Commentary on Isaiah 1 part 16/23

But to those who trust in the Lord and do not subject the simplicity of the proclamation to logical demonstrations, nor put the truth to the test through signs, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

"Then those who seal up the law so as not to learn will be made manifest."

"I will wait for God, who has turned his face away from the house of Jacob, and I will put my trust in him."

The passage depends upon the sequence of what has gone before.

"Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel," which, being interpreted, is "God with us."

Then he directs his word toward those who do not accept what is proclaimed by Emmanuel, but who shrink from the toil of what he has ordained.

"Then," (he says), "those who seal up the law so as not to learn will be made manifest."

For as the word of teaching is sown among all, some raise up their own hearts to receive the teachings;

and these are like fruitful earth — those who receive the word, root it deeply, and are not choked by thorns, nor leave it unguarded so as to be easily plundered by the devil, but bear fruit thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.

But there are also those who shut their souls entirely against receiving the word, and who, as it were, bind and seal themselves up so that the word of truth may not enter in.

Those are said to be "sealed" who have made themselves like the form of the adversary and will not allow Christ to be formed in them — those who have falsified the image of the heavenly one and delight only in the image of the man of dust.

The law has been sealed by its obscurity, and by not being readily grasped by ordinary people, on account of the discipline necessarily required for the study of the law.

So then, one who does not devote himself to study, nor desires to loose the bond of ignorance, is said to seal the law — a law that will be made manifest on the day of revelation.

"For those who seal the law so as not to learn will be made manifest."

How, then, do the Jews seal the law — those of whom it has been said, "You have taken away the keys, and you yourselves do not enter, and you hinder those who are able to enter"? He seals the law so as not to learn who, under the pretext of observing the letter, does not disclose the mysteries hidden in its depths. And consider what he next says — is it not directly the voice of the Jews?

"I will wait for God, who has turned his face away from the house of Jacob —"

"I do not accept Emmanuel;

even though I am now forsaken, yet I will one day await the visitation of God, who has turned his face away from the house of Jacob."

"Behold, I and the children whom God has given me."

"And there shall be signs and wonders in the house of Jacob, from the Lord Sabaoth, who dwells on Mount Zion."

After the disobedient have been rebuked, then thereafter the Lord himself speaks in his own person.

"Those," (he says), "disobey the mighty hand and the way in which this people walks, and they merely pretend to await the Lord, who has turned his face away from the house of Jacob.

But I take to myself those who have believed in me, who have just now been regenerated, laying aside the old man and putting on the new — like newborn children, gentle in manner and innocent of evil, now weaned from elementary teachings and advancing toward the more perfect food of the mysteries. These I embrace, cherishing them in the bosom of my compassion, and present to the Father."

That these words are spoken in the person of Christ, no one who remembers the Epistle to the Hebrews will dispute.

"For it was fitting," (he says), "that he, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings."

"I will declare your name to my brothers."

"Behold, I and the children whom God has given me."

"And there shall be," (he says), "signs and wonders in the house of Jacob."

Through these children who have been regenerated by Christ, mighty signs and wonders shall be accomplished in the house of Jacob.

The Apostles were children, being infants with respect to malice;

who, speaking first in tongues — unlettered men and Galileans — made manifest to all the coming of the Spirit, the distribution of gifts that came upon them, and the division of tongues.

Then there was a well-known sign: the lame man sitting at the Beautiful Gate, who, through the invocation of the name of Christ by Peter and John, had his feet made whole, his ankles being made firm.

In this the ancient prophecy was also fulfilled, that: "Then shall the lame man leap as a deer."

A sign was the iron gates of the prison, which opened of their own accord at Peter's departure, the chains being loosed, and whatever else came to pass through the Apostles for the manifestation of the divinity of the Only-Begotten.

But all these signs and wonders are from God Sabaoth, who dwells on Mount Zion.

It is fitting to understand "God Sabaoth" as meaning the God of hosts.

And who else is the Lord of hosts, than he who is called the commander-in-chief of the power of God, from whom the signs are given to the children? That those who have believed in Christ are children is clear also from the Lord's having said (concerning those who praise him and say):

"Hosanna in the highest," to the Jews who said to him:

"Do you not hear what these are saying?" — "Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have perfected praise."

For there he called "infants" those who cut the palm branches and spread their garments in the way, and who cried out and glorified him.

"I confess to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and have revealed them to infants" — calling "infants" those who have been discipled by the word and, through the Spirit, deemed worthy of the revelation of the mysteries.

"Behold, then, I and the children" — he shows his own chosen ones, because "God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame the wise."

Everyone, therefore, who has put off the old man, which is being corrupted according to the desires of deceit, and has put on the new man, which is being renewed according to the image of him who created him, is a child according to the mystery of Christ.

And if they say to you:

"Seek out the mediums and those who speak from the earth, who babble vain things, who speak out of the belly — shall not a nation seek out its God? Why do they seek out the dead concerning the living?" For he gave the law for a help, that they might say:

"Not according to this word, concerning which there are no gifts to be given for it."

"And harsh famine shall come upon you; and it shall be, that when you are hungry,"

"you shall be grieved and shall speak evil of the ruler and of your ancestral customs."

"And they shall look up to heaven above, and shall look down to the earth below."

"And behold, narrow distress and darkness, affliction and anguish, and darkness, so that they cannot see."

"And he who is in anguish shall not be at a loss, until the appointed time."

Those who do not accept the word of the Gospel, who despise the preaching as foolishness, and who are scandalized by the cross — when we advise them to return to true knowledge, they counter with the exhortations of their own error, saying:

"Seek not the Lord, but the mediums, and those who speak from the earth, who babble vain things."

And of this, experience is witness.

For those who are devoted to idols, giving heed to dreams and omens and the divinations of demons, themselves despise the truth and counsel us to seek out such things.

presenting certain apparitions, either offering counsel concerning a bodily ailment, or foretelling the future.

With regard to the ailments of the body, because they are more perceptive concerning the properties of material things, and have observed the qualities of herbs, and what from them is suitable for the ailments,

but concerning future things, they often foretell things that have already happened but are not yet known to us, announcing them to us as things that are about to happen.

For example, if someone, having heard from us of someone's arrival, should announce this to one who is expecting it as something about to happen, hunting by deception for the reputation of seeming to be a prophet.

Thus also the demons have often announced things already determined, things made public by the decree of God, to those who are readily disposed to be deceived.

As also the medium announced to Saul, through the demons, the defeat that was about to come.

The nations, then, often urge us toward the deceptions that come from demons, saying:

"Seek out the mediums, those who speak from the earth."

For they do not even dare to say that their words are from the heavens.

As also that woman in the book of Kingdoms, speaking with Saul, said, "I see gods coming up out of the earth."

For such is the device of the mediums:

they promise to bring up the souls of the dead to disclose the things being sought;

then he adds his own judgment, which he holds concerning such devices, and declares them to be idle talkers, saying:

"Those who babble vain things, who speak out of the belly" — that is, uttering things from their own will.

For he does not speak having been taught by another, but having fabricated the lie in his own heart, guessing at the wishes of the onlookers, he says what serves him for the deception of the foolish.

Or perhaps they "speak out of the belly" in the sense of "those whose god is the belly," who transact everything for the sake of the pleasure found in eating and drinking.

So that one would not err in calling "mediums" and "those who speak out of the belly" those who fashion their teaching for the sake of filling their stomach, and who clothe themselves with the outward form of piety;

who, because they do not utter their words out of genuine disposition, speak vain things.

For he who does not practice, and yet teaches, is untrustworthy as regards benefit.

The saying "Shall not a nation seek out its God?" is of this sort: that each nation brings to its own god the inquiry concerning whatever it wishes to learn.

And the reading must be construed interrogatively, for the clarity of the saying:

"Shall not a nation seek out its God?" — so that those outside our worship also bring their inquiries, in accordance with the gods whom they have supposed to be gods.

For having assumed dead gods, they inquire of them concerning the living.

By "dead" he means either the lifeless idols — stones and wood, and bronze and gold —

or by "dead" he means those who, through apostasy, have cast away true life.

Or perhaps also the whole business of the so-called mediums revolves around tombs, and from there it derives the power of its sorcery.

Then, being greatly displeased at the folly of the idolaters, the text says:

"Why do they seek out the dead concerning the living?" Why do you, a living being, worship the stone? Why do you, a rational being, question the mute thing? Do you, on behalf of your living child, entreat that which has no life, which is deprived of life, which has no breath? Even if you go off to an oracle, even if you devise purification rites, you have gone off to the dead — to those who have themselves lost life, and who are about to work death in you through disobedience.

He has given the law for a help, that they might say:

"Not according to this word, concerning which there are no gifts to be given for it."

Do not busy yourself with the future, but order the present things toward what is useful.

For what benefit is there in your acquiring knowledge beforehand? If what is to come will be good, it will come, even if you do not foreknow it;

what gain is it for you to spend it beforehand in grief? You received the law for a help.

Great indeed was the natural aptitude for the good inherent in you, but God, in perfecting this, also added to you the guidance that comes from the law.

Do you wish to be assured concerning the future? Do the things ordained by the law, and await the enjoyment of good things.

"Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you, and that you may be long-lived upon the land which the Lord your God gives you."

Do you desire good things? Do the things ordained.

Do not ask the diviner concerning health, but submit to the physician, who prescribes what leads to health — of which you yourself are in control.

Why are you taught by another? No diviner grants immortality, no one leads up to heaven;

no one presents you before the Judge with boldness, but the law and the precise keeping of it do;

keeping which, do not busy yourself with the future, but await the recompense.

He gave the law, then, for a help, that they might say:

"Not according to this word, concerning which there are no gifts to be given for it."

But this law is not like this word of the medium.

For it has not been devised for deception, as those things were, but is a teacher of truth.

And those mediums divine for silver;

for this is the ridiculous thing: that those who are deceived even pay them silver, as wages for the lie.

But this word, that is, the word of the law, is not such that gifts should be given for it.

For no one sells the grace of God;

You see how Peter was indignant at Simon, who offered silver for the grace of the Spirit:

"May your silver," he says, "perish with you, because you thought to acquire the gift of God through money."

The word of the Gospel is not, then, like the words sold by ventriloquists.

"What shall I render to the Lord for all that he has rendered to me?" There are, then, no gifts one could give for this that would be worthy of the grace that comes from him.

One gift is worthy: the safekeeping of what has been given.

He who gave you the treasure does not demand payment for what was given, but a safekeeping worthy of what has been given.

"And a harsh famine shall come upon you" (he says), "and it shall be that when you hunger,"

"you shall be grieved and you shall speak evil of the ruler and of the ancestral customs."

The Lord, who orders all things toward salvation, sometimes also brings on famine for the benefit of those under discipline.

"For I afflicted you" (he says) "and made you suffer hunger, that I might do you good."

By "harsh famine," then, he means the inconsolable, the inconceivable famine.

Some famines occur only through a lack of grain;

but others occur also through the scarcity of the rest of the things that can be eaten.

For this is the harsh famine which the word promises to bring, so that through the deprivation it might produce grief, being able to work out a salvation not to be repented of.

But when they are grieved according to God, then they will speak evil of the ruler and the ancestral customs.

Who is the ruler who is spoken evil of by those who grieve rightly? Clearly it is the ruler of this world, whom they will speak evil of out of repentance, when they come to a perception of the harm done by him.

And they also speak evil of the ancestral customs.

The "ancestral customs" of those living in sins are the affairs of life, in which all lovers of glory are entangled.

"Ancestral" for the sinner are the works of the flesh (adultery, fornication, uncleanness;

licentiousness, idolatry, passion);

"Ancestral" is deceit and falsehood, plots and knavery and hypocrisies.

He, then, who has become sober again, as if from a certain drunkenness, from the affairs of the world, will speak evil of his ruler, who led him toward the works of destruction,

and he will speak evil also of the ancestral customs, by living together with which he was not receiving the law given to us by God for our help.

You cannot come under the true King, unless you speak evil of the ruler.

This is the evil-speaking against the ruler.

These ancestral things are the works of the devil.

Blessed is he who has genuinely spoken evil of the ruler.

For thereafter he comes forward to the true one and is enlightened.

Blessed is he who has found fault with the customs of old;

for he will find as his fatherland the Jerusalem above, which is the mother of those like the blessed Paul.

"Ancestral" also refers to the evil customs handed down to us from our fathers.

Did your father leave you possessions gained through greed? Give them back to the one who was wronged.

Then what does he say? "And they shall look up to heaven above, and they shall look down upon the earth below."

"And behold, dire distress and darkness, so that they cannot see."

"And he who is in distress shall not be at a loss, until the time."

Concerning these, he speaks—those who through their distress have been led to a change of mind—saying that they shall look up to heaven above.

Those who formerly stooped down, unable to comprehend the lofty matters of divine contemplation, these, as if loosed from a certain bond—their attachment to earthly things—will turn their gaze freely toward heaven, beholding the nature of the invisible and intelligible realities, and understanding the place where they must lay up their treasure.

Then, "they shall look down upon the earth below."

Those who until now were exalted and thought highly of themselves will, through their kinship with the earth, come to understand the meanness of their own nature.

Marvel, then, how carefully Scripture has used its words, having devised an expression fitting to each matter.

For heaven is set before us for contemplation, and so is earth.

Concerning heaven, then, he says:

"They shall look up to heaven above";

but concerning the earth, "They shall look down upon the earth below."

Then, at the wonder of comprehending such great things, they will be at a loss, and will be distressed and darkened in mind, the astonishment at what has been grasped producing in them this great disturbance.

"For when a man has finished" (he says), "then he begins;"

"and when he ceases, then he will be at a loss."

No one knows how much he does not know, unless he has tasted of knowledge.

"For he who is in distress" (he says) "shall not be at a loss, until the time."

This ignorance shall not hold the human race in its grip entirely;

but he who now seeks out its truth, and travails in labor for its discovery, will one day see face to face and will receive the perfection of knowledge, when the time of the restoration of all things has come.

For this is the meaning of "until the time."

CHAPTER 9. "Drink this first;"

"act quickly, land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, and the rest, those along the coast, and beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations."

"The people who walk in darkness, behold a great light;"

"you who dwell in a land and shadow of death, light shall shine upon you."

"The greater part of the people, whom you brought down in your gladness;"

"and they shall rejoice before you, as those who rejoice at the harvest, and as those who divide the spoils;"

"because the yoke that lay upon them has been taken away, and the rod that was upon their neck."

For he has shattered the rod of their exactors, as on the day of Midian.

"For every garment gathered together by deceit, and every cloak, they shall repay with restitution;"

"and they shall wish that they had been burned with fire."

"For a child is born to us, a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder, and his name is called Messenger of Great Counsel."

"For I will bring peace upon the rulers, peace and health to him."

"The zeal of the Lord of Sabaoth shall accomplish this."

The word, about to proclaim the good news of the Lord's incarnation, as though extending a certain invitation to spiritual gladness, thus welcomes the one who receives the good news;

He who drinks first receives the drink into himself, welcoming it with desire.

For then especially is the grace from it naturally imparted, when one, not feeling sick nor spitting it out, but on account of extreme dryness longing for the comfort that comes from the drink, thoroughly moistens himself with the moisture of what was drunk.

Receive gladness into your soul; deposit within yourself the doctrine of salvation.

Do not consider it second to anything else, nor think anything else more to be preferred than this.

Nothing can be conceived by you as prior to your Creator, nor anything by nature more honorable than the Firstborn of all creation.

Learn that in the beginning was the Word.

Nothing exists before the beginning, nothing before that which is "in the beginning."

Do not swallow down beforehand any age, any interval, any place empty of the Son's existence;

nor any of those vain notions of imagination that can arise in the soul.

Drink this first; do it quickly.

Do not come to the acceptance of the work slackly, nor sluggishly, nor without zeal, nor languidly, but vigorously and with haste;

at once he drank the faith, and deferred no time before the preaching;

he who indeed did not confer with flesh and blood, but immediately, like some runner, at once took the starting signal of the race, and hastened toward the finish, pursuing according to the mark, unto the prize of the high calling.

The Prophet directs his words to the same people among whom the Lord sojourned, who formerly, walking in the darkness of ignorance, at the rising of the true Light — which enlightens every man coming into the world — saw a great light.

And let no one suppose that Matthew's words are at variance with the prophetic saying, seeing that the one said:

"The people who sat in darkness," while Isaiah appears to have said:

For to walk in darkness and to sit are of equal force, because both alike fall short of the appointed end;

the one not moving at all, the other wandering about aimlessly.

For he who walks without a goal advances nowhere, and he who is fettered in idleness does not reach the end.

This people, then, darkened by the ignorance of the gentiles, saw a light — not such as that from fire, nor such as that from the stars or the moon, nor such as the light of the sun or of lightning;

but a great light, which shines both upon the intelligible and the sensible, which is also present with the Father, and enlightens men, and brightens the Angels, and suffices for all, and still has its own rays extending further, toward what is yet greater.

But in what sort of land did the people of the nations dwell? In one overshadowed by death.

For, as it were, a deep cloud lay upon them through idolatry, until the light came and cut through the mist, and spread out over them the radiance of truth.

Then the discourse passes to the very person of the Lord.

Saying what? "The greater part of the people, whom You brought down in Your gladness."

For not all received the word, but the greater part followed Him who calls to eternal gladness, who also shall rejoice before God, "as those who rejoice in harvest."

For whatever each one sows, this he shall also reap.

Therefore, in the day of recompense, those who received the word and bore fruit in proportion to what had here been laid down beforehand by them, receiving their rewards from the righteous Judge, shall rejoice "as those who rejoice in harvest," and in the manner of those who divide the spoils.

Those who rejoice in harvest have the beginnings of their gladness from their own labors;

they receive the starting-point of their wealth.

For the yoke lying upon the nations has been taken away; they have shaken off the heavy yoke of him who had subjected them to the slavery of sin and who bent their neck with a rod, so that, having laid the apostolic preaching as a foundation in their soul, they might not stoop to the slavery of sin.

For He scattered the rod of those who exacted tribute, as in the day of Midian.

Do you wish to learn the blows of this rod? Hear him who says:

"My wounds stink and are corrupt."

Consider for me someone held fast by various desires and vehemently intent upon the enjoyment of pleasures;

how he resembles one being beaten with a rod and being led away to sin.

Desire does not relent from inflicting stings and pains upon the licentious man, until it has produced in his soul the wound that comes from sin, leaving behind a stench in the memory of shameful things.

This rod, then, He will scatter, as He scattered the rule and dominion of the Midianites;

of whose history, I suppose, you remember — whether that in Numbers, or that in Judges.

For in Numbers it says:

"They arrayed themselves against Midian, according to what the Lord commanded Moses;"

"and they killed every male, and they killed the kings of Midian together with their slain."

Gideon returned to the camp of Israel and said:

"Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into our hands."

What then is "every garment gathered by deceit, and the mantle, they shall repay with reconciliation"? I think it is said that those who impose the heavy yoke of sin, and crush with a rod, and force men into sin — these shall repay the garment gathered with deceit, and the mantle, together with reconciliation.

Those who have stripped men of their garments and by deceit have exposed them naked of their coverings shall repay together with reconciliation.

For when the common enemy takes us under his own power, he strips from us the garments that put decency upon our unseemly parts.

But the garment of Christians, which covers the unseemliness of our sin, is faith in Christ;

"For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ."

But even before faith in Christ, our enemy was stripping bare our human unseemliness, taking away our thoughts by which our life was adorned, and publishing our nakedness.

Since, then, he stripped us with deceitful devices, he shall repay every garment gathered with deceit, and every mantle, together with reconciliation.

For we not only receive back what had been taken from us, but we are also made better by the addition of the knowledge of Christ.

"For He has clothed me," it says, "with a garment of salvation, and a tunic of gladness."

Every garment, then, gathered with deceit — that is, secretly stolen away — they shall repay together with reconciliation; and they shall wish they had been burned with fire, because "a Child has been born to us."

The evil powers, after the Lord's coming among men, cried out:

"What have we to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here before the time to torment us?" Then they choose rather to be burned with fire than to be condemned by the manifestation of Christ in the flesh.

"For a Child has been born to us, a Son also has been given to us, whose government has come to be upon His shoulder."

"His name is called Angel of Great Counsel."

How many names of the Lord have we already been taught — we heard of them above.

"Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel."

Here his name is called "Angel of Great Counsel."

This is He who made known the great counsel hidden from the ages, which was not made manifest to other generations,

making them fellow heirs and of the same body; for this very thing whose government is upon His shoulder — that is, the kingdom and the power — is in the cross.

"For having been lifted up on the cross, He drew all men to Himself."

"For I will bring peace upon the rulers, peace and health to him."

"Great is His government, and of His peace there is no boundary."

From this it is established that these words are spoken from the Person of the Father.

I think that the mystery of the resurrection is shown through this.

"For since He was crucified out of weakness, yet He lives by the power of God;"

for this reason "health" is said to be brought to Him, with reference to the weakness of the flesh which He took up on our behalf.

"And of His peace there is no boundary."

"Peace," He says, "I give to you;"

"not as the world gives do I give to you."

For if it were of the world, it would have come to an end together with the constitution of the world.

But now, he who has received His peace and kept it unto the age to come shall live together with the good things that come from that peace.

Solomon's peace was bounded by a limited number of recorded years;

But the peace that comes from the Lord extends throughout the whole age, being unbounded and unending.

For all things will be subjected to him, and all will acknowledge his lordship;