My eyes shall see him, not in the distant future, but now they shall behold him trampled like dust in the streets, even in our own time. Up to this point, Jerusalem, or the prophet speaking on behalf of the people, has declared these words. Following this, God is portrayed as responding to Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, the days are approaching when your walls will be rebuilt, which were previously devastated by the ravager Babylon. In that day, the law shall be far removed, meaning a commandment, as Simmachus and Theodotion have expounded, employing the terms ἐπιταγη χαι πρόςταγμα. Consequently, it will signify that you shall no longer be under the rule of the Babylonians. In that day, when your defenses are restored, there shall come to you from Assyria and from the fortified cities; from these cities, I say, even unto the Jordan, which the people have traversed before, and from the Red Sea, and from every nation up to the Dead Sea that is near your territory, and in Mount Zion from the lands of Persia and Midian, where they had previously been exiled; and the remainder of the land will belong to the Chaldeans, and to those who have utterly devastated you due to the deeds of the inhabitants. Even now, the Jews anticipate the fulfillment of this prophecy in the future; and at the place we have interpreted based on what seems likely to us, as the more discerning among them elucidate—specifically in the phrase, ‘In that day the law shall be far off’—some lightly posit and assert: ‘In that day, when the walls of Jerusalem will be restored by Christ, the Scriptures of the Law and the Prophets, which we currently hold as Christians, will be taken from us and given to the people of Judah; but importantly, what the Seventy translate as ‘the day of the hewn brick is your defeat,’ we maintain does not solely pertain to Jerusalem, but also to Babylon, as we interpret it according to the Hebrew text; for Babylon too shall be destroyed and trampled like dust. That day will abolish only those laws which are not of God, but rather those laws which you, O Babylon, have commanded in defiance of God’s law. Your cities will come to an end, meaning they will be divided during the Assyrian siege (since Babylon was a city of the Chaldeans, not of the Assyrians). Your walled cities will become the possessions of the enemy’s forces extending from Tyre to the river Tigris, by which you are encircled, and from the Great Sea to the Black Sea, which borders your lands heading towards India; ‘and from mountain to mountain,’ meaning from the mountains of Judah to the mountains of Persia and Midian: all of Mesopotamia, and absolutely all the territory currently under your authority, shall succumb to the dominion of the enemy. The land will lie in ruin as a consequence of your wicked actions. Where the Seventy have rendered from Tyre, we understand that the Hebrew text reads masor (םעיר). If this word is split into the preposition: ma and the name: sor, it signifies precisely ‘from Tyre.’ However, if it is a single term, it denotes: ‘fortification.’ Ultimately, all other interpreters have translated this as περιοκὴν χαι περίφραγμα, χαὶ πολιορκίαν, meaning ‘fortification’ or ‘the enclosure of a walled city,’ not ‘from Tyre,’ as translated by the Seventy. Such is the interpretation according to the Hebrew text, and it will counteract, as it were, the secret desires of worldly Israel, and of a people destined for reduction. Let us now turn to spiritual interpretation, and diligently contemplate the most challenging passages with the guidance of the Holy Spirit’s insights into what has been written. Jerusalem—as I perceive it—is
the essence of every soul wherein the temple of God, the vision of the world, and the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures were established; later, it became overcome by sin, taken captive, and subjected to affliction. It cries out against Babylon, saying, ‘Do not rejoice over me, O my adversary, for I have stumbled, but I will rise, for the Lord upholds the brokenhearted (Ps. 144:14), and proclaims through the prophet, ‘Will not he who falls rise again?’ (Jer. 8:4), and ‘I desire not the death of the sinner, but that he should turn and live’ (Ezek. 33:11). If, therefore, you regard me with scorn or despair for me in my suffering, then recognize through the prophet Ezekiel that punishments are initially appointed to the saints, as it is written, ‘Begin from my saints’ (Ezek. 9:6): for though I walk through darkness, yet the Lord is my light. Even if the rulers of darkness close in on me, and I dwell in shadows of death, even if I find myself in rocky darkness, yet for those who dwell in shadows of death, a light has come forth and shines in the darkness (Is. 9:2), and ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?’ (Ps. 26:1); and I shall turn to Him with the words, ‘Your word, O Lord, is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path’ (Ps. 119:105). For He has commanded me, who am imprisoned in the darkness of this age, ‘Let your loins be girded, and let your lamps be burning’ (Luke 12:35). It follows: ‘I will endure the anger of the Lord, for I have sinned against Him, while He shall judge my case, execute justice, and lead me into the light, where I will see His vindication.’ All correction, in its current state, seems not joyful but painful; yet afterward, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Thus, the soul that recognizes its sins, suffering from the wounds of its transgressions, and inhabiting a fallen body, and requires healing—such a soul continually implores the physician, ‘Burn my flesh, cut off my wounds, and cleanse all unruly fluids and harmful humors with a sharp remedy. My wounds are the outcomes of my vices, and thus my intense suffering must serve to foster my healing.’ The true physician, for the sake of recovery, explains the rationale behind the prescribed remedy, justifying His actions as right. Ultimately, after experiencing suffering and punishment, the soul, freed from outer darkness through the payment of the last measure (Matt. 5:26) proclaims, ‘I will behold His righteousness,’ affirming, ‘Your judgments, O God, have been fulfilled.’ If Jesus Christ is made unto us of God wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30), then the individual who claims that after experiencing God’s wrath they see justification, is preparing to glimpse Christ. However, this pertains solely to the repentant. It is undoubtedly preferable, yet, not to have wounds and not to require a physician. Healing is not bliss for those who are cured, but merely relief following an ailment. Therefore, the one who has been healed should be vigilant not to sin again, lest he suffer a worse fate. In Leviticus, we read (Lev. 13:24, 25)—if only we could read with open eyes, and the veil placed over the eyes does not obscure the perceptions of the inner eye—namely that leprosy often arises on the scar or wound of a burn, altering the skin’s color, and a new uncleanness is compounded onto the prior ugliness of the sore. I mention this so that anyone indifferent to repentance—after sinning, thinking, ‘I will endure the wrath of God, for I have sinned against God, until He judges my case’—may not sin again and thus require healing, and upon recovery may not be wounded again. But when God brings us forth into the light, and we behold His truth, then our enemy Babylon will witness this, and he who earlier scoffed, ‘Where is your God?’ will be shrouded in disgrace, for he presumed that Jerusalem, after receiving injury, could not be restored. And since the conclusion of all discipline heralds the start of goodness, suffering must precede healing, and bricks will emerge from the dirt thereof, and their formation will equate to their tramping down. In that day, old illusions will be discarded, and your inadequately fortified cities will fall or be divided, and they shall be torn asunder by the Assyrians. Furthermore, from Tyre, whose name denotes consolation, new forces will rise, heralding a siege that will extend also to those engaged in the abundance of this world and inciting lusts within men. From sea to sea and from mountain to mountain, internecine conflicts shall arise, ensuring that one woe battles against another, while pride, which ought to be humbled, rises in enmity against another. Thus, the words will be realized, ‘Come, let us descend and confuse their tongues, that none may comprehend the voice of his neighbor’ (Gen. 11:7), for it is beneficial for ungodly powers to have no accord among themselves. And when Satan rises against Satan, then certainly his whole kingdom will be shattered (Matt. 12:26). Similarly, what frequently transpires in large armies—namely, after the demise of a tyrant, his subordinates splitting the kingdom among themselves, rebelling against each other, and forging ceaseless conflicts—will occur at the end of the age, when Jerusalem’s fortifications are restored, when Babylon crumbles, and forces from Assyria and Tyre, from the river, from the sea, and from the mountains, meaning all the legions of demons, will engage in battle against one another; after the dissolution of their kingdom, the reign of the Lord Jesus shall be established, and every knee will bow to Him, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and all nations will confess that the Lord Jesus is to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:10, 11). So that you may comprehend that the conclusion of this siege will benefit the virtuous, Babylon will be utterly vanquished alongside all its inhabitants, producing no more of its fruits.
THEOSIS