6. A second sign. And ye shall hear
of wars and rumours of wars Matt. xxiv. 6. The war with Sapor II.,
King of Persia, which broke out immediately on the death of
Constantine, and continued throughout the reign of Constantius, was
raging fiercely at the date of these Lectures, the great battle of
Singara being fought in the year 348 a.d.. Is
there then at this time war between Persians and Romans for
Mesopotamia, or no? Does nation rise up against nation and
kingdom against kingdom, or no? And there shall be famines and
pestilences and
earthquakes in divers places. These things have already
come to pass; and again, And fearful sights from heaven, and mighty
storms Luke xxi. 11. Jerome in the Chronicon
mentions a great earthquake in 346 a.d.,
by which Dyrrachium was destroyed, and Rome and other cities of Italy
greatly injured (Ben. Ed.).
Cyril substitutes χειμῶνες for
σημεῖα, the better reading
in Luke xxi. 11.. Watch
therefore, He says; for ye know not at what hour your Lord doth
come Matt. xxiv. 42..