Apocalypse. Millennium. Chiliasm and Chillegorism

[…]

(55) The king that they set up [the Antichrist], worshiped by all, made himself the abomination of desolation to the world; he will reign for a thousand two hundred and ninety days. And, as Daniel says, the abomination of desolation will last for one thousand two hundred and ninety days. “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days” (Dan 12:11—12). In fact, when the abomination sets in and begins its fight against saints, those who are able to endure its domination and persevere for the following forty-five days, until the end of Pentecost – only those will attain to the Kingdom of Heaven. After all, the Antichrist, intending to receive the inheritance together with Christ, will only remain for a part of this [i.e. final] Pentecost. That’s why Isaiah says: “Let the ungodly be taken away, that he see not the glory of the Lord” (Is 26:10 LXX). Paul says in the letter to the Thessalonians: “The Lord shall consume [the Wicked] with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming” (2 Thess 2:8). And the Kingdom will be inherited by the saints together with Christ (compare Dan 7:27; Mt 25:34; Rev 20:6).

Commodian of Gaza (3rd century)

Excerpt from “Carmen apologeticum adversus judaeos et gentes”, also known as “Carmen de duobus populis”:

…The law and the prophets proclaim who is worthy of God’s heaven,

And reveal the secrets of the golden age.

[…]

In addition, he adds that we will be immortal,

To enjoy what the eye hath not seen before.

After the six thousand years have passed…

Excerpt from “Instructiones adversus gentium deos pro christiana disciplina”:

[…] A city will descend from heaven in the first resurrection.

And what shall we say about this heavenly creation?

We shall all rise who were faithful to Him.

They will be incorruptible, and life will be untouched by death,

There will be no more illness or sighing.

Only those will enter the city who were victorious in the times of the Antichrist

In martyrdom they have gained life forever and ever.

They will receive good things, for they have suffered through tribulations.

They will marry, and they will bring forth offspring

In the course of a thousand years, and earthly tributes will be given to them.

For the earth will bring them forth and renew them without end.

Shower rains will not come, nor will this golden fortress be touched by cold,

And there will be no siege, as it is now, nor robbery.

The city will not want the light of lamps,

For the Creator Himself will be its light, and night will be no more.

It will be twelve thousand stadia in length, width, and hight,

Its root will abide in the earth, and its head will rise to heaven.

And before the gates of the city, the sun and the moon will shine,

The evil one will be captured in anguish for the sake of nourishing the righteous,

For a thousand years God will keep him in chains. […]

St. Victorinus of Petava (230 – 303/304)

Excerpt from “On the Creation of the World”:

4. On the fifth day, earth and water yielded their fruit [see Gen 1:20—23]. On the sixth day, all that was still lacking was made. Because of this, God made the man out of the earth [see Gen 2:7] and set him as the ruler over all things that God created on earth and under water [see Gen 1:28]. However, before [man], God created angels and archangels, thus setting the spiritual principle above the earthly one. The light was created before the heaven and earth. The sixth day is called Friday [Paraskeva], or the preparation for the Kingdom [see Rev 5:10; 20:4]. God created Adam in His image and likeness [see Gen 1:26]. He created angels, as well as man, after finishing all His works so that neither man nor angels could claim to have been His helpers in the creation of the world.

5. On the seventh day, God rested from all his works, and He blessed and sanctified them [Gen 2:2—3]. This day we honor above all other days because on the Day of the Lord we partake of the Bread with thanksgiving. And Friday becomes our fast so that it would not seem as if we were observing the Sabbath together with the Jews, for the Lord of the Sabbath, Christ [Mt 12:8], said through the prophets that His soul hates the Sabbaths [Is 1:13—14] because He had fulfilled the Sabbath in His body. However, even before that, He had commanded Moses about the circumcision that should be performed no later than on the eighth day [see Lev 12:3], which often falls on the Sabbath as we read in the Gospels [see Jn 7:22]. Moses, seeing that these people are hard-hearted, lifted his hands and crucified himself in the battle waged by an enemy on the Sabbath [see Is 17:8—13], so that they would be captured and learn through the strictness of the law the doctrine which they had been neglecting.

6. And that’s why in the sixth psalm, David pleads with the Lord about the eighth day, asking him not to rebuke him in anger, nor chasten him in hot displeasure [Ps 6:1 (Ps 6:1—2 rus)]. This is indeed the eighth day of this coming judgment, which will be taken outside of the order of events during that week. Joshua, the successor of Moses, also broke the Sabbath. For he commanded the sons of Israel to go around the walls of Jericho with the sound of trumpets and declare war on the enemy on the Sabbath day [see Josh 6:3, 15]. Mattathias, the leader in Judea, broke the Sabbath rest, putting to death the commander Antiochus, the king of Syria, on a Sabbath and pursuing his enemies on the same day [see 1 Macc 2:25, 41, 47]. In Matthew [see Mt 12:3—5], we find a similar text. Isaiah and some of his followers [see Is 1:13; Hos 2:13] broke the Sabbath to keep the true Sabbath of the seventh millennium. Therefore, by each of these seven days, the Lord individually points to the Millennium. For it says: “For a thousand years in thine eyes are but as one day” [Ps 90:4 (Ps 89:5 rus); 2 Pet 3:8]. Therefore, each millennium is “in the eyes of God”, and there are seven eyes of the Lord, according to my calculations [Zech 4:10]. As I have mentioned earlier, this is the reason why the true Sabbath is the seventh millennium, in which Christ will reign with his elect [see Rev 20:6].

Excerpt from “Commentary on the Apocalypse”:

19 And a white horse, and one sitting upon him shows our Lord coming with the heavenly army to reign, at Whose coming all the nations will be gathered [Rev 19:11—16], and will fall by the sword [Rev 19:21]. And others who were nobles will serve in the service of the saints [Rev 20:4]; and of these (nobles) also he shows they will be killed in the end time, at the finish of the reign of the saints, before the judgment, after the release of the devil [Rev 20:7—8]. On these all the prophets likewise agree.

20,1 And the scarlet devil is imprisoned and all his fugitive angels in the Tartarus of Gehenna at the coming of the Lord; no one is ignorant of this [Rev 20:1—3]. And after the thousand years he is released, because of the nations which will have served Antichrist: so that they alone might perish, as they deserved [Rev 20:7—10]. Then is the general judgment. Therefore he says: And they lived, he says, the dead who were written in the book of life, and they reigned with Christ a thousand years. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has a part in the first resurrection: toward this one the second death has no power [Rev 20:4—6]. Of this resurrection, he says: And I saw the Lamb standing, and with him 144 thousands, that is, standing with Christ, namely those of the Jews in the last time who become believers through the preaching of Elijah, those who, the Spirit bears witness, are virgins not only in body, but also in language [Rev 14:1—5]. Therefore, as he reminds above, the 24 elder-aged said: Grace we bring to You, O Lord God who has reigned; and the nations are angry [Rev 11:16—18].

20,2 At this same first resurrection will also appear the City and the splendid things expressed through this Scripture [Rev 21:2, 10]. Of this first resurrection Paul also spoke to the Macedonian church, thus: For as we have thus said to you, he says, by the Word of God, that at the trumpet of God, the Lord Himself will descend from heaven for raising up; and the dead in Christ will stand first, then we who are living, as we will be taken up with Him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will always be with the Lord [1 Thess 4:16—17]. We have heard the trumpet spoken of; it is observed that in another place the Apostle names another trumpet. Therefore he says to the Corinthians: At the last trumpet, the dead will rise, will become immortal, and we will be changed [1 Cor 15:51—52]. He says the dead will be be raised immortal for bearing punishments, but it is shown that we are to be changed and to be covered in glory. Therefore where we hear “the last trumpet,” we must understand also a first, for these are two resurrections. Therefore, however many were not previously to rise in the first resurrection and to reign with Christ over the world, over all nations, will rise at the last trumpet, after the thousand years, that is, in the last resurrection, among the impious and sinners and perpetrators of various kinds. He rightly adds, saying: Blessed and holy is he who has a part in the first anastasis: toward this one the second death has no power [Rev 20:7]. For the second death is being thrown into hell.

21,1 Therefore in the kingdom and in the first resurrection appears the holy city, of which he speaks, descending from heaven [Rev 21:2, 10], foursquare, walled around with stones of different and precious and coloured and various kinds, like fine gold, that is, bright [Rev 21:12—20]. In crystal, he says, is its street paved [Rev 21:21]; the river of life flowing through the middle, and springs of waters of life; the tree of life around it, making different fruits for every month [Rev 21:1—2]; no light of the sun is there, because of a greater glory. The Lamb, he says, is its light [Rev 21:11, 23; 22:1—5].

21,2 Its gates, truly, are each a single pearl, three from each part, not closed, but to be open [Rev 21:21, 25]. Scripture shows many reasons for the gifts of the kings of regions and nations, (kings) who will be servants, being brought there: he speaks of the subjection of the last ones, which we have treated. But the city is not thus understood, as one (?) we have known; for we are not able to testify any further, without a guide, to that which we have heard and seen. Otherwise, the city is spoken of as all those provinces of the Eastern region promissed to the Patriarch Abraham. Look, he says, to the heavens, from the place in which you are now standing [Gen 13:14], that is, from the great river Euphrates to the river of Egypt [Gen 15:18]; all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your seed [Gen 13:15]. Finally, the Holy Spirit says: It will be ruled from sea to sea, that is, from the Red Sea, which is in Arabia, to the North Sea, which is the Sea of Phoenicia, and to the ends of the earth [Ps 72:8 (Ps 71:8 rus)]: which are the major parts of Syria. Therefore, all these provinces are to be levelled and cleansed at the coming of the Lord and (His) brightness descending from heaven like a cloud, outshining the brightness of the sun, and are shown contained in the circuit (of its walls).

21,3 For as the Holy Spirit has also testified through Isaiah: Like a smoke of light burning with fire; with all the glory it will be covered [Is 4:5]; and in another place he says, Shine, Jerusalem! For your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen for you. For the sun will not illuminate for you by day, nor the moon for you by night; the Lord your God will be for you an eternal light [Is 60:1, 19—20]. And David says: And there will be on the earth a firmament above the peaks of the mountains, and his fruit will be exalted over that of Lebanon, and they of the city will flourish like the grass of the earth [Ps 72:16 (Ps 71:16 rus)]. And Daniel spoke of the stone cut out without hands to strike the statue having four in it, that is, gold and silver, bronze and iron, and clay in the last; and this stone, after it will have reduced the statue to dust, will become a great mountain, filling the whole earth [Dan 2:31—35]. And he interpreted the dream for the king, and says: You are, he says, the gold head, and your nation. Another kingdom, he says, will rise, lesser than you, and there will be a third kingdom which will rule the whole earth. And the fourth kingdom: very hard and very strong, like iron which subdues everything and cuts down every tree [Dan 2:37—40]. And in the end time, he says, like clay mixed with iron will men be mixed, and there will not be treaties nor agreement. i And in those times the Lord God will raise up another kingdom, which kingdom, he says, the saints of the Most High God will take up [Dan 7:18]. And this kingdom will not be captured by another nation; for God will strike and capture all the kingdoms of the earth, and His will remain forever [Dan 2:44].

21,4 Paul also, speaking to the Corinthians, recalled mention of His kingdom: He must reign until He puts His enemies under His feet [1 Cor 15:25]. The saints are spoken of in this kingdom: I have rejoiced [Ps 60:6 (Ps 59:8 rus)] just as we have have heard [Ps 48:8 (Ps 47:9 rus)]. In the same kingdom he will find those serving a perfect faith, of whom he says: they stood upon the sea of glass, having kitharas and bowls, that is, firmly established upon their baptism, and having their confession in their mouth, they are rejoicing there [Rev 5:8; 14:1—5; 15:2—4].

21,5 In this kingdom, He has promised to His servants, saying: Whoever will leave father or mother or brother or sister for the sake of My name will receive the reward of one hundred parts multiplied, both now, and also will in the future possess eternal life [Mt 19:29; Mk 10:29—30]. In this kingdom, those who have been defrauded of their goods because of the name of the Lord, and those many killed for all crimes and in prisons? and indeed before the coming of the Lord the Holy Prophets were stoned, killed, sawn [2 Chron 24:20—21; Mt 23:35; Lk 11:51; Rom 11:3]? they will receive their consolation [Mt 5:5], that is, heavenly crowns and riches. In this kingdom the Lord Himself has promised He will restore for the years in which the locust and the wingless locust and the corruption ate [Joel 2:25]. In this, all of creation will be saved and, by the command of God, will give forth the good things hidden in it. Then the saints will receive for bronze, gold, and for iron, silver [Is 60:17] and precious stones. In this place, He will send to them the riches of the sea and the excellent things of the nations [Is 60:5]. In this kingdom, the priests of the Lord will be called the servants of God [Is 61:6], just as they have been called sacrilegious. In this kingdom, they will drink wine [Is 25:6—7] and be anointed with ointments [Rev 3:18] and they will be given to rejoicing.

21,6 Of this kingdom, the Lord reminded the Apostles before He suffered, saying: I will not drink of this fruit of the vine any more, until when I will drink with you again in the coming kingdom [Mt 26:29], which is the hundred parts multiplied, ten times, a thousand times, to greater things and better things.

And what he says of the different stones, that they will be shown by kind and by color, this speaks of men; as also it signifies the most precious variety of the faith of each man. For the gates of pearls he shows to be the Apostles [Rev 21:12—14, 21]. They will not be closed [Rev 21:25], he says: grace is given through them, and the same is never closed. In this place they will see face to face [1 Cor 13:12], and one will not request of another [Is 34:15—16]. And the names of the Fathers and the Apostles are to be both on the foundations and over the gates [Rev 21:12, 14]: we have already treated of the 24 elders, and of those who are to rule in this kingdom, they will judge the world [1 Cor 6:2].

(Translated by Kevin P. Edgecomb)

St. Athanasius the Great (296 – 372/373)

And the disciples, wishing to know the time of the events spoken of, pleaded with the Lord: “When will this be? And what is the sign of Your coming” [Mt 24:3]? Having heard what the Savior had revealed about the end of the world, they wished to know the time of His coming so they would not be deceived but would be able to teach others. And indeed, having heard this, they helped the Thessalonians not to fall into error. Therefore, when someone has attained a perfect knowledge of such things, he will have a solid and sound understanding of the faith. And should someone reinterpret this to mean something else, he will soon fall into heresy. Hymenaeus and Alexander departed from the truth, saying that the resurrection had already taken place [1 Tim 1:19—20; 2 Tim 2:16—18]. And later Galatians did the same, having loved the circumcision (Against the Arians, Discourse One, 54).

St. Methodius of Patara and Olympus (c. 260 – 312)

Excerpt from “The Feast of the Ten Virgins”:

Discourse I, Markella.

Chapter 5. Christ, having kept his flesh uncorrupted by sin, encourages us to remain virgins. Compared to other saints, virgins are few.

What did the Lord, the truth and light, do after His coming (into the world)? Having taken our flesh, he kept it pure – in its virginity. In the same way, we who wish to be like God and Christ should try to remain virgins. For the likeness of God consists in abstaining from corruption. And that the incarnate Word should become the first virgin, the first priest, and the first prophet in the Church is explained in the book of Revelation by John who was inspired by Christ. For he said: “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His name and his Father’s name [the added words: ‘His name and’ are found in some copies of the Apocalypse] written in their foreheads”. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: and they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth (Rev 14:1—4). Moreover, notice how precious virginity is in the eyes of God: they have been redeemed from among all people as the first-born of God and the Lamb, and there is no deceit in their lips; they are blameless and follow the Lamb wherever he goes (Rev 14:4—5). By this, he wishes to impress upon us the idea that in this number, that is, one hundred and forty-four thousand, the number of virgins has been revealed to us since ancient times, while the number of all other saints is indefinitely great. For it is remarkable that he added about others: “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number…” (Rev 7:9). So, as I have mentioned before, he talks about the countless multitudes of other saints, and virgins are very few compared to those who make up the countless multitudes. […]

Discourse VI, Agatha.

Chapter V. The reward of virginity.

Such is the triumph of our sacrament, o beautiful virgins; such is the sacred rite of those initiated into the mystery of virginity; such are the rewards of the pure striving for chastity (Wis 4:2). I become the bride of the Word and I receive the eternal crown of incorruption and my Father’s riches as a dowry; and I always triumph, having been crowned with brilliant and unfading colors of wisdom, rejoicing in heaven with Christ, the Rewarder, being near the One eternal and infinite King. I became the candle-bearer for the unsetting Sun and sing a new song among the archangels, glorifying the new grace of the Church. For the host of virgins always follows the Lord and triumphs with Him, wherever He might be. This is what John also refers to in speaking of the one hundred and forty-four thousand (Rev 7:4). So, march ye, o young daughters of the coming ages! March on, and fill up your vessels with the truth! For the time has come to get up and go out to meet the Bridegroom. Walk ye boldly, abstaining from the amusements and charms of this world, which entice and captivate the soul; for you will receive what was promised. “I swear by Him who showed us the way of life” [Exameter verse on v. 47 of the so-called “Golden Verses” by Pythagoras].

This wreath has been woven with prophecies; I have picked them at the prophetic meadows, and I bring them unto you, Aretha. […]

Discourse 9, Tisiana.

Chapter 1. Virginity is the main decoration of the true tabernacle. “What is the meaning of the seven days, in which the Jews were commanded to celebrate the feast of tabernacles?” That the end of this seven-day cycle is unknown, for there’s no one who has been shown the time of the end of the world. The world is still in the making.

Aretha, o beloved beauty of all lovers of virginity! I plead with you to help me so I won’t have any lack of things to say after having delivered so many diverse speeches. Therefore, I drop all introductions and preliminary speeches, so that I would not, having spent so much time in compiling them properly, deviate from the very subject of my discourse – that virginity is most glorious, respectable, and magnificent. God, wishing to teach the true Israelites how to celebrate and honor the true Feast of Tabernacles, explains this in the book of Leviticus, showing that everyone should, above all, adorn his tabernacle with purity. I will quote the very words of Scripture to make it clear to everyone that fighting the good fight of purity is pleasing unto God. “And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you reap the harvest of your land, celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days; and the eighth day is the day of rest. And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows, and agnus of the brook [Αγνος vitex, or Komapicha, the pure lamb or chaste tree, a plant, which by its very name reflects the title of this work: περι αγνείας. This fragrant plant is a shrub, described by Plato in ‘Fedra’, 230. Pliny Hist. Nat. 24.19. It is also mentioned in the Holy Scripture. Leviticus 23:40, in the translation of the 70 scholars, mentions the branches of the agnos tree (άγνυ κλαδυς) separately from other listed branches – it is the tree, under the shadow of which the feast of the virgins took place]; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations. Ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days. All that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought you [‘them’ in the Bible] out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God” (Lev 23:39—43). Of course, the Jews (hovering over the letter of Scripture like bumblebees hover around leafy vegetables and unlike bees that hover around flowers and fruits), will claim that these words and precepts refer to the tabernacle of their own making, as if God would be pleased with those perishable and diverse ornaments, which they construct from tree branches. Yet, they do not grasp all the wealth of the future blessings, for all this is nothing but a breath and a symbol, foreshadowing the resurrection of our fallen tabernacle on earth, which we received back immortal in the seventh millennium [from the creation of the world] and which we will celebrate in the great feast of true tabernacles in the new and undying world, when all the harvests of the land will be gathered in and people will no longer give birth and be born, and when God rests from all his creative works. For just as in six days God created heaven and earth and completed all his works in the world, and just as he rested on the seventh day from all the works of his hands and blessed the seventh day and sanctified it (Gen 2:1—2), and just as we were transformatively commanded by the Lord to celebrate in the seventh month when the earthly fruits have been gathered, so God, having truly completed the universe, will rejoice over us (Ps 104:31 [Ps 103:31 rus]) when this world has reached the seventh millennium. Now everything is still run by God’s mighty will and incomprehensible power, the earth is still producing its fruit, and the waters still gather in their pools, the light is still separated (from darkness), and the number of people on the earth is still growing, the sun is still rising to govern the day, and the moon to govern the night (Gen 1:16); four-footed animals, beasts, and reptiles still come out of the earth, and birds and fish still come out of the water. But then, in the seventh month, on the great day of resurrection, when the times have been fulfilled and God has finished creating the world, our feast of tabernacles will be held in honor of the Lord, for which symbols and shadows were given in the book of Leviticus. They must be made clear for us to comprehend the revealed truth. As Scripture says, the wise will hear and increase learning and comprehend proverbs and the interpretation, the words of the wise and their dark sayings (Prov 1:5—6). Therefore, let those Jews be ashamed who do not comprehend the depths of the Scriptures, thinking that the law and prophets spoke only of the earthly things. Striving towards earthly things, they prefer external riches to spiritual wealth. The Scripture, however, contains images of a twofold kind concerning the past and future, yet, these miserable people rejected all this and embraced the shadows of the future as if they related to the past. So, about the slaying of the lamb they still believe that the sacrament of the slaughtered lamb is but a remembrance of the salvation of their fathers out of Egypt when they were redeemed from death by the blood sprinkled on the doorposts while all the first-born in Egypt were smitten. They did not grasp that it was also a foreshadowing, a type of Christ being slaughtered, by whose blood the sealed and protected souls will be saved from the wrath (of God) when the universe is burned and the first-born of Satan are destroyed. The punishing hand of angels will not touch those who have the seal of his blood on them.

Chapter 2. The type, the symbol, the truth, — law, grace, glory. Man was created immortal. — Death was introduced until sin is done away with.

I have given this as an example of how the Jews, by interpreting what was given to them through the past, lost all hope of future blessings and did not acknowledge either the foreshadowing types, or symbols, or the very image of truth. However, the law is a type and a shadow pointing to the image, that is, to the Gospel, and the Gospel is an image of the truth itself. For the ancients and the law prophetically prefigured for us the characteristics of the Church, and the Church is a shadow of the characteristics of the coming ages. Therefore, having accepted Christ who said: “I am the truth” (Jn 14:6), we are convinced that the shadows and types are now gone, and we reach out for the truth, proclaiming its true symbols. For we still know in part as if through a glass, darkly, because perfection has not yet come to us (that is, the Kingdom of Heaven and resurrection), after which everything partial will cease (1 Cor 13:10—12). Then, our tabernacles will be firmly established, when, after the union and fusion of bones and flesh, the body will rise again. Then we will indeed celebrate the day of joy before the Lord, when we have received the new tabernacle, which will no longer decay or be reduced to the dust (Dan 12:2). Our tabernacles were once indestructible, yet were shaken and fell because of the transgression, and God destroys our sin through death, so that the sinful person, immortal as he is in spite of the sin living in him, would not remain condemned forever. That’s why man is subjected to death though he is neither mortal nor corruptible. The soul is separated from the flesh so that through death sin could no longer live in the one who died. So, after death and extermination of sin, I rise again in immortality and sing praise unto God who saves (his) children through death. And I will lawfully celebrate His honor by adorning my tabernacle – the flesh – with good works, just as the (Gospel) virgins did with their five burning lamps (Mt 25:7).

Chapter 3. How should we, then, prepare ourselves for the future resurrection?

When I am tested on the first day of the resurrection, will I bring forth to God what was commanded? Have I adorned myself with virtues as if with good fruit? Am I overshadowed by the branches of virginity? Think of the resurrection as of setting up your tabernacle. Imagine that this tabernacle is made of your good deeds. So, I anticipate the first day, that is, the day I will stand before the judgment seat. Have I adorned my tabernacle with what was commanded? Does it have the things we are told to attain in this world, which I could present to God? Let us, then, consider the following. It says that on the first day we should take the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows, and agnus of the brook, and rejoice before the LORD your God [for seven days] (Lev 23:40). The Jews, who are uncircumcised in heart, interpret the goodly trees to be the lemon tree due to its size and are not ashamed to say that God, who is not pleased with all the animals in the world as burnt offerings, as well as all frankincense, could be glorified by a lemon tree. And besides, o stubborn ones, if the lemon tree is goodly, isn’t the vine even more so? And what about the pomegranate? Isn’t the apple tree and other fruit trees much more beautiful than lemon? Solomon, listing all these beautiful trees in the Song of Songs (Song 4:13), left out the lemon. But those foolish people are clearly in error, not understanding (what is being said here) about the tree of life, which had previously grown in Paradise and now has been cultivated for everyone by the Church. It yields its beautiful and lovely fruit of faith. This is the fruit we must all bear when we appear before the judgment seat of Christ on the first day of the Feast. And if we do not have this fruit, we will not be able to celebrate with God and, according to John, will not be able to participate in the first resurrection (Rev 20:6). For the tree of life is the first-born Wisdom. It is, as the prophet says, the tree of life for those who acquire it and the stronghold for those who rely on it as on the Lord (Prov 3:18 LXX). It is a tree planted by the streams of water which yields its fruit in season (Ps 1:3) – the doctrine and the wisdom proclaimed in due time for those who come to the waters of redemption. But how can one celebrate if he never believed unto Christ, never knew Him as the source and the tree of life, if he cannot present to God his tabernacle adorned with the most beautiful of fruits? How will he rejoice? Do you wish to know what this fruit is? Consider the words of our Lord Jesus Christ – how much more beautiful they are than (the words of) the sons of men (Ps 45:2 [Ps 44:3]). The law that came through Moses was a beautiful fruit, but it wasn’t as beautiful as the Gospel. For it was only a type and shadow of the things to come, but the Gospel is the very truth and grace of life. The fruit that the prophets bore was goodly indeed, but not as goodly as the fruit of incorruption cultivated by this (Gospel).