Therefore, let us imitate the piety of Abraham, let us imitate the kindness and purity of Isaac. Truly, the latter husband was kind-hearted, zealous for God and chaste towards his wife, he did not avenge his offenses, but yielded more and gave his love and friendliness to the repentant, avoided quarrels and was easily inclined to forgiveness.

Let us also imitate in James the sign of Christ, that our deeds may be somewhat like his. Jacob obeyed his mother, yielded to his brother, served his father-in-law, and demanded a reward for his labors, not from the flock itself, but from its offspring. The ladder, reaching from earth to heaven, foreshadowed that through Christ's cross angels and men would be united. He injured the composition of Jacob's thigh when he wrestled with Him (Genesis 32:25), so that he might know his heir, and the injury of the hip would foreshadow the misfortune and suffering of the same heir.

Why is heaven open to virtue? Many, it is written, will come from the east and the west, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 8:11), enjoying eternal rest without any confusion of soul. Let us follow Abraham with our rights, so that he may receive us into his bosom, like Lazarus, adorned with meekness and other virtues. We can be heirs of the holy forefather not in body, but in our good deeds. The Apostle says: Do not be deceived: God is not mocked.

From this we see what a great sacrilege it is not to believe in the resurrection, for if we are not resurrected, it follows that Christ died in vain, consequently, Christ did not rise from the dead, if He did not rise for us, then, consequently, He never rose again, having no need of resurrection. The world was resurrected in Him, the heavens were resurrected, the earth was resurrected. For the heavens shall be new, and the earth shall be new. Was the resurrection necessary for Him Himself, when mortal bonds did not hold Him? Although He died as a man, He was free in hell itself.

Do you want to know how free you are? For the Lord knows, it is written, the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 86:6.) And of course, He was free Who could raise Himself up, as it is written: destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days. (John 2:19.) Of course, he who descended to redeem others is free. Having become like a man, not a species, but a truth, and who can know this man? But He humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant, becoming like men, and becoming like a man in appearance; humbled Himself, being obedient even unto death, even the death of the cross; (Phil 2:7–8.) so that through this obedience we may see His glory, the glory as the Only-begotten of the Father. (John 1:14.) And this is said so that in Christ both the glory of the only-begotten and the nature of the perfect man may be observed.

Thus, the creator of light did not require a helper in redemption. Not a messenger or a messenger, but the Lord Himself will save Him. For He spoke, and it was done; (Psalm 32:9.) The Lord Himself saved Him: who is His helper, when all things stand by Him? (Col. 1:17.) Who is His helper, when He does all things in the twinkling of an eye and raises the dead at the last trumpet? It is written at the last trumpet, and not at the first, second or third, and this is in order to preserve order.

It is time for us to mention the kind of trumpets; for our word is already coming to an end, so that the sign of this end may also be the trumpet. St. John in his Apocalypse mentions seven trumpets taken by seven angels. And the seventh angel sounded, and loud voices were heard in heaven, saying, The kingdom of peace has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and shall reign forever and ever. (Revelation 11:13.) The trumpet is also taken for a voice, for it is written: After these things I looked, and behold, the door was opened in heaven, and the former voice, which I heard as the sound of a trumpet, speaking to me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this." (Revelation 4:1.) We also read: Blow the trumpet on the New Moon. (Psalm 80:4.) And in another place: Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet. (Psalm 150:3)

What the above-mentioned trumpets mean, we must take into our consideration, not considering it as a fable unworthy of scripture. For when we read: because our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but... against spiritual wickedness in high places, (Ephesians 6:12), then the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty by God to destroy strongholds. (2 Corinthians 10:4.) It is not enough to see the trumpet and hear its voice, but it is necessary to know the quality of the sound. For if the voice of the trumpet is unknown, how can anyone prepare himself for war? Why should we know the power and quality of the trumpet, so that we may not appear coarse and unskilful when we hear the trumpet's voice? And for this we must pray that the Holy Spirit Himself will interpret them to us.

From the ancient scriptures, which mention the kind of trumpets, we see that the festivals prescribed for the Jews by the law are a shadow of the supreme and heavenly triumph. For here is the shadow, and there is the truth: but through the shadow we will try to reach the truth. In the books of Leviticus it is written: And the Lord said to Moses, saying, Say to the children of Israel, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have rest, the feast of trumpets, and the holy convocation shall be with you. Do not work any work, and offer sacrifice to the Lord. (Lev 23:23-25.)

(Num. 10:1–10.)

Shall we honor the feasts, spending them in eating and drinking? But let no one condemn us for food: the law is spiritual, and I am carnal. (Romans 7:14) Let no one condemn you for eating, or drinking, or for any feast, or New Moon, or Sabbath: this is the shadow of things to come, and the body is in Christ (Col. 2:16,17), which the Father's voice from heaven showed us, as it were, in the last trumpet, when the Jews cried out, "This is thunder; (John 12:29) The body of Christ, which, on the other hand, will appear to us at the last trumpet: for the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:16.) Where there is a carcass, there will the eagles be gathered, (Lk 17:37), where the body of Christ is, there is the truth.

The seventh trumpet signifies the rest of the seven, which is not only counted in days and years and also periods, but also includes the seventieth year, when the people of Israel returned to Jerusalem, having been in captivity for seventy years. In hundreds and thousands, too, the sacred number is not omitted; for it was not in vain that God said, I have left seven thousand men among Israel; all these knees did not bow before Baal, and all these lips did not kiss him. (1 Kings 19:18.) Wherefore the shadow of future rest in days, months, and years is represented by the time of the world itself, and for this purpose it is commanded through Moses to the children of Israel, that in the seventh month, on one day, each one should rest in remembrance of the trumpets, and then, without sending any work, they should offer sacrifice to God, because at the very end of the seven, as on the Sabbath of the world, spiritual grandfathers are required, and not carnal. For the carnal is subject to slavery, because the flesh serves the spirit, chastity creates free, and guilt the slave.

Thus, spiritual things had to be through a mirror and in divination, as the Apostle says: now we see as through a glass darkly, divinationly, and at the same time, facing the linden; (1 Corinthians 13:12.) now we are fighting in the flesh, then in spirit we will behold the Divine mysteries. And therefore let the mark of the true law be depicted in our manners, as we walk in the image of God: for the shadow of the law has already come, the shadow to the Jews of the flesh, the image to us, and the truth to those who are to be resurrected. These three things, that is, the shadow, the image, and the truth, we have come to know according to the law: the shadow is in the law, the image is in the Gospel, and the truth is in judgment. But the whole essence is Christ's, and everything is in Christ, Whom we cannot truly behold now, but see Him as in a kind of image of the future, the shadow of which we have come to know in the law, why Christ is not a shadow, but the image of God, not an empty image, but the truth. And for this reason the law was given through Moses (1 John 1:17), for the shadow is through man, the image through the law, the truth through Jesus. Because truth comes from truth.

Whoever desires to see this image of God must love God, and God Himself will love him, and he will not be a slave, but a friend who does the will of the Lord, and will be able to enter the cloud where the Lord Himself is. Let him make for himself two trumpets of silver, that is, adorned with an invaluable word, from which there would come not a terrible sound, but unceasing gratitude to the supreme God. For by the sound of such trumpets the dead are stirred, enlivened not by the sound of brass, but by the word of truth. And perhaps these two trumpets are those through which St. Paul cried out by the Divine Spirit, saying: I will pray with the spirit, I will pray with the mind; I will sing with my spirit, I will sing with my mind. (1 Corinthians 14-15.) For the one cannot be perfect without the other.