Let the Jews and those who view only a historical perspective, who seek merely the leaves and shadows of the truth—items that quickly fade and vanish—respond: How can it be that at the coming of the Lord and Savior—a brief span from Isaiah to the Incarnation in the context of eternity—Lebanon, the Phoenician mountain, was changed into Mount Carmel, known in Hebrew as Chermel? This mountain lies on the border between Palestine and Phoenician Ptolemais, though another mountain called Carmel appears in Scripture, where Nabal of Carmel, a foolish and unruly man, resided (1 Sam. 25). He had Abigail as a wife, who later married David after Nabal's death, as marrying another while he lived would have branded her an adulteress. How, then, shall Carmel be seen as a forest, filled with fruit-bearing trees? If they cannot explain this, let them understand that Lebanon, symbolizing cleansing, pertains to the Gentiles, who, having been washed in the Lord and purified from their past sins, ascend as part of the Church established upon the Savior. Concerning this, it is said in the Song of Songs: Who is this that comes up, whitewashed, leaning upon her beloved? (Song 8:5). This people also turns to Carmel, meaning they embrace the knowledge of true spiritual circumcision, assuming the place of the Jewish people. Those who reject Christ are likened to wood and unfruitful trees, unable to praise the Lord alongside the fruitful. When Lebanon is transformed into Carmel, and Carmel into a forest, then those who were previously deaf and could not comprehend the prophetic writings—they whom we’ve noted refer to one cohesive Scripture, as Ecclesiastes states: The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed, given by one Shepherd (Ecclesiastes 12:11)—will begin to hear and speak; and the Savior will say to them: ephphatha, which signifies be opened (Mk. 7:34). Our translation—the eyes of the blind shall see out of darkness and gloom—finds support in Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus, indicating that the Gentiles, once blind, will behold the mysteries of Christ, as it is written: dark are the waters in the clouds of the air (Psalm 17:12). The Psalmist further states of God, ‘Thou shalt make darkness thy dwelling’ (v. 12). In Proverbs, we read: ‘The wise man hears and increases in learning, and the discerning man acquires skill; to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles’ (Proverbs 1:5-6). Ultimately, Moses, seeking to comprehend and witness God, entered into the cloud and darkness (Exodus 20:21), aptly captured in the Psalm: ‘The darkness is beneath His feet’ (Psalm 17:11). When those who were once blind gain vision, either apprehending the mysteries or lifting their eyes from darkness to behold the true light shining on those sitting in the shadows of death, then the meek—of whom it is written: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5)—and the impoverished, whose plight is articulated in the Psalms: This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him (Ps. 33:7)—who judges the lowly and rescues the sons of the destitute (Ps. 71:4)—will be filled with joy in the Lord. It is that he who brags may boast in the Lord (2 Cor. 10:17), while those poor or scorned by humanity, who were ignorant of the law, will find joy in the Holy One of Israel, who commands: ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’ (Lev. 11:44). Their joy stems from the absence of the one who has been defeated, the one who mocked and boasted, claiming, ‘With strength and wisdom, I will achieve— I will breach the boundaries of nations and void their might,’ who derided all. Therefore, it is said, ‘My garments are full of contempt’ (Psalm 37:8). All those obsessed with injustice will be annihilated, as their malicious vigilance leads to eternal ruin—those who seduced humanity into sin through falsehood, rejecting the Word of God and speaking against heaven. These refer to the demons, who, seeking their own downfall, drove many to sin by their blasphemies while erecting obstacles against the truth of Him who stood at the gates of Zion, above the gates of death, condemning those hostile to His messenger. What we denote concerning the devil and his angels is understood by the Nazarenes as a critique of the scribes and Pharisees, suggesting that there will no longer be deceivers among the interpreters of tradition, who previously led the people astray through wicked customs, watching over the simple-minded day and night, thus inducing them to deny Christ, the Son of God.
THEOSIS