Demonstration 5: On Wars

This reflection has come to me at this time about the shaking that is to take place now, and about the army that has gathered itself for the sword. The times were set in order beforehand by God. Times of peace are fulfilled in the days of the good and the just, and times of many evils are fulfilled in the days of the evil and of transgressors. For it is written: “Good must come, and blessed is the one through whom it comes; and evil must come, but woe to the one through whom it comes.” Good has come to the people of God, and blessedness awaits the man through whom the good came. And evil is stirred up in the army that is gathered together by the evil and arrogant one who boasts; and woe is reserved for him too, through whom the evil is stirred up. But do not, my beloved, reproach the evil person who has brought evil on many, because the times were set in order beforehand, and the time of their fulfillment has arrived. [a]

So, because it is the time of the Evil One, hear in a mystery what I am writing to you. For it is written: “Whatever is exalted among men is despicable before God.” And again it is written: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.” Jeremiah too said: “Let not the mighty boast in his might, nor the rich in his riches.” And again the blessed apostle said: “Whoever boasts, let him boast in the Lord.” And David said: “I saw the wicked exalted and lifted up like the cedar of Lebanon; and when I passed by he was gone, and I looked for him and did not find him.” [c]

For everyone who boasts will be humbled. Cain boasted over his brother Abel and killed him, and he was cursed and became a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. The people of Sodom boasted over Lot, and fire fell on them from heaven and burned them up, and their city was overthrown on top of them. Esau boasted over Jacob and persecuted him, and Jacob received Esau’s birthright and blessings. The sons of Jacob boasted over Joseph, and afterward they fell down and bowed before him in Egypt. Pharaoh boasted over Moses and over his people, and Pharaoh and his army were drowned in the sea. Dathan and Abiram boasted over Moses, and they went down alive into Sheol. Goliath threatened David, and he fell before him and was crushed. Saul persecuted David, and he fell by the sword of the Philistines. Absalom exalted himself against him, and Joab killed him in the battle. Ben-hadad boasted over Ahab, and he was handed over into the hand of Israel. Sennacherib blasphemed against Hezekiah and his God, and his army became corpses, when one of the Watchers went out and killed a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp at the prayer of Hezekiah and at the prayer of the prophet Isaiah, most glorious of the prophets. Ahab exalted himself over Micaiah, and he went up and fell at Ramoth-gilead. Jezebel boasted over Elijah, and the dogs ate her in the plot of ground at Jezreel. Haman boasted over Mordecai, and his wickedness came back on his own head. The Babylonians boasted over Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den, and Daniel came up victorious, and they were thrown into the den in his place. Again the Babylonians boasted and accused Hananiah and his companions, and they were thrown into the furnace of fire; and they came up victorious, and the flame devoured their accusers. [d]

Now Nebuchadnezzar said: “I will ascend to heaven and raise my throne above the stars of God, and sit on the lofty mountains that are in the far reaches of the north.” Isaiah said about him: “Because your heart has exalted you in this way, you will be brought down to Sheol, and all who look at you will be astonished at you.” And Sennacherib too said this: “I will go up to the summit of the mountains and to the slopes of Lebanon. I will dig and drink water, and with the hoofs of my horses I will dry up all the deep rivers.” And because he exalted himself in this way, Isaiah said about him again: “Why does the ax boast against the one who cuts with it, or the saw exalt itself against the one who saws with it, or the rod lift itself up against the one who wields it?” For you, Sennacherib, are the ax in the hands of him who cuts, and you are the saw in the hands of him who saws, and the rod in the hand of him who wields you for punishment, and you are the staff for striking. You are sent against the fickle people, and again you are appointed against the stubborn people, to carry away captives and take spoil; and you have made them like the mud of the streets for all men and for all the nations. And when you have done all these things, why are you exalted against him who holds you, and why do you boast against him who saws with you, and why have you reviled the holy city? You said to the children of Jerusalem, “Can your God deliver you from my hand?” And you dared to say, “Who is the Lord, that he should deliver you from my hands?” Because of this, hear the word of the Lord, which says: “I will crush the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains I will trample him down.” And when he has been crushed and trampled down, the virgin daughter of Zion will despise him, and the daughter of Jerusalem will shake her head and say: “Whom have you reviled and blasphemed, and against whom have you raised your voice? You have lifted up your eyes toward heaven against the Holy One of Israel, and by the hands of your messengers you have reviled the Lord. Now see, the hook has been forced into your nostrils and the bridle into your lips, and you have turned back with your heart crushed, you who came with your heart lifted up.” And he was killed by the hands of those he loved; in the house of his trust, there he was overthrown and fell before his god. And truly it was right, my beloved, that his body should become in this way a sacrifice and offering before the god he relied on, and in his temple, as a memorial for his idol. [f]

Again, the ram was lifted up and exalted, and butted with its horns toward the west and toward the north and toward the south, and humbled many beasts, and they could not stand before it, until the male goat came from the west and struck the ram and broke its horns and humbled the ram completely. The ram was the king of Media and Persia, that is, Darius; and the male goat was Alexander the Macedonian, the son of Philip. For Daniel saw the ram when he was in the east, before the gate of Susa the fortress, which is in the province of Elam, by the river Ulai. And it was butting toward the west and toward the north and toward the south, and none of the beasts could stand before it. And the male goat of the goats came up from the region of the Greeks and exalted itself against the ram, and struck it and broke both its horns, the greater and the lesser. And why did he say that it broke both its horns? Clearly because he humbled both the kingdoms that the ram ruled: the lesser, that of the Medes, and the greater, that of the Persians. But when Alexander the Greek came, he killed Darius, king of Media and Persia. This is what the angel said to Daniel when he was explaining the vision to him: “The ram that you saw is the king of Media and Persia, and the male goat is the king of the Greeks.” Now from the time the two horns of the ram were broken until this time, there have been six hundred and forty-eight years. [j]

So as for the ram, its horns are broken. And though its horns are broken, look, it exalts and lifts itself up against the fourth beast, which is strong and mighty, with teeth of iron and hoofs of bronze; it will devour and grind down, and trample with its feet whatever remains. Ram whose horns are broken, let the beast alone, and do not provoke it, or it will devour you and grind you to powder! The ram could not stand before the male goat; how will it stand before that terrible beast, whose mouth speaks great things, and which crouches over whatever it finds like a lion over its prey? Whoever provokes the lion becomes its portion, and whoever stirs up that beast, it will devour him. And who is there who will escape from under the feet of that beast when it is trampling on him? For the beast will not be killed until the Ancient of Days sits on the throne, and the Son of Man comes near before him, and authority is given to him. Then that beast will be killed, and its carcass will perish. And the kingdom of the Son of Man will be established, an eternal kingdom, and his authority from generation to generation. [l]

Be quiet, you who exalt yourself; do not boast! For if your wealth has lifted up your heart, it is not greater than Hezekiah’s, who went in and boasted of it before the Babylonians; yet all of it was carried away and went to Babylon. And if you boast in your children, they will be led away from you to the beast, as the children of King Hezekiah were led away and became eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. And if you boast in your wisdom, you do not surpass in it the prince of Tyre, whom Ezekiel reproached, saying to him: “Are you wiser than Daniel, or have you seen by your wisdom the things that are hidden?” And if your mind is puffed up by your years, because they are many, they are not more in number than those of the prince of Tyre, who ruled the kingdom during the days of twenty-two kings of the house of Judah, that is, for four hundred and forty years. And because the years of that king of Tyre were many, he kept saying in his heart all that time: “I am God, and I sit in the seat of God in the heart of the seas.” But Ezekiel said to him: “You are a man and not God.” For while the prince of Tyre walked blameless in the midst of the stones of fire, there was mercy on him. But when his heart was lifted up, the overshadowing cherub destroyed him. [m]

Now what are the stones of fire, if not the children of Zion and the children of Jerusalem? For in ancient times, in the days of David and of Solomon his son, Hiram was a friend to the house of Israel. But when they were carried away captive from their place, he rejoiced over them and kicked them aside, and did not remember his friendship with the house of David. And when I said that the children of Judah were called the stones of fire, I did not say it from my own thinking. Jeremiah the prophet spoke about them; for when he was calling forth tears for them in Lamentations, he said: “The children of Zion were more excellent than precious stones.” And again he said: “How are the stones of the sanctuary thrown down at the head of every street?” And again he said through the prophet: “Holy were the stones that were thrown down in his land.” And as for these very stones, the fire was burning in them, as Jeremiah said: “The word of the Lord became in my heart like a burning fire, and it was hot in my bones.” And again he said to Jeremiah: “See, I am putting my word in your mouth as fire, and this people will be as wood.” And again he said that words would go out as fire, and as iron that cuts the stone. This is why the prophets, among whom Hiram the prince of Tyre was walking, were called stones of fire. [n]

And again God said to him: “You were with the cherub who was anointed and overshadowing.” For the king, who was anointed with the holy oil, was called a cherub. And he overshadowed all his people, as Jeremiah said: “The anointed of the Lord is the breath of our nostrils, the one of whom we said, ‘In his shadow we will live among the nations.’” For they were sitting in the shadow of the king while he stood at their head. And when the crown of their head fell, they were left without shade. And if anyone should say that this word was spoken about Christ, let him take what I write for him without dispute, and so he will be persuaded that it was said with reference to the king. For Jeremiah said on behalf of the people: “Woe to us, for the crown of our head has fallen!” But Christ has not fallen, because he rose again on the third day. It was the king who fell from the house of Judah, and their kingdom was never set up again. And as for what he said again, “I will destroy the overshadowing cherub”: the cherub he will destroy is Nebuchadnezzar, as it is written: “He labored at Tyre, and Tyre gave him no wages for his army; and in return for the work at Tyre, the land of Egypt was given to him.” And why did Tyre give Nebuchadnezzar no wages? Clearly because its wealth went away into the sea, so that Nebuchadnezzar did not receive it. And at that time he destroyed the overshadowing cherub, which is Nebuchadnezzar. For there are two cherubs: one anointed and overshadowing, and one overshadowing but not anointed. Above, he said: “You were with the cherub anointed and overshadowing.” And lower down he said, “I will destroy you, overshadowing cherub,” and did not say “anointed.” For Nebuchadnezzar was not anointed; but David and Solomon were, and the other kings who arose after them. And how was Nebuchadnezzar called overshadowing? Clearly because of the vision of the tree, when he saw a tree in the middle of the earth, under which all the beasts of the wilderness lived, and on whose branches all the birds of heaven lived, and from which all flesh was fed. When Daniel interpreted his dream to him, Daniel said to him: “You are the tree, the tree you saw in the middle of the earth, and under you all the nations live.” This is why he was the overshadowing cherub, who destroyed the prince of Tyre because he rejoiced over the children of Israel that they were carried away captive from their land, and because his heart was exalted. This Tyre also lay waste seventy years, like Jerusalem, which sat in desolation seventy years. For Isaiah said about it: “Tyre will wander seventy years, like the days of one king, and will commit fornication with all the kingdoms that are on the face of the earth.” [o]

You who are exalted and lifted up, do not let the boasting of your heart mislead you, and do not say, “I will go up against the rich land and against the powerful beast.” For that beast will not be killed by the ram, since its horns are broken; for the male goat broke the horns of the ram. Now the male goat has become the mighty beast. For when the children of Japheth held the kingdom, then they killed Darius, the king of Persia. Now the fourth beast has swallowed up the third. This third consists of the children of Japheth, and the fourth consists of the children of Shem, for they are the children of Esau. For when Daniel saw the vision of the four beasts, he saw first the children of Ham, the descendants of Nimrod, who are the Babylonians; second, the Persians and Medes, who are the children of Japheth; third, the Greeks, the brothers of the Medes; and fourth, the children of Shem, who are the children of Esau. For an alliance was formed between the children of Japheth and the children of Shem. Then the government was taken away from the children of Japheth, the younger, and given to Shem, the elder; and to this day it continues, and it will continue forever. But when the time comes for the dominion of the children of Shem to be brought to its end, the Ruler who came out of the children of Judah will receive the kingdom, when he comes in his second coming. [q]

For in the vision of Nebuchadnezzar, which Daniel made known and explained to him, when he saw the image that stood before him, the head of the image was of gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, and its legs and feet of iron and potter’s clay. And Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar: “You are the head of gold.” And why was he called the head of gold? Was it not because the word of Jeremiah was fulfilled in him? For Jeremiah said: “Babylon is a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, which makes all the earth drink of its wine.” And Babylon was also called the head of all the kingdoms, as it is written: “Babylon was the head of the kingdom of Nimrod.” [r]

And he said that the chest and arms of the image were of silver. This pointed to a kingdom that was inferior to it, namely, Darius the Mede. For God put the kingdom in the balance. The kingdom of the house of Nimrod was weighed and found wanting, and since it was wanting, Darius received it. That is why he said that his kingdom was inferior. And because it was inferior, the children of Media did not rule over all the earth. Now the belly and thighs of the image were of bronze, and he said: “The third kingdom will rule over all the earth.” It is the kingdom of the children of Javan, who are children of Japheth. For the children of Javan came in against the kingdom of their brothers, since Madai and Javan are sons of Japheth. But Madai was foolish and unable to govern the kingdom, until his brother Javan came, who was wise and cunning, to destroy the kingdom. For Alexander, son of Philip, ruled over all the earth. [s]

And the legs and feet of the image were of iron. This is the kingdom of the children of Shem, who are the children of Esau, which is strong as iron. And he said: “As iron breaks and subdues everything, so the fourth kingdom too will break and crush everything.” And he explained about the feet and toes, that part of them was of iron and part of potter’s clay. For he said: “So they will mix with the seed of man, and they will not hold to one another, just as iron cannot be mixed with clay.” This referred to the fourth kingdom. For in the kingdom of the children of Esau there was no king, son of a king, established to govern the kingdom. But when the children of Esau were gathered together into a powerful city, they made a senate. And from then on they used to set up a wise man as chief of the city to govern the kingdom, so that when the Governor of their kingdom weighed them, they would not be found wanting and have the kingdom taken away from them, as the kingdom of the children of arrogant Nimrod was taken away and given to the children of foolish Madai. And as for this king who was set up, the descendants of the former king kept destroying him, and they did not hold to one another. But as for the seed of man, which is compared to the clay, the meaning is this: when the king was chosen for the kingdom, he mingled himself with the root of the kingdom of iron. [t]

And he showed that in the days of those kings who will arise in the kingdom, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed and will not pass away forever. This is the kingdom of King Messiah, which is the one that will make the fourth kingdom pass away. And above he said: “You saw a stone that was cut out, but not by hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and potter’s clay and broke them to pieces.” Now he did not say that it struck the head of the image, or its chest and arms, or its belly and thighs, but its feet; because of the whole image, that stone, when it comes, will find only the feet. And in the next verse he said: “The iron and the bronze and the silver and the gold were broken to pieces together.” For after them, when King Messiah reigns, he will humble the fourth kingdom and will break the whole image; for by the whole image the world is meant. Its head is Nebuchadnezzar; its chest and arms, the king of Media and Persia; its belly and thighs, the king of the Greeks; its legs and feet, the kingdom of the children of Esau. The stone that struck the image and broke it, and with which the whole earth was filled, is the kingdom of King Messiah, who will bring to nothing the kingdom of this world, and he will rule forever and ever. [u]

Hear again about the vision of the four beasts that Daniel saw coming up out of the sea, different from one another. This is how they looked: “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. And I saw that its wings were plucked off, and it stood up on its feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it. And the second beast was like a bear, and it raised itself up on one side, and there were three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And the third beast was like a leopard, and it had four wings and four heads. And the fourth beast was exceedingly terrible and strong and powerful, and it had great teeth. It devoured and broke in pieces, and whatever remained it stamped with its feet.” Now the great sea that Daniel saw is the world, and these four beasts are the four kingdoms pointed to above. [v]

Now about the first beast, he said that it was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. For the first beast was the kingdom of Babylon, which was like a lion. For Jeremiah wrote: “Israel is a wandering sheep; the lions made them wander. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and this last one was stronger than he, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.” So Jeremiah called him a lion. And he said, “It has the wings of an eagle.” For it is written that when Nebuchadnezzar went out into the wilderness with the beasts, his hair grew like an eagle’s feathers. And he said: “I saw that its wings were plucked off, and it stood upright on its feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.” For first, in the vision of the image, he was compared to gold, which is more precious than anything used in the world. So in the vision of the beasts he is compared to a lion, which excels all the beasts in its might. And again he was compared to an eagle, which surpasses every bird. Whatever was written about him was fulfilled in him. For the Lord said about him: “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all the nations, and they will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And the beasts of the desert and the birds of heaven also I have given to him to serve him.” For since the king was like the head of gold, men served him as a king. And when he went out into the wilderness, the beasts served him as a lion. And when his hair was like an eagle’s feathers, the birds of heaven served him as an eagle. But when his heart was lifted up, and he did not know that the power had been given to him from heaven, the yoke of iron was broken from the neck of men, and he went out with the beasts, and in place of the heart of a king he was given the heart of a lion. And when he was lifted up over the beasts, the heart of a lion was taken away from him, and he was given the heart of a bird. And when wings grew on him like an eagle’s, he exalted himself over the birds. And then his wings too were plucked off, and he was given a humble heart. And when he knew that the Most High has authority over the kingdom of men, to give it to whomever he wishes, then he praised him as a man. [w]

And as for the second beast, he said that it was like a bear and raised itself up on one side, because when the kingdom of Media and Persia arose, it arose in the east. And there were three ribs in its mouth, because the ram was butting toward the west and toward the north and toward the south, toward three winds of heaven. It held these three winds and butted against them, like the three ribs that were in the bear’s mouth, until the male goat came out of the west and struck the ram and took out the ribs that were in its mouth.

And about the third beast he said that it was like a leopard, and it had four birds’ wings on its back, and that beast had four heads. Now this third beast was Alexander the Macedonian, for he was strong as a leopard. And as for the four wings and the four heads the beast had, that was because he gave the kingdom to his four friends to govern after him, when he had come and killed Darius and reigned in his place.

And about the fourth beast he said that it was exceedingly terrible and strong and mighty, devouring and crushing and trampling with its feet whatever remained. It is the kingdom of the children of Esau. For after Alexander the Macedonian became king, the kingdom of the Greeks was founded, since Alexander too was one of them, one of the Greeks. But the vision of the third beast was fulfilled in him, since the third and the fourth were one. Now Alexander reigned twelve years. And the kings of the Greeks arose after Alexander, seventeen kings, and their years were two hundred and sixty-nine years, from Seleucus Nicator to Ptolemy. And the Caesars, from Augustus to Philip Caesar, were seventeen kings, and their years are two hundred and ninety-three years; and eighteen years of Severus. [x]

For Daniel said: “I was considering the ten horns that were on the head of the beast.” The ten horns were ten kings who arose in that time, up to Antiochus. And he said: “A little horn came up among those ten, and three fell before it.” For when Antiochus arose in the kingdom, he humbled three kings, and he exalted himself against the saints of the Most High and against Jerusalem. And he defiled the sanctuary. And he made the sacrifice and the offerings cease for a week and half a week, that is, for ten and a half years. And he brought the sexually immoral into the house of the Lord, and he made the observances of the law cease. And he killed righteous men and gave them to the birds of heaven and to the beasts of the earth. For in his days the word that David spoke was fulfilled: “O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, and have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem waste. They have given the dead bodies of your servants as food to the birds of heaven, and the flesh of your righteous ones to the beasts of the earth. They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them.” For this was fulfilled at that time, when the venerable and aged Eleazar was killed, and the sons of the blessed Samuna, seven in number, and when Judas Maccabeus and his brothers were struggling on behalf of their people, while they were living in hiding places. At that time the horn made war with the saints, and their power prevailed. And the wicked Antiochus spoke words against the Most High, and changed the times and the seasons. And he made the covenant of Abraham cease and abolished the Sabbath of rest, for he commanded the Jews not to circumcise. That is why the prophet said about him: “He will think to change the times and the seasons and the laws, and they were given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.” Now the time and half a time is the week and a half, which is ten and a half years. Again he said: “The judgment was set, and they took his authority away from him, to injure and destroy him until the end of the kingdom.” For judgment came on Antiochus, a judgment from heaven. He fell sick with a grievous and evil sickness, and because of the stench of his rotting no one could come near him; for worms were crawling and falling from him and eating his flesh, because he had oppressed the worm Jacob. And his flesh rotted while he was alive, because he had made the dead bodies of the sons of Jerusalem rot, and they were not buried. And he became defiled in his own eyes, because he had defiled the sanctuary of God. And he prayed and was not heard, because he had not listened to the groaning of the righteous whom he killed. For he wrote a letter and sent it to the Jews and called them “my friends,” but God had no mercy on him, and he died in his torment. [z]

He said again: “The saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom.” What shall we say about this? Have the children of Israel received the kingdom of the Most High? God forbid! Or has that people come on the clouds of heaven? This has passed away from them. For Jeremiah said about them: “Call them rejected silver, for the Lord has rejected them.” And again he said: “He will not regard them again.” And Isaiah said about them: “Pass by, pass by; do not come near the defiled.” And about the saints of the Most High, Daniel said this: “They will inherit the kingdom forever.” For these rested a little from the burden of kings and princes, that is, from the death of Antiochus until the sixty-two weeks were fulfilled. And the Son of Man came to free them and gather them together, but they did not receive him. For he came to get fruit from them, and they did not give it to him. For their vines were of the vine of Sodom and of the stock of Gomorrah, a vineyard in which thorns grew and which bore wild grapes. Their vine was bitter and their fruit sour. The thorns could not be softened, nor could the bitterness change into the nature of wine, nor could the sour fruit change into a sweet nature. [ad]

For Isaiah first set men of Judah as judges over them, and a new and beloved planting was planted among them. But these are the judges who will sit on twelve thrones and judge their twelve tribes. And this is what he said to the judges: “Judge between me and my vineyard. What more, you judges, should I have done for my vineyard that I did not do? For look, I planted it with vine cuttings, and they became strange vines. I surrounded it with a fence of heavenly Watchers, and I built its tower, the holy temple. And I dug out its winepress, the baptism of the priests. And I brought down rain on it, the words of my prophets. And I pruned it and trimmed it, from the works of the Amorites. I looked for it to produce grapes of righteousness, and it produced wild grapes of wickedness and sin. I looked for justice, and see, oppression; and for righteousness, and there was an outcry. “Hear, you judges, what I will do to my vineyard. I will break open its fence, and it will be trampled down. And I will tear down its tower, and it will be plundered. And I will make it a desert, because it produced wild grapes. And it will not be tended and it will not be pruned. And thorns and weeds will grow up in it. And I will command the clouds not to send down rain on it.” For the heavenly Watchers left the fence of the vineyard, and the mighty tower they relied on was torn down. The winepress, the cleansing away of their offenses, was overthrown. When the vine was without blemish, it was of no use. Now that the fire has devoured it and it is laid waste, how will it be of use? The fire has devoured its two branches, and its inner part is wasted. For its two branches are the two kingdoms, and its inner part that is laid waste is Jerusalem. Many servants were sent to them by the Lord of the vineyard. And they killed them, and did not send the fruit to the Lord of the vineyard. After the servants the beloved Son was sent, to receive the fruit from them and bring it back to the one who sent him. And they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard, and they cut spikes from the thorns of the vineyard and drove them into his hands. He was hungry and asked them for food, and they took gall from the fruit of the vineyard and gave it to him. He was thirsty and asked them for drink, and they gave him vinegar, and he would not drink it. And they wove a crown of the thorns that had sprung up in the vineyard and put it on the head of the Son of the Lord of the vineyard. For from the time the vineyard was made, it showed these fruits. So its Lord uprooted it and threw it into the fire, and planted in the vineyard good, fruitful vines, such as gladden the vinedresser. For Christ is the vineyard, and his Father is the vinedresser, and those who drink from his cup are the vines. So vineyard was formed in place of vineyard. And furthermore, at his coming he handed the kingdom over to the Romans, as the children of Esau are called. And these children of Esau will keep the kingdom for its giver. [af]

And the holy people inherited an eternal kingdom, the holy people who were chosen in place of the People. For he provoked them to jealousy with a people that was not a people, and with a foolish people he angered them. And he set the holy people free. For look, every covenant of God is freed from the burden of kings and princes. For even if a man has served the pagans, as soon as he draws near to the covenant of God he is set free. But the Jews are laboring in bondage among the nations. For this is what he said about the saints: “They will inherit the kingdom that is under heaven.” But if he had said it about the Jews, why are they laboring in service among the nations? And if they say that it has not yet taken place, then we ask: is the kingdom that will be given to the Son of Man to be heavenly or earthly? And look, the children of the kingdom are sealed, and they have received their release from this world. For since it exists now, it will not be willing to be subjected to the power of the King who will come and take his kingdom to himself. But it will guard his pledges with honor, so that when he comes to bring the kingdom to nothing, he may come upon them not in anger. For when he whose kingdom it is comes in his second coming, he will take to himself whatever he has given. And he himself will be King forever and ever. And his kingdom will not pass away, because it is an eternal kingdom. [ah]

For first he gave the kingdom to the sons of Jacob and made the children of Esau subject to them, as Isaac said to Esau: “You will serve your brother Jacob.” And when again they did not prosper in the kingdom, he took it away from the children of Jacob and gave it to the children of Esau, until he should come whose kingdom it is. And they will hand back the deposit to its giver, and will not deal dishonestly with it. And the guardian of the kingdom is subject to him to whom all things are subject. So this kingdom of the children of Esau will not be handed over into the hand of the armies that are gathered together and want to go up against it, because the kingdom is being kept safe for its giver, and he himself will preserve it. And as for what I wrote to you, beloved, that the kingdom of the children of Esau is being kept safe for its giver, do not doubt it: that kingdom will not be conquered. For a mighty champion whose name is Jesus will come with power, bearing as his armor all the power of the kingdom. And search and see that he was also enrolled among them through the poll tax. And as he was enrolled among them through the poll tax, so he will also help them. And his standard is everywhere in that place, and they are clothed in his armor and will not be found wanting in war. And if you should say to me, “In the years of the kings who came before these, why did they conquer and subdue the beast?”, it was because the chiefs and kings who stood up at that time in the kingdom of the children of Esau did not want to lead with them to the war the Man who was enrolled with them in the poll tax. So the beast was subdued a little, but it was not killed. [aj]

But as for these things I have written to you, my beloved, about what is written in Daniel, I have not brought them to an end; I have stopped short of the end. And if anyone disputes about them, say this to him: these words are not concluded, because the words of God are infinite, and they will never be concluded. For the foolish man says, “This is as far as these words go.” And again, it is not possible to add to them or to take away from them. For the riches of God cannot be counted or limited. For if you take water from the sea, the loss will not be noticed. And if you remove sand from the seashore, its measure will not be lessened. And if you count the stars of heaven, you will never reach their sum. And if you light a fire from a fire, it will not be lessened at all. And if you receive of the Spirit of Christ, Christ will not be diminished at all. And if Christ lives in you, yet he will not be contained entirely in you. And if the sun comes in through the windows of your house, yet the whole sun will not come to you. And all these things I have listed for you were created by the word of God. So know that, as for the word of God, no one has reached its end or ever will. So do not dispute about these things, but say: “These things are so. That is enough.” But hear these things from me, and also ask about them from our brothers, the children of our faith. But whoever mocks the words of his brother, even if he says, “My words are wise,” do not listen to his words. And as for what I wrote to you about these forces that are being stirred up to war, it is not that anything has been revealed to me so that I have made these things known to you. Pay attention to the words at the head of the letter: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled.” For even if the forces go up and conquer, know that it is a punishment from God; and though they conquer, they will be condemned in a righteous judgment. But be assured of this: the beast will be killed at its appointed time. But you, my brother, be earnest at this time in begging for mercy, so that there may be peace on the people of God. [ak]