HOMILY V

II

 
Let us look, then, at the character and habits of Christ. Not only
did he predict and foretell the destruction of the temple but he also
prophesied during his life many other things which were going to
come to pass a long time afterwards. Let us, then, bring these pre-
dictions into the open. If you see that he is lying in these pre-
dictions, then do not accept his prediction about the temple, nor
consider it deserving of your belief. But if you see that he tells the
truth in all things and that this prediction has been fulfilled, if you
see that long years have passed but still testify to the truth of what
he foretold, let us have no more of your impudence and stubborn-
ness in matters which are clearer than the light of the sun.
 
 
(2) Let us see what else he predicted. There once came up to him
a woman with an alabaster jar of precious ointment and she poured
it on him. His disciples were indignant at what happened and said:
"Why was this not sold for three hundred denarii and given to
the poor?" He reproved them, however, and said "Why do you
trouble the woman. She has done a good deed. For I say to you,
wherever on the whole earth this gospel is preached, this also that
she has done shall be told in memory of her? Did he he or did he
tell the truth? Was his prediction fulfilled or did it fail to come true?
Put these questions to the Jew. Even if he counts his shameless acts
in the tens of thousands, he will not be able to look at this prophecy
in the face and stare it down.

(3) Certainly we do hear her story told in all the churches. Con-
suls have stood listening to it, and generals, too; men, women, the
renowned, the distinguished, the famous ones in every city. Wher-
ever in the world you may go, everyone respectfully listens to the
story of her good service; her action is known in every corner of the
earth.

(4) How many kings brought many and great blessings on their
cities, how many kings waged successful wars, set up many trophies
of victory, saved nations, built cities, and in addition, acquired
countless revenues? Yet they, for all their great exploits, are buried
in the silence of oblivion. Many queens and great ladies have con-
ferred benefits beyond number on those subject to them. Yet some
people do not even know them by name. But this worthless woman,
who only poured out her ointment, is praised everywhere in the
world; the long passage of years has failed to blot out the memory of
her, and the time to come will never quench her fame.

(5) And yet hers was not a deed of renown. For what renown was
there in pouring out some ointment? Nor was she a distinguished
person, for she was a low woman and an outcast. Nor was there a
large audience to see, for only the disciples were gathered around
her. Nor was the place one where she could be easily seen. She made
no entrance onto a theater stage to perform her service but did her
good deed in a house with only ten people present.

(6) Nonetheless, even though she was a lowly person, even though
only a few were there to witness it, even though the place was
undistinguished, neither these facts nor any others could obscure the
memory of that woman. Today, she is more illustrious than ally king
or queen; no passage of years has buried in oblivion the service she
performed.

(7) Tell me, now. How do you explain this? Who brought this
about? Is it not the work of the God to whom this service was paid?
Is it not God who has spread the story of her deed to every corner of
the earth? Is it within the scope of human power to predict such
things as these? Who in his right mind could say that? We marvel and
are astounded when Christ foretells what he, himself, will do. But
when he predicts what others will do and then makes these actions
of others clear to all the world and worthy of every man's belief, it is
still more astounding and marvellous.

(8) Again, he said to Peter: "Upon this rock I will build my
Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." You
Jews tell me how you can attack this prediction of his. How can you
 show that this prophecy is false? The testimony of the facts will not
allow it, even if you are obstinate and dispute it ten thousand times.
low many conflagrations of war have been kindled against the
Church? Many armies have taken the field, many weapons have been
used, every form of' punishment and torture has been contrived.
There were frying-pans, racks caldrons, ovens, cisterns, cliffs,
fangs of wild beasts, seas, confiscations, and ten thousand other
means of torture, unmentionable and unendurable? And these
were used not only by foreigners but by our own countrymen. In-
deed, a sort of civil war held everything in its grip; rather, it was
more bitter than ally civil war. Not only did citizens do battle with
citizens but kinsmen with kinsmen, members of the same household
with each other; friends fought friends. Yet none of these things
destroyed the Church nor made it weaker.

(9) Certainly, the wonderful and unexpected thing about this is
that all these attacks were made against the Church when it was just
beginning.  If these dread persecutions were let loose against it
after it had taken root and after the Gospel message had been plant-
ed everywhere in the world, it would not be so strange that the
Church had resisted these attacks. But it was at the beginning of her
teaching mission, when the seed of faith had just been sown and the
understanding of those who heard the word was still somewhat
weak, that these violent wars broke out in all their fury. The fact
that they did not weaken our position but even made us prosper all
 the more is the miracle that surpasses all miracles.

(10) You may say that the Church now stands firm because of
the peace granted to it by the emperors. To keep you from saying
this, God permitted the Church to be attacked and persecuted at a
time when it was smaller and seemed to be weaker. God wanted you
to learn that the security the Church enjoys today does not come to
it from the peace granted by emperors, but front the power of God.

III

 
To help you see the truth of this, consider how many men wished
to introduce their teachings among the Greeks and to establish a new
commonwealth and way of life. Think of such men as Zeno,
Plato, Socrates, Diagoras, Pythagoras, and countless
others. Yet they fell so far short of success that many people do not
even now know them by name. But Christ not only wrote a constitu-
tion but even brought a new way of life to the whole world. How
many miracles do they say that Apollonius of Tyana worked? But
 all his deeds were a fraud, a vain show, and devoid of truth. And you
may learn this from the fact that, in an instant, they vanished and
disappeared.

(2) Let no one consider it an insult to Christ that, while speaking
of him, I mentioned Pythagoras, Plato, Zeno and the man from
Tyana. I am not doing this of my own choice but out of considera-
tion for the weakness of the Jews, who see in Christ a mere man.
This is what Paul did when he came to Athens. On entering the city,
he took the topic for his exhortation not from the prophets or the
gospels, but from the Athenians' altar to the unknown God. He
did not consider their altar more deserving of faith than the gospels,
nor did he account the inscription on it more worthy of honor than
the prophets. But he was speaking to pagan Greeks, who believed in
none of our sacred books, and so he used arguments from their own
beliefs to subdue them. He did the same thing at Corinth when he
said: "I have become to the Jews a Jew, to those without the Law,
as one without the Law (though I am not without the law of God,
but am under the law of Christ).

(3) The Old Testament does this, too, in speaking to the Jews
about God. It says: "Who is like to you among the gods, O
Lord?" What do you mean, Moses? Is there any comparison at all
 between the true God and false gods? Moses would reply: "1 did not
say this to make a comparison; but since I was talking to the Jews,
who had a lofty opinion of demons, I condescended to their weak-
ness and  brought in the lesson I was teaching in this way."
Let me also say that since my discussion is with the Jews, who
consider that Christ is mere man and one who violated their Law, I
compared him with those whom the pagan Greeks admire.

(4) If you wish me to make a comparison with men from among
the Jews themselves, men who tried to do what Christ did, men who
gathered disciples and were proclaimed as leaders and chiefs but who
were immediately forgotten, let me try to prove it in this way.
Surely this was what Gamelie did to stop their mouths. When
he saw the Sanhedrin in a rage and eager to shed the blood of the
disciples, he wished to put a stop to their ungovernable anger. So he
gave orders for the apostles to be put outside for a little while and
then had this to say to the Jews.

(5) "Take care what you are about to do to these men. For some
time ago there rose up Theudas, claiming to be somebody, and four
hundred men followed him, but he perished and all his followers
were scattered abroad. And after him there rose up Judas the
Galilean, who drew a considerable crowd; he too died and his disci-
ples perished. So now I say to you, Take care, for if this work is
of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be
able to overthrow it. Else perhaps you may find yourselves fighting
even against God."

(6) Where, then, is the proof that if this is the work of men, it
will perish? You had proof of this, said Gamaliel, from the cases of
Judas and Theudas. So if the man whom the Apostles proclaim is a
leader such as Judas and Theudas, if Ire does not do all Ire does by
the power of God, wait a little while, and the outcome of events will
give credibility to what you say. You will know from the way things
 turn out whether he is a deceiver, as you say, and one who violates
the Law, or the God who rules all things and, with ineffable power,
orders and arranges our affairs.

(7) And this did come to pass. They did wait. The very outcome
of events did prove that his power was divine and unconquerable.
That trick which had deceived many men was turned around and
back on the devil's own head. When Satan saw that Christ had come,
he wished to cover up the reality of his coming and to hide the
true purpose of his Incarnation. So he brought on stage the rogues
whom we mentioned, so that Christ might be considered one of
them. And he did this on the cross, too, when he had two thieves
crucified with Christ; he did the same thing in the case of Christ's
coming when he strove to conceal the truth by putting it alongside
the false. But he failed in both cases, and his very effort provided the
strongest proof of Christ's power.

(8) Tell me this. If three men were crucified in the same place, at
the same time, by the same judges, wily have the two thieves been
lost in silence, while He alone is worshipped? Again, if many men
introduced new governments, got themselves adherents, and today
not even their names are known, how is it that Christ is paid divine
service throughout the world?

(9) Comparison makes facts especially clear. You Jews make this
comparison, then, and learn how the truth has prevailed. What de-
ceiver has gotten for himself so many churches all over the world,
what rogue extended his worship to the ends of the earth, what
imposter has every man bowing down before him, and this in
the face of ten thousand obstacles? No one did. It is clear, then,
that Christ was not a deceiver: he has saved us, he confers blessings
upon us, he takes care of us, he protects our lives.
 
 (10) Let me add one more prediction before I return to the topic
on which I proposed to speak. Christ said: " I did not come to send
peace upon the earth, but a sword."However, he did not speak of
what he would himself desire but he was foretelling the end to
which things would come. He went on to say: "For I have come to
set a man at variance with his father, and a daughter-in-law with her
mother-in-law, and a daughter with her mother."

(11) Tell me this. How did he foretell this if he was a mere man
and one of the crowd? For this is what he meant. It sometimes hap-
pened that in one and the same house one person would believe, and
another would not; then the father would want to lead his own son
to deny his faith. This is why Christ predicted this very thing. What
he was saying was this: "The power of the gospel will be so strong
that sons despise their fathers, daughters their mothers, and parents
their children. For they will choose not only to scorn members of
their own household, but even to lay down their lives, to endure and
suffer all things rather than deny their religion."

(12) How could he have managed to know this if tie was just
another man out of the crowd? How did it occur to him to reach the
conclusion that sons would pay greater veneration to him than to
their fathers, that parents would find him dearer than their own
children, that wives would have a more ardent love for him than for
their own husbands? And how did he know that this would happen
not in one home only, nor in two, nor three, nor ten, nor twenty,
nor a hundred, but in every corner of the world, in every city and
country, on land and sea, in populous places and in those with few,
if any, dwellings? No one can say that he foretold this and then
failed to fulfill his prediction. Certainly it was not only at the very
beginning but it is true even today that, because of their religion,
many are hated and cast forth from their fathers' houses. However,
they pay no heed to this; the fact that they suffer it for the sake of
Christ is consolation enough for them.
 
 
(13) Tell me this. What human being ever had the power to do
this? Yet this man made all these predictions about that woman,
about the Church, and about the wars which would be waged against
it. He also predicted that the temple would be destroyed, that
Jerusalem would be captured, and that the city would no longer be
the city of the Jews as it had been in the past.

(14) If he was wrong and deceived you in all those other pre-
dictions, and they did not come true, then refuse to believe what he
foretold of Jerusalem and the temple. But you do see those other
predictions gloriously fulfilled and their truth waxing stronger with
each passing day. The gates of hell did not prevail against the
Church, after so many years the story of what that woman did is still
told all over the world, and men who believed in him did pay greater
veneration to him than to their own parents, wives, and children. If
this is true, tell me, why do you reject this one prediction about the
temple, especially since the testimony of time puts the gag of silence
on your shameless words?

(15) Suppose a mere ten, twenty, thirty, or fifty years were to
have passed since the capture of Jerusalem. Even then you would
have absolutely no right to show your impudence by rejecting his
prediction, but if you wished to be obstinate, you might have had
some pretext for protest left to you. But not only fifty years but
many more than one, two, or three centuries have passed since
Jerusalem was captured. And never has there been seen a single trace
or shadow of the change for which you are waiting. Why, then, are
you so rash and foolish as to keep up your shameless objections?

IV

 
We have said enough to prove that the temple will never be
rebuilt. But since the abundance of proofs which support this truth
is so great, I shall turn from the gospels to the prophets, because the
Jews put their belief ill them before all others. And from the
words of the prophets I shall make it clear that the Jews will recover
neither their city nor their temple in days to come. And yet the need
was not mine to prove that the temple will not be restored. This was
not my obligation; the Jews have the obligation to prove the op-
posite, namely, that the temple will be rebuilt. For the years that
have elapsed stand by my side in the combat and bear witness to the
truth of my words.

(2) Even though the outcome of events defeats them, even
though they cannot prove in deeds what they maintain in words,
even though they are simply making a rash boast, they have a right
to present their testimony. The proof for my position is that the
events of which I speak did actually occur: Jerusalem did fall and
has not been restored after so many years. Their position rests on
their unsupported words.

(3) Yet the burden of proof was on them to show that the city
would rise again. This is the procedure for giving proofs in courts of
law. Suppose two people are in dispute over some matter and the
first party presents the claim for his position in writing, while the
second party attacks his statement. The second party must then
bring forward witnesses or other proofs in refutation of what is said
in the written deposition; but the plaintiff need not do so. This is
what the Jews must now do. They must produce a prophet who says
that by all means Jerusalem will be rebuilt. For if there was going to
be an end to the present captivity for you Jews, there was every
 need for the prophets to foretell this, as is clear to anyone who has
even so much as glanced at the prophetic books. For it was the
custom of old among the Jews that. under inspiration from above,
their prophets would foretell the good or evil things which were
going to befall the people.

(4) What was the reason for this? It was because the Jews were so
arrogant and obstinate. They immediately forgot what God had
done for them, they ascribed his kindness to demons and reckoned
that his blessings had come from them. Even when the sea was divid-
ed for them, as they went forth from Egypt, and while other won-
derful things were happening to them, they forgot the God who was
performing these miracles and attributed them to others who were
not gods. For they said to Aaron: "Make for us gods who will be our
leaders?° And they said to Jeremiah: 'We will not listen to what
you say in the name of the Lord. Rather we will continue doing
what we had proposed: we will burn incense to the queen of heaven
and pour out libations to her, as we and our fathers, our kings
and princes have done. Then we had enough food to eat and we
were well off; we suffered no misfortune But since we stopped
burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to
her, we are in need of everything and are being destroyed by the
sword and by hunger. The inspired prophets, then, foretold what
would happen to the Jews so that they would ascribe none of the
events to idols, but would believe that both punishments and bless-
ings always come from God: the punishment came for their sins,
and the blessings because of God's love and kindness.

(5) So that you may learn that this is the reason  for the
prophecy, hear what Isaiah, the most eloquent of prophets, had to
say to the Jewish people. "I know that you are stubborn and that
your neck is an iron sinew" (that is, unbending), "and your forehead
 bronze" (that is, incapable of blushing)." We, too, make a practice
of giving the name 'bronze-faced to those who cannot blush. And
Isaiah went on to say: "I foretold what things would come upon you
before they took place and I let you hear of them."Then he
added the reason for the prophecy when he said: "So that you may
never say: 'My idols did them, my statues and molten images com-
manded them.'

(6) At another time some of the Jews who were quarrelsome and
boastful and, even after the prophecies were fulfilled, were acting as
impudently as if they had never heard them. Then the prophets not
only foretold what would come to pass but even had witnesses of
what they were doing. Again it was Isaiah who said: "Make reliable
men my witnesses, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah, son of
Jeberechiah." And this was not all Isaiah did. He set his prophecy
down in writing in a new book so that, after his prophecy was
fulfilled, what he had written might bear witness against the Jews of
what the inspired prophet predicted to them a long time before. This
 is wily he did not simply write it in a book, but in a new book, a
book capable of staying sturdy for a long time without easily falling
apart, a book which could last until the events described in it would
come to pass.

V

 
I shall prove that this is true, and that God foretold everything
which was going to befall the Jews. I shall do so not only from what
Isaiah said but from all the things which happened to them, both
good and bad. Indeed, the Jews three times endured bondage, very
harsh and most severe: but none of these came upon them unpredict-
ed. God saw to it that each captivity was prophesied. He carefully
foretold the place, the duration, the kind, the form of their mis-
fortune, the return flora salvery, and everything else.

(2) First, I shall speak of the prediction of their slavery in Egypt.
Surely, in speaking to Abraham, God said: "Know for certain that
your posterity will be strangers in a land not their own; they shall be
subjected to slavery and shall be oppressed four hundred years. But I
will judge that nation which they shall serve, said God. And in the
fourth generation they shall return here with great possessions."
Do you see how he mentioned the number of years? Four hundred.
The nature of their slavery? He did not simply say: "They shall be
subjected to slavery," but: "They shall be oppressed." Listen to
Moses' explanation of their misfortune. He said: "No straw is sup-
plied to your servants, and still we are told to make bricks." And
 each day they were flogged so that you may learn the meaning of
the words: "They shall be subjected to slavery and shall be op-
pressed." When He said: "I will judge that nation which they shall
serve," He was speaking of the drowning of the Egyptians in the
Red Sea, which Moses described in his canticle when he said:
"Horse and chariot he has cast into the sea." Then he also men-
tioned the manner of their return when he said that they will return
here with great possessions: "Each of you take from his neighbor
and comrade gold and silver vessels."s° Since they had been sub-
jected to slavery a long time and had received no pay, God permitted
them to make this demand of the Egyptians even though their mas-
ters might be unwilling to pay. And the prophet exclaimed and
said: "And he led them forth laden with silver and gold, with
not a weakling among their tribes." So here we have one bondage
which was precisely predicted.

(3) Come now and let us turn our discussion to the second captiv-
ity. What one is that? The bondage in Babylon. Jeremiah certainly
foretold it exactly when he said: "Thus says the Lord: Only after
seventy years have elapsed for Babylon will I visit you and fulfill for
you my promise to bring you back to this place. I shall change your
bondage; I shall gather you from all the nations and all the places to
which I have banished you, says the Lord, and bring you back to the
place from which I have exiled you."Do you see how here again
 he spoke of the city, the number of years, and the places from
which and to which he was going to lead them?

(4) This explains why Daniel did not make his prayer for the Jews
until he saw that the seventy years had elapsed. Who says so? It was
Daniel himself, when he said: "I, Daniel, took care of the king's
affairs. But I was appalled at the vision, nor was there anyone to
understand it.""And I understood in the Scriptures the counting
of the years of which the Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah: that
for the ruins of Jerusalem seventy years must be fulfilled. I turned to
the Lord God, seeking to pray and entreat him with fasting, sack-
cloth, and ashes."

(5) Did you hear how this bondage was foretold and how the
prophet did not dare to bring his prayer and entreaty to God before
the appointed time? He feared that his prayer might be rash and in
vain. He was afraid he would hear what Jeremiah had heard: "Do
not pray for this his people, and do not make demand of me for
them for I shall not hear your voice." But when he saw that the
sentence pronounced against them had been fulfilled and that the
time was summoning them to return, he did pray for them. And
he did not merely pray, he made his entreaty with fasting, sackcloth,
and ashes.
 
 
(6) The prophet acted toward God in a way quite common
among men. When we see that a master has cast his slaves into prison
for many serious crimes, we do not make a plea for them immedi-
ately, nor at the outset, nor at the beginning of their punishment.
We let them be punished for a few days; then we go to the master
with our plea and we have time working on our side. This is exactly
what the prophet did. Although the penalty the Jews paid was not as
severe as their sins deserved, nonetheless they did pay it. And it
was only then that the prophet went to God to plead on their be-
half.

(7) If you would like to hear it, let us listen to the prayer he
made for them. He said: "I confessed and said, 'Lord great and
awesome God, you who keep your covenant and your mercy toward
those who love you and observe your commandments!' What
are you doing, Daniel? When you intercede for those who have
sinned and quarreled with God, are you talking about men who keep
God's laws? Do those who transgress his commandments deserve
pardon? What did Daniel say? "I am not making this prayer for their
sake but for the sake of their forefathers, for the sake of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. The promise and pledge was made to those who
kept God's commandments. These men, then, have no just claim
to salvation; this is why I mention their forefathers.

(8) Daniel was not speaking of the Jews in bondage when he said:
"You who keep your covenant and your mercy toward those who
 love you and observe your commandments." That is why he im-
mediately added: "We have sinned, acted lawlessly, done evil, and
departed from your commandments and your laws. We have not
obeyed your servants the prophets." For there is one defense left
to sinners after they have sinned: to confess their sins.

(9) Do you now please consider the virtue of the just man and the
arrogance of the Jews. He who is conscious of no evil in himself
pronounces a most severe judgment on himself when he says: "We
have sinned, acted lawlessly, done evil." But those who were fulfilled
with ten thousand evils did quite the opposite when they said: "We
kept your commandments; and now we call strangers blessed and
evildoers are exalted. Just men usually act modestly after they
have done just deeds; the wicked generally exalt themselves after
they have sinned. The man who was conscious of no wickedness in
himself said: "We have acted lawlessly, we have departed from your
laws"; those who are aware of the burden of ten thousand sins say:
"We have kept your commandments." I tell you this so that we may
shun the sinner and emulate the just.

VI

After he ran through their lawless acts, the prophet next spoke of
the penalty they paid, because he wanted to use this to win God
over to pity them. For he said: "And there came upon us the male-
diction recorded in the law of Moses, the servant of God, because we
sinned." What is that malediction? Do you wish us to read it?
 
'"If you will not serve the Lord your God, I shall lead forth against
you a shameless national l, a nation whose tongue you will not under-
stand, and you will be few in number."The three boys in Babylon
also made this same point clear when they showed that the kind
of punishment visited upon them came about because of what they
had done. They made confession to God for the sins of all Jews
when they said: "You have handed us over to our enemies, lawless
and hateful rebels; to an unjust king; the worst in all the world.
Do you see how God fulfilled the curse which said: "You will be
few in number?" And the one which said: "I shall lead forth against
you a shameless nation?

(2) This is the very thing which Daniel was hinting at when he
said: "There came upon us evils such as never occurred under heaven
according to what happened in Israel." What evils were these?
Mothers ate their own children. Moses foretold this, but Jeremiah
shows that it came true. For Moses said: "The refined and delicate
woman, so delicate and refined that she would not venture to put
her foot upon the step, shall put her hand to the unholy table and
eat her own children." But Jeremiah shows that this came true
 when he said: "The hands of compassionate women boiled their own
children."

(3) But even after he had spoken of the sills of those who had
sinned and after he brought into the open the punishment they
endured, he did not ask that this should save them. See, then, the
prudence of the servant. For after he had made clear that they had
not yet paid the penalty their sins deserved, nor had their sufferings
discharged the debt for their offenses, he then fled to the mercy
of God and the loving-kindness of his way and says: "And now, O
Lord, our God, who led your people out of the land of Egypt, and
made a name for yourself even to this day, we have sinned and acted
against your law." What he is saying is: "You did not save the
Jews of old for their good actions  but because you saw their
affliction and distress, because you heard their cry. In the same way,
free us from our present evils because of your loving-kindness and
because of that alone. We have no other claim to salvation."

(4) So he spoke and, after many a lament, he brought forward the
city of Jerusalem, like a captive woman, and said: "Let your face
shine upon your sanctuary. Give ear, O my God, and listen,
open your eyes and see our ruins and the ruins of your city, in which
your name is invoked." For when he looked among the men and
saw no man who could make God propitious, he turned to the
buildings and brought tip the city. He showed its desolation and,
after he completed his discourse on these things, he made God propi-
tious. And this became clear from the events which followed.

(5) But back to what I was talking about. For I must return again
to the topic I proposed. Yet I had good reason for bringing in these
digressions: I waited to give your minds a brief breathing space,
since they were growing weary from the constant conflicts with the
 Jews. But let me return to the point where I departed from my topic
to speak of these matters. Let me prove that the evils which were
going to overtake the Jews had been accurately predicted by God's
inspiration. My discourse had already shown that those two captiv-
ities came upon the Jews neither by chance nor unexpectedly.

(6) It remains for me now to bring up the third captivity. After I
have done that, I must speak about the bondage which now ell-
compasses them; I must give clear proof that no prophet ever pre-
dicted that there would be any freedom or escape from the ills
which now encircle them.

(7) What, then, is this third captivity? It is the bondage that came
upon them in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes. After Alexander,
king of the Macedonians, conquered the Persian king, Darius, he
took over the kingdom. After Alexander died, four kings followed
him to the throne. Antiochus was the son of one of Alexander's four
successors. Many years later Antiochus burned the temple, laid waste
the holy of holies, put an end to the sacrifices, subjected the Jews,
and destroyed their whole state.

VII

Daniel foretold all this with the greatest accuracy, even to the
very day. He foretold when it would be, how, by whom, the manner
of it, where it would find all end, and what change it would bring
about. You will understand this better after you have heard the
vision which the prophet set forth in the form of a parable. The ram
is Darius, the Persian king; the goat is the Greek king, Alexander of
Macedon; the four horns are Alexander's successors; the last horn is
Antiochus himself. But it will be better for you to hear the vision
itself.
 
 
(2) Daniel said: "For I saw in a vision and I was silting at the river
Ubal." (The spot ill question he calls by a Persian name.) "And I
looked up and saw standing by the Ubal a ram with his horns held
high; and the one horn was higher than' the other, and the high one
mounted to the very heights. And I saw the ram butting toward the
sea, north, and south. No beast will stand before it, nor was there
anyone to rescue a beast from its grasp; it did what it pleased and
became very powerful. And as I sat, I understood.'" He was speak-
ing of the Persian power and domain which overran the whole earth.

(3) Next he spoke of Alexander of Macedon and said:
"Behold, a he-goat came from the southwest across the whole earth
without touching the ground. And the goat had a horn to be seen
midway between his eyes." He then spoke of Alexander's en-
counter with Darius and the victory won by Macedonian might.
"The goat came up to the horned ram, grew savage, struck the
ram,"-I must cut short the account-"broke both his horns and
there was no one to rescue the ram from his power."

(4) After that Daniel spoke of Alexander's death and the four
kings who succeeded him: "And at the height of its power the great
horn was shattered, and in its place there came up four others, facing
the four winds of heaven." Daniel then passed from this point to
the reign of Antiochus and showed that he came from one of those
four when he said: "Out of one of them came one strong horn, and
 it became very powerful toward the south and the east." Daniel
then went on to show that Antiochus destroyed the Jewish com-
monwealth and way of life when he said: "And through him the
sacrifice was disordered by transgression; and it came to pass. that he
prospered. And the holy place will be laid waste and sin replaced
the sacrifice. After' the altar was destroyed and the holy places
trampled underfoot, he set up an idol within and offered unlawful
sacrifices to the demons; righteousness was cast to the ground. He
both did this and prospered.

(5) Then again, for a second time, he spoke of the same reign of
Antiochus Epiphanes, the bondage, and the capture and desolation
of the temple; this time, however, he gave the date of these events.
He again began, toward the end of the book, with the empire of
Alexander and described all the intervening accomplishments of the
Seleucids and the Ptolemies in their wars against each other, the
exploits of their generals, the strategies, the victories, the armies,
the battles fought on land and sea. When he came to Antiochus he
ended by saying: "His armed forces shall rise up, defile the sanctu-
ary, and remove the continuity" (and by the continuity he meant
the uninterrupted daily sacrifices) "and in its place they will put an
abomination. By treachery they will lead off those who violate the
covenant" (that is, the transgressors among the Jews whom they will
remove and keep with themselves); "but the people who know their
God shall take strong action" (he means the events in the time of the
 Maccabees: Judas. Simon, and John). "And the wise men of the
people will have understanding of many things but they will fall by
the sword and by fire" (here again he describes the burning of
Jerusalem) "and by exile and the plunder days. And when they fall,
they will receive a little help" (he means that, in the midst of those
evils, they will be able to draw a breath and rise from the dread
things which have overtaken them), "but many will join them out of
treachery. And they shall fall from the number of the wise?° He
said this to show that even many of those who stood firm will fall.

(6) Next, Daniel gave the reason why God permitted them to be
involved in such trials. What is the reason? "To purge them, to
choose them, and to make them white until the time of the end."
This is why, said Daniel, God permitted these evils so as to cleanse
them and to show who among them was genuine and approved.
In telling of the same king's power and might  he said:
"He shall do as he pleases, he shall exalt himself and become very
powerful. In speaking of the king's blasphemous spirit, he
went on to say: "He shall utter excessive haughty thoughts against
 the God of gods: he shall prosper until the wrath be accom-
plished."' Daniel was here making it clear that it was not of Anti-
ochus' own will but because of God's wrath against the Jews that he
was so victorious.

(7) After Daniel told in many other passages what evils the
king would bring on Egypt and Palestine, how he would return, at
whose bidding, and under the pressure of what cause, the prophet
then recounted a change of fortune and said that, after enduring all
these evils, the Jews would find some aid from an angel sent to help
them.as "At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince,
guardian over the sons of your people. It shall be a time unsurpassed
in distress since nations began on earth until that time. At that time
your people will escape, everyone who is found written ill the
book." By that he meant those deserving to be saved.

VIII

But I have not yet given a proof for the question I am investigat-
ing. What is that question? That God set a time limit for those
involved in these trials, just as he set a limit of four hundred years
for the exile in Egypt and seventy years for the bondage in Babylon.
Let us see, then, if he set any time limit for this third slavery. Where
can we find the answer to this? In what Daniel said in the verses
 following those I discussed.

(2) Since he had heard of the many great evils which would befall
the Jews -the burning of Jerusalem. the toppling of their state,
the bondage of his people- he then wanted to learn what would be
the end of these trials, and if there would be any change in their
disastrous condition. So he asked the angel who had appeared to
him and said: "Lord, what is to be the outcome of this? .... Come
here, Daniel," he said, "because the words are to be kept secret and
sealed" (indicating the obscurity of the words) "until the time of the
end. Then the angel mentioned the reason why God consented
to these evils: "As long as many are chosen, made white, and purged,
as long as the lawless act lawlessly, as long as all the unholy ones
shall not understand and the holy ones do understand."

(3) Next, ill predicting the length of time these evils would last,
Daniel's angel said: "From the time of the changing of the conti-
nuity."  The daily sacrifice was called the continuity, for what is
continuous is frequent and unceasing. And among the Jews it was
customary to offer sacrifice to God in the evening and about dawn
each day; this is why they called that daily sacrifice a continuity.

(4) But when Antiochus came, he completely did away with this
practice. That is what the angel meant when he said: "From the time
of the changing of the continuity" (that is, from the time the sacri-
fice was abolished) "there shall be one thousand two hundred and
ninety days," that is, three and a half years and a little more.
Then to show that there will be an end and deliverance from these
 woes, the angel went on to say: "Blessed is the man who stands firm
and attains one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days,"
adding forty-five days to the one thousand and two hundred and
ninety days. He did this because it happened that the conflict lasted
a month and a half and in that time the victory became complete, as
did also the deliverance of the Jews from the evils which weighed
heavy upon them. And when he said: "Blessed is the man who
stands firm one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days,"
he revealed their deliverance. He did not simply say, "the man
who attains," but "the man who stands firm and attains." The rea-
son for this is that many of the unholy ones saw the change, but he
does not call them happy; he calls blessed only those who gave
witness during the time of troubles, who did not desert their reli-
gion, and who then found abatement of their ills. This is why he did
not simply say: "the man who attains," but "the man who stands
firm and attains."

(5) What could be clearer than this? Do you see how very careful-
ly the prophet foretold their captivity and release from bondage? He
gave the time not in terms of years, or months, but to the very day.
That you may know that my words are not based on mere conjec-
ture, come, let us bring in another witness to what I have said, a
witness whom the Jews regard with the highest trust, I mean
Josephus, who has made their disasters a subject of tragic history
and who has paraphrased the entire Old Testament. He was born
 after Christ's coming and, in speaking of the captivity predicted by
Christ, he also discussed this captivity and set forth Daniel's vision
about the ram, the goat, the four horns, and the last horn which
arose after the others. I do not wish anyone to be suspicious of what
I have said; come, then, and let us compare his words with mine.

(6) Josephus praised Daniel and showed exceedingly high admira-
tion for hint, setting him above all the other prophets.When he
came to the story of Daniel's vision, he had this to say. Daniel left
us a book in which he made clear the accuracy and fidelity to
truth's of his prophecy. For he tells us that after he and some
companions had gone forth to a plain at Susa,the metropolis of
Persia, suddenly the earth quaked and shook violently. His friends
fled and he was left alone. He fell face down and was fixed fast to
the spot leaning on both hands. Then someone touched him and at
the same time ordered him to get up and see what would happen to
his people after many generations

(7) Daniel then arose and was shown a large ram with many
horns growing from his head, but the last horn was the highest. Then
 he looked to the west and saw a goat borne through the air. The goat
rushed at the ram, struck him twice with his horns, knocked him to
the ground, and trampled on him. Next he saw the goat grown larger
and putting forth a very large horn from his forehead. This born
was broken off, but four others grew up, turned to the four winds.
As Josephus told the story, Daniel saw a smaller  horn rise up
from these and it grew strong. God, who showed Daniel the vision,
was telling him that war would come upon his nation, that Jerusalem
would be taken by storm, the temple would be pillaged, the sacri-
fices would be hindered and cut short, and that this would last for
one thousand two hundred and ninety days? o2

(8) Daniel wrote that he had seen these events in the plain at
Susa; he also made it clear that God explained to him what he had
seen in the vision. God said that the ram signified the empire of the
Persians and Medes, and the horns, those who would hold royal
power. He further said that the last horn signified that there would
come a king who would surpass those others in wealth and
glory. God then explained that the goat would be a ruler from
among the Greeks who would twice clash with the Persian king,
defeat him in battle, and take over all his empire.The first large
horn on the goat's forehead signified the first king. After this fell
off, the growth of the four horns and the turning of each of these to
the four regions of the earth was a sign that, after the death of the
first king, who had neither sons nor family, his successors would
divide the empire among them and would rule the world for many
years.

(9) And from these successors, the explanation continued, there
would arise a king who would make war on the Jewish laws, take
away their from of government, pillage their temple, and prevent
their sacrifices from being offered for three years. And it did happen
that the nation of our fathers underwent these sufferings under Anti-
ochus Epiphanes just as Daniel had seen many years before and had
written would come to pass.

IX

What could be clearer than this? Now it is time, unless you think
I am making you weary, now it is time to come back to the question
we proposed for investigation, namely, the Jews' present slavery and
their bondage of today. This was the reason for going through all
their exiles. Pay careful heed to me, for our contest is not concerned
with ordinary, everyday matters. At the Olympic contests people
have the patience to sit from midnight to noon waiting to see who
will win the crown; they take the hot rays of the sun on their bare
heads, and do not leave before the winners are decided. Our contest
today is not for an Olympic prize but for an incorruptible crown. It
would be a shame, then, for us to grow weary and give in to our
fatigue.

(2) What I have said has sufficiently proved that the three captivi-
ties were predicted, the first lasting for four hundred years, the
second for seventy, and the third for three and a half years. Now let
us talk about the present bondage of the Jews. To show that the
prophet also predicted this one, I shall offer as my witness that same
Josephus, who is on the side of the Jews. Listen to what he says
subsequence to his account of Daniel's vision. He said: "In the same
manner Daniel also wrote about the empire of the Romans and that
they would capture Jerusalem and devastate the temple."
 
(3) Please consider that even if the man who wrote that was a
Jew, he did not, on that account, let himself emulate the obstinacy
of you Jews. After he said that Jerusalem would be captured, he did
not dare to go on to say that it would be rebuilt, nor to mention a
definite time for its restoration, because he knew that the prophet
had not fixed a definite time. Yet when Josephus spoke previously
of the victory of Antiochus and his devastation of Jerusalem, he did
state how many days and years the captivity was going to last.
But Josephus said nothing of this sort about the bondage under the
Romans. He wrote that Jerusalem and the temple would be de-
spoiled, but he did not add that what had been devastated would be
restored. For he saw that the prophet had not added anything about
such a restoration. Josephus did say: "All these things, as God re-
yealed them to him, Daniel left behind in his writings, so that those
who read them and observe how they have come to pass must won-
der that Daniel was so honored by God."

(4) But let us consider where it was that Daniel said that the
temple  would be despoiled. After he had made his prayer in
sackcloth and ashes, Gabriel came to him and said: "Seventy weeks
are cut short  for your people and for your holy city. Look,"
the Jews will say, "he did mention the time." Yes, but the time is
not the time of the captivity; what is mentioned is the length of time
after which the captivity is going to come upon them. It is one thing
to speak of how long the captivity will last and another thing to
state the number of years before it will arrive and be upon them.

(5) We read: "Seventy weeks are cut short for your people"; no
longer does God say: "for my people." And yet the prophet said:
"Let your face shine upon your people," but God thereafter was
estranged from them because of the bold crime they were going to
commit. Presently the prophet gave the reason: "Until transgression
will stop and sin will end?  What does he mean by the words:
"Until sin will end?" What the prophet is saying is that the Jews are
committing many sills, but the end of their evil deeds will be the day
they slay their Master. Christ also said this: "Fill up the measure of
your fathers." "You killed your servants," he said. "Now
add to that the blood of your Master."

(6) See how the thoughts of Christ and Daniel agree, Christ said:
"Fill up"; the prophet says: "Until transgression will stop and sin
will end." What does "end" mean? That no sin thereafter is left
 to commit. "And until everlasting justice will be introduced."
But what is everlasting justice except the justification given by
Christ? "And until the sealing of the vision and the prophet and a
holy of holies be anointed," that is, until prophecies shall cease.
For this is what is meant by "to seat," namely, to bring anointing to
an end, to bring vision to an end. This is why Christ said: "The law
and the prophets until John." Do you see how this threatens
utter desolation and the payment for sins and acts of injustice? For
God did not threaten that he will forgive the sins of the Jews but
that he will execute vengeance upon then.

X

And when did this happen? When were prophecies completely
done away with? When was anointing ended so as never again to
return? Even if we be silent, the stones will shout out, because the
voice of the facts is so clear. For we could not mention a time at
which these predictions were accomplished other than the long and
many years already past and the years which are going to be longer
and more numerous still. Daniel put it more precisely when he said:
 
"And you will know and understand that from the going forth of
the word of the answer that Jerusalem was to be rebuilt until the
coming of an anointed leader, there will be seven weeks and sixty-
two weeks.

(2) Pay careful attention to me here, because here lies the whole
question. The seven weeks and the sixty-two weeks make four hun-
dred and eighty-three years, for he is here speaking not of weeks of
days or months but weeks of years. From Cyrus to Antiochus
Epiphanes and the captivity there were three hundred and ninety-
four years. However, Daniel makes it clear that he is not talk-
ing about the destruction of the temple under Antiochus but the
subsequent destruction under Pompey, Vespasian, and Titus. He fur-
ther extends the time and instructs us from what point we must start
counting by showing us that our reckoning is not to start from the
day of the return from captivity. From what point must we reckon?
"From the going forth of the word of the answer that  Jerusa-
lem was to be rebuilt."

(3) Jerusalem, however, was not rebuilt under Cyrus but under
 Artaxerxes, who was called the Long-handed. For after the re-
turn of the Jews, Cambyses was ruler, then the Magians, and after
them Darius Hystaspes. Next came Darius' son, Xerxes, and after
him Artabanus. After Artabanus, Artaxerxes the Long-handed,
ruled Persia. During the twentieth year of his kingship Nehemiah
returned and restored Jerusalem. Ezra has given us an exact account
of this. So then, if we count four hundred and eighty-three years
from this point, we will surely come to the time of the last destruc-
tion. And so it is that the prophet said: "It shall be rebuilt with
streets and a surrounding wall." Therefore what he says is this:
after the city has been rebuilt and has recovered its own appearance
and form, count the seventy weeks from that point and you will see
the slavery which has not yet come to an end.

(4) To make still more clear this very point, namely, that the evils
which now grip the Jews will not come to an end, he goes on to say:
"After the seventy weeks  the anointing will be utterly destroyed
and there will be no judgment on it; he will destroy the city and the
sanctuary with the help of a leader who comes and they will be cut
off as in a deluge?  There will be no remnant left, nor a root to
grow up again, "until the end of a war which is brought to an end by
the vanishing of the people."

(5) And again, in speaking of this slavery, he said: "The incense
and the oblation will be abolished and, furthermore, on the holy
place will be the abomination of desolation: and accomplishment
shall be given to the desolation until the end of time." When you
hear him say: "Until the end of time," what else is left for you Jews
to look forward to? "And furthermore." What does this mean?
"Furthermore," that is, in addition to what he has said, that is, in
addition to the destruction of the sacrifice and the oblation, there
will be some other greater evil. What is that evil? "On the holy place
will be the abomination of desolation." By the holy place he
means the temple; by the abomination of desolation he means the
statue set up in the temple by Antiochus, who destroyed the city.

(6) And he went on to say: "Desolation until the end." It is true
that Christ came into the world according to the flesh long after the
day of Antiochus Epiphanes, but when he prophesied the captivity
to come, he showed that Daniel had predicted it. This was his reason
for saying: "When you see the abomination of desolation which was
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place-let him
who reads understand.' The Jews called every image and
statue made by man an abomination. So by his veiled reference to
that statue, Daniel showed both when and under whom the captivity
would take place. As I showed before, Josephus also assured us that
these words were spoken about the Romans.

(7) What is there for me to say to you now that has not already
been said? When the prophets predicted the other captivities, they
spoke not only of the captivity but also of the length of time it was
appointed for each bondage to last; for this present captivity, howev-
er, they set no time but, to the contrary, said that the desolation
would endure until the end. And to prove that what they said is
true, come now and let me offer as witnesses the events themselves.
 
 
If the Jews had never attempted to rebuild the temple, they could
say: "If we had wished to set our hands to the task and to begin to
rebuild it, we could by all means have completed the task." But now
I shall show that not once, nor twice, but three times they did
attempt it and three times, like wrestlers in the Olympic games, they
were thrown to the ground. Therefore there can be no dispute or
question but that the Church has won the victory crown.

XI

Yet what kind of men were they who set their hands to the task?
They were men who constantly resisted the Holy Spirit, revolution-
ists bent on stirring up sedition. After the destruction which oc-
curred under Vespasian and Titus, these Jews rebelled during the
reign of Hadrian and tried to go back to the old commonwealth and
way of life. What they failed to realize was that they were fighting
against the decree of God, who had ordered that Jerusalem remain
forever in ruins.

(2) But it is impossible for a man to wage war on God and win
So it was that, when these Jews made their attack against the Em-
peror, they forced him again to destroy Jerusalem completely.
For Hadrian came and utterly subdued them; he obliterated every
remnant of their city. To prevent the Jews from making such
an impudent attempt in the future, he set up a statue of him-
self. But he realized that, with the passage of time, his statue would
one day fall. So he gave his own name to the ruined city and, in this
way, burned on the Jews a permanent brand which would mark their
defeat and testify to the impudence of their revolt. Since he was
called Aelius Hadrianus, he ordained that from this name the city
was to be called Aelia and to this day it is called by the name of the
 Emperor who conquered it and destroyed it.

(3) Do you see the first attempt of the impudent Jews? Now look
at the next. They tried the same thing in the time of Constantine.
But the Emperor saw what they tried to do, cut off their ears, and
left on their bodies this mark of their disobedience. He then had
them led around everywhere, like runaway slaves and scoundrels, so
all might see their mutilated bodies and always think twice before
ever attempting such a revolt. "Yet these things happened very long
ago," the Jews will say. But I tell you that the incident is well
known to those of us who are somewhat on in years and are already
old men.

(4) But what I am going to tell you is clear and obvious even to
the very young. For it did not happen in the time of Hadrian or
Constantine, but during our own lifetime, in the reign of the Emper-
or of twenty years ago. Julian, who surpassed all the emperors in
irreligion, invited the Jews to sacrifice to idols in an attempt to drag
them to Iris own level of ungodliness. He used their old way of
sacrifice as an excuse and said: "In the days of your ancestors, God
 was worshipped in this way."

(5) They refused his invitation, but, at that time, they did admit
to the very things I just lately proved to you, namely, that they were
not allowed to offer their sacrifices outside Jerusalem. Their answer
was that those who offered any sacrifice whatsoever in a foreign land
were violating the Law. So they said to the Emperor: "If you wish
to see us offer sacrifices, give us back Jerusalem, rebuild the temple,
show us the holy of holies, restore the altar, and we will offer
sacrifices again just as we did before."

(6) These abominable and shameless men had the impudence to
ask these firings from an impious pagan and to invite him to rebuild
their sanctuary with his polluted hands. They failed to see that they
were attempting the impossible. They did not realize that if human
hands had put an end to those things, then  human hands
could get them back for them. But it was God who destroyed their
city, and no human power could ever change what God had decreed.
"For what God, the Holy One, has planned who shall dissipate? His
hand is stretched out; who will turn it back?" What God has
reared up and wishes to remain, no man can tear down. In the same
way, what he has destroyed and wishes to stay destroyed, no man
can rebuild.

(7) I grant you that the Emperor did give you Jews back your
temple and did build you an altar, just as you foolishly suspected he
would. But he could not send down to you the heavenly fire from
on high, could he? Yet if you could not have this fire, your sacrifice
had to be an abomination and unclean. This is why the sons of
 Aaron perished; they brought ill a foreign fire.

(8) Nonetheless, these Jews, who were blind to all things, called
on the Emperor for help and begged him to aid them in undertaking
to rebuild the temple. The Emperor, for his part, spared no expense,
sent engineers from all over the empire to oversee the work, sum-
moned craftsmen from every land; he left nothing undone, nothing
untried. He overlooked nothing but worked quietly and a little at a
time to bring the Jews to offer sacrifice; in this way he expected that
it would be easy for them to go from sacrifice to the worship of
idols. At the same time, in his mad folly, he was hoping to cancel
out the sentence passed by Christ which forbade the rebuilding of
the temple. But tie who catches the wise in their craftiness
straightway made clear to him by His action that the decrees of God
are mightier than any man's and that works get their strength from
the word of God.

(9) They started to work in earnest on that forbidden task, they
removed a great mound of earth and began to lay bare the founda-
tions. They were just about to start building when suddenly fire
leaped forth from the foundations and completely consumed not
only a great number of the workmen but even the stones piled up
there to support the structure. This put a stop to the untimely
obstinacy of those who had undertaken the project. Many of the
Jews, too, who had seen what had happened, were astonished and
struck with shame. The Emperor Julian had been madly eager to
finish the work. But when he heard what had happened, he was
afraid that, if he went on with it, he might call down the fire on his
 own head. So he and the whole Jewish people withdrew in defeat.

(10) Even today, if you go into Jerusalem, you will see the bare
foundation, if you ask why this is so, you will hear no explanation
other than the one I gave. We are all witnesses to this, for it hap-
pened not long ago but in our own time. Consider how conspicuous
our victory is. This did not happen in the times of the good emperors;
no one can say that the Christians came and prevented the work from
being finished. It happened at a time when our religion was subject
to persecution. when all our lives were in danger, when every man
was afraid to speak, when paganism flourished. Some of the faithful
hid in their homes, others fled the marketplaces and moved to the
deserts. That is when these events occurred. So the Jews have no
excuse left to them for their impudence.

XII

Are you Jews still disputing the question? Do you not see that
you are condemned by the testimony of what Christ and the pro-
phets predicted and which the facts have proved? But why should
this surprise me? That is the kind of people you are. From the
beginning you have been  shameless and obstinate, ready to
fight at all times against obvious facts.

(2) Do you wish me to bring forward against you other prophets
who clearly state the same fact, namely, that your religion will come
to an end, that ours will flourish and spread the message of Christ to
every corner of the world, that a different kind of sacrifice will be
introduced which will put an end to yours? At least listen to Malachi
who came later than the other prophets. Let me not at this time
bring in the testimony of Isaiah and Jeremiah or the other prophets
who came before the captivity. I do not want you Jews to say that
their predictions came true during the bondage. Let me bring for-
ward a prophet who came after the return from Babylon and after
 the restoration of Jerusalem, a prophet who clearly predicted what
was to happen to you.

(3) The Jews did return from Babylon, they did recover their
city, they did rebuild their temple, and they did offer sacrifices. But
it was only after all this that Malachi predicted the coming of the
present desolation and the abolition of the Jewish sacrifices. This is
what he said, speaking in God's behalf: "Shall I for your sakes
accept your persons? says the Lord Almighty. For from the
rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name is glorified among the
nations; and everywhere they bring incense to my name, and a pure
offering. But you have profaned it."

(4) When do you Jews think that this happened? When was in-
cense offered to God in every place? When a pure offering? You
could not mention a time other than the time after the coming of
Christ. Suppose Malachi did not speak of our time, suppose he did
not speak of our sacrifice but of the Jewish sacrifice. Then his pro-
phecy will be opposed to the Law. Moses had forbidden the Jews to
 bring their sacrifice to any place other than that which the Lord God
would choose, and then he confined their sacrifices to one particular
place. If Malachi said that sacrifices were going to be offered every-
where and that it would be a pure offering, he was contradicting and
opposing what Moses had said.

(5) But there is no contradiction nor quarrel. For Moses spoke
about one kind of sacrifice, and Malachi later predicted another.
What makes this clear? It is clear both from the prophet's words and
also from many other indications. The first indication has to do with
the place. For Malachi predicted that the sacrifice would be offered
not in one city, as in the time of the Jewish sacrifice, but "from the
rising of the sun even to its setting." The second indication has to do
with the kind of sacrifice. By calling it "a pure offering," he showed
the kind of sacrifice of which he spoke.

(6) A further indication deals with those who are going to offer
this sacrifice. He did not say "in Israel," but "among the nations."
He did not want you to think that the worship given in this sacrifice
would be confined to one, two, or three cities; therefore, he did not
simply say "everywhere," but from the rising of the sun, even to its
setting. By these words he showed that every corner of the earth
seen by the sun will receive the message of the gospel. He called it a
"pure offering," as opposed to the old sacrifice, which was impure.
And it was-not by its own nature but because of the disposition and
intention of those who offered it. This is why the Lord said: "Your
incense is loathsome to me."

(7) And yet, in other respects, if you should put the two sacri-
fices side by side to compare them, you will find that the difference
between them is so great and unmeasurable that, according to the
nature of comparison, only this new sacrifice is properly called pure.
Paul contrasted the old Law with the new Law of grace and said that
the old Law had been glorified but is now without glory, because of
the surpassing glory of the new Law.I, too, would make so bold
as to say in this case that, if the new sacrifice should be
 compared to the old, only this new sacrifice would properly be
called pure. For it is not offered by smoke and fat, nor by blood and
the price of ransom, but by the grace of the Spirit.

(8) Now hear another prophet who made the same prediction and
said that the worship of God would not be confined to one place,
but that the time would come when all men would know him. It is
Zephaniah who said: "The Lord shall appear to all nations, and will
make all the gods of the nations waste away; then each from its own
place shall adore Him. Yet this was forbidden to the Jews since
Moses commanded them to worship in one place.

(9) You hear that the prophets foretold and predicted that men
will no longer be bound to come from all over the earth to offer
sacrifice in one city or in one place, but that each one will sit in his
own home and pay service and honor to God. What time other than
the present could you mention as fulfilling these prophecies? At any
rate listen to how the gospels and the Apostle Paul agree with
Zephaniah. The prophet said: "The Lord shall appear"; Paul said:
"The grace of God our Savior has appeared to all men instructing
us,  Zephaniah said: "To all nations"; Paul said: "To all men."
Zephaniah said: "He will make their gods waste away;" Paul said:
"Instructing us, in order that rejecting ungodliness and worldly lusts,
we may live temperately and justly."

(10) Again, Christ said to the Samaritan woman: "Woman, be-
lieve me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in
Jerusalem will you worship the Father. God is spirit, and they who
worship  him must worship in spirit and in truth."I so When
Christ said this, he removed from us for the future the obligation to
observe one place of worship and introduced a more lofty and spiri-
tual way of worship.

(11) These arguments would suffice to establish that, for the
future, there will be no sacrifice, no priesthood, no king among the
Jews. Above all, the destruction of the city has proved all these
points. But I could also bring forward the prophets as my witnesses,
and they distinctly said the same thing. But I see that you have
become weary with the length of my discourse; I am afraid that you
may think I am foolish and rash to keep annoying you. For this
reason I promise that I will speak to you on this same subject at
another time.

(12) Meanwhile, I ask you to rescue your brothers, to set them
free from their error, and to bring them back to the truth. There is
no benefit in listening to me unless the example of your deeds will
match my words. What I said was not for your sakes but for the sake
of those who are sick. I want them to learn these facts from you and
to free themselves from their wicked association with the Jews. I
want them then to show themselves sincere and genuine Christians. I
want them to shun the evil gatherings of the Jews and their syna-
gogues, both in the city and in the suburbs, because these are
robbers' dens and dwellings of demons?

(13) So then, do not neglect the salvation of those brothers. Be
meddlesome, be busybodies, but bring the sick ones to Christ. In this
way, we shall receive a far greater reward for our good deeds both in
the present life and in the life to come. And we shall receive it by
the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through
whom and with whom be glory to the Father together with the Holy
Spirit, the giver of life, now and forever, world without end. Amen.
 
  

Return to homepage