Another World. Priest Daniel Sysoev by mission shop

Priest

DANIEL SYSOEV

ANOTHER WORLD EXPLANATION OF SELECTED PSALMS

Part III

Translated by Priest Nathan Williams

Daniel Sysoev Inc. New Jersey, 2018

Approved for publication by the Publications Board of the Russian Orthodox Church PB 11-116-1697

С 95

Priest Daniel Sysoev Explanation of Selected Psalms. In Four Parts. Part 3: Another World. — New Jersey, Daniel Sysoev Inc, 2018. — 128 pp.

ISBN 978-5-4279-0071-6

Explanation of psalms 109, 116, and 145. This book examines the issues of the laws of the spiritual world, the mission of Christ, praise of God and His eternal glory, conciliarity of the Church, the maﬁa of this world, the truth of Orthodoxy, and how to treat the imprisoned and refugees. “The Psalter is suitable for any good work. If you wish to learn the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, the Psalter will impart them to you. All dogma is contained in the Psalter.” —Saint Basil the Great

Protected by copyright law. Reproduction of this book in whole or in part is prohibited. Any violations of this law will be prosecuted.

CONTENTS THE ETERNAL PRIEST AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK Explanation of Psalm 109 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Born in the Underworld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 The Meaning of “Sit Thou at My Right Hand” . . . .11 The Mafia of this World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 The Sceptre of Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Ruling in the Midst of Enemies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 The Splendour of the Saints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 An Eternal Priest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 A Judge among the Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Born that He Might Die. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 HOW TO PRAISE GOD Explanation of Psalm 116 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Gentile Culture and Customs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 The Way Out and the Laudation of the Gentiles . . .50 The Meaning of the Term “Catholic Church” . . . . .54 The Hateful Discord of this World . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 The Time has Come for Mercy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 What is Truth? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 CONTACT WITH OTHER WORLDS Explanation of Psalm 145 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Praise Ye Him That Is. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Three Kinds of Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 On Hope in God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88

Contents

Why is Orthodoxy Still Here? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97 Appealing to the Name of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 How God Frees Prisoners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110 Is Escape from Hades Possible? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 On How to Treat Refugees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 The End of Earthly History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122 Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125

THE ETERNAL PRIEST AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK

Explanation of Psalm 109 If we pray with attention at the morning, evening, and nighttime services for the Nativity, we will notice that, in addition to the prophecies concerning the birth of Christ in the flesh, our services allot considerable space to the eternal begetting of God the Son. What is the reason for this? Why does the Church find it necessary to emphasize the eternal existence of God the Son prior to creation? The fact is that in Orthodox theology there is a direct link between Christ’s begetting from the Father without a mother before time began and His birth from the Virgin Mary without a father in time. What is this link? For example, people often ask, “Why did God the Son become incarnate, and not God the Father?” On this basis some even claim that the Son is inferior to the Father. This is naturally untrue, because the Son is equal to the Father in all things. Nevertheless, the question arises: why was it the Son Who took flesh? According to the teaching of the Church, if the Father had been begotten this would have disrupted the personal, hypostatic properties of 5

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the Persons of the Holy Trinity. The hypostatic property of God the Father is unbegottenness, and if He had been begotten this would have been a distortion of the hypostatic properties. It is God the Son Who is begotten, for in eternity also He is begotten of the Father. His begetting, however, is not tied to our temporal existence. If there were no world God would be triune nonetheless. The inner life of God is in no way bound to the world. The world could have been created or it could never have come to beâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;this is the free desire of God. He however always has been, is, and will be a Trinity, because such is His nature, and this is how He exists. Here we cannot even say that the Father begat the Son voluntarily or involuntarily. The question of volition does not even arise. God simply exists eternally. All this is emphasized in Psalm 109. In a sense this psalm is one of the most important. The Lord Himself quotes it in the New Testament, when He asks the Pharisees, What think ye of Christ? whose son is He? They say unto Him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool? If David then call Him Lord, how is He his son? (Mt. 22:42â&#x20AC;&#x201C;45). Inter6

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preting these words, the apostle Peter says that David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, until I make Thy foes Thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, Whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:34â&#x20AC;&#x201C;36). The Church continually recalls the sacred text of Psalm 109, especially on the Nativity. It speaks of the eternal existence of God and of why He came to earth. Christmas is often perceived as just another family holiday, but the text of this psalm implies something entirely different. The Lord said unto my Lord: Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies the footstool of Thy feet. A sceptre of power shall the Lord send unto Thee out of Sion; rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies. With Thee is dominion in the day of Thy power, in the splendour of Thy saints. From the womb before the morning star have I begotten Thee. The Lord hath sworn and will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedek. The Lord at Thy right hand hath broken kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill them with dead bodies, He shall crush the heads of many upon the earth. He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall He lift up His head (Ps. 109:1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;7). 7

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BORN IN THE UNDERWORLD

We have read how one Lord says to another Lord that He must sit at His right side until the great vengeance, the great battle, is accomplished. The very first impression from the psalm is that the great God is going forth to battle. He sets out to work great vengeance upon His enemies, to crush the proud, to lay low the haughty, and to save the weary upon the earth. This aspect of the Nativity of Christ is very important to remember, because without it we will not understand the very essence of the feast. We will suffer the fate that befell the West, where George Bush wished everyone a merry Christmas without mentioning Christ. People there merely wish each other, “Happy holidays.” In Latvia, as I understand, Christmas is merely called a winter holiday. This came about because people did not want to accept the gospel in its entirety and began to downplay the birth of Christ. First they found it incomprehensible, and now it has also become disagreeable. These people reason thus: “God punishes no one and loves everyone. Like Santa Claus, He brings everyone presents, regardless of whether a person has been good or bad.” We even have a saying: “Speak no ill of the dead.” There is actually a grain of truth to this, for judgment of 8

Born in the Underworld

the world belongs to God, but we tend to understand this to mean that the dead are beyond good and evil, that supposedly they are all in paradise already. The prevailing opinion is that a person dies and automatically goes to paradise, that supposedly the Lord awaits everyone with open arms. God naturally awaits everyone, but He receives only those who have been purified, not those who come to Him in filthy pauperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clothing. Suppose you invite a person to come visit, and he shows up smelling badly. Will you be pleased? No, you will say, â&#x20AC;&#x153;My dear fellow, go wash, clean yourself up, change your clothes, and then come.â&#x20AC;? Yet we assume that the Lord is happy to see us just as we are. All this results from the fact that men have ceased to understand the meaning of the incarnation. It is hidden from them that the whole world is in the fearful state of enslavement to evil, from which men must be violently torn free and saved. This state of enslavement to evil has encompassed the whole universe, and the Lord comes as Warrior and King. Moreover, He comes to occupied territory. With good reason the Lord of Heaven is born in a cave, beneath the earth. Who usually gathers in caves and basements? Terrorists, spies, saboteurs, homeless people. The Lord descends to a place where respectable people do not live. 9

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In a sense He Himself becomes homeless. Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head (Lk. 9:58). Christ becomes a vagrant, in the literal sense of the word. But at the same time He is not merely a person without a place: He is a saboteur, a guerilla fighter, in the best sense of the word. The Lord comes to launch a guerilla war against evil. And evil attacks Him, since it senses great power in Him, capable of exploding evil from within, of destroying the great kingdom of the dragon. In the book of Job God showed Satan in the form of an enormous dragon, which seized the whole earth and all those living upon it by means of their passions, and destroys Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creation, tyrannizing it. This is what is described in Psalm 109. The Lord said unto my Lord: Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies the footstool of Thy feet (Ps. 109:1). One Lord said this to another Lord. To Whom does this refer? After all, it is written that the Lord is one (cf. Deut. 6:4). God the Father, the eternal Lord, is speaking to the eternal Lord the Son, but how can this be reconciled with His oneness? The fact is that the very word one does not necessarily mean oneness in the sense of solitude, for it is said, Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh (Gen. 2:24). Here the 10

The Meaning of “Sit Thou at My Right Hand”

same word is used: one. Does it not follow from this that the husband and the wife are joined into a single person? No, they are two different persons who are joined together. In the same way the Lord the Father begets the Lord the Son of His eternal essence. THE MEANING OF “SIT THOU AT MY RIGHT HAND”

And He says to Him, Sit Thou at My right hand (Ps. 109:1). Sit eternally at My right hand. What does it mean to sit at His right hand? Does God have a right-hand side? God is fleshless, after all; He is not described with the attributes of “right” and “left,” “upper” and “lower.” He fills heaven and earth (Jer. 23:24), and He is the place for His own self. The term right hand means that the Son has equal authority with the Father. A co-ruler possessing equal authority with the king would sit at his right hand. Nor are these words spoken generally: we read that the Lord said to the Lord, “Sit Thou at My right hand,” but in another place to this same Lord it is said, The Lord at Thy right hand hath broken kings in the day of His wrath (Ps. 109:5). In other words, the Son sits at the right hand of the Father, and if this referred to sitting at His right hand in the physical sense this 11

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would place the Father at the left hand of Christ. Yet, it is said that in battle the Father remains at the right hand of the Son. This indicates that this does not refer to spacial positioning. We must not imagine God in the form of an old man upon a cloud, as some mistakenly do. The Church prohibits depicting God the Father, so as to preempt these false opinions. Thus, this verse refers to the equality of power of the Father and the Son, because the power of the Father is the Son. He is the eternal begetting of the Father’s essence, and He sits upon the throne with Him. In Psalm 44 it is said, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom (Ps. 44:7). The Son sits eternally at the right hand of God the Father, but He sat at His right hand a second time also, when He ascended into the heavens in His human nature. He now rules the universe not only as God, but also as Man. For this reason in the Symbol of Faith we say that we believe in Christ “Who sitteth at the right hand of the Father”—that is, Who rules the universe as Man, not only as God. The human nature of Christ has been glorified and has become a participant in the life, authority, and glory of the Divinity. The Son’s presence at the right hand of the Father is not without significance for our world. 12

The Mafia of this World

The Lord holds sway over the universe, and this authority is directed toward changing the world order. From these words we understand that God does not consider the current state of the world to be normal. God the Father sees that the whole world is full of His enemies, who must be laid low. Who are these enemies? They are the free rebellious angels and the rebellious men who have allied themselves with them. Which people have allied themselves with the rebellious angels, and at what point does this take place? What is frightening is that at the very moment of conception a person becomes part of the devil’s “clan.” THE MAFIA OF THIS WORLD

Let me use the example of the Sicilian Mafia. A person becomes a member of a mafia the moment he enters the world in a mafia syndicate. In the same way people born on earth become members of the “mafia syndicate” that the devil created by his rebellion in heaven and into which he inveigled Adam and Eve, the forbears of mankind. The first people became members of this clan—not at an administrative level, of course, but nevertheless participants in the ancient rebellion. This required the intervention of One Who was outside this “mafia,” to extricate men from 13

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it. Naturally, a person can attempt to break free on his own, but without outside intervention he has no chance. Even with an ordinary mafia syndicate the help of the police, the government, and the FSB is needed to extract a person from a criminal clan. Even our saints were born into this slavery, and only by baptism were they freed from it. The Mother of God also is no exception in this regard. Remember her words: My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour (Lk. 1:46). The soul of the Mother of God rejoiced in her Savior, Who had torn her free from slavery. The difference between her and an ordinary person is merely that she never collaborated with the devil. Though born into the “mafia,” from the very beginning she opposed it, and God freed her, making her the most honorable of all. On his own, however, it is impossible for a person to break free from this terrible maelstrom of death. It is essential that from without, from beyond the borders of the world, a certain great Warrior should come and crush His enemies beneath His feet. And so God the Father tells the Son to sit at His right hand, until I make Thine enemies the footstool of Thy feet (Ps. 109:1). Christ comes to earth to rout the “mafia syndicate” of the devil, to infiltrate this gang and then explode it from within. 14

The Mafia of this World

Why did it have to be infiltrated? Why not accomplish this from without? Because a man voluntarily entered into an alliance with the foe, and so it was necessary that a man destroy this alliance. Death had to be destroyed by the one who introduced it into the universe. God the Father casts the enemies of Christ beneath His feet. He casts them down through preaching, when men become humble, are reconciled with God, accept life-giving baptism, and cease to be enemies of God. For any unbaptized person is, to a greater or lesser degree, an enemy of God, because he does what is displeasing to God. Can an alcoholic really be considered a friend of God? Naturally, even after baptism one may revolt against the Lord and enter the service of the devil, but there is nothing compulsory in thisâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the person retains his freedom. Nevertheless, without Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intervention liberation would never have occurred. The Lord says that the war will continue until the complete, decisive victory, which will be accomplished on the day of the Last Judgment, when all the foes of Christ will be cast beneath His feet, when He will crush the head of the great rebel, when the devil and all his servants will be cast into the eternal fire. And those men who were reconciled with God, who worshipped 15

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Him and glorified Him, will themselves be glorified and will enter the Kingdom of the Heavenly Father. THE SCEPTRE OF POWER

David addresses the Son: A sceptre of power shall the Lord send unto Thee out of Sion; rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies (Ps. 109:2). The Lord God the Father will send You a scepter of power. What is a scepter, or rod, of power? Here there are two meanings. On the one hand, it is a club, a weapon for war, filled with power, which will crush all the foes of the Lord. On the other hand, the scepter of power is what is used to herd sheep. The power of Christ that is sent by God the Father has both these meanings. For His foes it is a scepter of power that crushes them, breaking down their obstinacy. For Christians however it is the Cross. During an attack of the devil one may experience for oneself just how powerful this scepter is. It is a tremendous power that lays low all the foes, breaks the audacity of the devil, and forces him to flee in panic, for he suffered a blow from this scepter once before, and the Lord crushed him with it. The Lord ... out of Sion (Ps. 109:2) will send the scepter of power. Why out of Sion? Because on 16

The Sceptre of Power

Sion Christ offered Himself in sacrifice and was crucified for the sins of men. And on Sion also He established His Church, and appointed pastors, priests, through whom He feeds His sheep. Remember how the Lord said to the apostle Peter, Feed My sheep (Jn. 21:16)? In the person of Peter God entrusted the feeding of His sheep not only to him, but to all the apostles and their successors, who feed Christians to this day, shepherding them with the scepter of power. They support those who are falling, strengthen the wavering, comfort the suffering, and chastise those who go astray. It is said in the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, And I will give you pastors according to Mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding (Jer. 3:15); and, I am against the shepherds; and I will require My flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them (Ezek. 34:10). Further on the Lord says, Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? And as for My flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink 17

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that which ye have fouled with your feet. Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; therefore will I save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle (Ezek. 34:17â&#x20AC;&#x201C;22). This refers to the fact that if the Orthodox live in such a way that they trample others into the ground, the shepherd must bring them to their senses, even by use of spiritual force, and the Lord Himself will personally use force against them. An example of how the Lord used force through His successors may be seen in how the apostle Peter cursed Simon the Sorcerer, who had attempted to buy the grace of God with money. When Simon the Sorcerer began using magic to turn people from the true path, and began passing himself off as God, flying in the sight of all, the apostle Peter together with the apostles Paul and John allowed him to take flight, and then made the sign of the cross over the demons who were bearing Simon through the air, commanding them to let go of him, and Simon fell to his death. Thus the scepter of power was used against the foe. There are numerous examples of punishment for misdeeds. Remember Ananias 18

The Sceptre of Power

and Sapphira, who dared to test the Holy Spirit, or Elymas the Sorcerer, who opposed God’s revelation and was struck blind by the apostle Paul. The scepter of power is manifested through barring from Holy Communion or excommunication from the Church—the most terrible of punishments. At the prayers of priests the Lord chastises men for their iniquities. The most striking example of this was when God put Arius to death.28 Arius, who did not repent of his evil acts, wanted to use his influence to enter the Church of God and continue troubling it from within. Patriarch Alexander of Constantinople did not wish to receive Arius, since he knew that he was lying, but the emperor insisted. Then Saint Alexander prayed, “Lord, if he enters the Church, take my soul.” And so it was that when Arius triumphantly approached with his supporters, the scepter of power that the Lord had sent out of Sion was already raised to strike, and it came crashing down on him. Arius felt the need to relieve himself and went to do so. There he burst asunder, and his intestines gushed out, just as occurred with Judas Iscariot. In this ignoble way he died, punished by the scepter of power that God the Father had sent to God the Son out of Mount Sion. These are examples of the scepter of power at work in world history. 19

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RULING IN THE MIDST OF ENEMIES

Rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies (Ps. 109:2). John Chrysostom writes thus: “What is meant by rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies—or, to put it another way, in the midst of the Gentiles, in the midst of the Jews? In this way churches were planted among the cities; in this way the apostles overcame and conquered. This is a sign of a glorious victory—to raise up altars in the midst of enemies, to be as sheep among beasts of prey and as lambs among wolves. So Christ also said, in sending them forth, Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves (Mt. 10:16). This is no less a miracle than that: for those who are surrounded on all sides to emerge victorious is no less great than for sheep to overcome wolves. It is even far greater, because though numbering but twelve they have drawn after them the whole world.”29 The former foes are become friends. The persecutors become apostles, as Saul became Paul, and martyrs, as did Theophilus, converted by Saint Dorothy. He was a court secretary and mocked the martyr Dorothy, but in wintertime she sent him blooming roses and apples from paradise. Theophilus believed in the Lord and was executed for His name’s sake. All these things are examples of how Christ rules in the midst of His enemies. In the Church we see 20

The Splendour of the Saints

an example of Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s astounding rule. Why does the Church exist at all? Have you never considered the fact that it would be very easy to destroy it? In order for the Orthodox Church to cease to exist one need only kill its six hundred bishops, for without the bishops there is no Church. Yet it exists to this day. This is a manifestation of that great rule in the midst of enemies of which David writes. THE SPLENDOUR OF THE SAINTS

With Thee is dominion in the day of Thy power, in the splendour of Thy saints. From the womb before the morning star have I begotten Thee (Ps. 109:3). Your dominion abides with You in the day of Your power. Who is the dominion of Jesus Christ? God the Father. And He abides with Christ in the day of power, as the Lord said: The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works (Jn. 14:10). The power of the Father is the Son, and hence the power of the Father and the Son is indivisible. The power of the Father abides with Him and in Him always; in Him Christ has the source of His power. In the day of power Christ is particularly shown forth in His fullness. The first day of power was the day of the crucifixion, when the Lord masterfully laid low the princes of darkness and subjected them 21

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to humiliation. The devil is laid low, the great tyrant is stripped of his authority, the mighty ruler is stripped of his powers, shackled hand and foot, and cast into the darkness of the nether regions. The one who said, My hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped (Is. 10:14), that tyrant who hovered over all the earth, is cast down, shackled, into the bonds of eternal darkness. For into battle together with Christ went the One in Whom is the source of His power. Through His Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit, God the Father wages war with the devil and lays him low. It is essential to remember that all the works of Christ are accomplished in unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. There is but one exception: the Father does not become incarnate. The Son becomes incarnate, but even in the incarnate Son the Father is present, because all three Persons of the Holy Trinity are present in one another. In the splendour of Thy saints (Ps. 109:3). What is this splendor of the saints, produced by the day of power? The fact is that thanks to the day of the crucifixion the light of Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s radiance spreads among the saints. It is with good reason that when a person is illumined, or baptized, the priest first 22

The Splendour of the Saints

traces a cross upon his forehead and his heart, breathes thrice into his face, lays a hand upon his head, and reads a prayer that makes the person a Christian. Then by the cross the devil is driven out, and the person makes the sign of the cross for the first time, falls to his face before God in submission to Him, receives baptism, and upon his neck is placed the sign of the day of powerâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; the baptismal cross. It should be remembered that this is indeed the sign of the day of power, of great might and glory, from which ensues the splendor of the saints. The saints, according to Saint Clement, pope of Rome, are the fruits of the tree of the cross. `The splendor of the saints springs up from the redeeming feat of Jesus Christ. This however refers not to this alone. Naturally, the apostles dispersed throughout the earth like lamps. And not only the apostles, but also righteous ones, venerable ones, martyrs, holy hierarchs, right-believing kings and queensâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;all Christians are lamps, shining forth for the whole world, but their light is not yet manifested outwardly; it is hidden in the depths of a man. But there will come a day of power when this light will be made manifest. Of this the apostle Paul writes in his epistle to the Thessalonians: Seeing it is a just thing with God to repay tribulation to them that trouble 23

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you: and to you who are troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with the angels of His power: in a flame of fire, giving vengeance to them who know not God, and who obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who shall suffer eternal punishment in destruction, from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of His power: when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be made wonderful in all them who have believed; because our testimony was believed upon you in that day (2 Thess. 1:6–10). We have a certain inner radiance, the light of the eternal life of God the Father—the Holy Spirit. This light (a small spark or an enormous flame, which sometimes even shows through as a glow in the saints) is of course inside us, but ordinarily it is hidden. It is hidden in our mortal body as though in a clay vessel. But the day will come when this vessel will be broken, and the glory of the splendor of the saints will be revealed. The Lord said through the apostle Paul, For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory (Col. 3:3–4). The inner life of the saints will be revealed in the day of the Second Coming of Christ, when the vengeance of God and the transfiguration of the whole universe will be accomplished. The saints will shine like the sun, for in them will be revealed that which is 24

The Splendour of the Saints

now hidden. Of course, one would prefer to say not “in them,” but “in us,” but this is something we ourselves must work to achieve. All this will occur at the command of the Father, Who, being in Christ, will illumine the saints by His glory, and Christ, being focused on the Father, will lead the saints to Him and will surrender to Him all those whom He has redeemed. Christ will lead them to the Father, for the goal of our salvation is that we, as children of God, might appear before the face of God the Father. Further on God the Father says to the Son, From the womb before the morning star have I begotten Thee. The Lord hath sworn and will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedek (Ps. 109:3–4). God the Father says that He begat the Son from the womb before the morning star. This means that He begat the Lord from His inner essence, from the depths of His heart. God the Father says, “Of Myself I have begotten You before the creation of the universe. Before the appearance of the star, prior to the creation of the sun and the moon, I begat You. You exist eternally; You are begotten from the womb of God.” Therefore we too believe that Christ is begotten of the essence of the Father, for God the Father Himself declares this. The Son is one in essence with and of the essence of the Father, from His 25

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bosom. He is ever and eternally begotten from the depths of the essence of God. The Lord hath sworn and will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedek (Ps. 109:4). You, born in eternity of My essence, are the eternal priest. What is the chief duty of a priest? To offer sacrifice, naturally. Even shepherds care for their flocks; this is one element of the priestly ministry, but not the key element. Even the lady who teaches Sunday school can preach, and parents must teach their children. But there is a duty that none but the priest can perform: he alone has the exclusive right and primary obligation to offer the Bloodless Sacrifice to God. The greatest manifestation of the priestly ministry is the serving of the Liturgy. AN ETERNAL PRIEST

The Father says to His Son, â&#x20AC;&#x153;You are an eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek.â&#x20AC;? Melchizedek is mentioned in chapter 14 of the book of Genesis. He was the king of Salem, who met Abraham with bread and wine as he was returning from battle, and blessed the name of the Most High God Who had made heaven and earth. Abraham for his part gave him a tenth part of all that he had. This is a remarkable person26

An Eternal Priest

age. The apostle Paul speaks of him in his epistle to the Hebrews: First being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually (Heb. 7:2–3). Melchizedek is at once both king and priest, though in the Old Testament it was forbidden for a king to be a priest or for a priest to be a king. The king has one ministry, the priest another. Melchizedek was not of God’s people, and not of the priestly tribe. It is not written that he died. The word salem means “peace”—that is, Melchizedek is the king of peace. His name is translated as “king of righteousness.” This remarkable personage is a prefiguration of Christ. We cannot say where Melchizedek was born, and we know of Christ that He had neither father on earth nor mother in heaven. Christ has neither beginning nor end, and in this too He resembles Melchizedek. Christ is the King of Righteousness, Who bestows righteousness upon men, the King and Reconciler, Who reconciles God and men. He is the Priest Who offers the great Sacrifice—His own Self—for the sins of all men, but at the same time He is not descended from the priestly tribe. His priesthood is not according to the commandment of the flesh, but 27

The Eternal Priest after the Order of Melchizedek

according to the power of life, grounded in the words of God Himself and His oath that He will never annul. The temporal priesthood will end, but the priesthood of Christ will continue eternally. To this day Christ performs the Eucharist through the priests, using them as instruments. He is the Performer of all the sacraments. Christ baptizes people, as promised in Scripture: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost (Mt. 3:11). He is the eternal Mediator, Who continually mediates and intercedes for men before His Father. His intercession is manifested in that at confession our sins are remitted, for Christ entreats the Father for us, and entreats Him not with words, but with His wounds. In this way Christ is Priest, yet He is also King, ruling the Kingdom of Grace, that is, the Church. He will rule eternally, and His Kingdom shall never end. He is the King Who defends His subjects and makes them righteous and peaceful, reconciling them with God. Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine (Gen. 14:18)â&#x20AC;&#x201D;this is a symbol of Holy Communion, in which we are united with God, and Christ sends down upon us the blessing of His Heavenly Father. Thus, Christ is the eternal Priest and King, and He took upon Himself the ministry even of the Old Testament priesthood. In chapter 7 of his epistle to the Hebrews the apostle Paul writes that 28

An Eternal Priest

if Abraham brought Melchizedek a tenth of his spoils, which by law belonged to the priests, this means he acknowledged the superiority of the latter’s priesthood to his own. In the person of Abraham the priests that are his descendants also offer a tithe, for the priesthood of Christ after the order of Melchizedek is higher than the priesthood of the Old Testament. It is for this reason that the Old Testament priesthood ended, and all attempts to restore it are unsuccessful. Try as they might, the Jews have been unable to restore the priesthood at the temple in Jerusalem, because a greater priesthood than that of old has come. The former was a shadow, but now truth has come; the former was a glimmer, but now radiance has appeared. Once a certain cunning rabbi asked Nikolaj of Serbia, when he was preaching in New York, “Why do you not keep the Mosaic law?” The latter replied, “I don’t know about you, but in Serbia when the sun rises our custom is to put the kerosene lamp back in its cupboard.” Do you see? The light of the Old Testament was a kerosene lamp, which is very much needed at night, but unnecessary when the sun—the Gospel—is shining. Thus, Christ is the eternal Priest after the order of Melchizedek, the eternal King, Prophet, and Reconciler, Who justifies men, offers 29

The Eternal Priest after the Order of Melchizedek

the Sacrifice, receives the tithe, and rules over the universe. All this comes together in a single word: Christ. Jesus is the Christ, Who unites all the ministries in Himself. When we say that Jesus is the Christ, we are confessing that He is the eternal Priest, the Justifier, the Redeemer, the Lord of the universe, Who reconciles men with each other and with God, and Who has dominion over His enemies. Next follows a description of the great battle into which He is entering. The Lord at Thy right hand hath broken kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill them with dead bodies, He shall crush the heads of many upon the earth (Ps. 109:5â&#x20AC;&#x201C;6). The great day of wrath is the day of the Judgment of God, in which God the Father will break kings in the presence of Christ. I think it is clear that this refers to the battle of Armageddon, when in wrath and anger men will rise up against God, and the Lord Himself will go forth against them in wrath. We must of course remember that wrath as a passion is absent from God. His wrath is passionless; His wrath is a state of the will. God is wrathful with evil, He repulses evil, and if a person commits evil acts and refuses to repent, if he is unwilling to separate himself from wrongdoing, the Lord is wrathful with him also, though naturally without heated passions 30

An Eternal Priest

and clouded reasoning. Nevertheless, here Scripture uses the word wrath quite accurately. Why does it say the Lord at Thy right hand (Ps. 109:5)? Because Christ and the Father exercise the same power. One cannot say that although Christ commanded one thing, God the Father may command something else altogether. Today among unbelievers or sectarians there is a marked tendency to declare, “Oh, it was the Son Who said that; the Father may take another view of things.” The Muslims for their part argue, “Those are Christ’s words; the Father decided to send someone else.” No, the Son and the Father are one, and the Father works together with the Son toward a common goal. He breaks kings and lays arrogant tyrants low. Due to the ideas of humanism we have all but forgotten the sentiments of the ancients and the people of the Middle Ages—that when God breaks a tyrant He is showing great mercy. In C.S. Lewis’s novel That Hideous Strength there is an episode where Merlin prophetically perceives that a certain woman committed a great evil, by using contraception and thereby not giving birth to a king who would have been able to save the English kingship. And he says, “It would be great charity to cut off her head.”30 Though these words seem harsh, there is some truth in 31

The Eternal Priest after the Order of Melchizedek

themâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not that the woman should be punished, of course, but rather it is a great mercy when tyranny is laid low. Joy at the downfall of tyrants is nothing to be ashamed of. We should regret that the man has perished, but the cessation of tyranny is a wonderful thing. Due to false humanism people begin to forget this natural emotion. Do you remember how the statue of Dzerzhinsky was pulled down? What joy all Christians experienced then, that the great tyrant and chief murderer had been laid low. Indeed, what is quite right in Victory Day* is our joy that the great tyrant Hitler, the destroyer of humankind, has been laid low. And so the Church sings that God lays low mighty kings, and that this is a great mercy from Him. A JUDGE AMONG THE NATIONS

He shall judge among the nations (Ps. 109:6). He shall judge among the Gentiles. This is not a judgment of the Gentiles themselves, but a judgment among Gentile nations. In the words of the Lord, And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil (Jn. 3:19). Condemna*

The Russian civil holiday commemorating the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany during World War II. â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Trans. 32

A Judge among the Nations

tion, or judgment, means that the Gentiles there are being divided into those who are faithful to God and those who oppose Him. If you will, this is a trial in which the sentence has not yet been pronounced, but rather guilt is being established. The trial began after the crucifixion of Christ, and continues still, to these last days. The last days have now begun, in the literal sense of the word, and the chief sign that they are approaching is the descent of the Holy Spirit: And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh (Acts 2:17). If the Holy Spirit has descended, this means the last days have begun. God, Who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son (Heb. 1:1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2). Formerly God addressed men by various different means, and relayed fragments of revelation to the fathers through the prophets. Then revelation attained perfection, when the Father began to speak through the Son, Whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds (Heb. 1:2). The last days have been approaching since the time of Jesus Christ, and we are living in them now. If people ask, â&#x20AC;&#x153;When will the last times come?â&#x20AC;? they simply do not understand the Bible. For Holy Scripture these times began when the last, conclusive reve33

The Eternal Priest after the Order of Melchizedek

lation was accomplished, which can never be surpassed. This revelation is not in words, but in the appearance of the Son of God, by Whom the ages were created, Who is the radiance of the glory of the Father and the image of His hypostasis. Thus, the Lord will judge among all the nations. The Gentiles, the Muslims, and the Jews are brought to trial, and the grain is separated from the chaff, Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s people from His opponents, those who received the Holy Spirit and became children of God from those who rejected the Holy Spirit and sonship. In this division the judicial and pastoral authority of God is manifested. He is the Shepherd, Who separates His sheep from the goats. Incidentally, why do we have no right to exclude any nation and say that no one is to preach to it? Because by saying this we would be interfering with the plans of God the Father, by refusing to seek out His children in those nations. This is why the Gospel must be preached to all the nations, as the Lord Himself commands. He shall fill them with dead bodies (Ps. 109:6). The terms used are to fill and carrionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;literally, He shall fill them with carrion. What does this mean? Suppose a battle is raging, and the field is filled with the fallen. This is saying that God will blanket the earth with the bodies of the fallen. Fallen 34

A Judge among the Nations

men who oppose God will become corpses. There is such a thing as a “living corpse.” A person who rejects the good news of the gospel becomes a dead man. And what is typical of a dead man? He exudes a foul odor. In other words, his soul decays, and the smell is emitted through his speech. The further a Russian is from God, the fewer Russian words his speech contains. Can you guess what words take their place? His speech becomes littered with foul language. His soul decays, and the person is unable to speak calmly. His speech contains malice, or hatred, or injury. He constantly tries to prove how he has been misused and who has wronged him. All this is due to the decay of a soul that has departed from the Creator and spiritually died. Christ is a divider, and one who does not receive Him cannot remain as he was before. A person who encounters Jesus Christ and the preaching concerning Him and rejects Him does not remain the same. He becomes worse, for he becomes a spiritual dead man. As it is said, He shall fill the earth with corpses (cf. Ps. 109:6). And what do we do with dead people? We bury them in the ground. In the same way the souls of those who are spiritually dead descend into the depths of the earth after death—into hades. The Lord expels into darkness the souls of those who have 35

The Eternal Priest after the Order of Melchizedek

rejected God. Incidentally, spiritual decay is frequently manifested in the body as well. Herod, that killer of infants, rotted alive, eaten by worms, and no one was able to help him. He became a decayed corpse while still alive. This dreadful retribution befell him for attempting to kill God and for killing innocent children and numerous others. BORN THAT HE MIGHT DIE

He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall He lift up His head (Ps. 109:7). Literally, He will drink of the winter stream in the way. What is this winter stream? In the Near East it rains in winter, but on the high mountains snow accumulates, which then quickly melts. There is something called a wadiâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a dry riverbed that fills up with water in winter, but dries up in summer. For this reason it is said that He will drink of the winter stream. The implication is that when He comes to earth Christ will live the simplest of lifestyles. Who drinks from a winter stream? A homeless person, who is obliged to drink murky water instead of spring water. We know that the Lord lived the simplest of lifestyles. He ate inexpensive barley bread, drank water from streams, had only a single set of clothing (a chiton and a robe), and 36

Born that He Might Die

had no home. That is, He lived as a true warrior who has no need of any external extravagances. This passage, however, does not of course refer only to the simple lifestyle of the Lord, on account of which He will lift up His head. It is saying here that He will drink of the stream of death. It is well known that in the lore of various peoples a certain border is described between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Most often this border is a river—for example, the Lethe (the river of forgetfulness), or the Styx (the river of fire), or the Smorodina River of Russian fairy tales (from the word smorod, modern Russian smrad—stench). This river is called a winter river, because it is murky and flows when winter blankets the earth—that is, when death holds sway. But then spring will come, and there will be no more death, and the winter stream will dry up, and the eternal summer of the Kingdom of God will come. Christ will drink of this winter stream of death, and on account of this He will lift up His head. He is born that He may die, whereas ordinary people die because they are born. By nature Christ is immortal, and He could have not died in His human nature, since He had no sin. But He accepts death, and He drinks of this murky winter stream, in order to save us, for therefore 37

The Eternal Priest after the Order of Melchizedek

He is sent (cf. Lk. 4:43). The Church specifically emphasizes this in the divine services. Throughout the five days of the forefeast of the Nativity canons are read that follow the pattern of Passion Week. These canons prepare us for the coming of the Lord, that we might understand that He is born in order to die and deliver us from death. Therefore shall He lift up His head (Ps. 109:7). When did the Lord lift up His head? On the day of the Resurrection. To lift up His head means to stand up straight and become a great conqueror. In a sense the later Western icons of the Resurrection of Christ are quite accurate, in which the Lord is depicted with His head held high, His arm upraised, holding the standard of victory and glorificationâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the Cross. Christ was glorified through death, and in Holy Scripture the day of His death is even called the day of His glorification. When the Lord said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him (Jn. 13:31), He was going to His death, so that through horrific sufferings He might be glorified and might glorify us. This is the path of the great battle of Him Who, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, reigns in eternity, begotten of the essence of the Father before time began, and Who comes to deliver us from sin and the curse of eternal death. 38

How to Praise God

It is this that the Church underscores during the feast of the Holy Nativity, that we might understand Who it is that is born of the Virgin, for what purpose He is born, what awaits Him, and what begins from the moment of His birth. Let us remember this, and the mercy of God will be with us. HOW TO PRAISE GOD

Explanation of Psalm 116 Psalm 116 is the shortest psalm in the Psalter, but it is nevertheless prophetic. The apostle Paul mentions it in his epistle to the Romans, and it is regularly employed in our worship. At the beginning of vespers Psalm 103 is read, which we have already examined. Then follows the great litany, and “Blessed is the Man” is sung, if it is a Sunday service. After this, “Lord, I Have Cried” is read. “Lord, I Have Cried” is a special compilation of Psalms 140, 141, 129, and 116. It is Psalm 116 that we will now discuss. Many people skim over the content of this psalm. When people read the kathismata they do so on autopilot. They skim over them without internalizing their meaning. They think that 39

How to Praise God

this little psalm is a mere two verses, and there is nothing particular to be gleaned from it. When Psalm 116 is read during the services it is merely perceived as a refrain for singing stichera. Here again its outstanding significance for our spiritual life is lost, and people do not receive the spiritual benefit that they could have gained from contemplating this psalm. Psalm 116 is from the “Alleluia” category of psalms—those psalms that are dedicated to praising God. In them we are called to glorify God Almighty for His great wonders of salvation and deliverance from our sins. The text of the psalm is as follows: O praise the Lord, all ye nations; praise Him, all ye peoples. For He hath made His mercy to prevail over us, and the truth of the Lord abideth for ever (Ps. 116:1–2). Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; praise Him all you people, because His mercy has been established upon us, and the truth of the Lord continues eternally. Why is this psalm considered prophetic, and what does it describe? As we remember, in the Old Testament all the pacts, promises, covenants, and oaths were given to the Hebrew nation. They were given to the descendants of Abraham according to the flesh. On the basis of God’s promise to Abraham—In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the 40

Gentile Culture and Customs

stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore (Gen. 22:17)—He made an alliance with the Hebrews. All the promises belonged to the members of this alliance, who abode in communion with God. All other nations were called goyim—Gentiles. In the original Hebrew text of Psalm 116 those are the actual words: “Praise Yahweh, all you goyim.” GENTILE CULTURE AND CUSTOMS

We tend to react indignantly: “Why do the Hebrews have such a wrong attitude towards Gentiles? Why do they call them goyim?” But the word goy simply means a Gentile, a person who is outside the covenant with God. A goy is a person who worships creation instead of the Creator, and therefore abides in falsehood. And since his faith is false, his life, his ethics, and everything comprising his life are also false. Consequently, he has no hope. This is exactly what makes the disdain the Hebrews had for goyim indefensible—not because the goyim are good, but because one should not despise the unfortunate. In this lies the error of the Jews, and not in considering themselves superior to the goyim, for they are superior indeed. Whatever people may say, a person who worships the true God is superior to one 41

How to Praise God

who worships the devil. One who sacrifices animals to God is indeed superior to one through whom the devil murders people. A person who keeps his marriage intact is superior to one who practices ritual debauchery. Even by our current weak ethical standards any of the Jews of old was unquestionably superior to a goy. And this is not due to their lofty cultural sensitivities or highly developed civilization, but due to the simple fact that for the Hebrews decency was the standard, imposed upon them by the prophets. Conversely, in Gentile nations we see evil behavior, which was also considered the standard. Anyone who has ever read Plato would never use the term â&#x20AC;&#x153;platonic love,â&#x20AC;? because for Plato this meant homosexuality. For Plato this was the highest form of love. In this context the Hebrew attitude towards non-Hebrews is perfectly understandable. How do we view the participants of gay pride parades today, for example? Can we say that we normal people are superior to them? In a sense we can, since this is an objective fact. Thus, there was a division among people. Of this the apostle Paul speaks directly, addressing former pagans: And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now 42

Gentile Culture and Customs

worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others (Eph. 2:1–3). This phenomenon encompassed all of humanity at that time. This was a frightful era, and it ended by the mercy of the Lord, as Psalm 116 describes. If we do not understand this, the very heart of the matter will escape us. All modern attempts to view the world as a system of multiple civilizations in which each civilization is entitled to respect, in which no culture is better or worse than any other—these attempts contradict even our ordinary conscience. Only a completely unscrupulous person will say that being a homosexual and keeping a marriage intact are the same thing. The theory of multiple civilizations contradicts the self-identity of the people of old. Even the people of today—with the exception of Western European civilization, which has lost all points of spiritual reference, its inner power, its criteria for good and evil, and has forgotten God—know that there is truth and then there is falsehood. It is also true that many nations become confused, mistaking the deception of the devil for truth, but nevertheless they understand that it is impossible, for example, 43

How to Praise God

to respect all faiths equally. There are people who believe it is permissible to deceive one another without a qualm. This should be taken into consideration, and when dealing with them one must not believe a word they say. If they believe this is perfectly fine and morally defensible, they cannot be trusted. In the same way in our lives we must understand that there is absolute truth and various degrees of departure from it. I think those are mistaken who declare that the Catholics are no different from the Satanists. Of course they are in error, they have distorted divine revelation, but they believe in Christ the Savior. Indeed, they believe in Him correctly, for the Roman Catholics rightly confess the dogma of the Divine Incarnation. They believe in the Holy Trinity, albeit incorrectly, because they teach wrongly regarding the Holy Spirit. The Catholics accept Holy Scripture, Holy Tradition, and the decrees of the Seven Ecumenical Councilsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in short, much of what they believe is sound, but there is also much that is false, since the Catholic Church has distorted Christian doctrine. One must be able to discern the former from the latter. If we do not do this, and instead try to vilify everyone, we will not understand Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s providence in this world. Why, for example, did God give the Roman Catholics all 44

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of Central and South America? Why did He give the victory to the conquistadors? Their victory, after all, was completely inconceivable: four hundred men vanquished an army of a million. Firearms alone cannot account for this. The victory was due to the fact that God spread panic among the foes of the conquistadors. And He did this because of their mass human sacrifices—thirty to forty thousand persons each day. From God’s standpoint such people naturally deserve nothing good. In a word, there are different levels of degradation, and for this reason we must know how to evaluate civilizations and ideas that are presented to us. But we have no right to say, “Oh, each has his own truth. We have to respect the opinions and convictions of others.” No, the Jews who despise the Gentiles are more right than the tolerant people of today. It is better to despise paganism, better to err in this regard, than to whitewash everything with mutual respect. Our Russian ancestors, for example, had no fondness whatsoever for their pagan past. We have no epic poems extolling the ancient pagan worldview and ancient Slavic culture. It is with good reason that the neo-pagans of today say that the evil Orthodox Church destroyed all the indigenous culture of the Slavs and imposed a foreign culture. They 45

How to Praise God

are right: the Church destroyed Slavic culture and imposed a completely different worldview. As a result, thank God, today we walk through Moscow and do not trip over the skeletons of people who have been burned alive. Though you and I may sometimes superstitiously avoid greeting people or bidding them farewell over the threshold, we have forgotten that formerly people did not do this because our pagan ancestors would bury murdered children beneath the threshold. They would do this so that the house would stand firm. The threshold was considered a place for sacrificial offerings. The Russian people understood that this was absolutely nothing to be proud of, and that they had been pulled from the mire. Thus, it is groundless to say that the Jews degraded our pagan culture. No culture is worth the putridity that accompanies it. I say all this because there existed a concept of a goy or Gentileâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a person outcast from God, who has no hope whatsoever. The Bible calls the goyim people who sit in darkness. When you encounter the words nations and Gentiles in the book of Psalms or in other texts of the Old and New Testaments, know that this refers specifically to the goyimâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the people outside the covenant and the alliance with God. Such people exist to this dayâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;for example, the Chinese, the inhabi46

Gentile Culture and Customs

tants of India and Indochina, the Buryats, etc. All of them have no alliance with God whatsoever. The Muslims are apostates, if anythingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;people who acquired a little knowledge of God and radically distorted it. The Gentiles however forgot about God completely. They know that God exists, but supposedly He is so far off that He is wholly uninvolved in the fate of the world. The Muslims naturally resemble them in this sense, but nevertheless they attempt to somehow worship God, albeit completely incorrectly. For this very reason the Orthodox Church has three rites of unification. It is a great pity that this practice has not yet been truly restored in our country. For, according to the Church canons, anyone older than seven years of age who is baptized upon converting from a different faith must undergo the rite of unification. There is a rite of unification from paganism, that is, from the goyim; a rite of unification from Judaism; and a third rite from Islam. These groups are outside the covenant, but they differ from each other. To these impure, defiled people God says through the mouth of King David, O praise the Lord, all ye nations; praise Him, all ye peoples (Ps. 116:1). Praise the Lord, all you pagans, praise Him all you tribes. Here â&#x20AC;&#x153;nationsâ&#x20AC;? should be understood to mean not merely certain com47

How to Praise God

munities that speak other languages,* though it refers to this also, but rather people who adhere to the popular faith. In Russian the very word for paganism—yazichestvo—literally means populism, folk faith, the traditional confession. That is, paganism is a faith that is passed down not based on criteria of veracity or falseness. It has a different basis: our fathers and grandfathers instituted this, therefore let it be so for all time. But the institutions of our fathers and grandfathers can be right or wrong. The question is what exactly they instituted. For example, our fathers and grandfathers instituted something that to this day no one has succeeded in removing from Red Square, much as we might wish it.** Consequently, the fact that something came from our ancestors is of no significance. Any person can make mistakes—my father, my mother, and my other ancestors. A pagan is one who adheres to the legacy of his ancestors out of habit, worshipping creation in place of the Creator. To these people it is said, O praise the Lord, all ye nations; praise Him, all ye peoples (Ps. 116:1). Through the mouth of King David the Holy Spirit commands all pagan nations to praise the Lord. This implies *

In Slavonic the word for “nation,” “language,” and “tongue” is the same (yazyk). –Trans. ** The tomb of Lenin. –Trans. 48

Путь исхода и похвала язычников

that in the history of mankind a kind of massive demolition will occur, when all nations will begin to glorify God in all languages. In our church a moleben* is sometimes served for the conversion of those who have gone astray. It is served not only in Church Slavonic, the language in which we pray, but also in the sacred Tatar language, because here the Orthodox Tatar community gathers to pray for their relatives who confess Islam. What exactly makes this prayer possible? Why can we pray in Slavonic, in Russian, in Tatar, and in other languages? Specifically because the Lord said, “Praise the Lord, all ye nations.” He commands that in all the languages of the world all those who formerly followed tradition, serving creation (the elements, stars, trees, stones, a person, the sun, the moon) in place of the Creator, begin to praise the Lord. To praise the Lord for what? For the great miracle of deliverance that the Lord will accomplish in them. With good reason it is said in Psalm 106, Give thanks to the Lord because He is good, because His mercy endures forever. Let the people the Lord defended repeat these words. They are the people He defended from the power of their enemies and gathered from other countries, from the east and from the west, from the north and *

A short prayer service, served by request for individual needs. –Trans. 49

How to Praise God

from the south. They wandered around the desert on a deserted road without finding an inhabited city. They were hungry and thirsty. They began to lose hope. In their distress they cried out to the Lord. He rescued them from their troubles. He led them on a road that went straight to an inhabited city (Ps. 106:1–7, GW). This is what the Lord did for the pagans—the people who had no hope. There is a Carthaginian inscription that reads, “The best thing on earth is to have a good wife and many mistresses, to revel in good food, and to make merry while watching gladiators do battle.” This is an actual pagan inscription, found by archeologists in Carthage. If you visit Tunisia, watch for it: it is pointed out as a tourist attraction. THE WAY OUT AND THE LAUDATION OF THE GENTILES

God showed the Gentiles a way out, and so it is right that they praise Him That Is. Furthermore, they are all summoned to praise Him, which is in fact nonsense. Let us consider humankind 1,000 years before Christ, when this psalm was written. At that time there were approximately fifty million persons living on the earth. How many of them worshipped God? About a million Hebrews. Perhaps a million and 50

The way out and the Laudation of the Gentiles

a half. And here David urges, “All you nations, praise the Lord.” The Lord gives this command to all. He says that henceforth the word of God is addressed not only to one nation, not only to the blood descendants of one man—not even to those who have grafted themselves to this nation, as was done in ancient times. We know that in theory any person could join God’s people. That person had to reject idol worship, undertake to follow all the commandments of the Mosaic Law, and be circumcised. Such people were few, but they did exist. But all nations which sat in the region and shadow of death (Mt. 4:16) are commanded to praise the Lord—not merely worship Him, but praise Him for the great salvation that He has wrought. Thus, by the mouth of King David the Lord foretells the advent of a certain great global community of those who praise God. Hence the very word Orthodox (from ortho, right, + doxa, glory)—a “right glorifier” of God. Why not “right knower” or “right believer,” though we do believe rightly? Because for us, now that we have come to know and believe, it is more important to glorify and give praise. God may be glorified with the tongue, with deeds, with behavior. For example, people bring lilies to the church as a gift, since the lilies glorify God. They adorn the church and 51

How to Praise God

by this adornment they glorify the Lord. They sing akathists on the cliros, at home, or outdoors, glorifying God with their lips. They raise their hands in thanksgiving, glorifying God with their hands. That is, everything we do must be done to the glory of God. But here we also read, Praise the Lord (Ps. 116:1). How are we to praise God? Let us take Psalms 134, 135, or 138, for example, which contain hymns of praise to God. Or the Great Doxology: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men. We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory.” Thus, God commands us not only to glorify Him, but also to praise Him. It is said that the Gentiles must learn to praise God, forgetting about themselves. Do you understand the task God is setting the Gentiles? He says, “Do not merely ask, but also give thanks. Do not merely give thanks, but also give glory. And do not merely give glory, but ultimately reach the point of giving praise.” As the angels in the heavens praise God, forgetting about themselves, contemplating only the great glory of the Lord, in the same way you and I must learn to praise the Lord as peoples of the earth, as a nation. This command reverberates even in secular music. Beethoven’s Sympho52

The way out and the Laudation of the Gentiles

ny No. 9 includes Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” set to music, which contains the phrase, “Be embraced, ye millions!” This concept is taken directly from the book of Psalms, where it is foretold that millions and millions of people, united in love into a single whole, will glorify God together in every language. This prophecy is being fulfilled today. For example, on the night of Pascha in all the churches of the world, throughout the planet and in every language, representatives of a great many nations lift up grateful hands to the Creator and praise Him, glorifying Him for the great work of salvation that He has accomplished, having wrested us free who were in darkness and led us into the light of life, and we received salvation without merit, without promises, as an outright gift from the merciful Creator. It is this that is described in the psalm, but this is not all that is said. There are nations that do not glorify the Lord; there are Gentiles who do not wish to glorify the Redeemer. The Lord commands them likewise: O praise the Lord, all ye nations; praise Him, all ye peoples (Ps. 116:1). For example, the Chechens stubbornly resist, but to them also the Lord says, “Praise the Lord, you Chechens. Praise the Lord, you Chinese. Praise the Lord, you islanders. Lift up your hands to the Living God and glorify Him. Such is My com53

How to Praise God

mand.” This command is also a maxim for missionaries, who must bring the word of the Lord to all generations, to all nations and tribes created by the Lord Almighty, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:11). THE MEANING OF THE TERM “CATHOLIC CHURCH”

It is said, Praise Him, all ye peoples (Ps. 116:1), that is, all you tribes. However the tribes might war among themselves, they must join together in a single wondrous body—the body of the Church. The teaching expounded in the sacred Symbol of Faith remains a sealed book for many Christians. In the Creed you and I say that we believe “in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” What does “Catholic Church” mean?* It means that we believe in a Church assembled from all the nations. Such is the meaning of the term “Catholic Church.” We believe “in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” In the Symbol the word Catholic is spelled with a theta (), which *

In Slavonic the word catholic, which means “universal,” is rendered as soborny, meaning “assembled together,” “universal,” or “conciliar.” –Trans. 54

BIBLIOGRAPHY *

28. Socrates the Scholastic. Church History. Book I, chapter 38. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 1996. 29. Saint John Chrysostom. Talks on the Psalms. Moscow: All-Merciful Savior Orthodox Benevolent Brotherhood, 2013. 30. C.S. Lewis. The Space Trilogy. Moscow: Eksmo, 2011. 31. Hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite. Corpus of Compositions. St. Petersburg: Oleg Abyshko Publishing House, 2013. 32. Saint John Chrysostom. Talks on the Psalms. Moscow: All-Merciful Savior Orthodox Benevolent Brotherhood, 2013. 33. St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow. Homilies and Speeches, in Four Volumes. Moscow: Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, 2009. 34. Euthymios Zigabenos. Psalter with Commentary by Euthymios Zigabenos, Explained in Accordance with the Patristic Commentaries. Moscow: Sintagma, 2010. 35. Saint John Chrysostom. Complete Collected Works. 12 Volumes in 25 Books. Vol. XII. Moscow: Parish of the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, 2006. *

Translatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s note: The information given for all titles is for the Russian editions. 125

Contact with Other Worlds

36. Compositions of the Ancient Christian Apologists. Translated into Russian by Archpriest Peter Preobrazhensky. St. Petersburg Blagovest and Aleteia Foundation, 1999. 37. Euthymios Zigabenos. Psalter with Commentary by Euthymios Zigabenos, Explained in Accordance with the Patristic Commentaries. Moscow: Sintagma, 2010. 38. Euthymios Zigabenos. Psalter with Commentary by Euthymios Zigabenos, Explained in Accordance with the Patristic Commentaries. Moscow: Sintagma, 2010. 39. Saint John Chrysostom. Talks on the Psalms. Moscow: All-Merciful Savior Orthodox Benevolent Brotherhood, 2013. Scriptural quotes taken from the King James Version of the Bible, except where otherwise indicated. Quotes from the book of Psalms taken from The Psalter According to the Seventy, published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. All rights reserved.

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Priest Daniel Sysoev

Explanation of Selected Psalms In Four Parts Part 3 Another World

Translator Priest Nathan Williams Layout Olga Bochkova Cover and Design Igor Ermolaev

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