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the time until the consummation is called, after which he will be bound again in an eternal and unending bond. But even when he is loosed, bind again, O Lord, his wiles against us; for you are our king and to you belongs glory forever. Amen. #556 The eleventh discourse. The revelation still holds to the same concept. For it says: *And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them, and the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not 217 worshiped the beast nor his image and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years ... this is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has a part in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him for the thousand years. And when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be loosed from his prison, and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth.* And in the discourse before this it was said that the vision, having made mention of the Devil once, as if keeping one train of thought in the narrative, related not only what the Devil will suffer at the consummation of the present age, but also what he suffered spiritually in the incarnation of the Lord. Having taken up this train of thought, it will go through more about the Lord's incarnate sojourn, such as that which is now set before us for contemplation; for it says *and I saw thrones, and they sat upon them and judgment was given to them*. He sees the holy apostles, according to the promise made to them, sitting upon twelve thrones and judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Although this will be more completely fulfilled in the age to come, it has also happened to a moderate degree at the time of the incarnation; for they, having believed in the Lord and 218 having partaken of myriad good things, condemned those who were unwilling to run to the faith, or, being instructed by the grace given to the apostles, to ascend to the concordant piety, but who even wove a cross and death for him. And *the souls*, it says, *of those beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God*. The phrase *I saw* is common to them sitting on thrones and judging the rest of men. He says *beheaded* for those killed with axes. But he speaks figuratively of those who put to death their own members for the faith in Christ, and endured very many things for its sake. For they also made them outcasts from the synagogue and cast countless reproaches upon them and made their own possessions theirs through plunder, as the wise apostle testifies, since they believed in Christ at all. Concerning whom the Lord also said, *Blessed are you when they reproach and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.* But you will understand those not worshiping the beast nor receiving his mark and image, following the continuity of the discourse and taking every thought captive to the obedience of the divine scripture, as those who did not agree with the rest of the Jews in their plots against the Lord, nor were willing to obey the suggestions of the God-hated Devil; for this is to worship both him and his image. For he calls an image his will having been imprinted in the hearts of the Jews. which he also calls a mark, having encompassed their governing and practical faculty; for of the governing faculty the head is a type, of which the forehead is a part, and the hand is of the practical faculty. 219 *And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.* Again he calls a thousand years, according to what was said before, the Lord's sojourn upon earth, through which they lived the intelligible life, and reigned with Christ, commanding demons, rebuking passions, and working countless miracles. Not only that, but merely being with Christ the king of glory is to reign with him. Whence also it was said of them by the prophet when he set apart the heavenly one, *kings upon her shall be made white as snow in Salmon.* And the

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κέκληται ὁ ἄχρι τῆς συντελείας καιρός, μεθ' ὃν πάλιν δεθήσεται τὸν αἰώνιον καὶ ἀτελεύτητον δεσμόν. ἀλλὰ καὶ λυθέντος αὐτοῦ, δῆσον αὖθις, Κύριε, τὰς καθ' ἡμῶν μεθοδείας αὐτοῦ· βασιλεύεις γὰρ ἡμῶν καὶ πρέπει σοι ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. ἀμήν #556 Λόγος ἑνδέκατοσ ἔτι τῆς αὐτῆς ἐννοίας ἔχεται ἡ ἀποκάλυψις. φησὶ γάρ· καὶ εἶδον θρόνους, καὶ ἐκάθησαν ἐπ' αὐτούς, καὶ κρῖμα ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς, καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν πεπελεκισμένων διὰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ καὶ διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ οἵτινες οὐ 217 προσεκύνησαν τῷ θηρίῳ οὐδὲ τὴν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἔλα βον τὸ χάραγμα ἐπὶ τὸ μέτωπον καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτῶν· καὶ ἔζησαν καὶ ἐβασίλευσαν μετὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ χίλια ἔτη ... αὕτη ἡ ἀνάστασις ἡ πρώτη. μακάριος καὶ ἅγιος ὁ ἔχων μέρος ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει τῇ πρώτῃ. ἐπὶ τούτων ὁ δεύ τερος θάνατος οὐκ ἔχει ἐξουσίαν, ἀλλὰ ἔσονται ἱερεῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ, καὶ βασιλεύσουσι μετ' αὐτοῦ τὰ χίλια ἔτη. καὶ ὅταν τελεσθῇ τὰ χίλια ἔτη, λυθήσεται ὁ Σατα νᾶς ἐκ τῆς φυλακῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐξελεύσεται πλανῆσαι τὰ ἔθνη ἐν ταῖς τέσσαρσι γωνίαις τῆς γῆς. καὶ ἐν τῷ πρὸ τούτου εἴρηται λόγῳ ὅτι τοῦ ∆ιαβόλου μνήμην ἅπαξ ποιησαμένη ἡ θεωρία, ὥσπερ εἱρμὸν ἕνα τῷ διηγήματι φυλάττουσα, οὐ μόνον ἃ πείσεται ὁ ∆ιάβολος ἐν τῇ συντελείᾳ τοῦ παρόντος αἰῶνος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἃ πέπονθεν νοητῶς ἐν τῇ τοῦ Κυρίου ἐνανθρωπήσει διηγήσατο. οὗπερ εἱρμοῦ λαβομένη, πλείονα περὶ τῆς τοῦ Κυρίου ἐνσάρκου ἐπιδημίας διέξεισιν, οἷον ὑπάρχει καὶ τὸ νῦν ἡμῖν εἰς θεωρίαν προκείμενον· φησὶ γὰρ καὶ εἶδον θρόνους, καὶ ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἐκάθησαν καὶ κρῖμα ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς. τοὺς ἁγίους ἀποστόλους θεωρεῖ κατὰ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τὴν πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ δώδεκα θρόνων καθημένους καὶ κρίνοντας τὰς δώδεκα φυλὰς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. ὅπερ εἰ καὶ ἐντελέστερον ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι πληρωθήσεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ συμβέβηκε μετρίως ἐν τῷ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως καιρῷ· αὐτοὶ γὰρ εἰς τὸν Κύριον πεπιστευκότες καὶ 218 μυρίων ἀγαθῶν ἐν μετουσίᾳ γενόμενοι, κατέκριναν τοὺς οὐκ ἐθελήσαντας τῇ πίστει προσδραμεῖν, οὐδὲ ἐκ τῆς τοῖς ἀποστόλοις δοθείσης χάριτος παιδαγωγηθέντας εἰς τὴν ὁμόνοιαν ἀνελθεῖν θεοσέβειαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ σταυρὸν αὐτῷ καὶ θάνατον ὑφάναντας. καὶ τὰς ψυχάς φησι τῶν πεπελεκισμένων διὰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ καὶ διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ. ἀπὸ κοινοῦ τὸ εἶδον καθημένους ἐπὶ θρόνων καὶ κρίνοντας τοὺς λοιποὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. πεπελεκισμένους δέ φησι τοὺς ἀνηρημένους πελέκεσι. λέγει δὲ τροπικῶς περὶ τῶν νεκρωσάντων τὰ μέλη τὰ ἑαυτῶν διὰ τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν πίστιν, καὶ πλεῖστα δι' αὐτὴν ὑπομεινάντων. καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἀποσυναγώγους αὐτοὺς ἐποίησαν καὶ μυρίαις ἔβαλλον λοιδορίαις καὶ δι' ἁρπαγῆς ἴδια τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτῶν ἐποιοῦντο, ὡς μαρτυρεῖ ὁ σοφὸς ἀπόστολος, ἐπειδὴ ὅλως εἰς Χριστὸν ἐπίστευσαν. περὶ ὧν καὶ ἔλεγεν ὁ Κύριος μακάριοί ἐστε ὅταν, ὀνειδίσωσι καὶ διώξωσιν ὑμᾶς καὶ εἴπωσι πᾶν πονηρὸν ῥῆμα καθ' ὑμῶν ψευδόμενοι ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ. τοὺς δέ γε μὴ προσκυνοῦντας τὸ θηρίον μηδὲ λαβόντας αὐτοῦ τὸ χάραγμα καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα νοήσεις, ἑπόμενος τῇ συνεχείᾳ τοῦ λόγου καὶ αἰχμαλωτίζων πᾶν νόημα εἰς τὴν ὑπακόην τῆς θείας γραφῆς, τοὺς μὴ ὁμογνωμονήσαντας τοῖς λοιποῖς τῶν Ἰουδαίων εἰς τὰς κατὰ Κυρίου ἐπιβουλάς, μήτε ἐθελήσαντας ταῖς ὑποθήκαις τοῦ θεοστυγοῦς ∆ιαβόλου πειθαρχῆσαι· τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ προσκυνῆσαι αὐτόν τε καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ. εἰκόνα γὰρ καλεῖ τὸ ἐνσεσημάνθαι τὸ αὐτοῦ θέλημα ἐν ταῖς τῶν Ἰουδαίων καρδίαις. ὅπερ καὶ χάραγμα λέγει περιλαβὸν αὐτῶν τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν καὶ πρακτικόν· τοῦ μὲν γὰρ ἡγεμονικοῦ τύπος ἡ κεφαλή, ἧς μέρος τὸ μέτωπον, ἡ χεῖρ δὲ τοῦ πρακτικοῦ. 219 καὶ ἔζησαν καὶ ἐβασίλευσαν μετὰ Χριστοῦ χίλια ἔτη. χίλια ἔτη πάλιν καλεῖ κατὰ τὰ πρόσθεν εἰρημένα τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου ἐπὶ γῆς ἀναστροφήν, δι' ἧς ἔζων τὴν νοητὴν ζωήν, καὶ συνεβασίλευον Χριστῷ, δαίμοσιν ἐπιτάσσοντες, πάθεσιν ἐπιτιμῶντες, καὶ μυρίας ἐνεργοῦντες δυνάμεις. μὴ ὅτι καὶ τὸ μόνον συνεῖναί τινα τῷ βασιλεῖ τῆς δόξης Χριστῷ συμβασιλεύειν ἐστὶ αὐτῷ. ὅθεν καὶ εἴρηται περὶ αὐτῶν τῷ προφήτῃ ἐν τῷ διαστέλλειν τὸν ἐπουράνιον βασιλεῖς ἐπ' αὐτῆς χιονωθήσονται ἐν Σελμών. καὶ οἱ