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for the saints to withdraw for a short time, and not to become spectators of the destruction of the impious. And their storehouses are the many mansions with the Father, justly distributed to all, into which having entered, it says, do not be curious about the distant things happening to the impious. And when the wrath has passed, having thrown open the doors of your storehouses, with great authority go forth to survey the new age, and the promised kingdom of God. But some say that since those who announce the saving spirit to all on earth were about to fall into terrible, incurable evils and death, the face of God is introduced exhorting them, saying: ‘Enter into your storehouses,’ that is, their tombs, they say, 2229 thus euphemistically calling the things on earth, instructing at the same time those who are being hidden to shut the doors until the wrath of the Lord passes by. For it was said to Adam: “You are earth, and to earth you shall return.” And the corruption from the curse will be loosed at the consummation when death is abolished. He advises, therefore, to endure death until it passes by, even if it happens that they suffer this as initiators at the hands of those who hate the truth proclaimed by them. For God will bring upon them from a holy place the fitting wrath. And the phrase, ‘God from a holy place,’ is similar to: “The Lord rained upon Sodom fire and brimstone from the Lord,” the Son from the Father. “For the Father,” it says, “judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.” Therefore, when wrath is brought against those who laid murderous hands on the sanctified, the earth will not hide the slain. That is, nothing will escape the judgment of God, as the holy martyrs lie in his memory. For Moses also said, The blood of his sons. That is, it says that no one of those whose souls were long ago destroyed on the earth through sins unto death will escape notice, when wrath is brought upon them, that is, of the angels ministering in the punishments, according to what was said about the Egyptians: “He sent upon them anger and wrath and affliction, a mission through evil angels.” And every earthly and body-loving soul, confessing its bloods, that is, the sins unto death committed by it, will surely reveal them. And some have interpreted it thus: God applies himself to the hidden movements in the soul. For since, at one time he threatened, and at another he offered good hopes, by which they were troubled, not knowing what they should do, reasonably working a conversion in the soul, he commands it to enter into itself, and to survey its own works, not with a transitive motion, but with the examination of progressing thoughts, so that, anticipating the announced judge, if anything is wicked, they may consume it as being fuel for fire, but may keep the good things, being tested like gold. Likewise also the Savior exhorts to close the doors of the storehouse, at once the perceptible ones, and at the same time teaching to be rid of the attachment to superfluous things, so that God, seeing the mind at leisure, may write his own counsels as on a clean tablet. Thus, as Jeremiah was considering the things done by the Jews to Isaiah and the other prophets, and expecting to suffer worse things, and greater than his own strength, to these movements of his soul God says: “They will fight against you, and they will not be able to prevail against you.” For I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord. And the wrath brought from the Lord, he says, is not a turn of temper (for the divine is impassible), but the justice owed for the sins committed by 2232 us, which he brings not against those who sojourn, but those who dwell on the earth, who belong only to the present age, having rejected all hopes for the future, saying: “Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.” The disposition of those who sojourn on the earth is contrary to these. And when justice is brought, the evils of each person become manifest, which are covered over while God is still being longsuffering. For it is clear to all when wrath is brought that justice is the punisher of wicked deeds, even if they were previously hidden. This will also be upon you, he says, who have sacrificed your children to demons. And this your land, therefore, will accuse you, having received their blood.

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ἁγίοις ἀναχωρεῖν πρὸς βραχὺ, μηδὲ θεωροὺς γενέσθαι τῆς τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἀπωλείας. Ταμεῖα δὲ αὐτῶν, αἱ πολλαὶ παρὰ τῷ Πατέρι τυγχάνουσι μοναὶ δικαίως ἅπασι διαιρούμεναι, εἰς ἃς εἰσελθὼν, φησὶ, μὴ περιεργάζου τὰ πόῤῥω τοῖς ἀσεβέσι γινόμενα. Παρελθούσης δὲ τῆς ὀργῆς, ἀναπετάσας τῶν σῶν ταμιείων τὰς θύρας, μετὰ πολλῆς ἐξουσίας πρόϊθι τὸν νέον ἐποπτεύων αἰῶνα, καὶ τὴν ἐπηγγελμένην σοι βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Τινὲς δέ φασιν, ὡς ἐπείπερ ἤμελλον οἱ τὸ σωτήριον πνεῦμα πᾶσι καταγγέλλοντες τοῖς ἐπὶ γῆς δεινοῖς ἀνηκέστοις καὶ θανάτῳ περιπεσεῖν, τούτους ἐπαλεῖφον τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ πρόσωπον ἐπεισάγεται λέγον· Εἴσελθε εἰς τὰ ταμεῖά σου, τὰ μνήματά φασι, 2229 τἀπὶ γῆς εὐφήμως οὕτω καλῶν, παραγγέλλων ἐν ἴσῳ τοῖς ἀποκρυπτομένοις ἀποκλείειν τὰς θύρας μέχρι παρέλθῃ ἡ ὀργὴ Κυρίου. Εἴρητο μὲν γὰρ τῷ Ἀδάμ· "Γῆ εἶ, καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ." Λυθήσεται δὲ τῆς ἐκ κατάρας φθορᾶς ἐν τῇ συντελείᾳ καταργουμένου θανάτου. Συμβουλεύει τοίνυν ἀνασχέσθαι τοῦ θανάτου μέχρι παρέλθῃ, κἂν μυσταγωγοῦντας συμβαίη τοῦτο παθεῖν πρὸς τῶν μισούντων τὴν ὑπ' αὐτῶν κηρυττομένην ἀλήθειαν. Ἐπάξει γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐξ ἁγίου τὴν πρέπουσαν ὀργὴν ὁ Θεός. Τὸ δὲ, Θεὸς ἐξ ἁγίου, ὅμοιον τῷ· "Ἔβρεξε Κύριος παρὰ Κυρίου ἐπὶ Σόδομα πῦρ, καὶ θεῖον," ὁ Υἱὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ Πατέρος· "Ὁ γὰρ Πατὴρ, φησὶ, κρίνει οὐδένα, ἀλλὰ τὴν κρίσιν πᾶσαν δέδωκεν τῷ Υἱῷ." Τῆς οὖν ὀργῆς ἐπαγομένης κατὰ τῶν τοῖς ἡγιασμένοις ἐπενεγκάντων χεῖρας φονικὰς, οὐ κατακρύψει τοὺς ἀνῃρημένους ἡ γῆ. Τοῦτ' ἔστι, Τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν κρίσιν οὐδὲν διαφεύξεται, τῶν ἁγίων μαρτύρων ἐν μνήμῃ κειμένων αὐτοῦ. Καὶ Μωσῆς γὰρ ἔφη, Τὸ αἷμα τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ. Ἤγουν φησὶ μηδένα λαθεῖν τῶν ἐν τῇ γῇ πάλαι τὰς ψυχὰς ἀνῃρημένων διὰ τῶν πρὸς θάνατον ἁμαρτημάτων, ὀργῆς ἐπ' αὐτοὺς φερομένης δηλαδὴ τῶν ἐν ταῖς κολάσεσι διακονουμένων ἀγγέλων, κατὰ τὸ ῥηθὲν ἐπ' Αἰγυπτίων· "Ἀπέστειλεν ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ὀργὴν καὶ θυμὸν καὶ θλίψιν ἀποστολὴν δι' ἀγγέλων πονηρῶν." Καὶ ἑκάστη δὲ ψυχὴ γεώδης καὶ φιλοσώματος, τὰ αἵματα, τοῦτ' ἔστι τὰ πρὸς θάνατον ἑαυτῇ πλημμεληθέντα ἐξομολογουμένη πάντως ἀποκαλύψειε. Τινὲς δὲ οὕτως ἐξηγήσαντο· Πρὸς τὰ ἐν ψυχῇ κεκρυμμένα κινήματα Θεὸς ἐφαρμόττεται. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ, ποτὲ μὲν ἠπείλει, ποτὲ δὲ χρηστὰς ἐλπίδας παρείχετο, ἐξ ὧν ἐθορυβοῦντο, μὴ εἰδότες ὃ πράξουσιν, εἰκότως ἐπιστροφὴν τῇ ψυχῇ ἐργαζόμενος, χωρεῖν εἰς ἑαυτὴν κελεύει, ἔργα τε ἐποπτεύειν τὰ ἴδια, οὐ μεταβατικῇ κινήσει, τῇ δὲ τῶν λογισμῶν ἀνακρίσει πορευομένων, ὡς ἂν προφθάσαντες τὸν μηνυθέντα κριτὴν, εἴτι μὲν πονηρὸν, ὡς ὕλην ὑπάρχον πυρὸς δαπανήσωσι, φυλάττοιεν δὲ τὰ χρηστὰ δίκην χρυσίου δοκιμαζόμενα. Ὁμοίως καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ παρακελεύεται τοῦ ταμιείου κλείειν τὰς θύρας ὁμοῦ μὲν τὰς αἰσθητὰς, ὁμοῦ δὲ παιδεύων τῆς τῶν περιττῶν ἀπαλλάττεσθαι προσπαθείας, ὡς ἂν ὁρῶν Θεὸς σχολάζουσαν τὴν διάνοιαν, ὡς εἰς καθαρόν τινα πίνακα τὰ ἴδια γράφῃ βουλεύματα. Οὕτως ἐννοοῦντος Ἱερεμίου τὰ Ἠσαΐᾳ προφήταις τε λοιποῖς πραχθέντα παρὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, καὶ προσδοκῶντος πείσεσθαι χείρονα, καὶ τῆς ἰδίας κρείττω δυνάμεως, πρὸς ταῦτα τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ τὰ κινήματά φησιν ὁ Θεός· "Πολεμήσουσί σε, καὶ οὐ μὴ δύνωνται πρὸς σέ." ∆ιότι μετὰ τοῦ ἐγώ εἰμι τοῦ ἐξαιρεῖσθαί σε, λέγει Κύριος. Ὀργὴν δὲ ἐπαγομένην ἀπὸ Κυρίου, οὐ τὴν ἐκ θυμοῦ φησὶ τροπὴν (ἀπαθὲς γὰρ τὸ θεῖον) τὴν δὲ πρὸς τὰ παρ' 2232 ἡμῶν πλημμεληθέντα δίκην ὀφειλομένην, ἣν ἐπάγει οὐ πρὸς τοὺς παροικοῦντας, ἀλλὰ κατοικοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, οἱ τοῦ παρόντος αἰῶνος μόνον εἰσὶ τὰς πρὸς τὸ μέλλον ἐλπίδας ἁπάσας ἀπειρηκότες, λέγοντες· "Φάγωμεν καὶ πίωμεν· αὔριον γὰρ ἀποθνήσκομεν." Οἷς ἐναντία τῶν παροικούντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἡ διάθεσις. Τῆς δὲ δίκης ἐπαχθείσης, τὰ ἑκάστου κακὰ πρόδηλα γίνεται, ἅπερ μακροθυμοῦντος ἔτι τοῦ Θεοῦ συγκαλύπτεται. Πᾶσι γὰρ δῆλον ἐπαγομένης ὀργῆς ὡς ἡ δίκη πονηρῶν ἐστι πράξεων τιμωρὸς, εἰ καὶ πρώην ἐλάνθανον. Τοῦτο καὶ ἐφ' ὑμῶν ἔσται, φησὶ, θυσάντων τὰ τέκνα τοῖς δαιμονίοις. Καὶ αὕτη τοίνυν ὑμῶν ἡ γῆ κατηγορήσει δεξαμένη τούτων τὰ αἵματα.