Cyril
of Jerusalem
Lecture 15, Part B
“I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of days did sit, and then, I saw in a vision of the night, and behold one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven….” — Daniel 7:9-14
Summary: St. Cyril explores some of the mysteries of Antichrist, thought to be one among the kings of the Romans; as well as other aspects of Eschatology. He returns in time to consider Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. He ponders the Desolating Abomination; internecine war and corruption within the Church, which was already well-developed in his time; he fears the hatred among the brothers and sisters, as well as the fracturing that will come of it: we must always be on guard. To counteract all the negativity concerning Antichrist he brings us back to glorious visions of the Second Advent, with the sign of the Cross.[i]
Preview: 12. “But this aforesaid Antichrist is to come when
the times of the Roman empire shall have been fulfilled, and the end of the world
is now drawing near. There shall rise up
together ten kings of the Romans, reigning in different parts perhaps, but all about
the same time; and after these an eleventh, the Antichrist….” “For as the first kingdom which became renowned
was that of the Assyrians, and the second, that of the Medes and Persians together,
and after these, that of the Macedonians was the third, so the fourth kingdom now
is that of the Romans.”[ii] “His ten
horns are ten kings that shall arise; and another king shall rise up after them,
who shall surpass in wickedness all who were before him.”[iii] 14. “Who
is this?” “Whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and
lying wonders.”[iv] 15. Who opposes and exalts himself against all that
is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he seats himself in the temple of
God.”[v] “He means, the Temple of the Jews
which has been destroyed.”[vi] “I
beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints.”[vii] 16. “Then let them which be in Judea flee to the mountains.”[viii] Whom we must resist: for, “Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ….”[ix] “For then shall be great tribulation, such
as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be.”[x] “And he swore by Him that lives forever
that it shall be for a time, and times, and half a time.”[xi] 17. “Who
then is the blessed man, that shall at that time devoutly witness for Christ?” …
resisting Antichrist? “And at that time
your people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book;
and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting
life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt; and they that be wise shall shine
as the brightness of the firmament; and of the many righteous, as the stars for
ever and ever.”[xii] 18. “Guard
yourself then, O man; you have the signs of Antichrist; and remember them not only
yourself, but impart them also freely to all.”
“I fear the schisms of the Churches; I fear the mutual hatred of the brethren. But enough on this subject; only God forbid that
it should be fulfilled in our days; nevertheless, let us be on our guard.” 19. “But
let us wait and look for the Lord's coming upon the clouds from heaven. Then shall
Angelic trumpets sound; the dead in Christ shall rise first.”[xiii] 20. “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth…. Therefore
remove anger from your heart, and put
away evil from your flesh... and remember your Creator... or ever the evil days come.... or ever the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars
be darkened.... and they that look
out of the windows be darkened; or
ever the silver cord be loosed; and
the flower of gold be broken; and
they shall rise up at the voice of the sparrow, yea, they shall look away from the
height, and terrors shall be in the way.
Then shall they see the Son of
man coming on the clouds of heaven; and they shall mourn tribe by tribe. The
almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall grow heavy, and the caper-berry
shall be scattered abroad.”[xiv] 21. “All
foretell the coming of the Lord.” “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God.”[xv] “God
shall manifestly come, even our God, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall burn
before Him, and a fierce tempest round about Him….”[xvi] “And the Father shall sit, having His
garment white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool.”[xvii] “And they
shall see the Son of Man coming on the
clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.”[xviii] 22. “But
what is the sign of His coming?” “The sign
of the Cross shall be a terror to His foes; but joy to His friends who have believed
in Him, or preached Him, or suffered for His sake.” “He shall
send forth His Angels with a great trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect
from the four winds.”[xix] “Come,
you blessed of My Father.”[xx]
[i]
The key to rooting out any deceiver, deception, or flaw is not to focus on such
flaws. The only way to detect flaws is
to focus intently on the genuine article, Christ. When the original is thoroughly known: bad,
flawed copies are immediately and readily detected; even those that have never
occurred before. New flaws are only discovered
because they don’t look like the original.
We must know Christ and Him only; this is both the Father’s will, and the
Spirit’s powerful gift: in knowing Christ, we fellowship with the Father and with
the Spirit. If we wish to see the
Father, we must look to Christ. If we would
learn from the Spirit, we must see that He teaches Christ. The Father does not resemble pseudo-Christs; the
Spirit does not reveal quasi-Christs.
[ii]
Daniel 2 (gold, silver, brass, iron, corrupted iron, diamond); 7 (lion, bear,
leopard, a beast with ten horns); 8 (ram, he-goat with four horns; which are
interpreted in Scripture as Medo-Persia – the Achaemenid era, the Greeks under
Alexander, the Greeks divided to the four winds, the emergence of the
Seleucids.); with more details in Chapters 9-12.
[iii]
Daniel 7:24
[iv]
2 Thessalonians 2:9
[v]
The difficulty is in knowing which temple.
There was at least one instance of an idol being installed in Herod’s
Temple, which is necessarily dated prior to 70, when it was destroyed by Titus. There is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the
Church, which St. Cyril rejects as a possibility, out of hand: yet, several
deceivers have presumed to take the earthly throne of the Church. Sabbatai Zevi (circa 1666) fits the bill
without any temple. There is the
possibility of constructing a new Jerusalem Temple, which is still in the
possible future. Now, in 2018 the
picture looks considerably different than it did in St. Cyril’s day: it’s still
quite confusing. 2 Thessalonians 2:4
[vi]
Titus himself fits this mold; as also does the Dome of the Rock.
[viii]
This could indicate the flight of the Jews to Masada (70), or the flight of
Christians into the Araba to escape Titus at about the same time. Matthew 24:16; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:21;
Revelation 12:6, 17
[ix]
Romans 8:35
[xi]
Daniel 12:7
[xii]
Daniel 12:1-3
[xiii]
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
[xiv]
Ecclesiastes 11:10; 12:1-7; Daniel 7:13; Zechariah 12:10-12; quoted in the New
Testament as well.
[xv]
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
[xvi]
Psalm 50:3-7
[xvii]
Daniel 7:9
[xviii]
Matthew 24:30
[xix]
Matthew 24:31
[xx]
Matthew 25:34
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