The Signs of the Kingdom’s Coming. The Lord Jesus’ words about the coming of the heavenly kingdom preoccupies the minds of many, for it is a prophetic message that announces the eternal kingdom, and His coming in the church of the New Covenant. This is merged with the coming inside the soul. 1- The Pulling Down of the old Temple 1-2 2- The Appearance of the False Prophets 3-5 3- The Uprising of Wars and Disasters 6-7 4- The Hardships to be Faced 8-9 5- The Appearance of the False Prophets 11-14 6- The Abomination of Desolation in the Temple 15 7- The Commandments for Entering the Kingdom 16-20 8- The Great Tribulation 21-22 9- The Appearance of False Christs 23-28 10- The Tribulation of Nature 29 11- The Appearance of the Sign for the Son of Man 30-31 12- The Parable of the Green Fig-tree 32-34 13- Confirmation of Coming 35-36 14- Preparation for His Coming 37-40 15- The Parable of the Slave and the Coming Master 45-51 1- The Pulling Down of the Old Temple: (Matt. 24:1,2) “Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, ‘ Do you not see all these things? Assuredly I say to you, not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down”. The Jews regarded the temple as the sign of their King. It is the only place where God declares His glory, and where He accepts from the hands of the believers, the sacrifices and offerings. Wherever the believer may be ,when he is confronted with an ordeal, he looks towards the temple and is blessed with God’s help. The temple huge buildings was a sign of the greatness of their kingdom. This is why the disciples wished to show the Lord Jesus these buildings. But the Lord answered them “ not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down”. What did the Lord mean by these words ?. The temple, in all its holiness, has been transformed in the life of the Jews due to their hypocrisy and materialistic thinking into an obstruction stone before the spiritual worshipping. They were preoccupied with the greatness of the outer temple skeleton, rather than the sanctity of the inward heart temple. Throughout the ages, they were concerned about repairing the building and not the heart. This issue was tackled by most of the prophets in their life so as to correct this concept, particularly by Jeremiah the prophet. Some of his famous words were (Jer.7:4) “Do not trust in their lying words, saying ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord”. Ezekiel the prophet followed https://coptic-treasures.com/ him announcing to them (Ezek.10:18,19) “Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple, and even the entire city” (Ezek.11:22,23) What the Lord said has been exactly fulfilled in the year 70 AD This was when the Roman soldiers, under the leadership of Titus, insisted on destroying the entire temple. This was a declaration of establishing the new temple of the New Covenant Church, in new concepts. At any rate, this is the work of the Holy Spirit in the baptism water: to destroy our old person, where no stone will be left on top of the other because of his wicked deeds in us. A new temple will be established, not of the making of our own hands, which is the new man in the image of our Creator. This work is the beginning of the kingdom’s coming in us, and an earnest of obtaining the eternal kingdom. Through this, we await joyfully the Lord’s coming as the Groom for our souls. 2-The Appearance of the False Christs: (Matt.24:4,5) “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately saying “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’ And Jesus answered and said to them “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ’, and will deceive many’.” God, in establishing the kingdom, He declares Himself in us considering us His holy temple. But the adversary does not face this in silence, but he rather increases his war against us. Just as Jesus establishes His kingdom in us, likewise does Satan send deceivers who claim they are christs, so as to establish Satan’s kingdom inside man. The disciples asked about the Lord’s final coming, they showed what goes on in the human minds at all ages, which shows their concern about knowing the future and defining the times. But the Lord did not define any of the times, He thought it is sufficient to provide them with the signs, not to know the times but so as not to be deceived by the misleading christs, who only appear to resist the Truth under the cover of religion itself. Many religious writers, and current students of the Holy Book, are busy in setting a definite time for Christ’s coming. Some sects, who are basically non Christians, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, these change the Word of God, from the Word for salvation and obtaining the kingdom of heaven, present inside the heart, into stiff arguments of concepts that pull us away to hot discussions of defining the exact timing, the thing absolutely rejected by the Lord. The Lord has made clear the aim of His words, about the signs of the coming at the end of the chapter, which is, the constant watchfulness, and the constant awaiting of the kingdom. That is, preparing the soul as so to encounter the Groom eternal, to join Him in sharing His glories. 3-The Uprising of Wars and Disasters: (Matt.24:6-8) “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilence, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows”. https://coptic-treasures.com/ It is not surprising that the signs for the Lord’s coming in its totality, represent various aspects of sorrows, sufferings and disasters. For, this is the way, prepared for His coming. How so? Whenever the adversary, that is, Satan, realizes the kingdom of Christ is coming at the door, his wars are increased against the believers, so as to win over as many as he can as members in his kingdom, resisting Christ’s kingdom. All of this increases the watchful believers in their strength and stability and are thus exalted. It is as if through these hardships, Satan’s evil cup is filled up to the brim, and the cup of those who struggle is filled with blessings. The end, therefore, draws nearer so that Satan and hosts obtain the fruits of their evil, whereas the real strugglers obtain the crown. The beginning of these sufferings aroused by the adversary is to prepare the soul for a choking atmosphere of wars and rumors of wars, and divisions on the level of nations and kingdoms. Also there will be pestilence, and earthquakes that occur, Satan wishes to destroy the people’s emotions, so they see their brothers as evil ones divided, and arousing wars. They therefore live in the fear of wars, and those who are untouched by wars, these are exposed to pestilence and diseases, and get disturbed in their own life. And if they escape diseases, they are chased by earthquakes which happen all of a sudden. The adversary has the aim of making the believers be far from the joy of Christ’s coming. Satan preoccupies them with human problems such as wars and with health and problems of nature such as earthquakes. It is as if the entire world has become dimmed in the believer’s eyes, with no one to help or for him to find any support. If we put aside the literal meaning, so as to contemplate the kingdom of God inside us, we notice that as soon the believer draws near with the Holy Spirit towards his Christ, he finds the evil one preoccupying him with many problems that concern others, or may be his own body, or the visible materialistic world, all of which make him forget about the salvation of his soul and thoughts in the King, Jesus Christ. 4-The Hardships to be Faced: (Matt.24:9,10) “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.” When man accepts God’s kingdom inside him, he is transferred from the general hardships, that is the outer circumstances around by the enemy against the kingdom. This is to confirm the believes and make them forget about Christ, and Satan then takes them to personal hardships that concern them alone. The enemy arouses others to act against them to give them a hard time, and kill them, not of any guilt they committed, but rather of the name of Christ’s sake, and this is their crime. Hardships are one of the features of the basic way for the kingdom; for, the heart gets filled inwardly with the joy of Jesus Christ who dwells in him, whereas it is crushed outwardly in hardships. 5 - The Appearance of False Prophets: (Matt.24:11-14) “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as the witness to all the nations, and the end will come” https://coptic-treasures.com/ This is the third arrow, the adversary aims against the children of the kingdom. The first arrow is creating a general depressive atmosphere for man, thereby pulling him away from his inward life. The second arrow is to focus on the depression that is his personally for the sake of Jesus. The third arrow, and the most dangerous one is shoot the arrow against the faith, so he would be far diverted from the kingdom path. From the historical aspect, there have been many false prophets deceiving many. This also take various shapes, as the appearance of new philosophers, may be hidden behind the religious faith. Its aim is to provide bright philosophical and moral concept, far away from the life with our Savior, and to experience the work of the fiery Holy Spirit in us. They are clothed with the robe of offsprings or religion, but yet they are deceivers who lead the soul far away from the mystery of its real life. The fruits of those false prophets appear practically, for the love of many grows cold. Therefore religion becomes hollow words, and a mental knowledge, and philosophy that has no spirit. Man loves his heart, and is unable to love God and people, and he remains a lifeless creature. If Satan’s work is to pump up spiritual coldness in people’s life particularly through the false prophets, then it is only God’s work alone that detaches this coldness. As St. Jerome says “If God is fire, He is fire so as to pull us away from the devil’s cold. I wish God grant us that the cold would not creep to our hearts, for we do not commit sin except after the love becomes cold”. At this point the Lord gives us a promise to arouse hope in us, which is this: as much as the misleading are spread, and many lose the life of love as much as the Spirit of God works in preaching in full strength, among the people all over the world. It is a struggle between light and darkness that ends in the victory of light. The resistance of falsehood to the truth ends in the victory of truth and its nurture in us. 6- The Abomination of Desolation in the temple: In the previous statements, the Lord spoke of the end of the temple, and the destruction of Jerusalem in a hidden manner. But here, He is speaking openly, for He says (Matt.24:15). “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand). In this way, the Lord Jesus calls on them to read the book of Daniel (9:27) to confirm the fact of the desolation of the Jewish temple. What is this ‘abomination of desolation’? Firstly: St. John Chrysostom says, “It means the army by which Jerusalem became desolate and destroyed. This is derived from the Lord’s words Himself (Luke 21:20) “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near”. The Gentiles have entered the temple, and have defiled it, and even absolutely ruined it. This was the sign of the kingdom’s end, literally speaking, and the establishment of the spiritual kingdom. Secondly: St. Jerome says, “We can understand that Caesar’s statue, set up by Pilate in the temple, or the statue of Hedrian, the knight, which was set up in the holiest of the Holies; in the Old Testament the statue was called ‘the abomination’, the word https://coptic-treasures.com/ ‘desolation’ was added, because the statue was placed in the middle of the deserted temple. “St. John Chrysostom supported this suggestion too”. Thirdly: St. Hillary, bishop of Poitier thinks this ‘abomination’ point to what will happen in the days of the anti-Christ, for he says, “God gave a complete sign of His last coming, for He speaks of the days of the anti-Christ, the days against Christ. He calls it ‘abomination’ for he comes against God, attributing God’s honor to himself. It is an ‘abomination of desolation’ because he destroys the earth with wars and killings. The Jews receive him, and he claims the sanctification attitude. Also in the place where the saintly prayers take place, they accept the betrayer as if he is worthy of God’s honor. This error is spread out among the Jews, they even deny the Truth and accept what is false, and for this reason God asks His people to depart from Judea to the mountains so his followers do not hinder them nor affect them”. 7-The Commandments for Entering the Kingdom: (Matt.24: 6-20) “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days. And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath”. From the historical aspect, when the Christians in Jerusalem saw the Romans besieging it, they realized the disaster that would befall it, as the Lord had said, and so they hastily fled away. This is what will happen in the coming of the anti-Christ as we have seen in the above words of St. Hillary, for the church will see he has set himself up as a god in the Lord’s temple (2nd Thes.1-4). They flee to the wilderness (Rev.12:6)” Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her one thousand two hundred and sixty days”. In our spiritual life, when we see the literal temple falling down inside us, we have to flee from Judea to the mountains; that is, from the Jewish literacy in understanding the commandment, to the flying up in release of the Spirit, that will enter the heavenly comprehension. As the scholar Oreganus says, “I wish those who witness this to flee from the literacy of Judea to the mountains of truth, so high up. If anyone climbs to the top of the world, and stood at its peak, he will not go down to ask for anything from his home. If he is in the field where the treasure is hidden, he will not go back, but he rather runs for the fear of the deceiving false word (the anti-Christ). This is, in particular, whenever he takes off the old robe, he does not go back to put it on for a second time”. The mountains, as St. Augustine says, refer to the high souls, of the saints, where the small souls, the hills lean on them. The Lord Jesus’ call to flee at this point, is only a call to cling to the saints and have partnership with them. The Lord commends those who have been uplifted by the Holy Spirit from one floor to the next, as from one glory to the next, until they have reached the rooftop and see the heavens before their eyes, all open and clear. It is unobstructed by the clay roofs, which are the earthly temporary matters. They do not come down again, and their life is in an upscale state, always climbing up with no descent. They stay on the top of the roof awaiting Christ’s coming on the clouds, and they ask no more for any earthly and temporary matters that are below. https://coptic-treasures.com/ The rooftop is the highest part of the house, it is the perfect peak of it. This is why anyone who stands on it has to have a perfect heart, renewed, high in the spirit, careful lest he falls to the worldly matters, and is eager to have the earthly possessions. St. Hillary, bishop of Poitier Let us be careful in time of trouble, lest we descend from the spiritual heights, and get linked to the physical life. He who is advanced, should not look backward, and ask for the former things, and hesitate, thereby returning to what is below. St. Augustine. He who has Christ’s robe does not come down from the rooftop to bring another robe. Do not come down from the virtuous rooftop to ask for the clothes you used to wear in the old times, and do not go back from the field to the house. St. Jerome. If anyone is on the rooftop, that is, he is up at the peak where the greatest virtues are, let him not go back to the earth’s depths, and this world. On the roof, Rahab the prostitute stood, the symbol of the church, and she got united with the partnership of the sacraments, representing the other Gentiles. She hid the live spies sent by Joshua (Josh.2:1). If they had gone down to the house they would have been killed by those sent to arrest them. Therefore, the rooftop is the peak of the spirit, where men is armored against the weak body, too frail and has no strength. At this point, I recall the paralytic who was carried by four men and brought down from the roof. Let us follow St.Peter who, when he felt hungry, he went up to the rooftop (Acts 10:9). There, he came to know the secret behind the church’s beginning, and he should not have judged the Gentiles as being defiled, for faith is able to purify it of all defilement. If St. Peter had been unable to realize this mystery when he was down, how could you possibly understand it? (unless you go to the roof). St.Peter realized this for he ascended so as to preach the Lord (Is.4o:9). St. Ambrosios He who is in God’s field, working for the account of the Lord Jesus, he should not look back in confusion. He has to forget even the necessities of life such as food, drink and clothes; he has to forget all what he has left behind, and look forward to what is ahead, with his eyes on God’s power that comes from above. The soul that has got rid of the clothes of the old man, and has released itself to work in the field of Jesus’ account, this soul does not regress and does not look backward so as to wear these old clothes again. It rather has to follow the example of Joseph, son of Jacob, for St. Jerome says, “I wish you would rather if possible to follow the example of Joseph, and leave your robe in the hands of your Egyptian mistress, and follow your Lord and Savior, even in your nakedness.” He who is in the field should not go backwards. What is this field? Jesus spoke of it saying ‘That he who puts his hands on the plough and looks backwards, is not fit for the kingdom of God’. You have to take care of your field if you wish to reach God’s kingdom (Ps.127:3) “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward”. Your children will be like olive trees round your table. Let the Lord enter the field (Song of Sol.7:11) “Come, my beloved, let us go forth to the field”. So he says (Song of Sol.5:1) “I have come to my garden, my sister, my spouse; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey”. Is there any harvest better than the harvest of faith that https://coptic-treasures.com/ brings forth good deeds, quenched with the eternal joyful spring?. If he has forbidden you for looking backwards, then it is all the more necessary that He forbids you from going back to get your clothes. He who wishes to become your enemy, and takes your tunic, let him have your cloak as well (Matt.5:4). It is appropriate for you not only to leave your sins, but also to wipe out every memory of your previous deeds. St.Paul used to forget all is behind (Phil.3:13), he got rid of the sin, and did not leave repentance. St. Ambrosios. In this live struggle, in which we escape from the Judea of literacy to the freedom in the sanctified mountains, we go up the rooftop to the uncovered heavens. We are occupied with nothing other than the last coming of Christ. We work in the field, looking ahead of us with no regression whatsoever for the sake of entering eternity The Lord declares the misfortunes befalling those expecting children in their pregnancy, and those who are nursing. Who are these pregnant other than those souls who, ever though they know the Lord Jesus, yet the fruit of the Spirit has not yet been manifested in them. Those nursing ones are those who have their fruits as little and nursing ones Those who are practically fruitless or who have little fruit are unable to face the hard times, particularly the time of the anti-Christ, before the coming of Christ. The soul that has become pregnant and has given birth to the fruit of the World falls under these woes. For, it loses pregnancy and becomes empty of its hope in the deeds of the Truth. Also, if it has given birth but its young ones are not fully nurtured. The scholar Oreganus. Some fathers think that pregnancy here means clinging to iniquity, and hence man carries inside himself its bitter fruit. As for the nursing ones, these are the souls that sin has given fruit in them, but these are bitter fruits. All of these cannot be saved from the anti -Christ. This is not be understood as a warning of the burden in pregnancy, but it rather shows the soul burdened with the weight of sin which is unable to flee from the rooftop, or the field where God’s wrath falls. Also, woe to those who are nursing, for this shows the weakness of those too late in knowing God, as if they are still nursing milk. Woe to them, for they will be too weak to flee from the anti-Christ. They will be quite unable to face him, for they have not ceased to commit iniquity, and neither have they had any of the bread of life. St. Hillary, bishop of Poitier. Those who are pregnant means to covet what is not theirs. Those who are nursing are they who have actually obtained what they had coveted. They will fall into the woes in the judgment day. St. Augustine. The Lord asks us to pray so our flight would not be in the winter or on a Sabbath day. This means our life would not be stricken with the fatal cold of the spirit, just as happens in wintertime, and neither would it be on an idle restful day as the Sabbath. The soul that is cold and idle falls under the deception of the anti-Christ, and is unable to encounter the Lord of glory Jesus. He said so lest we be in the cold of iniquity, or careless in our good deeds, and thus be stricken with the terrible penalty. https://coptic-treasures.com/ St. Hillary, bishop of Poitier. When the anti-Christ deceives the earthly ones who are in the winter cold, they are attracted to him. For, he who is pleased with the worldly stuff does not hesitate to yield to him. Father Gregory the great. 8- The Great Tribulation: (Matt.24:21,22) “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened”. It is the great tribulation that will befall the church in the days of the deceiver or the anti-Christ, (Rev.13:16) “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name”. In this way, the believers are deprived of the daily dealings for they refuse to have this mark on them. They will be forced to flee into the wilderness to escape the hardships, of the anti-Christ. 9-The Appearance of False-Christs: The secret behind this great tribulation is the appearance of the anti-christ and his followers. As St. John Chrysostom says “At this point, He speaks of the anti-christ and those who are called false prophets and false christs. These were found on a large scale even in the days of the apostles, and will also be more fervent before the second coming of Christ. (Matt.24:23-24) “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ !’or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand” St. John Chrysostom says “The Lord has concluded His words about Jerusalem, and continued His words about His coming and the signs that accompany this. He said so, not only to guide them, but also to guide us and those who follow us as well”. The deceiving christ and his followers will use all means by which they would deceive us. They will make miracles and wonders that are of the deeds of the adversary. This is why the righteous life in the Lord, and not the miracles, is it that discerns who are those who belong to Christ and who are the others of the anti-Christ. As St. Augustine says, “The Lord warns us that even the wicked ones are able to perform certain miracles that even the saints are unable to make. But it is not due to this, they are counted greater than them in God’s eyes”. The anti-Christ has the deceiving thoughts, not only through his miracles that are so misleading, but also through the appearance of virtue and monasticism without their power. He appears in the wilderness, and gets surrounded by many, and he secretly creeps in our hearts, announcing to us his interest in us personally. This is why the Lord says (Matt.24:26) “Therefore, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the desert !’ Do not go out; or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms’, do not believe it”. What does the wilderness also signify other than barren faith, and the departure https://coptic-treasures.com/ from the apostolic faith of the church. As for the inner rooms, this signifies the darkness away from the true light. As St. Hillary, bishop of Poitier, says “Because of the false prophets about whom He speaks, these will say that Christ is in the wilderness so they mislead people away by means of heresy. And in the secretive inner places, the inner rooms they will be imprisoned by the strength of the anti-Christ. But as for Christ He will not be hidden in a particular place, and will not be confined to a few people, but He will rather be present in all places and witnessed by everyone”. This is why, the Lord compares His coming to open lightening. (Matt. 24:27,28) For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of the Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. The last coming of the Son of Man will not be followed by wonders or miracles, and He will not be manifested in the wilderness, or in a hidden place. He will rather come from on high, all of a sudden, on the clouds, just as lightning, brightening the entire earth. He will carry us from the four corners and raise us to His heavens. As St. John Chrysostom says, “Just as He has first declared the way the anti-Christ comes, likewise does not need to be announced or foretold, but it is rather seen in a second by the world; even to those sitting in their homes will the Son of Man come, and will be witnessed by all, at one moment, due to His splendid glory”. St. Jerome sees ‘the east and the west’ a sign to the apostolic church where the Lord constantly shines in it, in His glory and beauty as the lightning does. He says, “If someone tells you that Christ is in the wilderness of the pagans, or is in the tents of philosophers, or in the secretive assemblies of the heretics (the inner- rooms), and that He is providing the knowledge the God’s Sacraments, do not believe any of this. But believe only in the faith of the apostolic church, that lightens up from the east to the west”. The scholar Oreganus sees the east and the west as referring to the prophecies that conveyed to us the light of the Truth. These have also provided us Christ’s life from the eastward place of His birth till the westward point of His suffering and His resurrection. If we wish to encounter the real Christ, we can search for Him in the prophecies pertaining to Him. What does He mean by the words, ‘For whenever the carcass is there the eagles will be gathered together”. Because the Lord Jesus has offered His body a sacrifice of love on the cross, the believers come as strong eagles, hovering in the heavens, and do not stop except round the cross. They gather together to be satisfied with the Lord’s sacrifice, the Giver of life. As a contrast, whenever the carcass of the anti-Christ is found as a dead body, the wicked ones gather as eagles asking for what is appropriate to its nature. The Holy One is surrounded by the saints, whereas the evil one is surrounded by the wicked. Let us learn about Christ by means of the natural example that we see everyday. It is said about eagles and hawks that they see the carcass from behind the seas, and they gather so as to feed on it. If the birds by their natural instincts could see where the small carcass is, how much more will the believers hasten to Him whose coming will be like the lightning, appearing from the east to the west ?. By the carcass, He is hinting at His suffering and death to come. https://coptic-treasures.com/ They are called eagles, for their youth is renewed (Ps.103:5), and they have wings to come to Christ’s sufferings. St. Jerome. He speaks of the sanctified eagles, due to the spiritual flying of their bodies, showing how the angels gather them together to the site of His sufferings. In an appropriate way, we can see His glorious coming. To us, the Lord has reigned in eternal glory through the modesty of his physical sufferings. St. Hillary, bishop of Poitier 10-The Tribulation of Nature: (Matt.24:29) “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will not fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken”. These things will come true literally, no doubt about it, before the last coming of the Lord Jesus. This is not surprising; for we know today about the falling of some stars, and of the sun’s explosions at other times. This will be greatly increased at the time before the anti-Christ and during it, just as a sign of warning. This indeed is a must, for the eternal kingdom of Christ to come in perfect glory, the present world collapses. He has said (Matt.24:35) “heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away”. The Lord will reign on us and in us forever, just as in a new land and a new heaven (Rev.21:1). We shall not be in need of any sun, for the Lord Himself will be its sunshine, before whom every sun will lose its splendor. There will be no need of any moon, for the Church’s splendor will be declared as the moon, and the believers will be counted as bright planets. Now is the end of fleeting life. As the apostle says, the outer shape of this world will pass away, to be followed by another world. Instead of the visible stars and planets, the Lord Jesus Himself will shine, for He is the Sun of the new creation, and its King. The power of this new sun is so tremendous, and its splendor is so overwhelming, that the sun that shines now, and the moon and the other stars are dimmed when compared to that great light. Yousapios El Kaissari. Just as the moon and the stars get quickly diminished before the bright sun, likewise does the sun get dimmed, and the moon does not shine and the stars fall from the sky before the manifestation of Christ. All of these lose their splendor that was previously theirs, so as to get clothed with the robe of great Light. St. John Chrysostom. These occurrences are not fulfilled by the dimming of the present light, for we read (Is.30:26) “the light of the sun will be doubled seven times”. But when compared to the real Light, everything seems dimmed. St. Jerome. Moreover, we can understand this prophecy as signs that concern the church itself and every member in it. When the bishop Hesychius asked St. Augustine about the last coming of Christ and the signs preceding it, he wrote asking him to look for those signs in a symbolic way. https://coptic-treasures.com/ He may have meant here, by his mentioning of the sun, the light of knowing Christ who will have no place in the anti-Christ kingdom that rules most of the world, as if the sun has become dimmed. The moon is the church, for it was spoken of (Song of Sol.6:10) “fair as the moon, clear as the sun”. It has become cast out before its persecutors, that can never be seen. It is like a moon that gives no light. Some of the mighty ones fall, like the falling stars from the sky, to work for the account of the anti-Christ, and many are shaken in their faith. It is a terrible picture of this most difficult period faced by the entire world before the coming of the Son of Man. What I am saying about the church could also be applied on the believer as a member in it. For, when he accepts the concept of the anti-Christ or the deceiver, or the lack of faith, he loses his inward vision. It is as if his inward sun has got dimmed, and he no longer retains the light of knowledge, and his moon no longer gives its light, for his heart has lost the kingdom of light. It has turned into a kingdom of darkness; and all of his talents and motivation have fallen as falling stars from the sanctified heavenly life into the abyss of corruption. His heart is shaken as heavenly powers that lose its higher nature, and falls low to the perishable thoughts of ingratitude. Many leave the Christian faith, and as a result the beauty of the faith is dimmed with the cloud of departure. For, the heavenly sun is dimmed or brightened in splendor according to the faith. Just as the moon is darkened every month because the earth comes between the moon and the sun, and hence it disappears, likewise is it in the sanctified church when the physical drawbacks stand in the way of the heavenly light, by which God’s divine light is obstructed. This light has the source of Christ’s sun. In time of persecution, the love of the current present life stands in the way of God’s sun. As for the stars, which are the people, these are surrounded by the praise of their Christians brothers. This makes them fall during the bitter and increasing persecution, which will eventually come to a halt. This will complete the number of the believers, and the good ones will be selected, whereas the weaker ones will be left out. St. Ambrosios. The powers of the heavens will be shaken due to the persecution by the wicked ones, for, even some of the very firm believers will be filled with fear. St. Augustine. 11-The Appearance for the Sign of the Son of Man: (Matt.24:30,31) “Then, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angles with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other”. After the anti-Christ kingdom is stubborn in resisting the kingdom of Christ, that is, His church, and after the sun and the moon do not give their light and the stars fall, and the heavenly hosts are shaken -----after all this, the Lord Himself comes in His angelic procession, with the sign of the cross ahead, declared in the skies. This makes the church rejoice, the church that embodies the heavenly nature. It rejoices for the coming of the Groom, whereas all the tribes of the earth grieve, for they have embraced the deceiver, and they could no longer bear the Truth. https://coptic-treasures.com/ Let us see the sign of the cross, which is seen by those who have pierced Him according to the prophecy of Zachariah and John (John 19:37) which is the sign of victory. The scholar Oreganus. If the sun is dimmed, then it is impossible for the cross to appear unless it is of greater splendor than the sun!. Let the disciples be not ashamed of the cross, and not to grieve. He speaks of it as a sign appearing in all glory. The sign of the cross will be manifested to dumb the daring Jews. Christ will come to judge, pointing to His wounds, and to the way He died such a shameful death. At that moment all the tribes of the world will lament. For, when they see the cross, they will think how they gained nothing from His death, and how they have crucified who they are supposed to worship. St. John Chrysostom. In truth he says (Jer.17:13) “All who forsake you shall be ashamed”, for they are not dwellers of the heaven, but are rather written on the earth. St. Jerome. The believers as well as the unbelievers see Him. The cross and the Savior shine in excessive brightness, more than the sun, and are seen by everyone. The believers rejoice in the Savior, the Crucified, whereas the unbelievers tremble in their fear of Him. Father Theophlactius, Patriarch of Sylvania. From the prophetic angle the sign of the Son of Man is manifested before Christ’s coming. But as for our spiritual life, as much as the anti-Christ, the deceiver, exerts the effort to reign over our hearts, he is eager to extinguish the sun of the truth in us. He wants us to lose our real membership in the church, and hence the church would to be to us as a moon with no light. He works in every guile and deception to make fall our talented stars, and our inward grace, so as to shaken in our hearts the heavenly powers. At this point the Lord Jesus hastens to us while coming from the heavens. He enters into us in His glory, offering us His cross, the sign of His victory and overcoming in us, and for our own account. It is moreover the sign of His dwelling inside us, and as a result all the numerable deceptions of the adversary fall and collapse, as well as every physical passion and earthly thoughts inside us. It is as if they have become the wicked tribes of the earth that lament when the Lord is manifested in us strongly in the Spirit and in the great heavenly glory. He thus sends His angles in the loud sounding trumpet, and we share them their praises and their liturgies. They gather all our physical abilities as if from the four winds, from one end of the earth to the other so as to work in harmony and accord, with the soul’s potentialities so as to serve the heavenly King. His Coming on the Clouds: The people will see the Son of God’ with their physical eyes coming in the physical form ‘in the clouds of heaven’, that is, coming from heaven. In His transfiguration, a voice came from the clouds. Likewise is He coming another time transfigured in His glory. He will be sitting not on one cloud, but on many clouds as if a chariot to Him. When He went up to Jerusalem, those who loved Him spread their clothes on the way, so the Son of Man would not walk on foot on the ground. They did not wish even the donkey He was on to touch the ground (Matt.21:8). https://coptic-treasures.com/ It is not surprising then that Father of everyone, spreads the clouds of heaven under the body of His Son, till the end of ages. The scholar Oreganus. His coming on the clouds could be understood in two ways: He is either coming in His church in the clouds. Even up till now He does not object to coming, but He will come later on, in greater authority and splendor. He will manifest His authority and greatness all the more to His saints to whom He grants the power. They will not be overcome by a great ordeal such as this one, or that He would come physically as He was sitting on the right hand of the Father. In this way it is truly appropriate for us to believe He will come, not only in the body, but also in the clouds. He has left us in the body so He would come once again. (Acts 1:9) “He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight”. At this point the angel said (Acts 1:11) “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven. St. Augustine The great events are understood in their link one to the other. Just as in His first coming He came in lowliness, likewise is He coming the second time in His appropriate glory. St. Cyril the Alexandrian. 12- The Parable of the Fig-tree: (Matt.24:32-34) “Now learn this parable from the fig-tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near----at the doors! Assuredly I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place”. The Lord Jesus has provided for us the signs preceding His coming at the end of ages. He will also come to reign over us spiritually while we are on earth, that is in our spiritual life, He wished to direct our thoughts to the spiritual side and not to the earthly matters. It is as if He is saying if you know how to discern the times, and can realize summer is near by means of the fig-tree when its branch is tender, and its leaves turn green. It is therefore of more importance to look for those signs I have given you, as if it is a fig tree through which you will know the time of His coming has drawn near, as if it is summer. By saying these words, as St. John Chrysostom says, He confirms His coming as an ultimate matter of assurance. We should not doubt this, as much as we do not doubt the coming of summer in its due time. In such a way, the believer has to realize all the more God’s care, when these signs appear such as the toil and sufferings, and he has to keep deep in his heart the faith in Christ. He assures us constantly of His coming in us by being transfigured in us from day to day, to declare Himself in us. In this parable, too, the Lord answers us of His hidden glory inside us, as in the fig tree in winter time. But when summer time comes, this hidden glory is manifested, and we are crowned in the Lord’s great day. We are now like people in wintertime, we appear in no glory nor any beauty, just like dry trees, leafless, flowerless, fruitless. But winter will be over, and life dormant inside us will surely spring forth. The Lord compared His coming to the summer, for He provides us with a warm atmosphere of love, where our heart is kindled in more love when we see the Groom https://coptic-treasures.com/ of our souls coming to us and in us. Summer is the time of harvest (Jer.8:20) so the Lord comes to carry in us His spiritual fruit, and He rejoices for us. For this reason the soul asks its Groom (Song of Sol.4:16) “Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its pleasant fruits”. And the Lord the Groom answers (Song of Sol.5:1) “I have come to my garden, my sister my spouse, I have gathered my myrrh with my spice, I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends! Drink, yes drink deeply, O beloved ones!” This is the time in which the Lord Himself picks the precious fruits, since He is the fruit in them. He rejoices and thrills and offers a banquet. Those in heaven rejoice as well will Him because of his fruitful bride! Some fathers see the fig tree as a symbol for the Jews’ return so as to establish a kingdom as a sign of the end of the ages. It could be also for their acceptance of the faith in Jesus Christ whom they rejected before the end of ages. Some others see the fig tree a symbol for the appearance of the anti-Christ kingdom. The fig tree is the symbol of the Jewish assembly, and as for the branch, this is the anti-Christ, Satan’s son’ the iniquity portion. With his appearance, it is as if life is dried up, and the leaves are seen, so the flowers of iniquity are triumphant in some way. In this way, summertime has drawn near, that is, the judgment day. St. Hillary, bishop of Poitier. There are two interpretation for the fig tree: it could mean when the fruit appears on all of the tree, then every tongue will confess the Lord, and the people of Israel would believe also. At this time, we hope eagerly for the Lord’s coming. It is as if summertime has come to harvest the fruit of the resurrection. Or, it could mean that when the son of perdition, Satan, wears the flowery crown, in his false and vain pride, the leaves of the Jewish collective branch appear. At this point we have to expect the judgment coming, for the Lord will hasten to come to reward the believers, and put an end to evil. St. Ambrosios As for the Lord’s words (Matt.24:34) “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place”, these words refer to two things: Firstly : it points to the fulfillment of the signs concerning the destruction of the Jewish temple by the hands of the Roman ruler Titus in 70 AD so as to declare the Lord’s coming in a new temple. Secondly : The Lord our God wishes to draw our attention to His inward coming in us, and to declare His glory in the heart. It is true, we are awaiting the great day of the Lord, but our deeds now are to enjoy His presence in us and His constant transfiguration in us. 13 - The confirmation of His Coming. (Matt.24:35,36) “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. But that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only”. What the Lord has proclaimed here is His immortal world that never passes away. For, heaven and earth pass away, but as for His words they will never pass away. What is this heaven other than our souls that depart from this world. The earth is our bodies that https://coptic-treasures.com/ return to the dust, until the ‘Word of God’ comes, He who never passes away, and heaven returns anew in Him, and also our land. The Lord is coming, this is for sure. But as for the definite time, this is not our job or our mission. It is God’s work, He who provides for all the times. Heaven and earth in their actual creation do not contain inside them their commitment to perpetual immortality. But as for the words of Christ, these are immortal, and perpetual existance dwells inside them. St. Hillary, bishop of Poitier. It is as if He is saying that all what appears to be constant, does not last forever. And what appears, to you to be passing away, remains stable and unchangeable! My words express the things that are unchangeable. Father Gregory the great.. 14 -The Preparation for His Coming: (Matt.24:37-39) “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be”. The Lord Jesus tells us of the flood that saved Noah and his family, and devastated the evil humanity, as an example of His coming, where the children of God will be blessed with the eternal crown. They will enter into glory, just as into the ark, whereas the evil ones will perish as happened in the flood. The evil ones were unprepared, and their hearts were preoccupied with eating and drinking and marrying, and they were never exalted to God. Indeed, eating, drinking and marrying, all of which are not evil. But they could be changed into a god, unworshiped, and all of the heart becomes disturbed because of these things. These very same things are considered blessed and sanctified regarding the blessed heart in God. As for the former ones, the apostles speaks of them (Phil.3:19) “Whose end in destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is their shame----- who set their mind on earthly things”.(Rom.16:19) “For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly”. (Titus1:12) “Cretans are always liars evil beasts, lazy gluttons”. They are enslaved to their bellies, and work for their account and not for the service of Christ. They live as idle ones, corrupting their life fruitlessly!. But as for the others, they say (1Cor.8::8) “But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are the worse”. (Rom.14: 6,7) “He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself”. (Rom 14:17) “For the kingdom of God is not eating or drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”. The Lord wished to confirm that the preparation is an inward work, and so He said (Matt.24:40,41) “Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left”. Man can never be aware of the secrets in his brother’s heart. For, while two men are working in the same field, and two women are working on one grinder, yet one of them has an uplifted https://coptic-treasures.com/ heart to heaven, and the other is disturbed about what is earthly. One works and thanks God and praises Him, whereas the other works to serve his belly and satisfy his passions, and is disturbed about the earthly matters. St. Cyril the great comments on the two women grinding, one is taken and the other is left; he says, “It seems that these two women refer to those living in poverty and hardship. Even among those, there is a big difference. Some tolerate poverty in a mature way, and are strong in leading a righteous life. But the others have a different personality, for they live in cunningness leading an evil and debased life. Therefore, let us be watchful, not in the apparent physical concept, but with the heart, and the inner life, awaiting His coming. The watchful and vigilant heart is like an eager bride for the groom. The Lord comes to her, and she rejoices excessively. But as for the negligent and lazy heart, the Lord’s day comes to it as a thief breaking into a house. The wakeful heart rejoices whenever the hour draws near. But as for the slothful heart , he is taken aback by it, and grieves over what he loses, and which he had thought he possessed! In this way the Lord asks us to be watchful so as to meet Him, even though He did not specify the time of His coming. As St. Ambrosios says “It is not for our own good that we know the time, but it is rather for our own good not to know it. Our ignorance of it makes us fearful, and get watchful, and thus correct ourselves”. 15- The Parable of the Slave and the Coming Master: We are as slaves that the Lord has placed to serve His servants, so as to give them food in its due time. He who is honest, knows how to develop, with the Holy Spirit, all his potentials, gifts, emotions and motivation in the Spirit. He will then be filled with the fruits, and thus his master comes and appoints him over all his possessions (Matt.24:47). The Lord makes him a king, blessed with the eternal heritage, and obtains an unperishable crown. But he who beats up the slaves, his colleagues, and destroy what God has granted them such as potentials, talents, emotions, motivation, and as a result they do not develop in the Spirit. They are rather obstructed and get diminished and so his portion becomes with the hypocrites. Some may ask, do we love the body as well as one of the servants that the Lord has appointed us to take care of ? St.Paul the apostle answers (Eph.5:29,30) “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones”. In this way the apostle raises the body to this sanctification. We regard it as the Lord regards His church; we take care of its sanctification and not destroy it. We rather have to reject the physical passions that pull us down to the earthly troubles and the fatal pleasures. St. Jerome says, “I love the body, but I love it when it is pure, when in the virgin state when it is deadened with the fasting. I do not love its deeds, but I love it for what it is. It has to be subjected, and die as a martyr for Christ’s sake, it is thus whipped, and torn and burnt with fire”. St. John Chrysostom speaks to us about the body as a servant, we have to take care of in the Lord; this body works with the soul for the Lord’s account. He says, “The Lord has indeed created in us the eyes, the mouth, the hearing with this aim; that all of those members serve Him. We are to speak His words and do His deeds, and chant continuous praises, and https://coptic-treasures.com/ offer Him thanksgiving sacrifices. In this way we absolutely purify our conscience. Just as the body becomes more healthy when it enjoys the pure air, likewise does the soul, all the more so, when it is blessed with the practical wisdom when it is refreshed with these exercises. If the eyes of the body are exposed to smoke, they weep constantly, and if they are exposed to pure air, gardens and water springs, they become sharp and are restful. Likewise is the case with the eye of the soul; for if it lives on the spiritual words it becomes pure and of sharp vision. But if it departs to the smoke mentioned, it will weep endlessly, and will suffer here and later on. This is why one of them said, “For my days are consumed like smoke,” (Ps.102:3).
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