Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Lenten Fast
The Venerable Alexis, the Man of God
6th Hour: Isaiah 26:21-27:9 1st Vespers: Genesis 9:18-10:1 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 12:23-13:9
Isaiah 26:21-27:9 LXX, especially vs. 9: "Therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be taken away;
and this is his blessing, when I shall have taken away his sin; when they shall have broken to pieces all the stones of the
altars as fine dust, and their trees shall not remain, and their idols shall be cut off, as a thicket afar off." Today's reading,
in vivid imagery, portrays the Last Great Judgment, a third portrait of the Kingdom of God. In this image, the Lord
illumines more fully His teaching that "The Kingdom of God is near" (Lk. 21:31). He says of that day: one beholds "men's
hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven
will be shaken" (Lk. 21:26). Hence, the events which Isaiah describes are for the end times, at history's culmination.
[Please note that this meditation follows the Septuagint text (LXX), as a better window into Isaiah's message.]
The first act of God's judgment will come against the dwellers on the earth (Is. 26:21 LXX). As the blood of the righteous
Abel cried out from the earth when he was slain by his brother (Gen. 4:10), so also, at the day of Divine Judgment, the
earth "shall disclose her blood and shall not cover her slain" (Is. 26:21 LXX). No child of the past century can fail to
understand God's wrath against mankind's brutal fratricide and self-willed violence.
The second act of God's judgment shall be directed against Satan, who here is called "the crooked serpent" or "the dragon"
(vs. 27:1). St. Basil the Great also says that "the sword of God is drawn against the dragon, the crooked serpent, which
makes many twists and turns in its progress," and, the Saint warns, "he who follows the serpent shows that his life is
crooked, uneven, and filled with contrariness." Isaiah's imagery also is consonant with St. John the Theologian who speaks
of God's judgment against Satan: "The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the
beast and the false prophet are" (Rev. 20:10).
Having made these brief remarks about the Last Judgment, Isaiah next focuses on the destiny of the People of God. He
returns to an earlier image, the Lord's Vineyard (Is. 5:1-7), and he describes the Church as a "fair vineyard" (Is. 27:2 LXX).
For centuries the Church has stood as "a strong city, a city in a siege" (vs. 3) opposing the forces of the dragon. The
inability of Satan to prevail against the Lord's People inspired Isaiah to sing about the Church (vs. 2).
Still, the song takes an unexpected turn. The Church "shall be taken by night, and by day the wall shall fall" (vs. 3). God's
people will be vulnerable, not to warriors, but to any woman that "takes hold of it"(vs. 4). Its membership will be
decimated like a mown field with only stubble remaining (vs.4). Nevertheless, God shall "set Her aside," sustaining the
Church despite all Her lost and lapsed members (vs. 4). The "gates of hell shall not prevail" (Mt. 16:18).
We learn that being on the rolls of an Orthodox parish is not enough. We are to complete our years "in peace and
repentance," partaking of Christ's Holy Mysteries, struggling spiritually to keep the fulness of the Faith alive in our hearts
and living with our fellows in a God-pleasing manner. All of us shall be smitten and the old man put to death - slain (vs. 7).
If we continue in "fighting and reproaching, He will dismiss" us (vs. 8). God looks into the spirit with which we treat
others. If we "meditate with a harsh spirit, to slay [others] with a wrathful spirit," He will shatter our altars of pride into
fine dust until we cut off our idolatry (vs. 9). None shall escape God's wrath against his sin (vs. 8), yet by His judgment on
us in this life, "the iniquity of Jacob [shall] be taken away; and this is his blessing when [God] shall have taken away his
sins" (vs. 9).
O Christ, Who lovest all men, grant us rest in the land of the living, and open unto us the gates of Paradise, and grant us
remission of those things wherein we have sinned against Thee.
