For you have turned decision into wrath and the fruits of righteousness into bitterness, you who do not find joy in goodness, asserting, "Have we not gained strength by our own might?" Behold, I, says the Lord God of Hosts, will bring forth a fierce nation against you, O house of Israel, and will crush you, preventing your entry into Emath or the stream to the West. Because you have descended into madness, refusing to invoke the name of the Lord even in times of calamity and fear, the Lord will command and will strike both the greater and lesser houses. How can He command if He strikes, and how can He strike if He commands? For as He commissions His servants to act, He Himself is the one enacting the strike. Thus, although the Father commands and the Son executes, the one who gives the command is also the one who acts, as expressed in the verse, "He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm" (Psalm 148:5). "All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made" (John 1:3). When the firstborn in Egypt were slain, it is the Lord who is called the slayer (Ex. 12). In this instance, the Lord commands and uses His servants to bring destruction upon the greater house—comprised of the ten tribes known as Israel—and fractures upon the lesser house, which consists of the two tribes ruled by the descendants of David.
It is noteworthy how each is treated. Israel, having sinned more, faces total destruction and is destined for perpetual captivity. Conversely, Judah, which contained the temple and only sinned partially, endures a captivity of seventy years, afflicted not with total ruin but with fractures. A house that has fractures can be mended, while destruction is not easily repaired but requires rebuilding. The ruin and fractures of both houses are likened to horses and buffaloes; the former unable to run over stones and the latter so untamed that they resist being yoked and, like wild bulls, refuse to break the soil with a plow. Despite horses and buffaloes being unable to alter their nature, you have distorted the nature of God, turning sweetness into bitterness, converting the truth of His righteousness into gall, the most bitter of herbs. You find joy in emptiness, either in idols and false images or in deceit. You suppose that by your strength you have gained might to scatter your foes. As you—both the greater and lesser houses, destined for ruin and fractures—have engaged in this folly, behold, I will raise up a fierce people against you: the Assyrians and Chaldeans, who will crush you comprehensively, from the eastern borders of your land to the stream in the wilderness or the West, just as the LXX renders it, namely, from Emath to Rinokorura, between which and Pelusium flows the Nile or the stream that emerges from the wilderness into the sea.
Previously, we referred to Emath as Epiphania, named after Antiochus Epiphanes. Those who believe the greater house refers to the ten tribes must explain why the threat encompasses them and the entire territory down to the limits of Egypt, since these boundaries include not just ten but all twelve tribes, including Judah and Benjamin. Some interpret this allegorically, where the greater house symbolizes the Jewish nation and the smaller house represents the church formed of the Gentiles. The former is deemed great due to the fathers, the law, and the prophets, while the latter is lesser as they are without the covenant and God’s commandments, as noted in the Song: "My sister is small and has no suckling" (Song 8:8). If this larger and smaller house—and the united family of God—lacks the teachings and fulfillment of divine commandments, it will suffer from destruction and fractures. Thus, whenever the house of God, or the Church, faces degradation due to persecution or is ripped apart by heresies and divisions, it demonstrates God's striking hand. If we wish to avoid such fate, we must heed the preceding examples.
On stones, horses cannot pursue. The stone is Christ (1 Cor. 10), who also deemed His apostles as rocks: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church" (Matt. 16:18). Anyone established upon these stones is immune to the opposing forces termed horses, previously discussed; they will stumble and fall at every stone. Let us consider another comparison in how we interpret the LXX version, for focusing solely on the Hebrew might deceive the inquisitive reader, leading to a reparative parroting without the common translation. "Or shall they be silent," he states, "before the females," clearly referring back to the horses that, as mentioned earlier, "shall be pursued by horses on the rocks." These horses symbolize the opposing powers that crave after women, yet if they perceive a manly man invigorated by God’s strength, they dare not approach. However, if they encounter a feminine soul, relaxed from pleasures and indulgence, they become frantic and cannot contain their lust.
Consequently, "For you have turned justice into rage." He who turns justice into fury issues judgment in anger, neglecting the Lord's command to "not show favoritism in judgment" (Deut. 16:19) and "not to be partial to the poor in a case" (Ex. 23:3), thereby proceeding in a state of irritation, making premature judgments without understanding the full context or the side of truth, thereby twisting the sweetest fruit of truth into bitterness. This principle applies not only to justice but also to virtues such as prudence, courage, and temperance; these fruits are unattainable by those consumed with anger, and if they are received, they turn bitter. Hence, Isaiah proclaims, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20). They are referred to as those who overlook the essence of the matter and turn the most delightful fruit of Christ’s truth into bitterness. Therefore, anyone who allows determination in judgment to be influenced by kinship or animosity distorts the truth of Christ, transforming its fruits into bitterness. Those who behave thus do not take pleasure in goodness, or rejoice "in vain," as translated by Simmachus, believing arrogantly, "Have we not by our own strength attained power?" In contrast, the righteous boast in the Lord, declaring, "By You, we shall push back our enemies" (Psalm 43:6), while elsewhere asserting, "I will not trust in my bow; my sword will not bring me victory" (ibid. v. 7).
Similarly, in Exodus, we read: "Moses did not realize that the skin of his face shone" (Ex. 34:29), justifying that "By You, I will deliver my enemies." We also hear of lifting "the horn of His people" (Psalm 148:14) and "the horn of His Anointed" (1 Kings 2:10); references include the horns of the altar and the clean horned animals offered to God. Now, however, is not the time for deeper explanation. Due to these grave sins and extreme arrogance—speaking wickedly against God and openly challenging Him (Psalm 73)—the Lord God Almighty proclaims He will raise up a ruthless people who will bring destruction and prevent your refuge in the fortified city, the heavenly Jerusalem, ensuring you cannot enter nor be rescued, similar to the guarding cherub with a flaming sword set by God to defend the way to the tree of life (Gen. 3). The subsequent phrase, "unto the flood in the West," can be understood through Psalm 67: "Sing unto the Lord, sing unto His name; make way for Him who ascended into the West, for the Lord is His name" (Psalm 67:5). If our wicked deeds do not cease, Christ will not rise above us; but upon their cessation, He shall lead us forth, prospering us as we receive the command contained in the same psalm: "Sing to God, sing to the Lord, who has ascended to the highest heaven in the east" (Psalm 67:33-34). In the sacraments, we must first renounce the one who dwells in the west, dying with our sins, and then, turning to the east, enter into union with the Sun of righteousness, pledging to serve Him. Instead of "the stream in the West," Simmachus translates "the valley of the field," Theodotion "the stream in Arabia," Aquila "the stream that is in the plain." These phrases indicate that within those far from the fortified city, sin cannot perish, and they cannot reach the stream in the field, plain, or wilderness, identified as the stream of sweetness (volurtatis) as described in the Psalm: "From the stream of Thy sweetness, shall they be plowed" (Psalm 35:9).
THEOSIS