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they were drawing near to the fire. Thus, therefore, he says that the opposing powers will be worthily made to disappear into oblivion. Or a calf through Lebanon being melted by the fire according to what was said: As wax melts from the face of fire, so shall the sinners perish. 30.80 And thus it is possible to understand that the cedars are made fine, and Lebanon itself, the leader of the pride of the cedars. The calf was once ground fine at the time of the exodus by Aaron, when the people, having apostatized from God and turned aside to idolatry, fashioned it; which Moses took, ground it fine, and cast it into the water. Thus, therefore, the Lord will make all of Lebanon fine, that is, the first principle of evil, as that calf was made fine by Moses. And he will make them, Lebanon, as fine as the calf. And the beloved as a son of unicorns. After the opposing powers are destroyed, then love for the Lord will appear, and his strength will become manifest, with none of the adversaries overshadowing it. Wherefore he says after they are made fine: The beloved shall be as a son of unicorns. And the unicorn is a princely animal, unsubmissive to man, with unconquerable strength, always living in deserts, trusting in a single horn.

For this reason the unconquerable nature of the Lord was likened to a unicorn, both because of his rule over all things, and because he has one beginning of himself, the Father; for the head of Christ is God. The voice of the Lord dividing a flame of fire. Sin, which like a fire was consuming Israel, John was cutting off, saying: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Therefore, he was cutting off the flame of passions, which arises from sin in souls, by recounting to the Jews the things concerning eternal fire, in saying the severe things of judgment, that The winnowing fork is in the hand of the Lord, and he will clear his threshing floor; and he will gather the wheat into the barns, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Therefore he was cutting off that flame by bringing the terrible things before the people's sight. And the Lord will shake the wilderness of Kadesh. For John was baptizing in the wilderness. Therefore he shook that wilderness by the arrival of peoples from all sides; which, because those who came were repenting, was called a holy wilderness. For Kadesh is interpreted as the holy one. This voice also prepares hinds, the holy souls, those seeking high things, those who consume serpents, those who make their abode on high mountains. These would be magnanimous souls, running up from lowly things to the heights of the heavenly commonwealth, light and exalted; having war against the opposing powers, as hinds against serpents. But also he reveals thickets, so that the serpents 30.81 may become manifest, those hidden by the shadow of the thickets, so that they may be more effortlessly consumed by the hinds. Perhaps then he who reproves evils in secret, reveals thickets; that is, he brings to light the sins lurking in the material nature, called serpents because of the manifoldness of pleasure. And he will reveal on that day, when he will reveal the hidden things of darkness, and the counsels of their hearts. And perhaps also John, being the voice of the Lord, spoke in a riddle to Israel, that Already the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. He was revealing the thickets, that is, he was making manifest the uselessness of the fruits; for a thicket is fruitless wood. Showing them its harmfulness, he called them to the appropriate fruit-bearing, saying: Produce fruits worthy of repentance. From all of which there is one result, the building of the temple of the Lord, where everyone who has been born can truly bring glory to the Lord. But the Lord will also inhabit the flood.

For through baptism is the Lord's dwelling in the souls of the sanctified. Therefore, the soul that is washed clean of sin, this God inhabits.

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κατήγγιζον ἐπὶ τοῦ πυρός. Οὕτως οὖν φησι τὰς ἀντικειμένας δυνάμεις εἰς ἀφανισμὸν ἀξίως ἐξαφανίσεσθαι. Ἢ μόσχος ὁ διὰ τοῦ Λιβάνου ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς συντηκόμενος κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον· Ὡς τήκε ται κηρὸς ἀπὸ προσώπου πυρὸς, οὕτως ἀπολοῦν 30.80 ται οἱ ἁμαρτωλοί. Καὶ οὕτως δὲ δυνατὸν νοῆσαι λεπτύνεσθαι τὰς κέδρους καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Λίβανον τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς τῶν κέδρων ἐπάρσεως. Ἐλεπτύνθη ποτὲ ὁ μόσχος ἐπὶ τῆς ἐξόδου διὰ τοῦ Ἀαρὼν, ὅτε ἀπο στατήσας τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ εἰς εἰδωλολατρείαν ἐκτρα πεὶς ἀνέπλασεν ὁ λαός· ὃν λαβὼν Μωϋσῆς, κατήλε σεν εἰς λεπτὰ, καὶ ἔβαλεν εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ. Οὕτως οὖν λεπτυνεῖ ὅλον τὸν Λίβανον, τουτέστι τὴν πρώτην τῆς κακίας ἀρχὴν, ὁ Κύριος, ὡς ἐλεπτύνθη ὁ μόσχος ἐκεῖνος ὑπὸ τοῦ Μωϋσέως. Καὶ λεπτυνεῖ αὐτὰς ὡς τὸν μόσχον τὸν Λίβανον. Καὶ ὁ ἠγαπημένος ὡς υἱὸς μονοκερώτων. Μετὰ τὸ τὰς ἀντικειμένας δυνάμεις ἀναιρεθῆναι, τότε ἀνα φανήσεται ἡ πρὸς Κύριον ἀγάπη, καὶ ἡ ἰσχὺς αὐτοῦ φανερὰ γενήσεται, οὐδενὸς ἐπισκοτοῦντος τῶν ἐναν τίων. ∆ιό φησι μετὰ τὸ λεπτυνθῆναι· Ὁ ἠγαπημένος ἔσται ὡς υἱὸς μονοκερώτων. Μονόκερως δὲ ζῶον ἀρχικὸν, ἀνυπότακτον ἀνθρώπῳ, τὴν ἰσχὺν ἀκα ταμάχητον, ἐρημίαις ἀεὶ διαιτώμενον, ἑνὶ κερατίῳ πεποιθός.

∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἡ ἀκαταγώνιστος τοῦ Κυρίου φύσις μονοκέρῳ παρεικάσθη, διά τε τὴν κατὰ πάντων ἀρχὴν, καὶ διὰ τὸ μίαν ἔχειν ἑαυτοῦ ἀρχὴν, τὸν Πατέρα· Κεφαλὴ γὰρ Χριστοῦ ὁ Θεός. Φωνὴ Κυρίου διακόπτοντος φλόγα πυρός. Τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ὡς πῦρ ἐπινεμομένην τὸν Ἰσραὴλ, ὁ Ἰωάννης διέκοπτε, λέγων· Μετανοεῖτε· ἤγγικε γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. Τὴν οὖν φλόγα τῶν παθῶν, τὴν ἐξ ἁμαρτίας ἐγγινομένην ταῖς ψυχαῖς, διέκοπτε, διηγούμενος τὰ περὶ τοῦ αἰωνίου πυρὸς τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις, ἐν τῷ λέγειν τὰ τῆς κρίσεως σφοδρὰ, ὅτι Τὸ πτύον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ διακαθαριεῖ τὴν ἅλωνα· καὶ τὸν μὲν σῖτον ἀποθήσεται εἰς τὰς ἀποθήκας, τὸ δὲ ἄχυρον κατακαύσει πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ. Ἐκείνην οὖν τὴν φλόγα διέκοπτε τῷ ὑπ' ὄψιν ἄγειν τὰ φοβερὰ τῷ λαῷ. Καὶ συσσείσει Κύριος τὴν ἔρημον Κάδης. Ἦν γὰρ Ἰωάννης βαπτίζων ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. Τὴν ἔρημον οὖν ἐκείνην συνέσεισε τῇ ἐπιδημίᾳ τῶν πανταχόθεν λαῶν· ἥτις, διὰ τὸ μετανοεῖν τοὺς ἐρχομένους, ἔρημος ἁγία προσηγόρευτο. Κάδης γὰρ ἑρμηνεύεται ἡ ἁγία. Αὕτη ἡ φωνὴ καταρτίζει καὶ ἐλά-φους, τὰς ἁγίας ψυχὰς, τὰς τὰ ὑψηλὰ ζητούσας, τὰς τῶν ὄφεων δαπανητικὰς, τὰς ἐπὶ τῶν ὑψηλῶν ὀρέων τὴν διατριβὴν ποιουμένας. Αὗται δ' ἂν εἶεν ψυχαὶ μεγαλοφυεῖς, ἐπὶ τὰ ὑψηλὰ τῆς κατ' οὐρανὸν πολιτείας ἐκ τῶν ταπεινῶν ἀνατρέχουσαι, κοῦφαι καὶ διηρμέναι· πόλεμον ἔχουσαι πρὸς τὰς ἀντικειμένας δυνάμεις, ὡς πρὸς τοὺς ὄφεις αἱ ἔλαφοι. Ἀλλὰ Καὶ ἀποκαλύπτει δρυμοὺς, ἵνα οἱ ὄφεις φανεροὶ 30.81 γένωνται, οἱ ὑπὸ τοῦ συσκιασμοῦ τῶν δρυμῶν καλυπτόμενοι, πρὸς τὸ ἀπονώτερον αὐτοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν ἐλάφων καταναλίσκεσθαι. Τάχα οὖν ὁ ἐλέγχων τὰς ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ κακίας, ἀποκαλύπτει δρυμούς· τουτέστιν, εἰς ἐμφανὲς ἄγει τὰς ἐμφωλευούσας τῇ ὑλικῇ φύσει ἁμαρτίας, ὄφεις λεγομένας διὰ τὸ ποικίλον τῆς ἡδονῆς. Ἀποκαλύψει δὲ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ, ὅτε ἀποκαλύψει τὰ κρυπτὰ τοῦ σκότους, καὶ τὰς βουλὰς τῶν καρδιῶν αὐτῶν. Τάχα δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἰωάννης, φωνὴ ὢν τοῦ Κυρίου, ἐν αἰνίγματι τῷ Ἰσραὴλ διελέγετο, ὅτι Ἤδη ἡ ἀξίνη πρὸς τὴν ῥίζαν τῶν δένδρων κεῖται. Πᾶν οὖν δένδρον μὴ ποιοῦν καρπὸν καλὸν, ἐκκόπτεται, καὶ εἰς πῦρ βάλλεται. Ἀπεκάλυπτε τοὺς δρυμοὺς, τουτέστι τῶν καρπῶν τὸ ἄχρηστον ἐφανέρου· ἄκαρπος γὰρ ὕλη ὁ δρυμός. Οὗ τὸ βλαβερὸν ἐπιδεικνύων αὐτοῖς, εἰς τὴν ἐπιβάλλουσαν καρπογονίαν προσεκαλεῖτο, λέγων· Ποιήσατε τοὺς καρποὺς ἀξίους τῆς μετανοίας. Ἐξ ὧν πάντων ἕν ἐστιν ἀποτέλεσμα, τὸ οἰκοδομηθῆναι τὸν ναὸν Κυρίου, ἔνθα πᾶς ὁ γενόμενος δύναται ἀληθῶς ἐνεγκεῖν τῷ Κυρίῳ δόξαν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ Κύριος τὸν κατακλυσμὸν κατοικιεῖ.

∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἡ εἰς τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἡγιασμένων τοῦ Κυρίου κατοίκησις. Τὴν οὖν ἀπολουομένην τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ψυχὴν, ταύτην κατοικεῖ ὁ Θεός.