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he prophesies that they will be shattered and humbled and will fall; and with them the word says that Lebanon will also fall; for it is his custom to name thus Jerusalem and the worship formerly performed physically in it; as is clear from Ezekiel, where it has been written in this manner: The great eagle with great wings, long in its expanse, full of claws, which has the lead to enter into Lebanon, and took the choice parts 187 of the cedar. Therefore, interpreting the parable, the prophetic word itself clearly teaches that Lebanon is Jerusalem, saying: Son of man, speak now to the rebellious house, Do you not know what these things were? Say, When the king of Babylon comes to Jerusalem, and he will take its king and its rulers. It is clear then how this Lebanon, along with the high ones, has fallen into hubris at the advent of our Savior who came from the root of Jesse; upon whom also rested the perfection of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, who will also come again at his second and glorious advent, not judging according to appearance; for God does not accept the face of man; nor reproving according to speech; for he is one who tests hearts and reins, and pierces even to the division of soul and spirit. And so at his advent which has already happened before, the earth was truly filled with the knowledge of the Lord, whereas before no one knew him except only those of the circumcision; but then the prophecy will be brought to completion all the more, when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and with the rest of the nations all Israel also will be saved, and Christ, having risen from the dead, was established by God to rule the nations, according to that which says, and there will be the root of Jesse and the one who rises to rule the nations, in him the nations will hope. See, therefore, how Israel or Jacob or Judah is not named here at all, but it is clearly prophesied that the nations will hope in the one who will rise from the root of Jesse, 188 the word here being in harmony with that in Moses which states, a ruler shall not fail from Judah nor a leader from his loins, until he comes for whom it is reserved; and he is the expectation, not of Israel, but of the nations. And of whom else has the rest been in the highest honor with God, than of him who heard the Father saying to him, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Ps. 9. And a throne will be established with mercy, and he will be seated upon it with truth in the tent of David, judging and seeking judgment and hastening righteousness. These things are also prophesied concerning the second coming of Christ, when the Word of God, the kingdom over all things having been established for him with mercy and love for mankind, will sit judging with truth in the tent of David; and thus the church of the saints and firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and I think all the saints who have come to be under the portion of the word of God are designated. Ps. 10. Behold, the Lord sits on a light cloud, and he will come into Egypt, and the man-made things of Egypt will be shaken before his face, and their heart will be defeated within them. To take the preceding words as concerning the unbegotten nature of the God of all, as if he were about to be carried on some cloud, and to sojourn 189 physically in Egypt, I think is neither plausible nor pious; wherefore the prophecy must be understood as referring to the Word of God, and as having already been clearly fulfilled at his first coming, at which he came upon a light cloud, the flesh formed for him from the Holy Spirit, into this life, tropologically called Egypt, and also physically into Egypt itself, into which he was carried while still a child by his mother and Joseph; and then, according to certain ineffable accounts, the demons who formerly dwelt in and worked through the man-made wooden images everywhere were shaken and moved, being greatly disturbed by his presence; which is indicated by

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συντριβήσεσθαι καὶ ταπεινωθήσεσθαι καὶ πεσεῖσθαι προφητεύει· σὺν αὐτοῖς δὲ καὶ τὸν Λίβανον πεσεῖσθαι ὁ λόγος φησίν· οὕτω δὲ ἔθος αὐτῷ τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ τὴν πάλαι πρότερον ἐν αὐτῇ σωματικῶς ἀποτελουμένην λατρείαν ὀνομάζειν· ὡς δῆλόν ἐστιν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἱεζεκιὴλ, ἔνθα τοῦτον ἀναγέγραπται τὸν τρόπον· ὁ ἀετὸς ὁ μέγας ὁ μεγαλοπτέρυγος, ὁ μακρὸς τῇ ἐκτάσει, πλήρης ὀνύχων, ὃς ἔχει τὸ ἥγημα εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸν Λίβανον, καὶ ἔλαβε τὰ ἐπίλεκτα 187 τῆς κέδρου. Ἐπιλύων γοὖν τὴν παραβολὴν αὐτὸς ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος σαφῶς τὸν Λίβανον τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ διδάσκει, λέγων· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, εἶπον δὴ πρὸς τὸν οἶκον τὸν παραπικραίνοντα, Οὐκ ἐπίστασθε τί ἦν ταῦτα; εἶπον, Ὅταν ἔλθῃ βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος ἐπὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ λήψεται τὸν βασιλέα αὐτῆς καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας αὐτῆς. Πρόδηλον οὖν ὅπως καὶ οὗτος ὁ Λίβανος μετὰ τῶν ὑψηλῶν τῇ ὕβρει περιπέπτωκεν ἐπὶ τῇ παρουσίᾳ τοῦ ἐκ ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ γενομένου Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν· ἐφ' ὃν καὶ ἀνεπαύσατο ἡ τελειότης τῶν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος χαρισμάτων, ὃς καὶ εἰσαῦθις ἐλεύσεται κατὰ τὴν δευτέραν καὶ ἔνδοξον αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν, οὐ κατὰ τὴν δόξαν κρινοῦντος· πρόσωπον γὰρ ἀνθρώπου Θεὸς οὐ λαμβάνει· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ κατὰ τὴν λαλιὰν ἐλέγχων· ἐτάζων γάρ ἐστι καρδίας καὶ νεφροὺς, καὶ διϊκνούμενος ἄχρι μερισμοῦ ψυχῆς καὶ πνεύματος. Καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ γενομένῃ μὲν οὖν αὐτοῦ ἤδη πρότερον παρουσίᾳ ἐνεπλήσθη ὡς ἀληθῶς ἡ γῆ τοῦ γνῶναι τὸν Κύριον, μηδενὸς τὸ πρὶν ὅτι μὴ μόνων τῶν ἐκ περιτομῆς γινωσκόντων αὐτόν· τότε δὲ καὶ μᾶλλον εἰς πέρας ἀχθήσεται ἡ προφητεία, ὅτε τοῦ πληρώματος τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰσελθόντος σὺν τοῖς λοιποῖς ἔθνεσιν καὶ ὁ πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ σωθήσεται, ὁ Χριστὸς δὲ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστὰς ἄρχειν ἐθνῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ κατεστάθη, κατὰ τὸ, καὶ ἔσται ἡ ῥίζα τοῦ Ἰεσσαὶ καὶ ὁ ἀνιστάμενος ἄρχειν ἐθνῶν, ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσιν. Ὅρα γ' οὖν ὡς οὐδ' ὅλως ἐνταῦθα Ἰσραὴλ ἢ Ἰακὼβ ἢ Ἰούδας ὀνομάζεται, σαφῶς δὲ τὰ ἔθνη ἐπὶ τὸν ἐκ ῥίζης ἀναστησόμενον Ἰεσσαὶ ἐλπιεῖν προφητεύεται, 188 συνᾳδούσης τῆς ἐνταῦθα λέξεως τῇ παρὰ Μωσεῖ φασκούσῃ, οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα οὐδὲ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ᾧ ἀπόκειται· καὶ αὐτὸς προσδοκία, οὐχὶ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐθνῶν. Καὶ τίνος δὲ ἄλλου ἡ ἀνάπαυσις ἐν τῇ ἀνωτάτω παρὰ Θεῷ γεγένηται τιμῇ, ἢ τοῦ ἀκούσαντος λέγοντος αὐτῷ τοῦ Πατρὸς, Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου. Ψ. Θʹ. Καὶ διορθωθήσεται μετ' ἐλέους θρόνος, καὶ καθιεῖται μετ' ̣σιξ̣ αὐτοῦ μετὰ ἀληθείας ἐν σκηνῇ ∆αυὶδ, κρίνων καὶ ἐκζητῶν κρίμα καὶ σπεύδων δικαιοσύνην. Περὶ τῆς δευτέρας τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας καὶ ταῦτα προφητεύεται, ὁπηνίκα τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ Λόγος, διορθωθείσης αὐτῷ μετ' ἐλέους καὶ φιλανθρωπίας τῆς κατὰ πάντων βασιλείας, σὺν ἀληθείᾳ κρίνων καθεσθήσεται ἐν σκηνῇ ∆αυίδ· οὕτω δὲ τὴν τῶν ἁγίων καὶ πρωτοτόκων τῶν ἀπογεγραμμένων ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ πάντας ἡγοῦμαι τοὺς ὑπὸ τὴν μερίδα τοῦ λόγου τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγενημένους ἁγίους χρηματίζειν. Ψ. Ιʹ. Ἰδοὺ Κύριος κάθηται ἐπὶ νεφέλης κούφης, καὶ ἥξει εἰς Αἴγυπτον, καὶ σεισθήσεται τὰ χειροποίητα Αἰγύπτου ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἡ καρδία αὐτῶν ἡττηθήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς. Περὶ τῆς ἀγενήτου τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Θεοῦ φύσεως ἐκλαμβάνειν τὰ προκείμενα, ὡς δὴ μέλλοντος αὐτοῦ νεφέλῃ τινὶ ὀχεῖσθαι, καὶ τῇ σωματικῇ παρ 189 επιδημεῖν Αἰγύπτῳ, οὔτε πιθανὸν οὔθ' ὅσιον ὑπάρχειν ἡγοῦμαι· δι' ὅπερ ἐπὶ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον ἐκδεκτέον τὴν προφητείαν, καὶ αὐτὴν ἐναργῶς ἤδη κατὰ τὴν προτέραν αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν πεπερασμένην, καθ' ἣν ἐπὶ νεφέλης κούφης, τῆς ἐκ Πνεύματος ἁγίου συστάσης αὐτῷ σαρκὸς, εἰς τὸν βίον τοῦτον, Αἴγυπτον τροπικῶς ὀνομαζόμενον, παρελήλυθε, καὶ εἰς αὐτὴν δὲ σωματικῶς τὴν Αἴγυπτον, εἰς ἣν ἔτι παῖς ὢν πρὸς τῆς μητρὸς καὶ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ διεκομίσθη· τηνικαῦτα δὲ κατά τινας ἀπορρήτους λόγους ἐσείσθησαν καὶ ἐκινήθησαν ὑποταραχθέντες αὐτοῦ τῇ παρουσίᾳ οἱ ἐν τοῖς πανταχόσε χειροποιητοῖς ξοάνοις ἐνοικοῦντές τε καὶ ἐνεργοῦντες τὸ πρότερον δαίμονες· ὅπερ δηλοῦται διὰ