約伯倫理 第 1364 章

37. The eternal damnation of the devil and of all the reprobate is to be published in the presence of all the elect. — Which is so to be understood of him, that it may also be referred to his body, because all the wicked who do not fear the strictness of divine justice, flatter themselves in vain concerning mercy. And straightway, returning to our consolation, He foretells his future destruction at the last judgment, saying: 'And in the sight of all he shall be cast down.'

For in the sight of all he shall be cast down, because when the eternal Judge then appears terribly, with the legions of angels standing by, with the whole ministry of the heavenly powers assisting, and with all the elect led forth to this spectacle, that cruel and mighty beast is led captive into the midst, and with his body — that is, with all the reprobate — is delivered up to the eternal fires of Gehenna, when it is said: 'Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels' (Matt. XXV, 41). Oh, what a spectacle that will be, when this most monstrous beast shall be shown to the eyes of the elect — that beast which in this time of battle could have terrified them exceedingly, if it were seen!

But by the hidden and wondrous counsel of God it comes to pass that now, through His grace, he is conquered unseen by those who fight against him, while then he shall be beheld as a captive by the rejoicing victors. Then indeed the just, by the divine help, more fully acknowledge how great is their debt, when they behold that beast to be as mighty as they, weak as they were, once overcame; and in the monstrousness of their enemy they perceive how much they owe to the grace of their defender. For our soldiers return from this battle then bearing the trophies of the virtues; and when, their bodies received again, they now obtain in that judgment their entrance into the heavenly kingdom, they first gaze upon the most savage powers of this ancient serpent, lest they should hold cheap that which they have escaped. Well therefore is it said: And in the sight of all.

he shall be cast down before all; because the sight of his death then affords gladness, whose endured life now daily wages war upon the just with those torments. But hearing these things, as if we straightway were to complain, saying to the Lord: O Lord, Thou who art not ignorant that this Leviathan is of so great strength, why dost Thou raise him up in the contest of our weakness? — at once He added: