-13);
See also: Rome. 5: 2-4; 2 Cor. 4: 8-18; 2 Cor. 1: 3-6; 2
Cor. 7:10; 2 Cor. 12:10; 1 Thess. 3: 3-4; 2 Thess. 1: 6-7; 2 Tim. 3:12; Heb.
2:18; Heb. 4:15; Heb. 13: 12-14.
On humility: “Do not do anything by benevolence or vanity,
but by humble wisdom regard one another as your own higher self” (Phil. 2: 3);
See also: Rome. 12:16; 1 Cor. 1: 26-31, Col. 3:12.
On indulgence and helping each other: “Brotherhood! if a
person falls into any sin, you, spiritual ones, correct it in the spirit of
meekness, observing each one in order not to be tempted. Carry each other's
burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ ”(Gal. 6: 1-2).
On preserving a clear conscience: “I teach you, my son
Timothy, according to the prophecies that were about you, such a testament that
you will fight according to them, like a good warrior, having faith and a good
conscience, which some who rejected, were shipwrecked in the faith” ( 1 Tim. 1:
18-19);
See also: Heb. 9:14; Heb. 10:22.
You can’t sue and quarrel: 1 Cor. 6: 1-7.
Christians are sons of God: Gal. 4: 7; Eph. 2:18.
On patience: “You, brethren, do not lose heart, doing good”
(2 Thess. 3:13);
See also: 1 Tim. 6:11;
“Patience is necessary for you, having fulfilled the will of
God, to receive the promise” (Heb. 10:36);
See also: Heb. 12: 1; Rome. 5: 3.
About industriousness: “He who does not want to work does
not eat” (2 Thess. 3:10);
See also: 1 Thess. 4: 10-12; 1 Tim. 5: 8.
So, the epistles of the Apostle Paul are a rich source of
spiritual wisdom and inspiration. No, it seems, such a religious truth that
would not have been illuminated and clarified in his creations. Moreover, these
truths are not set forth by the apostle as abstract theological concepts, but
as facts of faith that inspire a person to a righteous life. Responding to the
specific problems faced by first-century Christians, the epistles of the
Apostle Paul provide a valuable complement to the gospels. They explain how to
actually overcome the inevitable trials in life, how to realize high Christian
ideals, what is the essence of Christian feat. They describe in a living
language the life and deeds of the first Christians, the formation of Christian
communities, and give the whole face of the Church of Christ's apostolic time.
The epistles of the Apostle Paul are no less valuable in their autobiographical
notes. It can be seen from them how the apostle applied high Christian
principles in his personal life, which he preached, which contributed to his
spiritual growth, which aided his missionary work, where he drew spiritual
strength. The success of the missionary activity of the apostle was facilitated
by his ability to concentrate all his great talents, mental and physical
strength on one goal - serving Christ, and completely surrendering himself to
the guidance of the grace of Christ, which gave him inspiration and strength to
overcome all external obstacles and his own weaknesses. The grace of God helped
him convert a significant part of the Roman Empire to Christ. Through the
prayers of the apostle Paul, may the Lord reason and have mercy on us!
Summarizing the contents of the Book of Acts and the
apostolic epistles of both the Council and the Apostle Paul, it must be said
that they all persistently convince Christians to remain in spiritual unity
with the gracious society founded by the Savior and called the Church. The path
to salvation is open to all believers by the embodied Son of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who shed His pure blood for the atonement of human sins and gave
the Church the Comforter Spirit. To be saved, a person must follow the path
indicated by Christ. At the same time, he does not go alone, but together with
other refugees and uses the help of a blessed society, receiving the necessary
guidance from his pastors. The main properties of the society of the saved are:
a) the new life that they receive in fellowship with God through the Lord Jesus
Christ; b) stay in the spiritual light - i.e. in the purity of gospel truth and
in mutual love. Outside the Church - the darkness of error, sin and hatred.
This is the area in which the devil reigns, the prince of this world. Living
the blessed life of the Church, the Christian spiritually grows, improves, and
for his good deeds of faith, patience, for his good deeds, he is awarded
eternal life.
Book of Revelation, or Apocalypse
Significance of the Apocalypse and interest in it
The Apocalypse (or translated from Greek - Revelation) of
St. John the Evangelist is the only prophetic book of the New Testament. It
predicts the future destinies of mankind, the end of the world and the
beginning of a new eternal life and therefore, naturally, is placed at the end
of the Holy Scriptures. The Apocalypse is a mysterious and difficult book to
understand, but at the same time it is the mysterious nature of this book that
attracts the eyes of both Christian believers and simply inquisitive thinkers
trying to unravel the meaning and significance of the visions described in it.
There are a huge number of books about the Apocalypse, among which there are
many nonsense works, in particular this applies to modern sectarian literature.
Despite the difficulty in understanding this book, the spiritually enlightened
fathers and teachers of the Church have always treated it with great reverence
as inspired by God. So, Dionysius of Alexandria writes: “The darkness of this
book does not prevent her from wondering. And if I do not understand everything
in it, then only because of my inability. I cannot be a judge of the truths
contained in it, and measure them with the poverty of my mind; guided by more
faith than reason, I find them only surpassing my understanding. " The
blessed Jerome speaks of the Apocalypse in the same way: “There are as many
secrets in it as there are words. But what am I saying? Any praise of this book
will be below its dignity. " The Apocalypse is not read during the service
because in ancient times the reading of the Holy Scriptures at the service was
always accompanied by its explanation, and the Apocalypse is very difficult to
explain (however, the Typicon refers to the reading of the Apocalypse as an
edifying reading in a certain period of the year).
About the Author of the Apocalypse
The author of the Apocalypse calls himself John (see Rev. 1:
1-9; Rev. 22: 8). According to the general opinion of the Holy Fathers of the
Church, it was the Apostle John, the beloved disciple of Christ, who received
the distinguishing name "Theologian" for the height of his teaching
about God the Word. His authorship is confirmed both by the data in the
Apocalypse itself, and by many other internal and external signs. The inspired
pen of the Apostle John the Evangelist also contains the Gospel and three Sobor
messages. The author of the Apocalypse says that he was on the island of Patmos
for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1: 9). From
church history it is known that of the apostles, only John the Theologian was
imprisoned on this island. The proof of the authorship of the Apocalypse of the
Apostle John the Evangelist is the similarity of this book with its Gospel and
messages not only in spirit, but also in syllable, and especially in some
characteristic expressions. So, for example, the apostolic sermon is called
here “testimony” (see Rev. 1: 2-9,20: 4; see: John 1: 7,3: 11,21: 24; 1 John 5:
9- eleven). The Lord Jesus Christ is called the “Word” (Rev. 19:13; see: John
1: 1-14; 1 John 1: 1) and the “Lamb” (Rev. 5: 6,17: 14; see: John 1:36). The
prophetic words of Zechariah: “and they will look upon Him whom they pierced”
(Zech. 12:10) both in the Gospel and in the Apocalypse are quoted the same in
the Greek translation of “Seventy Explanators” (see Rev. 1: 7; John 19: 37).
Some differences between the language of the Apocalypse and other books of the
Apostle John are explained both by the difference in content and the
circumstances of the origin of the writings of the apostle. The apostle and
evangelist John the Theologian, as a native Jew, although he knew Greek, but,
being imprisoned far from living spoken Greek, naturally imposed on the
Apocalypse the stamp of the influence of his native language. For the
open-minded reader of the Apocalypse, it is obvious that on its entire content
lies the seal of the great spirit of the apostle of love. All ancient and later
patristic testimonies are recognized by the author of the Apocalypse of John
the Theologian. His disciple Papius of Hieropolis calls the writer of the
Apocalypse "Elder John", as the apostle himself calls himself in his
letters (see 2 John 1: 1; 3 John 1: 1). Important also the testimony of Justin
the Philosopher, who lived in Ephesus even before his conversion to
Christianity, where the Apostle John lived for a long time before him. Many
holy fathers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries cite passages from the Apocalypse, as
from an inspired book, written by the pen of John the Theologian. One of them
was Hippolytus, pope of Rome, who wrote an apology for the Apocalypse, a pupil
of Irenaeus of Lyon, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and Origen also
recognize the apostle John as the author of the Apocalypse. The later Fathers
of the Church are equally convinced of this: Rev. Ephraim the Syrian,
Epiphanius, Basil the Great, Hilarius, Athanasius the Great, Gregory the
Theologian, Didim, Ambrose the Mediolan, Blessed Augustine and Blessed Jerome.
33 the rule of the Carthage Council, ascribing the Apocalypse to John the
Theologian, puts it in a number of other canonical books of Scripture.
Especially valuable is the testimony of Irenaeus of Lyons regarding the
copyright of the Apocalypse to John the Theologian, since Irenaeus was a pupil
of Polycarp of Smyrnsky, who in turn was a pupil of John the Theologian,
leading the Church of Smyrna under his apostolic leadership.
also the testimony of Justin the Philosopher, who lived in
Ephesus even before his conversion to Christianity, where the Apostle John
lived for a long time before him. Many holy fathers of the 2nd and 3rd
centuries cite passages from the Apocalypse, as from an inspired book, written
by the pen of John the Theologian. One of them was Hippolytus, pope of Rome,
who wrote an apology for the Apocalypse, a pupil of Irenaeus of Lyon, Clement
of Alexandria, Tertullian and Origen also recognize the apostle John as the
author of the Apocalypse. The later Fathers of the Church are equally convinced
of this: Rev. Ephraim the Syrian, Epiphanius, Basil the Great, Hilarius,
Athanasius the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Didim, Ambrose the Mediolan,
Blessed Augustine and Blessed Jerome. 33 the rule of the Carthage Council,
ascribing the Apocalypse to John the Theologian, puts it in a number of other
canonical books of Scripture. Especially valuable is the testimony of Irenaeus
of Lyons regarding the copyright of the Apocalypse to John the Theologian,
since Irenaeus was a pupil of Polycarp of Smyrnsky, who in turn was a pupil of
John the Theologian, leading the Church of Smyrna under his apostolic
leadership .
led by Emperor Nero (reigned in 54-68 according to R.H.).
The persecution began in Rome, where many Christians shed their blood,
including the supreme apostles Peter and Paul. From the end of the first
century, persecution of Christians has become more intense. Emperor Domitian
commands the systematic persecution of Christians, first in Asia Minor, and
then in other parts of the Roman Empire. The Apostle John the Theologian,
summoned to Rome and thrown into a cauldron with boiling oil, remained
unharmed. Domitian refers the apostle John to the island of Patmos, where the
apostle receives a revelation of the fate of the Church and the whole world.
With small interruptions, the bloody persecution of the Church continues until
the year 313, when Emperor Constantine the Great issues the Edict of Milan on
freedom of religion. In view of the persecution that is beginning, the Apostle
John writes the Apocalypse to Christians in order to comfort, instruct and
strengthen them. He reveals the secret intentions of the enemies of the Church,
which he personifies in the beast that came out of the sea (as a representative
of the hostile secular authority), and in the beast that came out of the earth
- the false prophet (as the representative of the hostile pseudo-religious
authority). He discovers the main leader of the struggle against the Church -
the devil, this ancient dragon who groups the atheistic forces of mankind and
directs them against the Church. But the suffering of believers is not in vain:
through faithfulness to Christ and patience, they receive a well-deserved
reward in Heaven. At a time determined by God, forces hostile to the Church
will be brought to justice and punished. After the Last Judgment and the
punishment of the wicked, an eternal blissful life will begin.
The purpose of writing the Apocalypse is to depict the
forthcoming struggle of the Church against the forces of evil; show the methods
by which the devil, with the help of his servants, fights against good and
truth; give guidance to believers on how to overcome temptations; depict the
death of the enemies of the Church and the final victory of Christ over evil.
The content, plan and symbolism of the Apocalypse
The apocalypse has always attracted the attention of
Christians, and especially at a time when various disasters and temptations
with particular force began to excite public and church life. Meanwhile, the
imagery and mystery of this book makes it very difficult to understand, and
therefore for careless interpreters there is always a risk of going beyond the
bounds of truth to unfulfilled hopes and beliefs. For example, a literal
understanding of the images of this book gave rise - and now continues to give
- to the false doctrine of "chiliasm" - the millennial Kingdom of
Christ on earth. The horrors of persecution experienced by Christians in the
century and interpreted in the light of the Apocalypse gave some reason to
believe that the “last times” had come and the Second Coming of Christ was
near. This opinion arose in the 1st century. Over the past twenty centuries,
many interpretations of the Apocalypse of the most diverse nature have
appeared. All these interpreters can be divided into four categories. Some of
them relate the visions and symbols of the Apocalypse to the “last times” - the
end of the world, the appearance of the Antichrist and the Second Coming of
Christ. Others give the Apocalypse a purely historical significance and limit
its visions to the historical events of the 1st century: persecution of
Christians by pagan emperors. Still others try to find the fulfillment of
apocalyptic predictions in the historical events of their time. In their
opinion, for example, the Pope is the Antichrist, and all apocalyptic
calamities are announced, in fact, for the Roman Church, etc. Fourth, finally,
see only an allegory in the Apocalypse, believing that the visions described in
it have not only prophetic, but moral meaning. As we will see, these points of
view on the Apocalypse do not exclude, but complement each other. The
apocalypse can only be correctly understood in the context of all scripture. A
feature of many prophetic visions - both Old Testament and New Testament - is
the principle of combining several historical events in one vision. In other
words, spiritually related events, spaced one from another for many centuries
and even millennia, merge into one prophetic picture, combining elements of
different historical eras. An example of such a synthesis of events is the
Savior's prophetic conversation about the end of the world. In it, the Lord
speaks simultaneously about the destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred 35
years later, and about the time before His second coming (see Matt. 24 chap.;
Mk. 13 chap.; Lk. 21 chap.). The reason for this combination of events is that
the first illustrates and explains the second. Often the Old Testament
predictions say at the same time about a beneficial change in human society in
the New Testament time and about a new life in the Kingdom of Heaven. In this
case, the first serves as the beginning of the second (see Isa. 4: 2-6; Isa.
11: 1-10; Isa. 26; Isa. 60; Isa. 65 ch.; Jer. 23: 5-6; Jer. 33: 6-11; Hab.
2:14; Soph. 3: 9-20). The Old Testament prophecies about the destruction of the
Chaldean Babylon speak at the same time about the destruction of the kingdom of
the Antichrist (see Isa. 13-14 and Isa. 21 ch.; Jer. 50-51 ch.). There are many
similar examples of merging events in one prediction. This method of combining
events on the basis of their internal unity is used to help a believer
understand the essence of events, on the basis of what he already knows,
leaving aside secondary and nothing explaining historical details. As we will
see, the Apocalypse consists of a series of multilayer compositional visions.
The cryptographic viewer shows the future in the perspective of the past and
present. For example, the many-headed beast in chapters 13-19 is both the
Antichrist himself and his predecessors: Antiochus Epiphanes, so vividly
described by the Prophet Daniel and in the first two Maccabees, these are the
Roman emperors Nero and Domitian, who persecuted the apostles of Christ, as
well as subsequent enemies of the Church. The two witnesses of Christ in
chapter 11 are the accusers of the Antichrist (Enoch and Elijah), as well as
the apostles Peter and Paul and all the preachers of the gospel, who fulfill
their mission in a world hostile to Christianity. The false prophet in chapter
13 is the personification of all the inhabitants of false religions
(Gnosticism, heresies, materialism, non-Christian false religions, etc.), among
which the false prophet of the time of the Antichrist will be the most
prominent representative. To understand why the apostle John united different
events and different people in one image, one must take into account that he
wrote the Apocalypse not only for his contemporaries, but for Christians of all
times who had to endure similar persecution and sorrow. The Apostle John
reveals the general methods of seduction, and also shows the sure way to avoid
them, to be faithful to Christ to death. Similarly, the Court of God, about
which the Apocalypse repeatedly speaks, is the Last Judgment of God and all the
private judgments of God over individual countries and people. This includes
the trial of all humanity under Noah, and the trial of the ancient cities of
Sodom and Gomorrah under Abraham, and the trial of Egypt under Moses, and the
two-fold trial of Judea (six centuries before Christ and again in the seventies
of our era), and the trial of ancient Nineveh, Babylon, the Roman Empire,
Byzantium and, relatively recently, Russia). The reasons for the righteous
punishment of God were always the same: people's unbelief and lawlessness. In
the Apocalypse, a certain timeliness or timelessness is noticeable. It follows
from the fact that the Apostle John contemplated the fate of mankind not from
the earthly, but from the heavenly perspective, where he was elevated by the
Spirit of God. In an ideal world, the flow of time stops at the Throne of the
Almighty and the present, past and future appear simultaneously in front of the
spiritual eye. Obviously, therefore, the author of the Apocalypse describes
some events of the future as past, and the past as present. For example, the
war of Angels in Heaven and the overthrow of the devil from there - events that
happened even before the creation of the world are described by the apostle
John as having happened at the dawn of Christianity (Rev. 12 ch.). The
resurrection of the martyrs and their reign in Heaven, which covers the entire
New Testament era, is placed by him after the trial of the Antichrist and the
false prophet (Rev. 20 chap.). Thus, the cryptographer does not tell about the
chronological sequence of events, but reveals the essence of that great war of
evil with good, which goes on several fronts simultaneously and captures both
the material and the angelic worlds. There is no doubt that some of the
predictions of the Apocalypse have already been fulfilled (for example,
regarding the fate of the seven Churches of Asia Minor). Fulfilled predictions
should help us understand the rest, who have yet to be fulfilled. However,
applying the visions of the Apocalypse to one or another specific event, it
must be borne in mind that such visions contain elements of different eras.
Only with the completion of the fate of the world and the punishment of the
last enemies of God will all the details of apocalyptic visions be realized.
The Apocalypse is inspired by the Holy Spirit. The correct understanding of it
is most impeded by the withdrawal of people from faith and a truly Christian
life, which always leads to dulling, or even complete loss of spiritual vision.
The total devotion of modern man to sinful passions is the reason that some
modern interpreters of the Apocalypse want to see in him only one allegory and
even teach the Second Coming of Christ allegorically. Historical events and
persons of our time convince us that to see an allegory only in the Apocalypse
means to be spiritually blind, so much now happening is reminiscent of the
terrible images and visions of the Apocalypse.
The Apostle John the Theologian reveals to the reader
simultaneously several spheres of being. The angelic world belongs to the
highest sphere, the Church is triumphant in Heaven, and the Church pursued is
on earth. The head of this sphere of good and is led by the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God and Savior of men. Below is the realm of evil: an unbelieving
world, sinners, false teachers, conscious theologians and demons. They are led
by a dragon - a fallen angel. Throughout the existence of mankind, these areas
are at war with each other. The apostle John in his visions gradually reveals
to the reader the different sides of the war between good and evil and reveals
the process of spiritual self-determination in people, as a result of which
some of them take the side of good, others the side of evil. During a world
conflict, the judgment of God is constantly performed on individuals and
nations. Before the end of the world, evil will increase excessively, and the
Church of the earth will be extremely weakened and reduced. Then the Lord Jesus
Christ will come to earth, all people will be resurrected, and the Last
Judgment of God will be performed on the world. The devil and his supporters
will be condemned to eternal torment, but for the righteous, an eternal, blissful
life will begin in paradise.
With sequential reading, the Apocalypse can be divided into
the following parts:
1. An introductory picture of the Lord Jesus Christ
appearing, commanding John to write down the Revelation of the seven Churches
of Asia Minor (Rev. 1 chap.).
2. Letters to the seven Churches of Asia Minor (Rev. 2-3
ch.), In which, simultaneously with the instructions to these Churches, the
fate of the Church of Christ is written - from the apostolic age to the end of
the world.
3. The vision of God sitting on the Throne, the Lamb and the
worship of heaven (Rev. 4-5 ch.). This worship is supplemented by visions in
subsequent chapters.
4. With the 6th chapter (Rev. 6), the unfoldment of humanity
begins. The opening by the Lamb of Christ of the seven seals of the mysterious
book serves as the beginning of the description of the different phases of the
war between good and evil, between the Church and the devil. This war, which
begins in the human soul, extends to all aspects of human life, intensifies and
becomes more and more terrible (until Rev. 20 gl.).
5. The voices of the seven angelic trumpets (Rev. 7-10 Ch.)
Proclaim the initial calamities that must befall people for their unbelief and
sins. The damage to nature and the appearance of evil forces in the world are
described. Before the onset of disasters, believers receive a blessed seal on
their forehead (forehead), which preserves them from moral evil and from the
fate of the wicked.
6. The vision of the seven signs (Rev. 11-14 Ch.) Shows
humanity, divided into two opposite and irreconcilable camps of good and evil.
Good forces are concentrated in the Church of Christ, represented here in the
image of a woman clothed in the sun (Rev. 12 Ch.), And evil - in the kingdom of
the beast-antichrist. The beast that emerged from the sea is a symbol of evil
secular power, and the beast that emerged from the earth is a symbol of decayed
religious authority. In this part of the Apocalypse, the conscious extra-world
evil creature, the dragon-devil, who organizes and directs the war against the
Church, is clearly revealed for the first time. Two witnesses of Christ
symbolize here the preachers of the gospel who are fighting with the beast.
7. The visions of the seven chalices (Rev. 15-17 ch.) Paint
a gloomy picture of the worldwide moral decay. The war against the Church
becomes extremely intense (Rev. 16:16), the trials become unbearably severe.
The image of Babylon the harlot depicts humanity who has departed from God,
concentrated in the capital of the kingdom of the beast-antichrist. Evil power
extends its influence to all areas of the life of sinful humanity, after which
the Divine Judgment of the forces of evil begins (here the judgment of God over
Babylon is described in general terms, as an introduction).
8. In the following chapters (Rev. 18-19 of Ch.) The trial
of Babylon is described in detail. It also shows the death of perpetrators of
evil among people - the Antichrist and the false prophet - representatives of
both civil and heretical anti-Christian authorities.
9. Chapter 20 summarizes the spiritual warfare and world
history. She talks about a double defeat the devil and the reign of martyrs.
Having suffered physically, they triumphed spiritually and are already blissful
in Heaven. It covers the entire period of the Church’s existence, starting from
apostolic times. Gog and Magog personify the totality of all the atheistic
forces, earthly and underworld, which throughout Christian history fought
against the Church (Jerusalem). They are destroyed by the Second Coming of
Christ. Finally, the devil is subjected to eternal punishment, this ancient
serpent, which laid the foundation for all lawlessness, iniquity and suffering
in the universe. The end of chapter 20 tells of the general resurrection of the
dead, the Last Judgment, and the punishment of the wicked. This short
description summarizes the Last Judgment of humanity and the fallen angels and
summarizes the drama of the universal war between good and evil (Rev. 20 Ch.).
10. The final two chapters (Rev. 21–22) describe the new
Heaven, the new Earth, and the blessed life of the saved. These are the
brightest and most joyful chapters in the Bible.
Each new section of the Apocalypse usually begins with the
words: "And I saw ..". - and ends with a description of the Court of
God. This description marks the end of the previous topic and the beginning of
a new one. Between the main divisions of the Apocalypse, the cryptographer
sometimes inserts intermediate pictures that serve as a link between them.
Symbols and allegories make it possible for the
cryptographer to talk about the essence of world events at a high level of
generalization, and therefore he uses them widely. So, for example, the eyes
symbolize knowledge, many eyes - perfect knowledge. The horn is a symbol of
power, power. Long clothing means the priesthood; crown - royal dignity;
whiteness - purity, integrity; the city of Jerusalem, the temple and Israel
symbolize the Church. Numbers also have symbolic meaning: three symbolizes the
Trinity, four - a symbol of peace and world order; seven means completeness and
perfection; twelve - the people of God, the fullness of the Church (the numbers
derived from 12, like 24 and 144000, have the same meaning). One third means
some relatively small part. Three and a half years is time persecution. The
number 666 will be specifically mentioned below. New Testament events are often
portrayed against the background of homogeneous Old Testament events. For
example, the disasters of the Church are described against the background of
the sufferings of the Israelites in Egypt, the temptations of the prophet
Balaam, persecution by Queen Jezebel and the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Chaldeans; the salvation of believers from the devil is depicted against the
background of the salvation of the Israelites from Pharaoh under the prophet
Moses; the atheistic power is represented in the image of Babylon and Egypt;
the punishment of the atheistic forces is depicted in the language of 10
Egyptian executions; the devil is identified with the serpent who seduced Adam
and Eve; the future paradise bliss is portrayed as the Garden of Eden and the
tree of life. The main task of the author of the Apocalypse is to show how evil
forces act, who organizes and directs them in the fight against the Church;
instruct and strengthen believers in fidelity to Christ; show the complete
defeat of the devil and his servants and the beginning of heavenly bliss. For
all the symbolism and mystery of the Apocalypse, religious truths are revealed
in it very clearly. For example, the Apocalypse points to the devil as the
culprit of all the temptations and calamities of mankind. The tools with which
he tries to destroy people are always the same: unbelief, disobedience to God,
pride, sinful desires, lies, fear, doubts, etc. Despite all his cunning and
experience, the devil is not able to destroy people who are devoted to God with
all his heart, because God protects them with His grace. The apostates and
sinners, the devil more and more enslaves himself and pushes them to all sorts
of abominations and crimes. He directs them against the Church and by them
produces all the violence and wars in the world. The Apocalypse clearly shows
that in the end the devil and his servants will be defeated and punished, the truth
of Christ will triumph, and in a renewed world, a blissful life will come,
which will have no end.
Having thus made a brief review of the content and symbolism
of the Apocalypse, we now dwell on some of its most important parts.
Letters to the Seven Churches (Rev. 2-3 ch.)
Seven Churches - Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatira,
Sardia, Philadelphia and Laodicea - were located in the southwestern part of
Asia Minor (now Turkey). They were founded by the apostle Paul in the 40s of
the 1st century. After his martyrdom in Rome around 67, the Apostle John the
Theologian took care of these Churches, who nurtured them for about forty
years. Once imprisoned on the island of Patmos, the apostle John wrote letters
from there to these Churches in order to prepare Christians for the upcoming
persecution. Letters are addressed to the "angels" of these Churches,
i.e. to the bishops. A careful study of the epistles of the seven Churches of
Asia Minor suggests that the fate of the Church of Christ is written in them,
from the apostolic age to the time of the end of the world. Moreover, the
upcoming path of the New Testament Church, “New Israel”, is depicted against
the backdrop of the most important events in the life of Old Testament Israel,
beginning with the fall in paradise and ending with the time of the Pharisees
and Sadducees under the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle John uses the Old
Testament events as prototypes of the fate of the New Testament Church. Thus,
in the letters to the seven Churches, three elements are intertwined: a) the
present state of the author and the future of each Church of Asia Minor; b) a
new, deeper interpretation of the Old Testament history and c) the future
destinies of the Church.
Notes: The Church of Ephesus was the most populous and had
the status of a metropolitanate in relation to neighboring Churches of Asia
Minor. In 431, the Third Ecumenical Council was held in Ephesus. Gradually, the
lamp of Christianity in the Church of Ephesus died out, as the apostle John
predicted. Pergamum was the political center of western Asia Minor. It was
dominated by paganism with a lush cult of enriched pagan emperors. On a
mountain near Pergamum majestically stood a pagan altar monument, referred to
in the Apocalypse as “the throne of Satan” (Rev. 2:13). The Nikolaites are
ancient heretical Gnostics. Gnosticism was a dangerous temptation for the
Church of the first centuries of Christianity. A favorable ground for the
development of Gnostic ideas was the syncretic culture that arose in the empire
of Alexander the Great, uniting the East and the West. The religious attitude
of the East with its belief in the eternal struggle between good and evil,
spirit and matter, body and soul, light and darkness, combined with the
speculative method of Greek philosophy, gave rise to various Gnostic systems,
which were characterized by the idea of the emanational origin of the world
from the Absolute and about the many mediating steps of creation, connecting
the world with the Absolute. Naturally, with the spread of Christianity in the
Hellenistic environment, the danger arose of its exposition in Gnostic terms
and the conversion of Christian piety into one of the religious and
philosophical Gnostic systems. Jesus Christ was perceived by the Gnostics as
one of intermediaries (aeons) between the Absolute and the world. One of the
first distributors of Gnosticism among Christians was a man named Nicholas -
hence the name "Nicholas" in the Apocalypse. It is believed that this
was Nicholas, who, among the other six chosen husbands, was ordained by the
apostles to the deacon's degree (see Acts 6: 5). Distorting the Christian
faith, the Gnostics encouraged moral licentiousness. Starting in the middle of
the first century, several Gnostic sects flourished in Asia Minor. The apostles
Peter, Paul, and Judah warned Christians not to fall into the networks of these
heretic, lecherous. Prominent representatives of Gnosticism were the heretics
Valentin, Marcion and Basilides, who were opposed by apostolic men and the
early fathers of the Church. The ancient Gnostic sects have long disappeared,
but Gnosticism as a merger of diverse philosophical and religious schools
exists in our time in Theosophy, Kabbalah, Freemasonry, modern Hinduism, yoga
and other cults.
Vision of Heavenly Service (Rev. 4-5 Ch.)
The Apostle John received revelation on the “Day of the
Lord”, i.e. on Sunday. It should be assumed that according to the apostolic
custom, on this day he committed “breaking of bread”, i.e. Divine Liturgy, and
took communion, therefore he “was in the Spirit”, i.e. experienced a special
inspired state (Rev. 1:10). And so, the first thing he deserves to see is, as
it were, the continuation of the divine service he performed - the Heavenly
Liturgy. The apostle John describes this worship in chapters 4 and 5 of the
Apocalypse (Rev. 4-5). The Orthodox person here recognizes the familiar
features of the Sunday liturgy and the most important accessories of the altar:
the throne, menorah, censer with smoking incense, a golden cup, etc. The slain
Lamb seen by the apostle in the middle of the throne reminds the believer of
the Holy Communion, under the guise of bread lying on the throne; the souls of
those killed for the Word of God under the heavenly throne - antimins with the
particles of the relics of the holy martyrs sewn into it; the elders in light
robes and with golden crowns on their heads are a host of clergy who are
conciliarly celebrating the Divine Liturgy. It is noteworthy that here even the
exclamations and prayers themselves, heard by the apostle in Heaven, express
the essence of the prayers that the clergy and singers utter during the main
part of the liturgy - the Eucharistic canon. The righteous bleaching of their
robes by the “Blood of the Lamb” resembles the Sacrament of Communion, through which
believers sanctify their souls. Thus, the apostle begins to reveal the fate of
mankind with a description of the Heavenly Liturgy, thereby emphasizing the
spiritual significance of this Divine Service and the need for prayers of the
saints for us.
Vision of Heavenly Service (Rev. 4-5 Ch.)
The Apostle John received revelation on the “Day of the
Lord”, i.e. on Sunday. It should be assumed that according to the apostolic
custom, on this day he committed “breaking of bread”, i.e. Divine Liturgy, and
took communion, therefore he “was in the Spirit", i.e. experienced a
special inspired state (Rev. 1:10). And so, the first thing he deserves to see
is, as it were, the continuation of the divine service he performed - the
Heavenly Liturgy. The apostle John describes this worship in chapters 4 and 5
of the Apocalypse (Rev. 4-5). The Orthodox person here recognizes the familiar
features of the Sunday liturgy and the most important accessories of the altar:
the throne, menorah, censer with smoking incense, a golden cup, etc. The slain
Lamb seen by the apostle in the middle of the throne reminds the believer of
the Holy Communion, under the guise of bread lying on the throne; the souls of
those killed for the Word of God under the heavenly throne - antimins with the
particles of the relics of the holy martyrs sewn into it; the elders in light
robes and with golden crowns on their heads are a host of clergy who are
conciliarly celebrating the Divine Liturgy. It is noteworthy that here even the
exclamations and prayers themselves, heard by the apostle in Heaven, express
the essence of the prayers that the clergy and singers utter during the main
part of the liturgy - the Eucharistic canon. The righteous bleaching of their
robes by the “Blood of the Lamb” resembles the Sacrament of Communion, through
which believers sanctify their souls. Thus, the apostle begins to reveal the
fate of mankind with a description of the Heavenly Liturgy, thereby emphasizing
the spiritual significance of this Divine Service and the need for prayers of
the saints for us.
It symbolizes the redemptive significance of their
sufferings and death, with which they participate in the sufferings of Christ
and, as it were, supplement them. The blood of martyrs is likened to the blood
of the Old Testament sacrifices, which flowed under the altar of the Jerusalem
temple. The history of Christianity testifies that the sufferings of the
ancient martyrs served to moral renewal of the decrepit pagan world. The
ancient writer Tertullian wrote that the blood of martyrs serves as a seed for
new Christians. The persecution of believers will then subside, then intensify
during the further existence of the Church, and therefore it was revealed to
the mysterious viewer that the new martyrs would have to supplement the number
of the first. Later, the apostle John sees in Heaven a huge number of people
whom no one could count, - from all the tribes and tribes, and peoples, and
languages; they stood in white robes with palm branches in their hands (see
Rev. 7: 9-17). The common thing among this innumerable host of the righteous is
that “they came from great tribulation” (Rev. 7:14). For all people, the path
to Paradise is one - through sorrows. Christ is the first Sufferer to take upon
himself as the Lamb of God the sins of the world. Palm branches - a symbol of
victory over the devil. In a special vision, the cryptographer describes
virgins, i.e. people who refused the joys of marriage for the sake of the full
service of Christ. The cryptographer sees on the foreheads of the virgins the
written “name of the Father”, which indicates their moral beauty, reflecting
the perfection of the Creator. The “new song,” which they sing and which no one
could repeat, expresses the spiritual height that they achieved through the
feat of fasting, prayer and chastity. This purity is beyond the reach of people
of a worldly lifestyle. The song of Moses, which the righteous sing in the
following vision (see Rev. 15: 2-8), recalls the grateful hymn that the
Israelites sang when they crossed the Red Sea and were saved from Egyptian
slavery (see Exodus 15 chap.).
Similarly, the New Testament Israel is saved from the power
and influence of the devil, passing into a blessed life through the Sacrament
of Baptism. In subsequent visions, the cryptographer describes the saints
several more times. The fine linen (precious linen) in which they are clothed
is a symbol of their righteousness. In the 19th chapter of the Apocalypse, the
marriage song of the saved speaks of the approach of a “marriage” between the Lamb
and the saints, i.e. about the coming of the closest communion between God and
the righteous (see Rev. 19: 1-9, 21: 3-4). The book of Revelation ends with a
description of the blissful life of the saved nations (see Rev. 21: 24-27, 22:
12-14, 22:17). These are the brightest and most joyful pages of the Bible,
showing the triumphant Church in the Kingdom of Glory.
Thus, as the fate of the world is revealed in the
Apocalypse, the Apostle John the Theologian gradually directs the spiritual
eyes of believers to the Kingdom of Heaven - to the ultimate goal of earthly
wandering. He, as it were under duress and reluctantly, speaks of gloomy events
in the sinful world.
The removal of seven seals. The Vision of the Four Horsemen
(Rev. 6 Ch.)
The vision of the seven seals is an introduction to the
subsequent revelations of the Apocalypse. The removal of the first four seals
reveals four horsemen, which symbolize four factors characterizing the whole
history of mankind. The first two factors are the cause, the second two are the
consequence. The crowned rider on a white horse came out to win. He personifies
those good beginnings, natural and gracious, which the Creator put into man:
the image of God, moral purity and innocence, the desire for good and
perfection, the ability to believe and love, and the individual “talents” with
which a person is born, as well as the blessed Gifts of the Holy The spirit
that he receives in the Church. According to the Creator’s plan, these good
beginnings were to “win”, i.e. determine the happy future of mankind. But man
already in Eden succumbed to the temptation of the tempter. His sin-damaged
nature passed to his descendants, so people are prone to sin from an early age.
From repeated sins, evil tendencies are intensified in them even more. So, a
person, instead of growing spiritually and improving, falls under the
destructive effect of his own passions, indulges in various sinful wishes,
begins to envy and quarrel. From the internal discord in a person, all crimes
in the world arise (violence, war and related disasters). The destructive
effect of passions is symbolized by the red horse and horseman, who robbed the
world of people. Succumbing to his promiscuous sinful desires, a person wastes
the talents God has given him, becomes poor physically and spiritually. In
public life, hostility and war lead to the weakening and decomposition of
society, to the loss of its spiritual and material resources. This internal and
external impoverishment of humanity is symbolized by a black horse with a
horseman holding a measure (or scales) in his hand. Finally, the complete loss
of God's gifts leads to spiritual death, and the end result of enmity and war
is the death of people and the collapse of society. This sad fate of people is
symbolized by a pale horse. The four apocalyptic horsemen in the most general
terms depict the history of mankind. First - the blissful life in Eden of our
ancestors, called to “reign” over nature (white horse), then - their fall (red
horse), after which the lives of their descendants were filled with various
disasters and mutual destruction (crow and pale horses).
Apocalyptic horses also symbolize the life of individual
states with their periods of prosperity and decline. Here is the life path of
each person - with his childish purity, naivety, great potential, which are
overshadowed by his turbulent youth, when a person wastes his strength, health
and eventually dies. Here is the history of the Church: the spiritual burning
of Christians in apostolic times and the efforts of the Church to renew human
society; but heresies and schisms arise in the Church itself, and pagan society
instigates persecution against it. The church weakens, goes into the catacombs,
and some local Churches completely disappear. Thus, the vision of the four
horsemen summarizes the factors that characterize the life of sinful humanity.
Further chapters of the Apocalypse will further develop this topic. But by
removing the fifth seal, the cryptographer also shows the bright side of human
disasters. The Christians, having suffered physically, triumphed spiritually;
they are now in Paradise (see Rev. 6: 9-11)! Their feat brings them an eternal
reward, and they reign with Christ, as described in chapter 20 (see Rev. 20).
The transition to a more detailed description of the disasters of the Church
and the strengthening of the atheistic forces is marked by the removal of the
seventh seal.
Seven pipes. Capturing the elect. The beginning of disasters
and the defeat of nature (Rev. 7-11 gl.)
Angel trumpets foreshadow humanity's calamities - physical
and spiritual. But before the onset of disaster, the apostle John sees an angel
laying a seal on the forehead of the sons of New Israel (see Rev. 7: 1-8).
“Israel” is the New Testament Church. Sealing symbolizes electiveness and
gracious protection. This vision resembles the Sacrament of Anointing, during
which the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit is entrusted to the baptized
person. It also reminds one of the sign of the cross, guarded by which
"they resist the enemy." People who are not protected by the grace of
the seal suffer harm from the "locust" that emerged from the abyss,
i.e. from devilish power (see Rev. 9: 4). The prophet Ezekiel describes a
similar depiction of the righteous citizens of ancient Jerusalem before his
capture by the Chaldean hordes. Then, as now, a mysterious seal was placed with
the goal of preserving the righteous from the fate of the wicked (see Ezek. 9:
4). With the roll-call of 12 tribes (tribes) of Israel, the tribe of Dan was
deliberately omitted. Some see this as an indication of the origin of the
Antichrist from this tribe. The basis for this opinion is the mysterious words
of Patriarch Jacob regarding the future descendants of Dan: “a serpent on the
road, asp on the way” (Gen. 49:17). Thus, this vision serves as an introduction
to the following description of the persecution of the Church. The dimension of
the temple of God in chapter 11 has the same meaning as the seal of the sons of
Israel: the preservation of the children of the Church from evil. The Temple of
God, like the Wife, clothed in the sun, and the city of Jerusalem are different
symbols of the Church of Christ. The main idea of these visions is that the
Church is holy and dear to God. God allows persecution for moral cultivation of
believers, but protects them from enslavement to evil and from one fate with
the Godless. Before the seventh seal is removed, silence comes “as if for half
an hour” (Rev. 8: 1). This is the silence before the storm, which will stir up
the world during the Antichrist. Before the onset of disasters, the apostle
John sees saints praying fervently for mercy (Rev. 8: 3-5). Disasters in
nature. Following this, the trumpet sounds of each of the seven Angels, after
which various disasters begin. First, a third of the vegetation dies, then a
third of the fish and other marine creatures, then the poisoning of rivers and
water sources follows. The fall to the earth of hail and fire, a blazing
mountain and a luminous star, apparently allegorically indicates the enormous
size of these disasters. Is this not a prediction of global clogging and
destruction of nature, which is observed today? If so, the ecological
catastrophe heralds the coming of Antichrist. More and more desecrating the
image of God in themselves, people cease to appreciate and love His beautiful
world. They pollute lakes, rivers and seas with their garbage; spilled oil hit
the vast coastal spaces; destroy forests and jungle, destroy many species of
animals, fish and birds. From the poisoning of nature, both the guilty
themselves and the innocent victims of their cruel greed fall ill and die. But
what does the defeat of the third part of the sun and stars and their eclipse
mean (see Rev. 8:12)? Obviously, here we are talking about air pollution to a
state where sunlight and starlight, reaching the earth, seem less bright. So,
for example, by Because of air pollution, the sky above Los Angeles usually
looks dirty brown in color, but at night the stars above the city are almost
invisible, except for the brightest. The narrative of the locusts (fifth
trumpet, Rev. 9: 1-11), emerging from the abyss, speaks of the strengthening of
demonic power among people. It is headed by Apollion, which means
"destroyer" - the devil. As people with their unbelief and sins lose
the grace of God, the spiritual void that forms in them is increasingly filled
by demonic power, which torments them with doubts and various passions.
Apocalyptic warfare. The trumpet of the sixth Angel sets in
motion a huge army beyond the Euphrates River, from which one third of the
people perish (see Rev. 9: 13-21). In the biblical view, the Euphrates River
marks the line beyond which are hostile to God nations threatening Jerusalem
with war and extermination. For the Roman Empire, the Euphrates River served as
a bulwark from the attack of the eastern peoples. The ninth chapter of the
Apocalypse is written against the backdrop of the brutal and bloody Judeo-Roman
war of 66-70 years after R.H., still fresh in the memory of the Apostle John.
This war had three phases (see Rev. 8:13). The first phase of the war, in which
Hessius Florus led the Roman forces, lasted five months, from May to September
66 (five months of the locusts, Rev. 9: 5). Soon the second phase of the war
began, from October to November 66, in which the Syrian governor Cestius Gallus
led four Roman legions (four Angels by the Euphrates River, Rev. 9:14). This
phase of the war was especially crushing for the Jews. The third phase of the
war, led by Flavius Vespasian, lasted three and a half years - April 67 to
September 70 - and ended with the destruction of Jerusalem, the burning of the
temple and the dispersal of Jewish captives throughout the Roman Empire. This
bloody Judeo-Roman war became the prototype of the terrible wars of the last
times, which the Savior indicated in His conversation on the Mount of Olives
(see Matthew 24: 7). The attributes of the hellish locusts and the Euphrates
hordes can be recognized as modern weapons of mass destruction - tanks, guns,
bombers and nuclear missiles. The subsequent chapters of the Apocalypse
describe all the growing wars of recent times (see Rev. 11: 7, 16: 12-16,
17:14, 19: 11-19, 20: 7-8). Words: “The Sixth Angel poured his cup into the
great river Euphrates: and the water dried up in it, so that the kings would be
ready for the way from the rising of the sun” (Rev. 16:12) may indicate a
“yellow danger”. It should be borne in mind that the description of apocalyptic
wars has the features of real wars, but ultimately refers to spiritual warfare,
and proper names and numbers have allegorical meaning. So, the apostle Paul
explains: “Our battle is not against blood and flesh, but against the
authorities, against the authorities, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against the spirits of wickedness under heaven” (Eph. 6:12). The
name “Armageddon” is composed of two words: “Ar” (in Hebrew - plain) and
“Megiddo” (a place in the north of the Holy Land, near Mount Carmel, where in
ancient times Barak defeated the army of Sisera, and the prophet Elijah
exterminated more than five hundred priests of Baal ( see Rev. 16:16, 17:14;
Judges 4: 2-16; 3 Kings 18:40) In the light of these biblical events,
Armageddon symbolizes Christ's defeat of the atheistic forces.The names of Gog
and Magog in chapter 20 resemble Ezekiel's prophecy about the invasion of
Jerusalem by countless hordes led by Gog from the land of Magog, located in the
south of Kaspiysk of the sea (Ezek. 38-39 chap.; Rev. 20: 7-8). Ezekiel relates
this prophecy to the Messianic times. In the Apocalypse, the hordes of Gog and
Magog besieged the "camp of the saints and the city of the beloved"
(ie the Church) and the extermination of these hordes by heavenly fire must be
understood in the sense of the complete defeat of the atheistic forces, human
and demonic, by the Second Coming of Christ.
As for the physical calamities and punishments of sinners,
often mentioned in the Apocalypse, the crypto-reader himself explains that God
allows them to reason with them in order to bring sinners to repentance (see
Rev. 9:21). But the apostle sadly notes that people do not heed the call of
God, continue to sin and serve demons. They, as if "having bit a
bit," rush to their own death.
The vision of two witnesses (Rev. 11: 2-12).
Chapters 10 and 11 occupy an intermediate place between the
visions of the seven trumpets and the seven signs. In two witnesses of God,
some holy fathers see the Old Testament righteous Enoch and Elijah, who will
come to earth before the end of the world to expose the deceit of the
Antichrist and to call people to be faithful to God. The executions that these
witnesses bring to people resemble miracles performed by the prophets Moses and
Elijah (see Exodus 7-12 ch. 3 Kings 17: 1; 4 Kings 1:10). For the apostle John,
the prototypes of two apocalyptic witnesses could be the apostles Peter and
Paul, shortly before this suffered in Rome from Nero. Apparently, the two
witnesses in the Apocalypse also symbolize other witnesses of Christ, spreading
the gospel in a hostile pagan world and often sealing their preaching with
martyrdom. The words "Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord is crucified,"
indicate the city of Jerusalem, in which the Lord Jesus Christ suffered, many
prophets and early Christians.
Seven signs. Church and kingdom of the beast. (Rev. 12-14
ch.)
The farther, the more distinctly the crypto-reader reveals
to the readers the division of humanity into two opposite camps - the Church
and the kingdom of the beast. In previous chapters, the apostle John began to
acquaint readers with the Church, speaking of the sealed ones, the Temple of
Jerusalem and the two witnesses, and in chapter 12 he shows the Church in all
its heavenly glory. At the same time, he reveals her main enemy - the
devil-dragon. The vision of the Woman, clothed in the sun, and the dragon makes
it obvious that the war between good and evil goes beyond the material world
and extends to the world of angels. The apostle shows that in the world of
ethereal spirits there is a conscious evil creature who, with desperate stubbornness,
wages war against the devout Angels and people. This war of evil with good,
permeating the entire existence of mankind, began in the angelic world before
the creation of the material visible world. As we have already said, the
cryptographer sees this war in different parts of the Apocalypse not in its
chronological sequence, but in different fragments, or phases.
The Vision of the Wife reminds the reader of God's promise
to Adam and Eve about the Messiah (about the Seed of the Wife), who will erase
the head of the serpent (see Genesis 3:15). One would think that in chapter 12,
the Wife means the Virgin Mary. However, from the further story, which speaks
of the other descendants of the Wife (Christians), it is clear that here by
Wife it is necessary to mean the Church. The Sunshine of the Woman symbolizes
the moral perfection of the saints and the blessed illumination of the Church
with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The twelve stars symbolize the twelve tribes
of the new Israel - i.e. totality Christian peoples. The torment of the Wife
during childbirth symbolizes the exploits, deprivations and sufferings of the
ministers of the Church (prophets, apostles and their successors), incurred by
them during the spread of the Gospel in the world and the establishment of
Christian virtues among their spiritual children.
The first-born of the Wife who was to feed all the nations
with an iron rod was the Lord Jesus Christ (see Psalm 2: 9; Rev. 12: 5, 19:15).
He is the new Adam, who became the Head of the Church. The “rapture” of the
Infant, obviously, indicates the ascension of Christ to Heaven, where He sat
“at the right hand of the Father,” and has since ruled the destinies of the
world.
“And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a big red
dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadem on its heads. His tail
dragged a third of the stars from heaven and cast them to the earth ”(Rev. 12:
3-4). Interpreters understand these stars as the angels whom the proud Dennitsa
the Devil rebelled against God, resulting in a war in Heaven. The good Angels
were led by Archangel Michael. Angels who rebelled against God were defeated and
could not stay in Heaven. Having fallen away from God, they from good angels
became demons (demons). Their underworld, called the abyss or hell, has become
a place of darkness and suffering. According to the holy fathers, the war
described here by the apostle John took place in the angelic world before the
creation of the material world. It is given here with the aim of explaining to
the reader that the dragon who will pursue the Church in further visions of the
Apocalypse is the fallen Dennitsa - the original enemy of God.
So, having suffered a defeat in Heaven, the dragon with all
his fury gangs up on the wife of the Church. His weapons are the many different
temptations that he directs upon his wife like a stormy river. But she is saved
from temptations by flight into the desert, that is, by a voluntary
renunciation of the life blessings and amenities with which the dragon tries to
captivate her. The two wings of the Wife are prayer and fasting, with which
Christians spiritualize and make them inaccessible to a dragon crawling on the
ground like a serpent.
Note: The expression “time, time and half time” - 1260 days
and 42 months (see Rev. 12: 6-15) - corresponds to three and a half years and
symbolically indicates the period of persecution. For three and a half years,
the public service of the Savior continued. The persecution of believers under
King Antiochus Epiphanes, emperors Nero and Domitian continued for about the
same time. However, the numbers in the Apocalypse should be understood
allegorically (see above).
The beast that came out of the sea, and the beast that came
out of the earth (Rev. 13-14 of the chapter). Most holy fathers understand the
“beast from the sea” as the Antichrist, and the “beast from the earth” as the
false prophet. The sea symbolizes an unbelieving mass of people, forever
agitated and overwhelmed by passions. From the further narration of the beast
and from the parallel narration of the prophet Daniel (Dan. 7-8 Ch.) It should
be concluded that the "beast" is the whole atheistic empire of the
Antichrist. In appearance, the dragon-devil and the beast that emerged from the
sea to which the dragon transferred his power are similar to each other. Their
external attributes speak of their dexterity, cruelty and moral ugliness. The
heads and horns of the beast symbolize the atheistic states that make up the
anti-Christian empire, as well as their rulers (“kings”). The report of the
mortal wound of one of the beast’s heads and its healing is mysterious. In due
time, the events themselves will shed light on the meaning of these words. The
historical basis for this allegory could be the conviction of many
contemporaries of the apostle John that the murdered Nero came to life and that
he would soon return with the Parthian troops behind the Euphrates River (see
Rev. 9:14, 16:12) to take revenge on his enemies. Maybe here is an indication
of a partial defeat godless paganism by the Christian faith and the revival of
paganism during the period of universal deviation from Christianity. Some here
see an indication of the defeat of the atheistic Judaism in the 70s of our era.
“They are not” Jews, “but a gathering of Satan,” the Lord said to John (see
Rev. 2: 9; 3, 9).
Note: There are similarities between the beast of the
Apocalypse and the four beasts of the prophet Daniel, personifying the four
ancient pagan empires (Dan. 7 chap.). The fourth beast belonged to the Roman
Empire, and the tenth horn of the last beast signified the Syrian king
Antiochus Epiphanes - the prototype of the coming antichrist, whom Archangel
Gabriel called "despicable" (see Dan. 11:21). The characteristics and
acts of the apocalyptic beast have much in common with the tenth horn of the
Prophet Daniel (see Dan. 7: 8-12, 20-25, 8: 10-26, 11: 21-45). The first two
Maccabee books serve as a vivid illustration of the times before the end of the
world. The cryptographer then describes the beast that came out of the earth,
which he later calls the false prophet. The earth here symbolizes the complete
lack of spirituality in the teachings of the false prophet: it is all saturated
with materialism and the pleasing of sinful flesh. The false prophet deceives
people with false miracles and makes them worship the first beast. “He had two
horns like a lamb, and spoke like a dragon” (Rev. 13:11), i.e. he looked meek
and peaceful, but his speeches were full of flattery and lies. As in chapter 11
two witnesses symbolize all the servants of Christ, so, obviously, two beasts
of chapter 13 symbolize the totality of all haters of Christianity. The beast
from the sea is a symbol of civil atheism, and the beast from the earth is a
combination of false teachers and all perverted church authority. As in the
times of the Savior's earthly life, both of these authorities, civil and
religious, in Pilate and the Jewish high priests united in condemning Christ to
be crucified, and in the whole history of mankind these two authorities are
often united in the struggle against faith and for the persecution of
believers. Examples: the prophet Balaam and the king of Moab; Queen Jezebel and
her priests; false prophets and princes before the destruction of Israel and
later Judea, “apostates from the holy covenant”, and King Antiochus Epiphanes
(Dan. 8:23; 1 Mak. and 2 Mak. 9 ch.), adherents of the Mosaic Law and Roman rulers
in the apostolic time. In the New Testament, heretical false teachers weakened
the Church with their schisms, and this contributed to the conquering successes
of the Arabs and Turks, who inundated and ruined the Orthodox East. Russian
freethinkers and populists paved the way for revolution; modern false teachers
seduce unstable Christians into various sects and cults. All of them are false
prophets, contributing to the success of the atheistic forces. The Apocalypse
clearly reveals the mutual support between the dragon-devil and both beasts.
Here each of them has its own selfish calculations: the devil longs for
worship, the Antichrist seeks power, and the false prophet seeks his material
gain. The Church, calling on people to believe in God and to strengthen
virtues, is a hindrance to them, and they are jointly fighting against it.
The mark of the beast (Rev. 13: 16-17; 14, 9-11; 15, 2; 16,
20; 20, 4).
In the language of the Holy Scripture to bear the seal (or
mark) means belonging or submission to someone. We have already said that the
seal (or the name of God) on the forehead of believers means their God's
chosenness and, therefore, God's protection over them (see Rev. 3:12, 7: 2-3,
9: 4, 14: 1, 22 :four). The activity of the false prophet described in chapter
13 of the Apocalypse convinces us that the kingdom of the beast will be of a
religious and political nature. By creating a union of different states, it
will simultaneously plant a new religion instead of the Christian faith.
Therefore, to submit to the Antichrist (allegorically - to accept the seal of
the beast on one’s forehead or right hand) will be tantamount to renouncing
Christ, which entail the deprivation of the kingdom of heaven. The symbolism of
the seal is drawn from the custom of antiquity, when warriors burned the names
of their leaders on their hands or on the forehead, and slaves - voluntarily or
forcibly - accepted the seal of the name of their master. Pagans, devoted to
some deity, often wore a tattoo of this deity. It is possible that during the
time of the Antichrist an improved computer registration will be instituted,
like modern bank cards. The improvement will consist in the fact that a
computer code invisible to the eye will not be printed on a plastic card, as it
is now, but directly on the human body. This code, read by an electronic or
magnetic “eye,” will be transmitted to a central computer, which will store all
the information about this person, personal and financial. Thus, the
establishment of personal codes directly in public will replace the need for
money, passports, visas, tickets, checks, credit cards and other personal
documents. Thanks to the individual coding, all monetary operations - receiving
a salary and paying debts - can be carried out directly in the computer. In the
absence of money, the robber will have nothing to take from the person. The
state, in principle, will be able to more easily control crime, since the
movement of people will be known to him thanks to the central computer. It is
believed that in such a positive aspect this personal encoding system will be
proposed. In practice, it will be used for religious and political control over
people, when “no one will be able to buy or sell, except for those who have
this mark” (Rev. 13:17).
Of course, the idea expressed here about stamping codes on
people is an assumption. The point is not in electromagnetic signs, but in
fidelity or betrayal of Christ! Throughout the history of Christianity,
pressure on believers by the anti-Christian authorities took various forms:
making a formal sacrifice to an idol, accepting Mohammedanism, joining a
godless or anti-Christian organization. In the language of the Apocalypse, it
is the adoption of the mark of the beast: the acquisition of temporary
advantages at the cost of renouncing Christ.
The number of the beast is 666 (Rev. 13:18).
The value of this number is still a mystery. Obviously, it
can be deciphered when the circumstances themselves contribute to this. Some
interpreters in the number 666 see a decrease in the number 777, which in turn
means three times perfection, completeness. With this understanding of the
symbolism of this number, the Antichrist, striving in everything to show his
superiority over Christ, will in fact be imperfect in everything. In ancient times,
the calculus of the name was based on the fact that the letters of the
alphabets had a digital meaning. For example, in Greek (and Church Slavonic)
“A” was 1, B2, G3, etc. A similar numerical meaning of letters exists in Latin
and Hebrew. Each name could be calculated arithmetically by adding the
numerical value of the letters. For example, the name Jesus, written in Greek,
is equal to 888 (possibly indicating the highest perfection). There are a huge
number of proper names that, with the sum of their letters translated into
numbers, give 666. For example, the name Nero Caesar, written in Hebrew
letters. In this case, if the proper name of the Antichrist were known, then to
calculate its numerical value would not require special wisdom. Maybe here we need
to look for a solution to the puzzle in a fundamental plane, but it is not
clear in which direction. The beast of the Apocalypse is both the Antichrist
and his state. Perhaps, in the time of the Antichrist, the initials denoting a
new world movement will be introduced. By the will of God, the personal name of
the Antichrist is hidden from idle curiosity for a time. When the time comes,
those who follow will decrypt it.
The talking image of the beast
It is difficult to understand the meaning of the words about
the false prophet: “And it was given to him to put his spirit in the image of
the beast, so that the image of the beast would speak and act in such a way
that we kill everyone who would not worship the image of the beast” (Rev.
13:15). The reason for this allegory could be the demand of Antiochus Epiphanes
that the Jews bow to the statue of Jupiter, erected by him in the Jerusalem
temple. Emperor Domitian later demanded that all inhabitants of the Roman
Empire bow to his image. Domitian was the first emperor to demand divine
veneration while he was still alive and to be called “our Lord and God”.
Sometimes, for a greater impression, the statues of the emperor hid priests who
broadcast from there on his behalf. Christians, not bowing to the image of Domitian,
were ordered to execute, and bowing to give. Perhaps the prophecy of the
Apocalypse refers to some kind of apparatus like a television that will
transmit the image of the Antichrist and at the same time monitor how people
react to it. In any case, in our time, films and television are widely used to
instill anti-Christian ideas, to teach people to cruelty and vulgarity. Daily
indiscriminate watching TV kills the good and the sacred in a person. Is not
the television the forerunner of the speaking image of the beast?
Seven bowls. Strengthening the atheistic power. The Trial of
Sinners (Rev. 15-17 Ch.)
In this part of the Apocalypse, the crypto-reader describes
the kingdom of the beast, which has reached its peak of power and control over
people's lives. The deviation from the true faith covers almost all of
humanity, and the Church comes to extreme exhaustion: “And it was given to him
to wage war with the saints and defeat them” (Rev. 13: 7). In order to
encourage believers who remained faithful to Christ, the apostle John looks up
to the mountain world and shows the great host of the righteous, who, like the
Israelites who had been saved from Pharaoh under Moses, sing a victorious song
(Exodus 14-15 gl.). But as the end of the power of the pharaohs came, so the
days anti-Christian power numbered. The following chapters (Rev. 16-20 gl.) In
vivid strokes depict God's Judgment on the worshipers. The defeat of nature in
chapter 16 is similar to the description in chapter 8, but here it reaches
global proportions and makes a terrifying impression. As before, it is obvious
that the extermination of nature is carried out by people themselves - wars and
industrial waste. The increased solar heat from which people suffer can be
associated with the destruction of ozone in the stratosphere and an increase in
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. According to the Savior’s prediction, in the
last year before the end of the world, living conditions will become so
unbearable that “if those days were not shortened, no flesh would be saved”
(Matthew 24:22). The description of the court and the punishment in chapters
16–20 of the Apocalypse follows the order of increasing guilt of the enemies of
God: first, people who have adopted the mark of the beast are punished, and the
capital of the anti-Christian empire is “Babylon,” then the antichrist and the
false prophet, and finally the devil. The account of the defeat of Babylon is
given twice: first in general terms at the end of chapter 16, and in more
detail in chapters 18–19. Babylon is portrayed as a harlot sitting on a beast.
The name “Babylon” resembles the Chaldean Babylon, in which the God-fighting
power was concentrated in the Old Testament (Chaldean troops destroyed Ancient
Jerusalem in 586 BC). Describing the luxury of the “harlot," the apostle
John had before his eyes a rich Rome with its port city. But many features of
apocalyptic Babylon are not applicable to Ancient Rome and, obviously, belong
to the capital of Antichrist. Likewise mysterious is the angel’s explanation at
the end of chapter 17 about the “secret of Babylon” in details related to the
Antichrist and his kingdom (Rev. 17: 7-18). Probably, these details will be
understood in the future when the time comes. Some allegories are taken from
the description of Rome, which stood on seven hills, and its godless emperors.
“The five kings (heads of the beast) fell” - these are the first five Roman
emperors - from Julius Caesar to Claudius. The sixth chapter is Nero, the
seventh is Vespasian. “And the beast, which was and is not, is the eighth, and
(it is) of the seven” - this is Domitian, who revived Nero in the popular
representation. He is the antichrist of the 1st century. But, probably, the
symbolism of chapter 17 will receive a new explanation at the time of the last Antichrist.
The trial of Babylon, the Antichrist and the false prophet
(Rev. 18-19 gl.)
The crypto-reader in vivid and vibrant colors paints a
picture of the fall of the capital of the atheistic state, which he calls
Babylon. This description is similar to the predictions of the prophets Isaiah
and Jeremiah about the death of the Chaldean Babylon in 539 BC. (see Isa. 13-14
ch.; Isa. 21: 9; Jer. 50-51 ch.). There are many similarities between the past
and the future centers of world evil. Particularly described is the punishment
of the Antichrist (the beast) and the false prophet. As we have already said,
the “beast” is both a definite personality of the last God-wrestler, and, at
the same time, personification of any God-fighting power in general. False prophet
- this is the last false prophet (assistant to the Antichrist), as well as the
personification of any pseudo-religious and perverted church authority. It is
important to understand that in the story of the punishment of Babylon, the
Antichrist, the false prophet (Rev. 17-19 Ch.) And the devil (Rev. 20 Ch.), The
apostle John follows not a chronological, but a fundamental method of
presentation, which we will now explain. In its entirety, Holy Scripture
teaches that the atheistic kingdom will end at the Second Coming of Christ,
then the Antichrist and the false prophet will die. The Last Judgment of God
over the world will take place in order of increasing guilt of the defendants.
“For the time to begin judgment with the house of God; if it begins with us first,
then what is the end of the disobedient to the gospel of God? ”(1 Pet. 4:17).
First, believers will be judged, then unbelievers and sinners, then the
conscious enemies of God, and finally the main the culprits of all lawlessness
in the world are demons and the devil. In this order the Apostle John also
narrates about the judgment on the enemies of God in chapters 17–20. At the
same time, the trial of each category of perpetrators (apostates, the
Antichrist, the false prophet, and finally the devil) is preceded by a
description of their guilt. Therefore, it seems that Babylon will be destroyed
first, some time later the Antichrist and the false prophet will be punished,
after which the kingdom of the saints will come on earth, and after a very long
time the devil will come out to seduce the nations and then he will be punished
by God. In reality, in the Apocalypse we are talking about parallel events.
This method of presentation of the apostle John should be taken into account
for the correct interpretation of chapter 20 of the Apocalypse.
The 1000-year-old Kingdom of Saints. The Resurrection of the
Dead and the Last Judgment. The Judgment of the Devil (Rev. 20 Ch.)
The twentieth chapter, telling about the kingdom of saints
and about the double defeat of the devil, covers the entire period of the
existence of Christianity. She sums up the drama of chapter 12 about the
persecution of the Church-wife by the dragon. The first time the devil was
struck by the Cross death of the Savior. Then he was deprived of power over the
world, “fettered” and “imprisoned” for 1000 years, i.e. for a very long time
(Rev. 20: 3). “Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world
will be cast out ”(John 12:31), - said the Lord before His sufferings. As we
know from the 12th chapter of the Apocalypse and from other scriptures, the
devil, even after the Savior's death on the Cross, was able to tempt the
believers and create intrigues for them, but he no longer had power over them.
The Lord told His disciples: “Behold, I give you the power to tread on snakes
and scorpions and all the power of hostility” (Luke 10:19). Only at the very
end of the world, when due to the mass deviation of people from faith, the
restraint will be taken from the medium (see 2 Thess. 2: 7), the devil will
again prevail over sinful humanity, but for a short time. Then he will lead the
last desperate struggle against the Church (Jerusalem), sending hordes of “Gog
and Magog” against her, but he will be defeated by Christ a second and final
time. “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against
it” (Matthew 16:18).
The hordes of Gog and Magog symbolize the totality of all
the atheistic forces, human and underworld, which the devil will unite in his
crazy war against Christ. Thus, the struggle against the Church that has
intensified throughout history ends in chapter 20 of the Apocalypse with the
complete defeat of the devil and his servants. Chapter 20 summarizes the
spiritual side of this struggle and shows its end. The bright side of the
persecution of believers is that they, having suffered physically, spiritually
defeated the devil, because they remained faithful to Christ. From the moment
of their martyrdom they reign with Christ and “judge” the world, taking part in
the destinies of the Church and of all mankind. Therefore, we turn to them for
help, and from this follows the Orthodox veneration of saints (see Rev. 20: 4).
The Lord foretold the glorious fate of the sufferers for faith: “He who
believes in me, even if he dies, will come to life” (John 11:25). The
“Resurrection First” in the Apocalypse is a spiritual rebirth that begins from
the moment a believer is baptized, is strengthened by his Christian deeds and
reaches his highest state at the time of martyrdom for the sake of Christ. The
promise is spiritually regenerated: “The time is coming, and it is already when
the dead hear the voice of the Son of God and, having heard, live again” (John
5:25). The words of verse 10 of chapter 20 are final: the devil, who deceived people,
is "cast into the lake of fire." Thus ends the story of the
condemnation of the apostates, the false prophet, antichrist and the devil.
Chapter 20 ends with a description of the Last Judgment.
Before him, there must be a general resurrection of the dead - physical, which
the apostle calls the "second" resurrection. All people will be
physically resurrected - both the righteous and the sinners. After the general
resurrection, “the books were opened ... and the dead were judged according to what
was written in the books” (Rev. 20:12). Obviously, then before the Throne of
the Judge the spiritual state of each person will be revealed. All dark
actions, evil words, secret thoughts and desires - everything carefully hidden
and even forgotten - will suddenly surface and become obvious to everyone. That
will be a terrible sight! As there are two Sundays, so there are two deaths.
“First death” is a state of unbelief and sin in which people who did not accept
the gospel lived. “Second Death” is a doom to eternal estrangement from God.
This description is very concise, since the apostle has spoken about the Court
several times before (see Rev. 6: 12-17, 10: 7, 11:15, 14: 14-20, 16: 17-21,
19: 19- 21, 20: 11-15). Here the apostle summarizes the Last Judgment (the prophet
Daniel at the beginning of chapter 12 briefly describes this). With this brief
description, the apostle John completes the history of mankind and goes on to
depict the eternal life of the righteous.
New Sky and new Earth. Eternal Bliss (Rev. 21-22 Ch.)
The last two chapters of the Book of the Apocalypse are the
brightest and most joyful pages of the Bible. They describe the bliss of the
righteous on the renewed Earth, where God will wipe away every tear from the
eyes of the sufferers, where there will be no more death, no cry, no cry, no
disease. Life begins, which will not end. So, the Book of the Apocalypse was
written during the intensified persecution of the Church. Its purpose is to
strengthen and comfort the believers in view of the upcoming trials. She
reveals the ways and tricks by which the devil and his servants try to destroy
believers; she teaches how to overcome temptations. Book The Apocalypse
encourages believers to be attentive to their spiritual condition, not to be
afraid of suffering and death for the sake of Christ. She shows the joyful life
of the saints in heaven and calls to unite with them. Believers, although
sometimes they have many enemies, but even more have defenders in the person of
Angels, saints, and especially Christ the Victor.
The book Apocalypse is brighter and more visible than other
books of the Holy Scriptures reveals the drama of the struggle between evil and
good in the history of mankind and shows the complete triumph of Good and Life.
In the synodal translation: "and on earth, as in
heaven."
Let us recall the words of the wise Gamaliel, who advised
the Jews not to persecute the disciples of Christ (Acts 5: 38-39).
He wrote from the words of Peter the Gospel, called
"from Mark." Mark was not among the 12 apostles.
These items, shown to Moses on Mount Sinai, were also used
in the Old Testament temple.
Voluntary "eunuchs" for the sake of the kingdom of
heaven, see about this: Matt. 19:12; Revelation 14: 1-5. In the Church, this
feat was often carried out as a monk.
Or Moses and Elijah. It is known that Enoch and Elijah were
taken alive to Heaven (see Gen. 5:24; 4 Kings 2:11).
Some suggest that during the time of Antichrist, Jerusalem
will become the capital of a world state. At the same time, they give an
economic justification for this opinion.
“My children, for whom I am again in the throes of birth,
until Christ is portrayed in you!” (Gal. 4:19) - said the apostle Paul to the
Galatian Christians.
This was the first revolution in the universe!
(Genesis 3:14; Mark 9:29). It should be remembered that many
zealous Christians from the first centuries moved to the desert literally,
leaving noisy cities full of temptations. In remote caves, hermitages and
laurels, they devoted all their time to prayer and divine thought and reached
such a spiritual height that modern Christians have no idea. Monasticism
flourished in the East in the IV-VII centuries, when in the desert places of
Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Asia Minor, many monasteries formed, numbering
hundreds and thousands of monks and nuns. From the Middle East, monasticism
spread to Athos, and from there to Russia, where in the pre-revolutionary times
there were more than a thousand monasteries and monasteries.
Table 1
The list of the most important events, kings and prophets
(all dates are indicated before Christ)
Israeli kings Judean kings Prophets Events Ahab 875–853
Jehoshaphat 876–851 Elijah Rise of Phenicia Ochosia 876–851 Ioram 851–842 Ioram
851–842 Ochosia 843–842 Elisha 850–879 Iyu 842–814 Hofolia 843–836 Ioahaz
814–797 836–796 Joel Growth of Assyria Joas 797–781 Amasia 796–782 Jonah
Jeroboam 782–740 Azariah 782–737 Founding of Rome Menaim 740–737 Hosea Fakey
737–733 Iofam 737–735 Hosea 733–722 Ahaz 735–725 The Fall of Israel 722
Hezekiah 725–696 Isaiah Micah, Nahum 730–690 Siege of Jerusalem 700 Manasseh
696–639 Persecution of the Prophets Ammon 641–639 Zephaniah, Habakkuk Josiah
639–608 Jeremiah The Fall of Nineveh 606 I Akim 608-597 Obadiah Jehonia 597
Zedekiah 597-586 Ezekiel The fall of Jerusalem 586 Daniel the Babylonian
captivity Haggai The fall of Babylon 539 Zechariah Cyrus of Persia 559-529
Returning from captivity 536 Darius I, Restoration of the Temple Malachi 475
Order of Saxes Church -425
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