This lamentable custom is widespread, especially in Egypt and Alexandria, where they decorate tables on the last day of the year with varied foods and a sweetened cup, hoping to predict the fertility of the year to come. The Israelites too have followed this idolatrous practice, honoring false idols and making libations not upon the altar but on such a table. Instead of the Hebrew word translated by the Seventy, which means “for fate,” there is a term that implies “without” Me, suggesting that it is a table prepared apart from God, meant for spirits of error. The sword by which they will perish refers to punishment. It is not merely the sword to which the scattered people of Israel are delivered but to the torments of captivity and extreme oppression, as it is written, “All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword,” and further, “I will consume My arrows with blood, and My sword shall slay the flesh of the slain” (Deuteronomy 32:42). It may seem astonishing that the arrows of the Lord are filled with blood and that His sword feasts on the flesh of the wounded. Job spoke of these arrows, stating, “The arrows of the Almighty are within me, and their poison drinks up my spirit" (Job 6:4). Allegorically, it must be understood that those who abandon the Church, forget the holy mountain of God, and yield to deceptive spirits prepare a table for fate, believing their lives are governed solely by the stars or various fortunes. Paul admonishes them: “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons” (1 Corinthians 10:20), for they are destined for eternal punishment, unable to escape death and ruin.
For I called, and you did not respond; I spoke, but you did not pay attention. You acted wickedly in My sight and chose what was displeasing to Me. You are consigned to the sword because you have not only forsaken Me and forgotten My name, but when I was Immanuel—God with us, as John testified: “The Word was made flesh and dwelled among us” (John 1:14)—I pleaded with you, saying, “Return to Me, O backsliding children” (Jeremiah 3:14), and “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden” (Matthew 11:28), but you would not heed. Though I spoke in parables and fulfilled My duties, you rejected Me and despised My words. I am the One who lamented, “I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was none to answer” (Isaiah 50:2). Your evil was compounded when you not only scorned Me but also executed the heir I sent, opting instead for Barabbas, a murderer and insurrectionist, while having the audacity to say, “Why, O Lord, did You lead us away from Your path?” (Isaiah 63:17). If those who had not known Me discovered Me and those who did not call on Me accepted Me, what punishment do you deserve for your refusal to accept Me, especially when I was sent to you as the lost sheep of the house of Israel? It is crucial to understand the significance of your choice: to pursue that which displeases Me, which is contrary to the will of the Son of God, who teaches, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). God Himself attests to this: “I delight to do Your will” (Psalm 39:9). This is the will that the Lord revealed: “I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will fulfill all My will” (Acts 13:22). Thus, a saint prays, “Teach me to do Your will, for you are my God” (Psalm 142:10). While all things may be permissible, not all things are beneficial (1 Corinthians 6). Even regarding the virgins, the apostle claimed he had no commandment from the Lord but wished for us to emulate him (1 Corinthians 7). Hence, we must follow not indulgence but the teacher's desire, choosing what is advantageous rather than merely what is permissible. As for the matter of remarriage, he suggests young widows engage in building families and homes (1 Timothy 5:4), explaining the allowance for it as some have strayed in the aftermath of false teachings (1 Timothy 5). Therefore, the secondary marriage is not truly what he desires, losing its essence when compared to the sin of adultery.
THEOSIS