The Antichrist and the Second Advent

Appendix

We have placed in appendix a text attributed to St. Ephraim the Syrian, translated by M. F. Toal and included in volume iv, pp. 352 ff. of Sunday Sermons of the Fathers. The reason for this decision is the many details concerning Antichrist and the last events which do not concur with the body of patristic writings and their spirit, presented so far. As such, the work cannot be used as basis of eschatology. Analysis and comments on this passage are not provided since its authencity and accuracy were not examined.

ST. EPHRAIM THE SYRIAN (~373)
Antichrist and the End and Consummation

In the last days Agog and Magog shall burst forth and come from the land, and Agog and Magog shall ascend to the mountain of Jerusalem, to place their camp there. And their flying horsemen shall descend into Egypt, and against the Indians. They shall seize an infinite body of men, of riches, of cattle and sheep, for food for themselves.

Then Divine Justice shall call upon Michael, the leader of the Hosts, and send him to destroy their camps; as the camps of Sennacherib. At the command, and with his mighty and terrible sword, the Angel shall go forth and destroy their armies in the twinkling of an eye, and in the same moment the Divine Justice, thundering from on high, shall destroy their camps with rocks of fire. Their slain shall lie upon the ground, innumerable as the sands. Beasts and men shall die, and the whole camp shall perish, and flame shall be set loose against the sea and against the islands. The bow of Agog, the evil king, shall fall from his left hand, and the arrows from his right (Ez. xxxix:3; and his camp shall be wholly destroyed.

Then the Lord from His glorious heaven shall set up His peace. And the kingdom of the Romans shall rise in place of this latter people, and establish its dominion upon the earth, even to its end, and there shall be no one who will resist it. After iniquity shall have multiplied, and all creatures have become defiled, then Divine Justice shall appear, and shall wholly destroy the people and, coming forth from perdition, the man of iniquity shall be revealed upon the earth, the Seducer of men, and Disturber of the whole earth.

In that day in which 'the son of perdition' shall come upon the earth, there shall be great confusion throughout the whole world, and bewilderment shall come upon the earth. The sun shall be darkened, and the stars shall fall from heaven. All the heavenly bodies shall be extinguished, and darkness envelop the world. The earth shall tremble to its foundations; "the mountains shall be moved and the hills shall tremble" Is. liv:10. Springs and fountains shall dry up; the waves shall be swallowed in the depths of the sea, and fish shall disappear. Rulers shall cease from judgment, and priests tremble in the sanctuary. The power of the strong shall collapse. There shall be stupor upon the earth; the hands of all shall be undone. The man of evil prepare, and coming he will enter Jerusalem; he will build up and establish Sion, and will make himself God, and entering he will sit in the temple, as the Apostle has written (2 Thess. ii:4): "as if he were God".

The Jews will glory in him, and will assemble to join him. He will blaspheme, declaring: 'I am the Father and the Son, the first and the last, and there is no God but me.' In that moment ten thousand Jews shall deny him, and shall answer him: 'Thou art "the Seducer" of the world' 2 John:7. For He Whom our fathers fastened to a cross on Golgotha, He has saved creatures, and has ascended to Him Who sent Him.' And raging in fury, the Evil One will command that those who deny him shall be instantly slain by the sword. And because of this all shall fear to deny him.

Then he will begin to show false signs in the heavens and upon the earth, upon the sea and upon the dry land. He will summon the rain, and it will descend. He will command the seed, and the seed will germinate. This he will do, not in reality, but by enchantments. He will rebuke the waves, and they will become quiet; the winds, and they will obey him. He will cause fruit to hang from the trees, and bring forth water from the earth. He will speak with lepers, and they will be purified; the blind, and they will see; he will call the deaf, and they will hear; the dumb, and they will speak. He will do all the signs our Lord wrought in the world. But he shall not raise the dead; for he has no power over spirits.

The lightnings will be his servants, and will give a sign of his coming. Demons will be his forces; the princes of the demons his disciples. He will send the leaders of his forces into far distant regions, and will give them power and healing, and they will seduce the whole world. And the Apostle has written and warned us in his Epistle to the Thessalonians: "Be not terrified, neither by spirit,nor by word, because this is not from us; for there shall first come a revolt, and the man of sin will be revealed, and he will be lifted up, and he will show himself as if he were God, and make himself God" 2 Thess. ii:2-4.

But when the Accursed has come and has worked signs and wonders, the people will be assembled together and they will come to see the god, and multitudes will adhere to him, and all will deny their God, and all will call upon those who are close to them to praise "the son of perdition"; and they will fall upon one another and destroy one another with swords. But the elect shall fly from his face to the mountain tops and the hills, and there shall be tribulation on earth, "such as bath not been from the beginning of the world" Matt. xxiv:21. And terror shall invade the hearts of all men, thrown into confusion by this commotion. Sons will deny their fathers, and follow the Evil One. Priests will leave their altars, and going forth become his heralds. Some will take refuge in tombs and hide among the dead, saying that the dead are blessed in being snatched away from such afflictions: 'Blessed are ye that lie in your graves, taken away from affliction. But woe to us! For lo! we now die, and the birds will bury us.' And unless the days of this time are shortened, neither shall the elect survive these trials and tribulations, as God made known to us in the Gospel, saying: "For the sake of the elect these days shall be shortened" Matt. xxiv:22.

And when the son of perdition has drawn to his purpose the whole world, Enoch and Elias shall be sent that they may confute the Evil One; by a question filled with mildness. Coming to him, these holy men, that they may expose "the son of perdition" before the multitudes round him, they will say: 'if you are God, show us what we now ask of you. In what place do the men of old, Enoch and Elias, lie hidden?' Then the Evil One will at once answer the holy men: 'if I wish to seek for them in heaven, in the depths of the sea, every abode lies open to me. There is no other God but me; and I can do all things in heaven and earth.'

They shall answer the son of perdition: ' if you are God, call the dead, and they will rise up. For it is written in the books of the Prophets, and also by the Apostles, that Christ, when He shall appear, will raise the dead from their tombs. If you do not show us this, we shall conclude that He Who was crucified is greater than you; for He raised the dead, and was Himself raised to heaven in great glory.' In that moment the Evil One, angered against the Saints, seizing the sword, the most Abominable will sever the necks of the just men.

Then leaping up, Gabriel and Michael, the leaders of the heavenly hosts shall descend and restore the Saints to life. The Evil One, together with all his followers shall be humiliated. The angels approaching shall seize the Accursed, and in the same moment the Lord shall command from His heavens, and He shall overthrow the Accursed and all his forces and on the instant the Angels shall thrust them down to Ghenna. And all who believed in him shall be thrust down amid the flames. Then the Lord shall descend from on high, amid the fearful glory of the Angels, and His chariot shall halt between heaven and earth. He shall speak to the sea and it shall dry up, and the fish shall die in the midst of it. The heavens and the earth shall be dissolved, and become darkness and gloom. The Lord shall send fire upon the earth, continuing for forty days, and shall purify it from iniquity, and from the pollution of sin.

A throne shall be prepared, and the Son shall sit upon the right hand, and twelve seats shall be placed for the Twelve Apostles; dwellings adorned for the Martyrs, and a palace for the Saints. The Angels shall sound their trumpets, and the dead shall rise from their graves. And in a moment the Angels shall gather together all the children of Adam, and they shall bring the wheat into the barn, but the chaff they shall cast into fire; the good shall enter into the Kingdom, and the evil shall dwell in Gehenna. The just shall fly to heaven, and sinners shall be burned with fire. the martyrs shall fly to the Bridal chambers, and the evil shall go out into darkness. But Christ shall reign forever, and He shall be King unto generation of generations. To Him be glory; and upon us be His mercy, for all time. Amen.