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But what temple of God must we understand is spoken of by David in these things, when the house in Jerusalem had not yet been built, or surely the heavenly city of God, and the Jerusalem above, of which the temple built on earth was an image? And the earth was shaken and became trembling, and the foundations of the mountains were troubled and were shaken, because God was wroth with them. Most clearly prophesying the descent of the Lord on account of death and the torrents of iniquity, and on account of the pains of Hades and the snares of death, having made His descent from heaven. Upon His descent, He relates beforehand what things were done, saying: And the earth was shaken and became trembling; instead of which Aquila says: And the earth was moved and was shaken. And the deed bears witness to the word. For when the Son of God visited the earth in His incarnate presence, all who inhabit the element of the earth were moved and were shaken; and every ear, both Greek and barbarian, was filled with the report concerning Him. But the things said, the foundations of the mountains were troubled and were shaken; or according to Symmachus, they were overturned, because He was wroth with them. And mountains were the high things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, certain opposing powers, which for a long age led all on earth astray through polytheistic superstition. Therefore, the foundations of these mountains, that is, their depths and reasonings, perceiving the power of the Lord, were troubled, because He was wroth with them. What, then, does the wrath accomplish against the aforementioned mountains, He teaches next, saying: Smoke went up in His wrath. For just as when a firebrand is burned by fire, and then extinguished, smoke is given off, in the same way the opposing powers, formerly being compared to fire, were burning and consuming the souls of men; but since their fire was extinguished by the wrath of the Lord, the smoke sent up from them showed the signs of their extinction. Then next it is said: And fire from His face shall burn; coals were kindled from it. For the Son of God was working these things unseen against the opposing powers, extinguishing their fire with another fire, better and more powerful. Wherefore it is said by Moses: Our God is a consuming fire; and in the Psalms: A fire shall go before Him, and burn up His enemies round about; and again: God shall come manifestly, our God, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall burn before Him 23.172, and round about Him a mighty tempest. And the Savior Himself also revealed Himself to be fire, saying: I came to cast fire upon the earth, and what will I, if it is already kindled? All these things happened, because He bowed the heavens and came down. And He did not bow one heaven, but all that exist. For the humiliation of His height and the emptying of His divinity were shown through what was said. For most emphatically concerning His descent, He bowed the heavens; signifying His coming down in a more bodily sense. And darkness was under His feet, and He mounted upon a cherub, and flew, He flew upon the wings of the winds. Therefore, by the mist and the darkness He represents the hidden and secret nature of His economy according to man; but He returns then from whence He had come; and He ascended into the heavens with the cherubim, and flew; although He did not descend with it; for without the cherubim He Himself bowed the heavens and came down. But on His return it is said: And He mounted upon a cherubim and flew, with the body which He had taken up. And since the divine powers, being around Him, thus beheld Him ascending, they escorted His ascent, crying out and saying: Lift up your gates, O ye rulers, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting gates, and the King of glory shall come in. And these things were fulfilled at the time when the Scripture of the Acts of the Apostles says: And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up, and a cloud

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Ναὸν δὲ Θεοῦ ἐν τούτοις ποῖον χρὴ νοεῖν λέγεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ, μήπω τοῦ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις οἴκου κατεσκευασμένου, ἢ πάντως που τὴν ἐπουράνιον πόλιν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὴν ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἧς εἰκὼν ἐτύγχανεν ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κατεσκευασμένος νεώς; Καὶ ἐσαλεύθη καὶ ἔντρομος ἐγενήθη ἡ γῆ, καὶ τὰ θεμέλια τῶν ὀρέων ἐταράχθησαν καὶ ἐσαλεύθησαν, ὅτι ὠργίσθη αὐτοῖς ὁ Θεός. Λευκότατα προφητεύων τὴν κατάβασιν τοῦ Κυρίου διὰ τὸν θάνατον καὶ τοὺς χειμάῤῥους τῆς ἀνομίας, διά τε τὰς ὠδῖνας τοῦ ᾅδου καὶ τὰς παγίδας τοῦ θανάτου, τὴν ἐξ οὐρανῶν κατάβασιν πεποιημένου. Ἐπὶ τῇ καταβάσει αὐτοῦ τίνα πέπρακται προδιηγεῖται λέγων· Καὶ ἐσαλεύθη καὶ ἔντρομος ἐγενήθη ἡ γῆ· ἀνθ' οὗ Ἀκύλας φησί· Καὶ ἐκινήθη καὶ ἐσείσθη ἡ γῆ. Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ τῷ λόγῳ τὸ ἔργον. Ὡς γὰρ ἐπεδήμει ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τῇ γῇ κατὰ τὴν ἔνσαρκον αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν, πάντες οἱ τὸ τῆς γῆς στοιχεῖον οἰκοῦντες ἐκινήθησαν καὶ ἐσείσθησαν· πᾶσά τε ἀκοὴ Ἑλληνική τε καὶ βάρβαρος ἐπληροῦτο τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ φήμης. Τὰ δὲ λεγόμενα τῶν ὀρέων θεμέλια ἐταράχθησαν καὶ ἐσαλεύθησαν· ἢ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον, περιετράπησαν, ὅτι ὠργίσθη αὐτοῖς. Ὄρη δὲ ἦν τὰ ὑψώματα τὰ ἐπαιρόμενα κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ, δυνάμεις τινὲς ἀντικείμεναι, αἱ τὸν μακρὸν αἰῶνα τοὺς ἐπὶ γῆς ἅπαντας ἀποπλανήσασαι διὰ τῆς πολυθέου δεισιδαιμονίας. Τούτων οὖν ὀρέων τὰ θεμέλια τουτέστι τὰ βάθη καὶ οἱ λογισμοὶ, τῆς τοῦ Κυρίου δυνάμεως αἰσθόμενα, ἐταράχθησαν, ὅτι ὠργίσθη αὐτοῖς. Τί οὖν ἐνεργεῖ ἡ ὀργὴ κατὰ τῶν ἀποδοθέντων ὁρέων, ἑξῆς διδάσκει λέγων· Ἀνέβη καπνὸς ἐν ὀργῇ αὐτοῦ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ δαλοῦ καιομένου ὑπὸ πυρὸς, κἄπειτα σβεννυμένου, καπνὸς ἀποδίδοται, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον αἱ ἀντικείμεναι δυνάμεις, πάλαι μὲν πρότερον πυρὶ παραβαλλόμεναι, τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχὰς κατέφλεγον καὶ ἐξέκαιον· ἐπεὶ δ' ἐσβέννυτο αὐτῶν τὸ πῦρ ὑπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ Κυρίου, τὰ σημεῖα τῆς σβέσεως αὐτῶν ἐδήλου ὁ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀναπεμπόμενος καπνός. Εἶθ' ἑξῆς εἴρηται· Καὶ πῦρ ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ καταφλεγήσεται· ἄνθρακες ἀνήφθησαν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ. Ταῦτα γὰρ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱὸς ἐνήργει ἀφανῶς κατὰ τῶν ἀντικειμένων δυνάμεων, τὸ πῦρ αὐτὸν σβεννὺς ἑτέρῳ πυρὶ κρείττονι καὶ δυνατωτέρῳ. ∆ιὸ λέλεκται παρὰ Μωϋσεῖ· Ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν πῦρ καταναλίσκον ἐστί· καὶ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς· Πῦρ ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ προπορεύσεται, καὶ φλογιεῖ κύκλῳ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτοῦ· καὶ πάλιν· Ὁ Θεὸς ἐμφανῶς ἥξει, ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ οὐ παρασιωπηθήσεται· πῦρ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ 23.172 καυθήσεται, καὶ κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ καταιγὶς σφόδρα. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Σωτὴρ ἐδηλοῦτο πῦρ, λέγων· Πῦρ ἦλθον βαλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ τί θέλω, εἰ ἤδη ἀνήφθη; Ταῦτα πάντα ἐγίνετο, ἐπειδήπερ ἔκλινεν οὐρανοὺς καὶ κατέβη. Οὐχ ἕνα δὲ οὐρανὸν ἔκλινεν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς πάντας ὅσοι ποτέ εἰσιν. Ἡ γὰρ ταπείνωσις τοῦ ὕψους αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ κένωσις τῆς θεότητος ἐδηλοῦτο διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων. Ἐμφατικώτατα γὰρ τὴν κατάβασιν αὐτοῦ, Ἔκλινεν οὐρανούς· σωματικώτερον τὴν κάθοδον αὐτοῦ σημαίνων. Καὶ γνόφος ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπέβη ἐπὶ χεροὺβ, καὶ ἐπετάσθη, ἐπετάσθη ἐπὶ πτερύγων ἀνέμων. Τῇ μὲν οὖν ὁμίχλῃ καὶ τῷ γνόφῳ τὸ λεληθὸς καὶ ἀπόκρυφον παρίστησι τῆς κατὰ ἄνθρωπον αὐτοῦ οἰκονομίας· ἐπάνεισι δὲ λοιπὸν ὅθεν καὶ παρῆν· εἰς οὐρανούς τε ἀνῄει καὶ μετὰ τοῦ χερουβὶμ, καὶ ἐπετάσθη· καίτοι μὴ σὺν αὐτῷ καταβάς· δίχα γὰρ τοῦ χερουβὶμ ἔκλινεν οὐρανοὺς αὐτὸς καὶ κατέβη. Ἐν δὲ τῇ ἐπανόδῳ λέλεκται· Καὶ ἐπέβη ἐπὶ χερουβὶμ καὶ ἐπετάσθη, μεθ' οὗ ἀνείληφεν σώματος. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἀναβαίνοντα οὕτως ἐθεώρουν αὐτὸν αἱ δυνάμεις αἱ θεῖαι, περὶ αὐτὸν γενόμεναι ἐδορυφόρουν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἄνοδον ἐπιβοῶσαι καὶ λέγουσαι· Ἄρατε τὰς πύλας, οἱ ἄρχοντες, ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐπάρθητε, πύλαι αἰώνιοι, καὶ εἰσελεύσεται ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης. Ἐπληροῦτο δὲ ταῦτα κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν, καθ' ὅν φησιν ἡ Γραφὴ τῶν Πράξεων τῶν ἀποστόλων· Καὶ ταῦτα εἰπὼν, βλεπόντων αὐτῶν ἐπήρθη, καὶ νεφέλη