Trumpet the word; flee into the walled city
'Signal with a trumpet upon the earth.' (Numbers 10:2–3) The lofty word—the one that wakes the hearer, that prepares him for the fight against the passions and against the activities of opposing powers, that prepares him for the heavenly festivals (for it is said with a view to both)—is taken as a trumpet.
In Numbers such a word is a trumpet. For example, the word commands me—and anyone else to whom it is given who wills and has sought the mind of the Scriptures—to make 'silver trumpets, hammered work.' So the word says: 'Signal with a trumpet upon the earth, and cry aloud; say: Gather yourselves and let us enter the walled cities.' (Jeremiah 4:7) The word of God does not want us to enter an unwalled city, but into the church of the living God, walled by the strength of the Word—for he is the wall. In the seventeenth Psalm it also lies that God is a wall. 'Taking it up, flee into Zion.' As many of you as are outside Zion, 'taking it up, flee into Zion; hurry, do not stand still.' (Psalm 9:11 (LXX)) You who are in progress, hurry to the Lookout, 'for I am bringing evils from the north and a great crushing' (Psalm 139:12 (LXX))—evils brought 'from the north'—from the opposing one, the north, as has often been said. Whoever is found not hurrying and not entering 'into the walled cities,' not becoming 'in the churches of God,' but standing outside, will himself be caught by the enemies and destroyed. Who is the enemy? Let us see from what follows how it is said: 'A lion has gone up from his den; destroying nations he has carried them off.' This is the enemy we must flee. A lion pursues us. Who is this? Peter teaches, saying: 'Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may swallow (1 Peter 5:8); resist him, firm in the faith.' And according to the ninth Psalm he 'lies in wait in secret; he lies in wait like a lion in his den.' And this lion does not lie in wait by day, but when night has come. For according to the hundred-and-third Psalm: 'You set darkness, and it became night. In it all the beasts of the wood will pass through, young lions roaring to snatch and to seek from God food for themselves.'
Greek
«σημάνατε σάλπιγγι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. ὁ λόγος ὁ ὑψηλός, ὁ διεγείρων τὸν ἀκροατήν, ὁ παρασκευάζων αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν < τὸν κατὰ τῶν παθῶν, εἰς τὸν >τὸν κατὰ τῶν ἐνεργειῶν τῶν ἀντικειμένων, ὁ παρασκευάζων αὐτὸν εἰς τὰς ἑορτὰς τὰς οὐρανίους εἰς ἀμφότερα γὰρ ταῦτα λέγεται) παραλαμβάνεται σάλπιγξ.
ἐν τοῖς Ἀριθμοῖς ὁ τοιοῦτος λόγος σάλ- πιγξ ἐστίν· οἷον ἐμοὶ κελεύει ὁ λόγος καὶ εἴ τινι ἄλλῳ δέδοται δὲ τῷ βουλομένῳ καὶ ζητήσαντι τὸν νοῦν τῶν γραφῶν) κελεύει ποιῆσαι «σάλπιγγας ἀργυρᾶς ἐλατάς. οὕτω φησὶν ὁ λόγος· «σημάνατε σάλπιγγι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ κεκράξατε μέγα· εἴπατε· συνάχθητε καὶ εἰσέλθωμεν εἰς τὰς πόλεις τὰς τειχήρεις. εἰς ἀτείχιστον πόλιν οὐ βούλεται ἡμᾶς εἰσελθεῖν ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλ’ εἰς ἡ ἐκκλησία τοῦ ζῶντος < τετειχισμένη ὑπὸ τῆς < τοῦ λόγου οὗτος γάρ ἐστιν τὸ τεῖχος) † ἐν τῷ ἑπτακαιδεκάτῳ κεῖται Ψαλμῷ, ὅτι καὶ τεῖχός ἐστιν ὁ θεός. «Ἀναλαβόντες φεύγετε εἰς Σιών«· ὅσοι ἐστὲ ἔξω τῆς Σιών, «ἀναλαβόντες φεύγετε εἰς Σιών· σπεύσατε, μὴ στῆτε«, οἱ ἐν τῇ προκοπῇ σπεύσατε ἐπὶ τὸ Σκοπευτήριον, «ὅτι κακὰ ἐγὼ ἐπάγω ἀπὸ βορρᾶ καὶ συντριβὴν μεγάλην«· τῶν ἐπαγομένων κακῶν «ἀπὸ βορρᾶ«, βορρᾶ τοῦ ἀντικειμένου, ὡς πολλάκις λέλεκται, ὃς ἐὰν εὑρεθῇ μὴ σπεύσας μηδὲ εἰσελθὼν « εἰς τὰς πόλεις τὰς τειχήρεις«, μὴ γενόμενος ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τοῦ θεοῦ«, ἀλλ᾿ ἔξω ἑστηκώς, αὐτὸς ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων καταληφθεὶς ἀναιρεθήσεται. τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ πολέμιος; ἴδωμεν ἐκ τῶν ἑξῆς τίνα τρόπον λέγεται· «ἀνέβη λέων ἐκ τῆς μάνδρας αὐτοῦ, ἐξολοθρεύων ἔθνη ἐξῆρεν. οὑτός ἐστιν ὁ πολέμιος, ὃν δεῖ ἡμᾶς φυγεῖν. λέων ἡμᾶς καταδιώκει. τίς οὑτος; Πέτρος Πέτρος διδάσκει λέγων· «ὁ ἀντίδικος ὑμῶν διάβολος ὡς λέων ὠρυόμενος περιπατεῖ ζητῶν τίνα καταπίῃ· ᾧ ἀντίστητε στερεοὶ τῇ πίστει«· καὶ κατὰ τὸν ἔνατον Ψαλμὸν «ἐνεδρεύει ἐν ἀποκρύφῳ, ἐνεδρεύει ὡς λέων ἐν τῇ μάνδρᾳ αὐτοῦ. καὶ ἐνεδρεύει οὑτος ὁ λέων οὐχ ἡμέρας, ἀλλ’ ἐπὰν γένηται νύξ· κατὰ γὰρ τὸν ἑκατοστὸν τρίτον Ψαλμόν· «ἒθου σκότος καὶ ἐγένετο νύξ. έν αὐτῇ διελεύσονται πάντα τὰ θηρία τοῦ δρυμοῦ, σκύμνοι ὠρυόμενοι ἁρπάσαι καὶ ζητῆσαι παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ βρῶσιν αὐτοῖς.