My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
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OLD TESTAMENT READINGS FROM GREAT VESPERS ON THE EVEN OF THE FEAST OF THE SYNAXIS OF THE ARCHANGELS AND ANGELS
First Reading Taken From the Book of Joshua (5:13-15)
"Then it came to pass, when Joshua was at Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a sword drawn in his hand. So Joshua came near and said to him, 'Are you for us or the side of our adversaries?' He said to him, 'I am now come, the chief captain of the host of the Lord.' Then Joshua fell on his face upon the earth and said to him, 'O Master, what do you command your servant?' 'The chief captain of the Lord said to Joshua, 'Loose the shoe from your feet; for the place on which you stand is holy.'
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Second Reading Taken From the Book of Judges (6:11-22)
"Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree in Ephrathah which belonged to Joash the father of Esdri, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress in order to hid from the presence of the Midianites. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him and said to him, 'The Lord is with you, mighty one of the armies!' Gideon said to Him, 'It is I, my Lord?' If the Lord is with us, why then have these evils come upon us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the Lord brings us up from Egypt?' But now the Lord has driven us out and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.' Then the Angel of the Lord turned to him and said, 'Go with this strength of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Indeed, I have sent you."
And Gideon said to Him, 'Be gracious with me, my Lord, for how can I save Israel?' My thousand is weakened in Manasseh, and I am the smallest in my father's house.' And the Angel of the Lord said to him, 'The Lord will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.' Then Gideon said to Him, 'If now I have found mercy in Your sight, then You shall do everything for me today that You have told me. Do not leave here, I pray, until I come to You and I will bring out my offering and set it before You.' And He said, 'I am, I will wait until you come back.' So Gideon went in and prepared a goat kid, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket, and he put the broth in pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and approached. The Angel of God said to him, 'Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.' And he did so. Then the Angel of the Lord stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.
Now Gideon perceived this was the Angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, 'O Lord, my Lord! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.' Then the Lord said to him, 'Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.' So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord. To this day it is still in Ephratha of the father of Esdri.
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The Third Reading Taken From the Book of Daniel (10:1-21)
"At that time Michael the great prince, who stands watch over the sons of your people, shall stand up, and there shall be a time of tribulation, such as never happened until that time, since there was a nation upon the earth. But at that time your people shall be saved, all found written in the book. Then many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some in everlasting life, and some to disgrace and everlasting shame. Those who understand shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and some who are righteous, like the stars of heaven forever and ever. As for you, Daniel, close up these words and seal the book until the knowledge is increased.'
Then I, Daniel, looked and behold, there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on the other riverbank. One said to the man clothed in fine lines who was above the water of the river, 'How long will it be to the end of these wonders of which You have spoken?' 'Then I heard from the man clothed in fine lines who was above the water of the river, as he held up the right hand and his left hand to heaven and swore by Him Who lives forever and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time. Thus when the dispersion is ended, they shall know all these things.
Although I heard, I did not understand. So I said, 'My lord, what shall be the end of these things?' He replied, 'Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall choose to be made white and refined through fire; but the lawless shall act lawlessly. None of the lawless shall understand, but the wise shall understand. From the time the daily sacrifice is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days..."
Commentary on 12:1-3
At Christ's Second Coming, the Antichrist will be crushed, the tribulation will end, and all the dead will awake (v. 2). Resurrection to everlasting shame is the destiny of those who, in the end, are found outside of Christ.
12:7 "But he who reads this passage, even half asleep, cannot fail to see that the kingdom of Antichrist shall fiercely, though for a short time, assail the Church before the Last Judgment (Second Coming) of God shall introduce the eternal reign of the Saints. For it is patent from the context that the time, times, and half a time, means a year, and two years, and half a year, that is to say, three years and a half.'
12:11 Hippolytus writes that the prophecy concerns the three and a half years--"the one thousand two hundred and three score days (the half of the week) during which the tyrant is to reign and persecute the church."
War in Heaven Revelation (12:7-12)
"And war broke out in heaven, Michael and his Angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels (demons) fought, but they did not prevail nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time." (Source: Orthodox Study Bible)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George