What, then, can we call ‘the flood’ if not that consuming fire which, at the decree of the Last Judgment, will divide the righteous from the condemned during the final reckoning? The Prophet's words echo this sentiment: “a fiery and swift stream passed before him” (Dan 7:10).
So, who are those ‘on the way’ through this world if not those who eagerly pursue the inheritance of the elect? They are aware that their true homeland lies in the heavenly realm and anticipate discovering more of their true selves there, rejecting what they possess in this life. The ‘people on the way’ represent all the chosen ones journeying through life as exiles, striving with every fiber of their being to reach their celestial homeland. As Paul articulates, “they confessed that they are wanderers and strangers on earth” (Heb 11:13-14). The same Apostle refers to these wanderers when he states: “while we are at home in the body, we walk as pilgrims” (2 Cor 5:6). He hastened to transcend the hardships of this pilgrimage when he expressed, “I have a desire to be cut off and to be with Christ” (Phil 1:23), and similarly, “To me, Christ is life, and death is gain” (Phil 1:21). The psalmist, too, bore the burden of this pilgrimage, lamenting, “Woe is me that I abide by Mosoch, that I dwell by the tents of Kedar! My soul has been so long a settler” (Psalm 119:5-6). His soul yearned to depart, fueled by heavenly aspirations, declaring, “My soul thirsteth for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 41:3). However, such desires remain foreign to those who have set their hearts solely on earthly pleasures. Those who cling to what is visible often neglect the invisible, even if they acknowledge its existence, becoming ensnared in their carnal desires. Consequently, both groups coexist in this life but are not destined for eternal life together, as the stone of darkness and the shadow of mortality serves to separate them.
In simpler terms, those blinded by unfaithfulness or hardened by cruelty find themselves segmented by the fiery stream preceding the Eternal Judgment, which divides the cruel from the elect, severing the upright from those rendered blind by their sinful cravings. Perhaps, the term ‘stream’ could allude to the sanctifying influence of holy preaching, as expressed in Proverbs: “The eye that mocks the father, and despises the deed of the mother, the ravens shall carry away out of the stream” (Prov 30:17). Wicked individuals, while embracing error in God’s decrees, essentially ‘mock their father.’ Likewise, heretics who disdain the preaching of the Holy Church deride her nurturing role, thus losing sight of the truth. Those who depart from her and rebel against her, as John affirms, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained” (1 John 2:19). The ‘ravens from the stream’ arrive as true preachers rise to defend the Holy Church against the onslaught of misinterpretation. They are rightly referred to as ‘ravens’ because they do not take pride in their righteousness, but through humility, they acknowledge their own sinful nature. Thus, it is stated of the souls of the elect, “I am black, but beautiful” (Song 1:5). John reminds us, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.” These ravens surely ‘take away the eyes’ of the scoffers, overcoming wicked and deceptive individuals. Therefore, here too, ‘the stream’ can be understood as preaching, while the rock of darkness and the shadow of death separates the faithful on their journey, as the teachings of the saints reach the hearts of the lost, drawing in the humble souls.
The ‘beggar’ may represent none other than Him of whom Paul said, “Though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor” (2 Cor 8:9). The ‘foot of the beggar’ refers to the holy preachers through whom the Gentile world was brought to faith. It is affirmed by the Prophet that “I will walk in them” (Lev 26:12). Was he not the one, chained in bonds, who stated, “For whom I bear the message in chains” (2 Cor 6:16; Eph 6:20)? However, those who personify ‘the shadow of death and a stone of darkness’ neglected the beggar’s foot. Early in the life of the nascent Church, the Holy Apostles, instructed to proclaim the kingdom of heaven in Judea, realized the futility of their efforts and turned their preaching towards the Gentiles, as they declared, “It was necessary that the word of God should first be preached unto you; but since you reject it and disqualify yourselves from eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46). The psalmist captures this essence, stating, “The mountains are brought into the heart of the sea” (Psalms 45:4), symbolizing how the apostles, rejected by the Jews, were incorporated into the Gentile world.
Who, then, embodies the unyielding obstinacy and blind hearts defined as ‘stones of darkness and shadows of death,’ separated from the faithful on their journey, the ones whom the foot of the beggar has forgotten? These are none other than those whom the preachers of the Lord, in their humility, left behind in their pride. They neglected these individuals while spreading the seeds of their preaching to nurture the fruits among the Gentiles. Thus, they rightly fit the label ‘unreachable’ for having hardened their hearts against the life-giving message that was offered to them. Let us also contemplate the fate of Judea, which, having reached such a hardened state, observed its ultimate destination.
THEOSIS