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COMMENTARY ON MICAH, CHAPTER FOUR In the last days the mountain of the Lord will be revealed, established on the crests of the mountains and lifted up above the hills, and peoples will hasten to it. Many nations will come to it and say, Come, let us go up (657) to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and they will show us his way and we shall walk in his paths (vv.1–2). N THIS is now recognized a clear prediction of the church from the nations. When Israel according to the flesh was removed from the scene, sacrifices according to the Law were at an end, the priesthood of the bloodline of Levi deserted, the celebrated Temple itself burnt down, and Jerusalem left desolate, Christ instituted the church from the nations, at the final moment, as it were—that is, at the end of this age, when he became like us. By mountain, therefore, he refers to the church, which is the house of the living God.1 It is on high because there is nothing at all earthly in it; instead, the knowledge of the teachings about God is raised above, and the very life of those justified by Christ and sanctified by the Spirit is transferred on high. In them cannot be found, in fact, a kind of life that is earthly and trampled underfoot, as of course you could espy even in those of the circumcision; they were in thrall to fleshly delights and base gain, proven to be responsible for unjust killing and guilty of goodness-knows-what other sins. “Those who belong to Christ Jesus,” as the divinely inspired Paul says, “have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” They are so averse to wealth that you would even hear them crying out in forthright 221 1. 1 Tm 3.15. Does the fact that Cyril immediately omits reference to any OT background to the text, and especially his failure to acknowledge the verbatim resemblance of the verses to Is 2.2–3, suggest that by this time he has not written his commentary on Isaiah? 222 CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA manner, “If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with them, whereas those who want to be rich fall into temptation and (658) are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” By contrast, they abstain from killing to such an extent as to turn the other cheek to people striking the right cheek.2 The mountain, on the other hand, could also be understood differently as the church compared with the teachings of the pagans; while they stupidly teach people to adore sticks and stones and the creation itself, the church clearly presents the one who is by nature and in truth God, who designed all of this, ensures its proper existence, and as God is Lord of all. Now, he says that the mountain of the Lord is established on the mountains and the hills, meaning by this that it is situated and exists in a very obvious manner; what is situated on a mountain is conspicuous, very easily visible, and not unknown even to people far removed. The text of the prophecy clearly mentions that the nations were also destined to betake themselves to it with great enthusiasm, and the actual outcome of events has confirmed it and ensured its accuracy; it says, peoples will hasten to it, that is, to the house of the Lord—namely, Christ. And what will they say as well? Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of our God, and they will show us his way and we shall walk in it. Do you notice that they call on one another in haste with the proper and prudent direction, Let us go up? I would say that it is in their awareness of the earthly and abject nature of the pagan teachings that they say Let us go up so as then to exult on high (659) in regard to an understanding of the one who is by nature and in truth God. They long for righteousness and thirst for a knowledge of the way of the Lord, and they promise to proceed with great enthusiasm in his paths. Who would be the ones to introduce them to it? Clearly the disciples of the Savior, entrusted with the divine...

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