His foolishness was so profound that he failed to notice his consumption or understand why he was surrendered to those who took from him, and until his old age, he remained engulfed in this delusion. Thus, the pride of Israel will be brought low, not after an extended period, but swiftly and directly, for this is what it means: before His presence. He will be humbled because of his arrogance, having relied not on God but on the multitude of his warriors, remembering that God opposes the proud but grants grace to the humble. The LXX translated pride as reproach, consistent with their custom. As God had previously stated, Ephraim became like bread baked on ashes that was not turned, and to clarify this notion, the text reminds us that throughout this, they did not turn to the Lord their God nor seek Him. Had they turned to the Lord, they would undoubtedly have heard the words spoken through Jeremiah: "Turn ye unto Me, and I will turn unto you." Yet, they did not seek the One they had lost due to their own transgressions.
Let’s consider another interpretation. Ephraim, destined to guide the nations and lead them to become like him, has instead mingled with them, as stated earlier: "It shall be as men, so shall the priest," implying that Ephraim has been confused with the nations and their Gentiles, making all heretics indistinguishable from the misguided Gentiles. Once a leader in the Church, he has become as bread baked in ashes, surrounded by unclean remnants and the flames, failing to turn to the Lord and remaining trapped in the initial delusion he embraced. Demons devoured his strength, as they are foes to all Christians, and he did not discern this, mistaking foes for allies and seeing those who consumed him as companions. Grey hair signifies his prolonged error, yet he is oblivious to his age and frailty, as noted: "That which decays and grows old is near decay." While for the righteous, a man's grey hair symbolizes wisdom, could it not be reasoned that for the lawless and heretical, it symbolizes folly? Of this old age, Daniel remarked to the elder about being "weathered with evil dens." Consequently, in the book of the Shepherd, if one accepts that reading, the Church is portrayed first as elderly, then as a young maiden, and later with her hair adorned like a bride. When the pride of heretics is humbled, or the scorn they daily inflict on the faithful is acknowledged, they will not return to the Lord nor call upon Him; they are as fervent as a furnace yet do not seek Him; they have devoured their judges, leading to the downfall of kings, with none to call upon the Lord. All these experiences were endured so that they might seek the Lord, whom they refused to pursue.
THEOSIS