My eyes will behold them, not at some distant time but now, they shall witness them crushed like dust in the streets even in our present day. Thus far, Jerusalem, or the prophet representing the people, has spoken. Following this, God responds to Jerusalem, saying: O Jerusalem, the time has come for the rebuilding of your fortifications that Babylon once laid waste. On that day, the law will be distant, meaning a commandment, as interpreted by Simmachus and Theodotion with the terms ἐπιταγη χαι πρόςταγμα, indicating that you shall no longer be under Babylonian dominion. When your defenses are restored, assistance shall come to you from Assyria, from fortified cities all the way to the Jordan, across the Red Sea, and from all nations to the Dead Sea, which borders your land. From Mount Zion, help shall arrive even from Persia and Midian, where they had previously been exiled; while the remainder of your land will belong to the Chaldeans and those who completely devastated you due to the actions of its inhabitants. The Jewish people even now anticipate the fulfillment of this prophecy in what we have interpreted as feasible, particularly in reference to the words ‘On that day, the law shall be far off.’ Some conjecture that when the fortifications of Jerusalem are restored by Christ, the Scriptures of the Law and the Prophets, now in Christian possession, will be transferred to Judah; yet they suggest that the Seventy’s interpretation, ‘the day of hewn brick is your defeat,’ does not pertain solely to Jerusalem but also to Babylon, which, as we have interpreted according to the Hebrew text, will also be devastated and treated like refuse. This day will abolish laws, though not the laws of God but those that you, Babylon, have enforced against God’s commandments. Your cities will perish, divided in the time of the Assyrians’ siege, for Babylon was a city of the Chaldeans, not the Assyrians. Your fortified cities will be the enemy's gain from Tyre to the Tigris, surrounded by them, reaching even from the Great Sea to the Black Sea along your pathway to India; ‘and from mountain to mountain,’ that is, from the hills of Judah to those of Persia and Midian. All of Mesopotamia, along with every region presently under your control, will be subjected to the enemy’s reign. This land will lay desolate due to the wickedness of your actions. The Seventy have translated ‘from Tyre,’ whereas the Hebrew text reads masor (םעיר); segmented into the preposition ma and the name sor, it signifies ‘from Tyre.’ When read as one, it conveys ‘fortification.’ Various interpreters have alternatively rendered it as περιοκὴv χαι περίφραγμα, relating both to ‘fortification’ and the enclosure of a walled city, differing from the Seventy’s translation. This understanding, based on the Hebrew text, will counteract the secret hopes of carnal Israel and a people destined for downfall. Let us now turn our focus to the spiritual interpretation and delve into the most challenging sections with the guidance of the Holy Spirit’s insight into what has been scripted. Jerusalem, in my view, symbolizes every soul wherein God’s temple, the understanding of the world, and the knowledge of Holy Scriptures were established; later, it became overwhelmed by sin, captured, and tormented, voicing a reality against Babylon: ‘Do not rejoice over me, adversary, for I have stumbled, yet I will rise: for the Lord upholds the brokenhearted (Ps. 144:14),’ proclaims the prophet, ‘Will not he that falls rise again?’ (Jer. 8:4); ‘I do not desire the demise of the wicked, but rather that they turn and live’ (Ezek. 33:11). Thus, if you look upon me with scorn, or despair over my suffering, recognize through the prophet Ezekiel that suffering is first appointed to the faithful, as the Lord instructs, ‘Begin with my saints’ (Ezek. 9:6). Although I walk in darkness, the Lord is my light. Even if the rulers of the darkness were to seize me, if I were to sit in shadowy gloom, descending into death’s dark valley, yet for those dwelling in darkness and the shadow of death, light has dawned (Is. 9:2), and ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?’ (Psalm 26:1). I will turn towards Him, proclaiming, ‘Your word, O Lord, is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path’ (Psalm 118:105). For He has commanded me, imprisoned in the darkness of this age, to ‘Let your waist be girded, and let your lamps be burning’ (Luke 12:35). It follows that, ‘I will endure the Lord’s wrath because I have sinned against Him; He will assess my situation, deliver judgment, and guide me into the light where I shall witness His righteousness.’ The corrections experienced now seem harsh but foster the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are nurtured through it. Thus, the soul aware of its sin, bearing the wounds of iniquity, existing in a lifeless form, requiring healing, incessantly urges the physician: ‘Purge my flesh, excise my wounds, and cleanse away the toxic and harmful fluids with a potent remedy. My injuries stem from my vices; hence my grievous sufferings must surely lead me towards recovery.’ The true physician, for restorative purposes, not only articulates the reasons for the remedies but also justifies his actions as appropriate. Ultimately, following suffering and the consequence of punishment, the soul, rescued from outer darkness by the final price paid (Matthew 5:26), proclaims, ‘I will witness His righteousness,’ affirming, ‘Your judgments, O God, have been fulfilled.’ If indeed Christ has been made wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption for us by God (1 Cor. 1:30), then the individual asserting that after the divine wrath they perceive justification is preparing themselves to meet Christ. Yet this pertains only to the repentant. It is undoubtedly preferable to avoid injury and not require a healer. Healing offers no joy to those who heal; it merely brings relief after the pain has passed. Therefore, the healed should remain vigilant against sin to prevent further suffering. In Leviticus, we observe (Leviticus 13:24, 25) that if we read with clear vision, without a veil obscuring our perception, we realize that leprosy often emerges from the scars of burns, altering the skin's hue and adding new defilement to the existing ugliness of the sore. I mention this to caution anyone neglecting repentance—after sinning, they might say, ‘I will accept God's wrath because I have sinned against Him until He deems my case.’ They must not sin again, nor need healing that might lead to another wound. However, when God brings us into the light, and we witness His truth, our enemy Babylon will behold this, and the one who mocked us saying, ‘Where is your God?’ will be filled with embarrassment, for they assumed that Jerusalem, after suffering, was beyond healing. And as each chastisement concludes, it will mark the start of good, with suffering preceding restoration, yielding bricks fashioned from the ashes of anguish, and the act of kneading these bricks representing its trampling. On that day, delusions will be discarded, and the cities with poor defenses will face destruction or division by the Assyrians. Moreover, new forces will arise from Tyre, whose name signifies solace, leading to a siege that impacts even those who indulge in worldly abundance and incite desires within men. From sea to sea, and mountain to mountain, internecine strife will erupt, with one grief contending against another, pride remaining defiant and challenging others, fulfilling the word, ‘Come, let us go down and confound their language, that none might understand the speech of his neighbor’ (Gen. 11:7), so that it is advantageous for the wicked powers to find no commonality. When Satan rises against Satan, the entire realm of his kingdom shall fall (Mk. 12:26). And what often transpires in vast armies—wherein, post the demise of a tyrant, their followers divvy up the realm, turning against one another—will likewise occur at the culmination of the world when Jerusalem's fortifications are restored, Babylon falls, and the demons, whether from rivers, seas, or mountains, all the legions of evil, will turn upon themselves. Following their division, the kingdom of Lord Jesus will emerge, and every knee shall bow to Him, whether in heaven, on earth, or in hell, with every nation acknowledging that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:10, 11). However, be assured that this siege's resolution will yield prosperity for the righteous, while Babylon will face total ruin alongside all its inhabitants, producing no fruits of its own.
THEOSIS