Jerome

(Chapter 3, verses 1 onwards) For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my people, my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations and have divided up my land. They have cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they have sold girls for wine that they may drink. LXX: For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. They cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine to drink. Let us say that we promised, first connecting the later things to the earlier ones according to anagoge, if we are able, we will try to refer them to the day of judgment. With the believers saved on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and with the rest of the people of Judaea called, who believed with the apostles and through the apostles, at that time after the Lord had turned the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, who had come to preach seen, and to the captives, remission, and delivered those who confess the Lord, and who are in the Church, in which there is a vision of peace, will gather all the nations that did not want to believe: and will lead them into the valley of Jehoshaphat, which more significantly, according to the Hebrew truth, is said in Greek κατάξω, that is, I will lead them down, and I will draw them from the highest to the lowest. At the same time, consider when the Lord summons unbelievers, even hostile powers, to judgment and disputes with them on behalf of his people: 'I will bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.' But when he encourages believers to battle, he says: 'Stir up the strong ones: let all the warriors come forth and ascend.' The nations are urged not to descend, but to ascend into the Valley of Jehoshaphat. For everyone who is judged because of their sins is placed in the valley, which is called Jehoshaphat, that is, the judgment of the Lord. For whoever believes in the Lord will not be judged. And there he will argue with them, not by the power of majesty, but by convincing them with the truth of reason, those who have divided the people of God and dispersed his inheritance among the nations, in order to compel the servants of God to serve themselves. And they divided his land, separating it with many errors among themselves, so that some worshiped Jupiter, others Juno, and Minerva, and fever, and rust, and Anubis, and the crocodile, and the ibis, and the owls, and hawks, and storks. Under these names, the people of God were once divided: those hostile nations, that is, the princes of this world and the rulers of darkness, not only divided the people of God among themselves, but they also put boys in brothels, forcing them to change their natural disposition, about whom the Apostle speaks: Therefore, God handed them over to shameful passions: indeed, their women exchanged the natural use (or, their own nature) for that which is against nature. Similarly, men, forsaking natural use with women, were inflamed with lust for one another, men committing indecent acts with other men, and receiving in themselves the penalty that was due for their error. And not content with this, they sold the girl for wine, so that they could drink and satisfy their lustful desire. All of these things, according to the Jews, were fulfilled in the times of Vespasian, Titus, and especially Hadrian, exactly as described. But if we want to refer to what is written on the day of judgment, we say that everyone who is saved is saved in the Church, whether in heavenly Jerusalem. And after the captivity of the Jews and Jerusalem is turned, then all are to be gathered and led into the valley of Josaphat: and there the Lord will judge with those who persecuted his people, and divided for themselves the inheritance of the Lord, and scattered them among the nations, and cast lots for their land: which we must not only accept concerning heretics, who divided God's people for themselves and made them into gentiles, but also against every rigid and proud teacher, who rule over the clergy under the name of doctrine and priesthood, and oppress those who are subject to them. And when they are negligent and cause scandal to one of the least, they even place boys in brothels or hand them over to prostitutes. They sell girls for the sake of their pleasure, whose god is their belly, and they glory in their shame (Philippians 3). Furthermore, they entrust young men to prostitutes and sell girls for the sake of luxury, not hesitating to corrupt wrongdoers for the sake of shameful profit.

(Verse 4-6.) But what do you want with me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Will you retaliate against me? If you retaliate against me, I will quickly repay you for your actions upon your own heads. For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried off my precious treasures into your temples. You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, in order to remove them far from their own land. LXX: What have I to do with you, Tyre and Sidon, and all the Galilee of the Gentiles? Are you rendering retribution to me, or do you hold anger against me in your heart (for this is what μνησικακείτε means in Greek)? Quickly and swiftly I will repay your retribution upon your heads, because you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried off my precious treasures into your temples. And you have sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the Greeks, in order to remove them far from their borders. And the Jews consider these places, Tyre, Sidon, and the borders of Palestine, or Galilee, to be inhabited by foreigners: because during the Jewish captivity, when they were conquered by the Romans, they persecuted the people of God; in fact, they persecuted the very God who presided over the people, according to what is written: 'He who receives you, receives me' (Matt. 10:40). Therefore, on the contrary, whoever persecutes the people of God, persecutes the very God to whom the people belong. I will restore, he says, to you what you have done to my people: for you have taken my silver and gold, that is, the vessels of the temple, and whatever was most precious and beautiful in it, the golden candlestick and the golden table of proposition, and the two golden Cherubim, and the mercy-seat, and the golden bowls and censers, and you have consecrated them to your idols (2 Kings 25). However, the Chaldeans are said to have done these things more, who placed the vessels of the Lord's temple in the temple of Bel: from which afterwards Belshazzar drinks in the vessels, and immediately his kingdom is transferred to the Medes and Persians (Daniel 5). But because after the Great and Horrible Day of the Lord, these things are said to happen, which the apostles interpret in the resurrection of the Lord, and the Hebrews differ in the future time of judgment, it is more to be understood about the Romans: that Vespasian and Titus, after the Temple of Peace was built in Rome, consecrated the vessels of the Temple and all its offerings in its sanctuary: which Greek and Roman history narrates. At that time, the sons of Judah and Jerusalem (not Israel, and the ten tribes, which until today live in the cities and mountains of the Medes) were sold to the sons of the Greeks, so that they would exterminate them from their borders, and the whole Jewish world was filled with captivity. They interpret this as referring to the vengeance of the blood of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem, which happened by the judgment of God, confirming that it happened against Tyre and Sidon. But according to the intended allegory, we interpret Tyre and Sidon and the Palestinians as those who oppress, afflict, and persecute God's people (for Tyre resonates with our language) and hunt him down (or rather, for them to be hunted down) unto death, which the name Sidon indicates, and they drink blood and fall in the mud, which signifies the Philistines and Galilee. The Lord will quickly and swiftly restore to them what they deserve, because they have persecuted him. And their silver and gold, namely the words of the Scriptures, and their meanings, that is, their ideas and theses, and everything that was beautiful in the Church, they have delivered into the bondage of their errors. Whoever deceives heretics and causes them to worship idols, sells the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the Greeks, or to the pagans, and makes them become heathens among the Christians, in order to exterminate them from their borders, in which they were born in Christ, and not in Judea, and in the confession of the truth, but they wander in the error of the nations. All of these things, we can refer to the Day of Judgment, without a differing punishment: although they may seem to differ in time from what the superiors say. For in Hebrew it is written 'Galilaea', which Aquila translated as 'Θῖνας', and Symmachus as 'Terminos'. And 'Θῖνας', which means 'Tumulos Arenarum', let us refer to the shores of Palestine, not to Galilee of the Philistines, which is nothing at all.

(Verse 7, 8) Behold, I will raise them up from the place where you sold them, and I will turn your retribution upon your own heads. I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a distant nation. For the Lord has spoken. LXX: Behold, I will raise them up from the place where you sold them, and I will return your retribution upon your heads. I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them into captivity to a distant nation, for the Lord has spoken. The Hebrew word Sabaim (), which Aquila and Symmachus translated as 'captives' according to the written text, was interpreted as 'captivity' in the Septuagint, which better signifies captives. However, the Sabaim people are said to come from India, from which the queen of Sheba also came to hear the wisdom of Solomon (3 Kings 10), about whom Isaiah also speaks: 'And the Sabaim, men of high rank, will come to you' (Isaiah 43:14). Hence, it is also said that incense (thus) comes from there, as Virgil says: 'From Sabaim, a wealthy kingdom, come the gift of frankincense' (Aeneid, Book I).

. . . And a hundred altars burn with Sabean incense: though some suspect that they are Arabian. Therefore, the Jews promise to themselves, or rather dream, that in the last days they will be gathered by the Lord and brought back to Jerusalem. Not content with this happiness, they assert that God himself will deliver into their hands the sons and daughters of the Romans, so that the Jews may sell them, not to the Persians, Ethiopians, and other neighboring nations, but to the Sabaeans, a very distant people: because the Lord has spoken and will avenge the injury to his people. And to them and to our Jewish followers who promise for themselves a thousand-year kingdom in the borders of Judea, and a golden Jerusalem, and the blood of sacrifices, and sons and grandsons, and incredible delights, and gates adorned with a variety of gems. But we say that the Lord raised them up after his coming, and continues to raise them up daily, and will raise up those whom various errors led astray from their borders. 'I will raise them up beautifully,' he says, 'as if they were lying and falling, so that those who were lying in heresy may stand in the Church, giving to heretics what they did: That he may deliver their sons and daughters, whom they had instructed in the mysteries and in the fleshly things, into the hands of the sons of Judah, into the hands of those who became rulers of the Churches; and they are instructed in the armor of the Apostle, and they have the shield and spear of the Old and New Testament.' So when they capture them, they sell their sons and daughters to the Sabaeans, and make them slaves, so that they are far away from their borders; and when they are converted to better things, they begin to be subject to Ecclesiastical teachings.

(V. 9 et seq.) Cry out these things ((or: Cry out this)) among the nations: sanctify war, awaken the strong. Let all men of war come near and ascend. Convert your plows into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, 'I am strong.' Burst forth and come, all you nations around, and gather together, there the Lord will cause your strong ones ((or: his strong ones)) to fall. LXX: Proclaim these things ((or: Proclaim this)) among the nations: sanctify war, arouse fighters, bring and ascend all men of war. Plough your ploughs into swords, and your sickles into spears. Let the strong say, 'I prevail.' Gather together and come in, all nations round about, and gather yourselves together there, let the warrior be meek. This place is understood in two ways: for some think that these things are said to the holy nations, that they may prepare for war and fight for the people of God, that they may convert all the tools of agriculture into swords and spears, that the weak may say that they are strong, and let them all come from round about and be gathered together in the battle of the Lord, especially since according to the Septuagint it follows: 'Let the warrior be meek and gentle,' and according to what is written in Chronicles (1 Chronicles 5:8): 'And across the Jordan from Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh, with all their warlike gear, one hundred and twenty thousand men: all these warriors, prepared for battle with peaceful intent.' They wish to be the imitators of the true David, of whom we read: 'Remember, O Lord, David and all his meekness' (Psalm 131:1). And he himself speaks in the Gospel: 'Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart' (Matth. XI, 29), that is, gentle. They also want men to be understood, who, having destroyed the beginnings of infants, have grown in strength to the maturity of age, and have transferred all the zeal with which they previously cultivated the fields of their souls to the necessity of battle. However, it seems to us, who follow the opinion of the Hebrews, that the contrary is true. For this reason, the opposing nations are preparing for battle against Israel, and they exchange their plows and hoes, or sickles, for swords and spears (Isa. II), and the weak says that he is strong, and they burst forth and come from all sides, and they gather against the army of the Lord, so that the Lord may cause their strong ones to perish, and that they may understand that they are overcome by God opposing them. Israel promises miserable things for itself according to the letter. According to the applied allegory, we can understand it as the nations of demons, those who fight against the Church daily, and finally, those who will fight against the saints of the Lord under the Antichrist, who are gathered together for the purpose of perishing.

(Verse 12 and following) Let the nations arise and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Send in the sickles, for the harvest is ripe. Come and go down, for the winepress is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is multiplied. LXX: Let all the nations arise and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Send in the sickles, for the grape harvest is ripe. Come in and tread, for the winepress is full, and the wine vats overflow, for their evil deeds are abundant. And these things are interpreted in two ways according to a higher meaning. Some people understand that the nations will ascend into the valley of Josaphat, which means the judgment of the Lord, and sit there before God, so that He may judge all the nations that come from every direction in a favorable manner. In this way, the saints will gather against the adversaries of God and send forth their sickles to reap the ripe harvest of the enemies, and they will come and go, treading on the wine vats, because there is a vintage present, and the must is so abundant that the wine vats cannot contain it. And so, in order to understand what the vintage is and what the full winepress signifies, he has introduced the multiplication of their malice, and without a doubt it signifies those who have congregated against the Lord. But others say that the nations will rise up and come together in the Valley of Josaphat and sit before the Lord, so that he may judge all nations. They assert that they will prepare themselves and gather all the weapons of the fighters, and in the valley of Josaphat they will be cut down by the sickles of the Lord. For the time of judgment had come against them, and their evils had grown so much that they overcame God's patience. For the Amorites were expelled then, when their sins were fulfilled. The Jews interpret this place as referring to the fierce nations of Gog and Magog, about which we have spoken above, believing that in the last time, when Jerusalem is restored, they will come against God's people during a thousand-year reign, and in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which is situated to the east of the temple, they will fall ((another reading: rage)). For the time of their destruction has come, and the time of pouring out blood is imminent.

(Verse 14, 15) O people, people in the valley of slaughter, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of slaughter. The sun and moon are darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining. LXX: The sound is heard in the valley of judgment, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of judgment. The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars will make their shining go away. In that place where we have set ourselves, people, people, and the Seventy have translated, the sound is heard. In Hebrew it is written 'Amonim, Amonim,' which certainly means multitude and the multitude of those who are to be judged, and noise and sound. Again, when we mentioned in the valley of cutting, following the translation of Aquila and Symmachus and the fifth edition, the Septuagint and Theodotion translated τῆς δίκης καὶ τῆς κρίσεως as 'causae et judicii': for which it is written in Hebrew Harus (), which the Hebrews interpret not only as cutting, but also as gold, which, namely, in the valley of judgment, which they suspect to be Gehenna, after the impurities of sins have been burned away, pure gold remains. Therefore, the people of the nations, of which we have spoken above in the valley of judgment or destruction, are gathered together to be killed and to perish, and to be judged by the Lord. The grief of the day and the torments of those who perish will be such that not even the sun, moon, and other stars will be able to look upon them; but they will withdraw their brightness and the severity of the judge and grant each one according to their works, they will not dare to look upon. Not because they are more merciful than the judgments of God; but because every creature fears for their own judgment in the torments of others.

(Ver. 16, 17.) And the Lord will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem He will give His voice, and the heavens and the earth will be moved. And the Lord is the hope of His people and the strength of the children of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem will be holy, and strangers will not pass through it anymore. LXX: But the Lord will cry out from Zion, and from Jerusalem He will give His voice, and the heavens and the earth will be moved. And the Lord will spare His people, and will strengthen the children of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem will be holy, and foreigners will not pass through it anymore. When the brightness of the sun, moon, and all the stars will be changed into darkness, the Lord will roar from Zion like a lion, or he will cry out, and his voice will be so loud and terrifying that the pillars of the heavens and the foundations of the earth will shake. And when he is so severe towards those who deserve punishment, he will be merciful towards his people, and he will give strength to those who are called the children of Israel, namely the ones who see God with their minds; or the most upright of God, whom we can rightly call the most righteous God: those who have not walked on crooked paths, but have walked in the path of Christ, have done all things righteously. Then those who are punished and those who are taken up into glory will know that the Lord dwells in His watchtower in Zion, and on His holy mountain in Christmont, or in the one who has prepared himself as a worthy dwelling for God. Then there will be the holy vision of Jerusalem, the vision of peace, from which Solomon received his name, and no foreigners will pass through it any longer. By foreigners, understand demons who are external to God, or all wicked thoughts and sins, of which the prophet speaks: 'From foreigners spare your servant' (Psalm 18:24), which would no longer find a way in us if we have the peace of God and our heart is not open to our adversaries. The Jews and our people, as we have said, who follow Jewish practices, recount a story of a thousand years, when they believe that Christ will dwell in Zion, and in Jerusalem adorned with gold and jewels, gathering the people of the saints, so that those who have been oppressed in this age by all nations may reign over all nations in this same age.

(Verse 18) And it shall come to pass in that day, the mountains shall drip sweetness, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streams of Judah shall flow with water. LXX: And it shall come to pass in that day, the mountains shall drip sweetness, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streams of Judah shall flow with water. The Lord will dwell in Zion and on His holy mountain, when no one attempts to pass through the holy Jerusalem, whoever is on the mountain and has reached the heights of virtue, shall sweat with sweetness and honey shall drip from him, and from him shall flow spiritual graces, of which the prophet speaks: How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth (Ps. CXVIII, 103)! But those who are lower in the mountains, and have not yet ascended to the summit of perfection, will be called hills, and from them will flow streams of milk, by which the roughness of infancy in Christ is nourished, and rivers of water, which the Lord has testified will flow from their womb (John 7). For all the streams, or outpourings, of Judah will be filled with water, and there will be nothing dry in them, with all spiritual grace overflowing.

And a spring will come forth from the house of the Lord and will water the torrent of thorns. The Septuagint translated 'torrent of thorns' as 'torrent of ropes,' that is, σχοίνων, which either means ropes or, according to the Egyptians, a certain measure of distance. The Psalmist says: 'You have searched out my path and my rope' (Psalm 138:2). For in the river Nile, or in its streams, ships are accustomed to be pulled by ropes, having certain spaces called ropes, so that fresh necks of those tired from labor may succeed to those pulling. It is not surprising that each nation designates specific distances with their own names, considering that the Latins call a thousand paces, the Gauls leucas, the Persians parasangas, and the Germans, the entire region, rastas, and each one has a different measurement. This is because the Hebrew word sattim () was translated as "funiculos" by the Seventy. However, there is no doubt that all the things we read in the tabernacle of God were made of acacia wood, which the Seventy interpreted as indestructible wood. But there is a species of tree in the desert, resembling white thorns in color and leaves, not in size. Otherwise, these trees are so large that the widest planks are cut from them, and the wood is very strong and incredibly light and beautiful, so much so that the wealthiest and most skilled craftsmen make presses, which they call 'ἂρσενας' and 'θηλύας', from these woods, which cannot be found in cultivated places or on Roman soil, but only in the wilderness of Arabia. For the stream of ropes or thorns, Symmachus translated it as the valley of thorns. This place is near Livias, across the Dead Sea, six miles away from it, where Israel once fornicated with the Midianites. The prophet Micah mentions this place on behalf of God, saying: My people, remember, I beg you, what Balak, the king of Moab, planned, and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him from Settim to Gilgal (Micah 6:5). For this reason, the Seventy translated it as 'from the ropes,' that is, from the ropes all the way to Galgal. Therefore, a spring will come out of the house of the Lord, which is interpreted as the Church. About this, both Ezekiel and Zechariah write at the end of their volumes (Ezek. 47, Zech. 13), that our thorns and vices and sins, which have produced no fruit of righteousness, will be transformed into the Lord's new vineyards, and our aridity will be moistened by abundant waters, and instead of thorns and thistles, we will bear multiple flowers of virtues. And in that place, where Israel once fornicated and Beelphegor was initiated, lilies of chastity and roses of modesty and virginity abound.

(Verse 19.) Egypt will be in desolation, and Edom will be a desert of destruction, because they have acted unjustly towards the sons of Judah and have shed innocent blood in their land. According to the Septuagint: Egypt will be in ruin, and Edom will be a field of desolation, because of the iniquities of the sons of Judah, because they have shed righteous blood in their land. And in this place, the Jews sleep a very heavy sleep: in the last time, when they will not receive Christ but will receive the Antichrist, they vainly imagine revenge upon the Egyptians who are nearby and upon the Romans whom they interpret as Edomites." } Just as Pharaoh and his entire army, who held the people of God captive for four hundred and thirty years, were submerged in the Red Sea, so too may the Romans, who will possess the Jews for the same period of time, be destroyed by the vengeance of the Lord. Let them not hope in vain for this. For they cannot explain why, when there are so many nations in the world, only two, the Egyptians and the Edomites, are expected to be punished. Or why the Romans are seen as equivalent to the Edomites, when we can assert with equal license of lying from the opposite perspective, that the term 'Edomites' refers to the Persians, or the Elamites, or the Franks, or the Alemanni, and other nations." } But let us say that in the time of the Lord's resurrection, or on the day of judgment (we receive both), Egypt and Edom, in that Egypt and Edom signify, must be destroyed. Egypt is called Egypt, which means 'oppression', that is, persecuting and troubling the holy people of God. Edom means 'earthly' or 'bloody'. Therefore, whoever persecutes the people of God and is occupied with earthly works and sheds innocent blood daily, that is, of those whom he deceives, will be brought to destruction, just as we know the souls of the martyrs also cry out under the altar: 'How long, O Lord, holy and true, will you not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?' (Rev. 6:10)

(Vers. 20 seqq.) And Judaea shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation; and I will cleanse their blood, which I have not cleansed: and the Lord will dwell in Zion. LXX: But Judaea shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation, and I will require their blood, which I have not yet avenged, and the Lord will dwell in Zion. It is not this Judaea, which we see desolate, that shall be inhabited forever; nor is it this Jerusalem, whose ruins we behold; but it is that Judaea, whose daughters have rejoiced and been glad in all the judgments of the Lord. And at the end of the fiftieth psalm we read: Do good, O Lord, in your good pleasure to Zion, that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up. In this province of confession and glory, and in this city where the peace of the Lord is seen, there will be an eternal dwelling, not in one, or in three, or in many generations, but from generation to generation, that is, in two generations of those who have believed, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles. And the Lord will cleanse the blood of all sins, which He had not cleansed before, so that He may cleanse them in the Gospel, whom He had left impure as sinners in the Law. For He has concluded all under sin, so that He may have mercy on all (Rom. 11); whether He avenges the blood of His servants, which they shed in martyrdom for the confession of His name. And the Lord will dwell in Zion, of which it is written: Its foundations are in the holy mountains; the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob (Ps. 68:1).

John, the apostle whom Jesus most loved, the son of Zebedee and brother of James, the apostle whom Herod, after our Lord's passion, beheaded, most recently of all the evangelists wrote a Gospel, at the request of the bishops of Asia, against Cerinthus and other heretics and especially against the then growing dogma of the Ebionites, who assert that Christ did not exist before Mary. On this account he was compelled to maintain His divine nativity. But there is said to be yet another reason for this work, in that when he had read Matthew, Mark, and Luke, he approved indeed the substance of the history and declared that the things they said were true, but that they had given the history of only one year, the one, that is, which follows the imprisonment of John and in which he was put to death. So passing by this year the events of which had been set forth by these, he related the events of the earlier period before John was shut up in prison, so that it might be manifest to those who should diligently read the volumes of the four Evangelists. This also takes away the discrepancy which there seems to be between John and the others... In the fourteenth year then after Nero Domitian having raised a second persecution he was banished to the island of Patmos, and wrote the Apocalypse, on which Justin Martyr and Irenæus afterwards wrote commentaries. But Domitian having been put to death and his acts, on account of his excessive cruelty, having been annulled by the senate, he returned to Ephesus under Pertinax and continuing there until the time of the Emperor Trajan, founded and built churches throughout all Asia, and, worn out by old age, died in the sixty-eighth year after our Lord's passion and was buried near the same city.

Since we have already discussed at length the just man and his likeness to the tree, also the wicked man and his likeness, and have talked about the present world, it remains for us to meditate on the future life and on eternity. Therefore in judgment the wicked shall not stand, nor shall sinners, in the assembly of the just.' [Psalm 1:5] In the Gospel according to John, we read: 'He who believes in me is not judged; but he who does not believe in me is already judged.' [John 3:18] Who is left to be judged if both he who believes will no be judged and he who does not believe is already judged? Who will be judged on the day of judgment?

Let us reflect upon the one who stands between the believer and the non-believer, the one that is to be judged. He who believes will not be judged. Now he who believes does not sin; he who believes according to truth does not sin; he who has true faith does not sin. Actually, when we commit sin, it is because our mind is wavering in faith. When we are giving way to anger, when we are detracting from the reputation of another, when we are committing murder, when we are yielding to fornication, just where is our faith? Hence, the words: 'He who believes in me will not be judged'; there is no need to judge him, he is already blessed. Further, he who does not believe is already judged; he has already been judged un to punishment. Who, therefore, is to be judged? The one who indeed believes and yet yields to sin; he who has goodness, but has evil too; he who performs good acts at the time when he believes, but commits sin when his faith is weak.

Let us at this point consider the meaning of the words: 'Therefore in judgment the wicked shall not stand.' They shall not rise to be judged because they have already been judged, for 'he who does not believe in Me is already judged.' 'Nor shall sinners in the assembly of the just.' It does not say that sinners shall not rise again; but that they shall not stand in the assembly of the just; they do not deserve to stand with those who are not to be judged. If they believed in Me, says the Lord, they would rise up with those who do not have to be judged.

The medical men called surgeons pass for being cruel but really deserve pity. For is it not pitiful to cut away the dead flesh of another person with merciless knives without being moved by his pain? Is it not pitiful that the one who is curing the patient is callous to his sufferings and has to appear as his enemy? Yet this is the order of nature. While truth is always bitter, a pleasant disposition waits upon evildoing. Isaiah goes naked without blushing as a type of the captivity to come. Jeremiah is sent from Jerusalem to the Euphrates (a river in Mesopotamia) and leaves his girdle to be marred in the Chaldean camp among the Assyrians hostile to his people. Ezekiel is told to eat bread made of mingled seeds and sprinkled with the dung of people and cattle. He has to see his wife die without shedding a tear. Amos is driven from Samaria. Why is he driven from it? Surely in this case, as in the others, because he was a spiritual surgeon who cut away the parts diseased by sin and urged people to repentance. The apostle Paul says, “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” The Savior himself found it no different. Many of the disciples left him because his sayings seemed hard.