Moralia in Job 1335

22. The devil, bound by divine power, shall one day be loosed, and through Antichrist shall work many wonders. — Many things here present themselves that may be brought forth for the instruction of morals; but first let us discuss the violent things of this Behemoth, that afterward we may more subtly detect his crafty ones. In Holy Scripture, by the name of the cedar, sometimes the lofty excellence of heavenly glory is expressed, sometimes the rigid haughtiness of the depraved is designated. By the name of the cedar the loftiness of heavenly glory is expressed, as the Psalmist testifies: 'The just shall flourish like the palm tree, he shall be multiplied like the cedar of Lebanon' (Psalm 92:12). Again, by the name of the cedar the proud power of the depraved is designated, as it is said through the same Prophet: 'The voice of the Lord breaking the cedars' (Psalm 29:5). But what

is the tail of this Behemoth, save that extremity of the ancient enemy — when, namely, he enters into his own vessel, that lost man who is specially called Antichrist? Who, since he is now permitted to be lifted up into the swelling of power, now by the honours of the world, now by the signs and prodigies of feigned holiness, rightly by the Lord's voice his tail is compared to the cedar. For as the cedar, by growing on high, forsakes the rest of the shrubs, so then Antichrist, obtaining for a time the glory of the world, shall transcend the measures of men both by the height of honour and by the power of signs. For the spirit is in him who, created among things sublime, did not lose the power of his nature even when cast down.

Whose power is now by no means shown, because by the dispensation of divine might he is bound. Hence through John it is said: 'I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand; and he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut him up and set a seal upon him' (Revelation 20:1-3). For he is declared to be bound and cast into the abyss, because, thrust back into the hearts of the depraved, he is restrained by the might of the divine dispensation, lest he be let loose to the full extent that he is able to harm, so that, although he may secretly rage through them, he may not yet break forth into the violent plunderings of pride.

But how he is to be loosed at the end of the world is intimated when it is said: 'And after the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed from his prison, and shall go out and seduce the nations' (Revelation 20:7). For by the number one thousand, on account of its perfection, is expressed the whole of this time of the holy Church, however long it may be. This being ended, the ancient enemy, given over to his own powers, is let loose for a short time indeed, but with much power against us. 23. He shall rage, but for a brief time. — Whom, although his savagery stretches out to cruelty, yet the mercy from above straitens by the brevity of the days. For hence the Truth by Himself says: 'There shall then be great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be' (Matthew 24:21).

Hence again He says: 'Except those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved' (Matthew 24:22). For because the Lord beholds us both proud and weak, He mercifully says that the days which He singularly brought forth as evil are shortened; assuredly both that He may terrify pride by the adversity of the time, and refresh weakness by the brevity of the days. [Chapter 13.] 24. He is more to be feared for the signs he shall work than for the punishments he inflicted on the martyrs. — But it is greatly to be considered that, when this Behemoth raises his tail like a cedar, into how much more atrocity he then rises up than now he exerts himself. For what kinds of punishments do we know that we do not rejoice already to have exercised the strength of the martyrs?

For some the sword, plunged into the throat by a sudden blow, laid low; others the gibbet of the cross fixed fast, on which death is both provoked and repelled, and being repelled is provoked. Others the saw with its rough teeth ground down; others the hoof armed with iron, furrowing, tore in pieces; others bestial fury, cutting off by its bites, mangled; others the force of stripes, pressed through the skin, burst open from their inmost vitals; others the earth, dug open, covered while yet living; others, plunged down from on high, the headlong fall broke into death; others the water, filling them as they were cast into it, swallowed up; others the devouring flame, feeding even to ashes, consumed.

When therefore this Behemoth more wickedly spreads out his tail at the end of the world, what is it that then grows more atrocious in these torments, save that which in the Gospel the Truth by Himself says: 'There shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall give great signs and wonders, so that even the elect, if it be possible, may be led into error' (Matthew 24:24)? For now our faithful ones work wonders when they suffer perverse things; but then the satellites of this Behemoth shall be about to work wonders even when they inflict perverse things. Let us therefore weigh what that temptation of the human mind will be, when the devout martyr both subjects his body to torments, and yet before his eyes the torturer works miracles.

Whose virtue would then not be shaken from the very foundation of his thoughts, when he who tortures with scourges flashes forth with signs? Let it therefore be rightly said: 'He draws up his tail like a cedar,' because assuredly he will then be both lofty by the veneration of prodigy, and hard by the cruelty of torment. [Chapter 14.] 25. Antichrist shall deceive some by lying miracles, and shall overcome others by force. — For he is not then raised up by power alone, but is also propped up by the showing of signs. Hence also through David it is said: 'He lieth in wait in secret, like a lion in his den' (Psalm 10:9). For to open power it would have sufficed that he be a lion, even if he were not lying in wait;

and again for secret cunning it would have sufficed that, lying in wait, he might snatch away, even if he were not a lion. But because this ancient enemy is unbridled in all his powers, he is permitted to rage through both, so that he may be let loose against the elect in contest both by fraud and by power — by power through might, by fraud through signs. Rightly, then, is he called both a lion and one lying in wait: lying in wait through the appearance of miracles, a lion through worldly strength. For to draw on those who are openly wicked, he displays worldly power; but to deceive even the just, he simulates holiness by signs. For to the former he persuades the exaltation of greatness; the latter he deceives by the showing of holiness. Of this tail of this Behemoth, under the figure of the dragon, it is cast forth through John:

'And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth' (Revelation 12:4). For the heaven is the Church, which in this night of the present life, while it contains within itself innumerable virtues of the saints, gleams with stars radiant from above. But the dragon's tail casts the stars to the earth, because that extremity of Satan, erected through the audacity of the assumed man, shows as reprobate certain ones whom it finds in the Church as though the elect of God, by taking possession of them. For the stars to fall from heaven to earth is that some, forsaking heavenly things, gape, under that leader, after the ambition of worldly glory. 26. He was prefigured through Antiochus. — Hence Daniel, under the figure of Antiochus, speaks against this tail of the dragon, saying:

'It cast down of the strength, and of the stars, and trampled them; and it was magnified even to the prince of the strength, and from him it took away the continual sacrifice, and cast down the place of his sanctification. And strength was given to it against the continual sacrifice, because of sins; and truth shall be cast down on the ground, and it shall do and prosper' (Daniel 8:10-12). For it casts down of the strength and of the stars when it breaks some who are both resplendent with the light of righteousness and robust in the virtue of works. Which is magnified even to the prince of strength, because it is exalted against the very Author of virtue. It takes away the continual sacrifice, because it interrupts in those whom it seizes the zeal for the way of life of the Church.

But strength is given to it against the continual sacrifice because of sins, because, unless the deserts of the perishing demanded it, the adversary could by no means obtain those who were believed to be upright. Truth is cast down on the ground, because faith is then bent from the desire of heavenly things toward the desire of temporal life. 'And it shall do and prosper,' because then not only in the minds of the reprobate, but even in the bodies of the elect, it shall rage with inestimable cruelty, without any resistance whatsoever. Hence again through Daniel it is said: 'A king impudent of face shall arise, and understanding propositions, and his strength shall be made robust, but not by his own powers' (Daniel 8:23).

For the strength of that man is made robust not by his own powers, because he is lifted up by Satan's power into the glory of perdition. Hence again it says: 'He shall slay the strong and the people of the saints according to his own will, and craft shall be directed in his hand' (Daniel 8:24-25). For he slays the strong when he corporally vanquishes those who are unconquered in mind. Or assuredly he slays the strong and the people of the saints according to his own will, when he draws to the nod of his will those who were believed to be strong and holy. In whose hand craft is directed, because in him fraud is aided by his work. For what he says by deceiving, this he asserts by working wonders; for whatever the lying tongue simulates, this the hand of his work displays as though it were true. 27.

Daniel and Paul teach the same concerning Antichrist. — Him again it says: 'He shall rise up against the Prince of princes, and shall be broken without hand' (Daniel 8:25). Hence Paul says: 'So that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as though he were God' (2 Thessalonians 2:4). Hence again he says: 'Whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming' (2 Thessalonians 2:8). For that which was said through Daniel: 'He shall rise up against the Prince of princes' (Daniel 8:25), this is said through Paul: 'So that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as though he were God.' And that which is subjoined through Daniel: 'He shall be broken without hand' (Daniel 8:25), this is expressed through Paul: 'Whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the spirit of his mouth' (2 Thessalonians 2:8).

For he shall be broken without hand, because not by war of angels, not by contest of the saints, but through the coming of the Judge, by the sole spirit of His mouth, he shall be smitten with eternal death. Of the haughtiness of this Behemoth it is likewise said through Paul: 'Who opposeth and is exalted above all that is called God, or that is worshipped' (2 Thessalonians 2:4). Of whom Daniel, when he had said that the fourth beast was propped up with ten horns, immediately added: 'I considered the horns, and behold another little horn sprang up out of the midst of them, and three of the first horns were plucked up from before it; and behold, there were eyes as the eyes of a man in this horn, and a mouth speaking great things' (Daniel 7:8). For it is described to be the eleventh horn of this beast, because the power of his kingdom is made robust by iniquity. [Chapter

15.] For every sin is elevenfold, because, while it does perverse things, it transgresses the precepts of the decalogue. And because sin is bewailed in sackcloth, hence it is that in the tabernacle eleven curtains of sackcloth are made (Exodus 26:7). Hence through the eleventh Psalm it is said: 'Save me, O Lord, for the holy one hath failed' (Psalm 12:1). Hence Peter, fearing to remain in the elevenfold number, by casting the lot sought out Matthias as the twelfth (Acts 1:26). For unless he perceived guilt to be signified by the elevenfold number, he would not have taken care so hastily to fill up the number of the apostles by the twelvefold. Since, therefore, transgression is expressed by the elevenfold number, by the eleventh horn of this beast the very author of transgression is indicated.

Which, namely, springs up little, because it is generated pure from the earth; but it grows immensely, because it advances even to the conjoined force of angelic strength. Which plucks up the three horns that are before its face, because it subdues to its own dominion just so many kingdoms as are near to it. Whose eyes are as the eyes of a man, but the mouth speaks great things, because in it indeed a human form is discerned, but by its words it is lifted up beyond men. That, therefore, which is said through Paul: 'Lifting himself up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped,' this Daniel the prophet testifies, saying: 'A mouth speaking great things' (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

But that either Daniel declares him to speak great things, or Paul that he is exalted above the worship of the Godhead, this is what in blessed Job by the divine utterance is compared to the cedar. For after the manner of the cedar he is raised from on high, while he prospers in every pomp of falsehood, both by the vigour of power and by the elevation of eminence. But rightly is he said to draw up his tail, because his whole power is heaped up and thickened in that one condemned man, so that through him he may do things strong and wondrous in proportion as he goads him on with his gathered powers. But since we have heard what the head of the wicked is, let us now recognize what members cleave to this head. There follows: