Commentary on Isaiah 1 part 4/23

Is it enough, then, for me, having washed and received forgiveness for my former sins, to rest content? Or is there need of something else besides? "Remove your wickednesses from your souls, before my eyes."

And the putting away of wickedness is the work of our own diligence.

But so that we might not, hoping only in the grace that comes from the washing, remain idle with regard to the commandments, for this reason he adds the whole sum of right living:

"Remove your wickednesses from your hearts."

As it were, uproot from the governing faculty the wicked thoughts, so that neither word nor any deed of evil may be begotten of them.

"Before my eyes."

Since many of the things belonging to the earnest life are also practiced by those outside the faith (such as abstinence from the pleasures of intercourse and of foods, and steadiness and imperturbability of character), he was not satisfied to say only:

"Remove your wickednesses," but he added "before my eyes," since no action can be fittingly accomplished unless it comes to be together with piety toward Christ.

Or else, since the Father sees in secret, by "before my eyes" he speaks with reference to the places that are seen by God;

so that we might remove it not only from our deeds, but also from our thoughts.

And this is accomplished through perfect love;

because, according to Paul, "love takes no account of evil."

For the moral teaching is not self-evident, nor is it laid out plainly to all of itself;

if indeed the doing of good is a teachable thing —

that is to say, together with the reasoned account concerning righteousness, you will accomplish the righteous deed.

For just as it is possible to do something of a medical nature, yet not medically, so it is possible to do something just, and yet not justly.

For instance, the use of the herb itself is a medical act;

but to do it medically is when the reasoning has taken into account both the power of the herb and the particular nature of the ailment, and the time, and the measure, and the manner of its use.

For he who acts according to the art will always do the same things, as long as he retains that reasoning;

but he who acts by chance will not always find the beneficial things coinciding with him;

rather, if today it saved, at some time it will also destroy with those same things.

So too the practice of the good, when it is carried out according to knowledge, is rendered consistently, so long as this indwelling reason presides over each of the things that come to pass.

"Everyone who does not learn righteousness upon the earth shall not do truth."

"Seek out judgment" — that is, the judgment of Christ, according to which, in judging us, he renders to us what is fitting to our worth; and if we do not seek this out, nor keep it before our eyes, we are not able to persevere in the doing of good.

For the thought of the things proclaimed to us as fearsome in the judgment is a tutor unto piety.

They will be things examined and judged, with nothing coming to pass without judgment, nor at random.

"For" (it says) "do all things with counsel."

"The thoughts of the righteous are judgments."

It is necessary, therefore, that reason, having obtained the highest place among us as a judge, should judge and examine each matter — both what is to be spoken and what is to be done — and indeed should govern, with careful discernment, both our assents to things and the impulses of the soul.

For this is what Paul says:

"For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged."

Since being wronged is twofold;

for some are wronged in bodily things (as, for instance, in money and the rest of external goods), and others in the soul itself.

And we have been commanded, without qualification, to rescue the one who is wronged.

One must know that we are debtors of greater zeal to those who are harmed in the most vital respects;

with all zeal to recapture those who have been tyrannized by the devil and are held captive by him,

and to bring their thoughts into the obedience of Christ.

One must also endeavour to rescue the weaker from bodily wrongs, whenever, having fallen among the rapacious and the violent, they are swept away as by a torrent of their violence;

and if we are not able to lift them up, let us, by words of consolation, prepare in them endurance of their hardships, sparing nothing that is in our power;

and though we fail of our intended purpose, at least through brotherly love showing forth compassion.

"Judge for the orphan" — because of the contemptibility of his age, it is not easy for orphans to bring to judgment those who wrong them.

"Judge," then, on behalf of the orphans who are deprived of advocates; supply for them from yourselves what is lacking because of their age;

so that you may have the boast of Job:

But perhaps it is more spiritual to set forth the sense of the text;

since God is called Father of those who have believed in Christ and embraced the manner of life according to the Gospel, if anyone, through transgression of the law, having been estranged from God, is as it were orphaned of his providence, be zealous, by righteous and skilful judgment, to restore him to kinship with God — neither forgiving him without discernment, nor treating him unsympathetically with severity, but also "judge" for him, suggesting to him the beneficial ways of repentance.

And since everyone who commits sin has been begotten of the devil, if anyone willingly estranges himself from that kinship with the evil father and comes to the teaching of piety, so as to be regenerated in Christ Jesus through the Gospel, let him, as one blessedly orphaned, obtain the fitting care from those who administer the common affairs.

For that there is a certain profitable orphanhood, the Psalm shows, when for the children of Judas it prays for deprivation from the evil one;

for thus the reasonableness of the prayer will be shown, the prayer that says:

"Let his sons be born orphans," so that they might not have an evil teacher of life, having received, through the disease of avarice, the reproaches of the thief and the traitor.

And this, on account of weakness, is in many respects a diminished standing in the affairs of life.

For widowhood is easily assailable by those who wish to do wrong;

of which lay hold in every way, rendering to her the justice that is owed her, and especially if she is truly a widow, bereft of the help of men, having all her hope set upon God and continuing in supplications, so that even in her heart she is pure from every stain through her discipline.

Since God, in many places of Scripture, speaks of the soul of man as though of his own bride, she who has spiritually committed fornication through idolatry, on account of apostasy from Christ, and has been deprived of union with the Word, the bridegroom, would indeed be a widow — one who must be justified, being disciplined through the requirement of repentance

...leading her to salvation, unto Christ) — and it is this soul that must be justified by us, as she learns the righteousness that is according to the Gospel of Christ.

"Come now, and let us reason together," says the Lord;

"And though your sins be like scarlet, I will make them white as snow;"

"though they be like crimson, I will make them white as wool."

In many places of Scripture we find such expressions, as of God condescending to judgment with men on equal footing.

Such also is the saying: "The Lord himself shall come to judgment with the elders of his people, and with its rulers;"

and that in Micah, which reads as follows:

"Hear now the word of the Lord:"

"Arise, plead your case before the mountains, for the Lord has a case against his people, and he will reason with his people."

"O my people, what have I done to you? Or how have I grieved you? Or how have I troubled you? Answer me."

And it is indeed fitting that the divine judgment should not be tyrannical, but rather more communal than the judges among men, affording a place of defense to those on trial, so that one, seeing his case made clear to him, even with respect to the punishment, may give consent to the irrefutable judgments of God, agreeing as though these had been brought against him in accordance with all righteousness, and so that he may also perceive the remission granted to those who are forgiven, coming about concerning him with reason and order.

Scripture personifies these things, not as though the Judge were about to put questions to each of us and elicit answers from the one on trial;

but rather so that it might instill concern in us, and so that we might not be unprepared in our defense.

It is likely that, by some ineffable power, in an instant of time, the whole business of our life will be imprinted, as it were, upon a certain tablet — the memorial tablet of our soul.

And thus we shall hear this word even now as well:

"Their own counsels have encompassed them;"

"they have come to be before my face."

Thus the washing by itself alone does not suffice to bring the one who has washed to the whiteness of snow or of wool, but there is also need of deeds and of no ordinary diligence.

So that the washing is productive of a cleanness from filth;

but the judgment of the orphan and the vindication of the widow also procure a whiteness equal to that of snow or wool.

But since the color of scarlet is dyed thinly, while crimson is deeper and thoroughly saturated with red, it was judged that the former bears analogy to snow, the latter to white wool.

Our sins, then, are likened to a red hue, because they are murderous toward souls.

And just as, among dyes, that which has been dipped often and with painstaking care takes on a more lasting and indelible coloring, while that which has been colored superficially and by mere chance has a coloring that is easily disturbed and easily washed away, so too a soul that has been shaped by sin and has fallen into a settled habit of evil takes on a stain from its sins that is hard to wash out and, as it were, branded in.

But a soul that has dwelt with evil less, and as it were more superficially, is colored more thinly and stained by sin, the hue coming upon it in greater or lesser degree according to the proportion of its sins.

The life of man, then, when it perfects its natural resources through discipline, is able to advance far in virtue.

And so snow too, being water in its underlying substance, becomes white by the addition of air, whenever, through the force of the wind, the moisture in the clouds, being driven back, swells into foam by the violent motion, and, being congealed by the cold of the air, having acquired a certain consistency and weight, is carried downward by its natural tendency.

So too the soul, having augmented its natural resources through its own discipline and the help of the Spirit, becomes worthy, in the righteous judgment of God, of the brightness given by the grace of God to the saints.

"And if you are willing and obey me, you shall eat the good things of the land;"

"but if you are not willing, nor obey me, the sword shall devour you."

Hereby he sets forth, above all, the free will of human nature.

For we consider that this conclusion suits all that has gone before.

"For if," He says, "you depart from the service according to the letter that kills, if you wash and, having become clean, thereafter render the way of life set forth for you, you shall come to judgment, you shall be in such and such abundance, and shall enjoy the delight that is in the promise, and you shall not become food for the punishing and destroying sword."

To those who hear in a lowly manner, earthly promises are given as the reward of obedience;

but to those who hearken spiritually to the intent of Scripture, the good things spoken of are the good things of the spiritual land, which the meek — who are pronounced blessed — are said to inherit.

Likewise, the sword too is understood as a living sword, of which it is said that it was drunk with the blood of the slain;

and, "in heaven it shall eat flesh."

"For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things."

Perhaps the Holy Spirit, who inspired the writing of these things, is here called "mouth," since it is also said to have gone forth from the mouth of God.

So that you might not hear these threats with contempt, the word of the Lord has attested to us the truthful mouth that spoke these things.

But who is so lowly and carnal in understanding as to suppose that the things which the good God has stored up for men as the recompense of obedience are mere foods — the fruits of the earth, given over to corruption through consumption? But clearly, according to the parable of the Gospel, the seed sown in the good ground is a good and noble heart, which hears the word, holds it fast, and bears fruit with patience.

Worthy, then, of the promise of God is the enjoyment of the sweetest fruits of the heart.

And the fruits of the heart are the delight found in the contemplation of divine beauty.

These fruits are cultivated from the sowing unto the Spirit, being reaped unto eternal life; and he who gathers the sheaves with exultation delights himself in the Lord, receiving from him the petitions of his heart.

First, however, one must will, and only then obey, so that what lies in our power may remain free from compulsion.

"If you are not willing, nor obey me..."

From not willing comes not obeying.

Thus all blessedness, and likewise the toilsome manner of life amid punishment, hang upon what lies in our own power.

"How has the faithful city Zion become a harlot — she that was full of judgment! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers."

This is a question of wonder, expressing great astonishment at the paradox: how the faithful city, full of judgment, in which righteousness had come to rest, became a harlot and a dwelling place of murderers.

For how is it not worthy of grievous wonder that an entire city should fall from purity in faith into the impurity that comes of fornication, when even for a single soul to be overturned from steadfast belief into the fornication of unbelief is among the things that provoke astonishment? And when is this charge brought against her, except when, having become a wicked and adulterous generation, they murdered the righteousness that had looked down from heaven and rested in her — that is, Christ our Lord? This, indeed, intensifies the wonder and heightens the paradox all the more: that when righteousness was present, iniquity abounded still more.

And she did these things while not being ignorant of the sound teachings concerning judgment.

For this is what "full of judgment" means.

For who, believing that God is present everywhere, and is present at all that occurs, and stands by every deed, and looks upon the counsels of the heart, would either entertain an evil thought or bring evil to completion? But it is by supposing either that God does not oversee, or that he does not care about what happens, that men rush headlong into unholy deeds.

This too is at times said concerning the Church (which God forbid should ever be said of ours): "How has the faithful city Zion become a harlot?" — namely, whenever, having cast aside the word of faith (with which, from the beginning, according to the tradition of the fathers, she was joined in marriage — she who was presented as a chaste virgin to one Man) she receives many and varied seeds of teaching from those who have prostituted the sanctity of the mysteries and who sow abroad the doctrines of impiety unto the corruption of souls.

And of her too it will justly be said: "How has the faithful city Zion become a harlot?" For the holy Angels, to whom the guardianship of the Churches has been entrusted, knowing the ancient things and looking also to present things, will say to these in astonishment:

"How has the faithful city become a harlot?" Having, out of her fornication, gathered together murderers as well — murderers not of bodies, but of souls;

who, by deceit and fraud, take away the life of the more simple-minded; sharpened, as it were, for persuasive argument by a sword — that is, by reasoning honed through the wisdom of this world — they inflict deadly wounds upon souls.

Then follows the statement of the cause on account of which she who was formerly faithful became a harlot.

"Your silver has become dross."

That is, the word of faith has been counterfeited and is spurious, no longer preserving the exact impression of the royal image.

That the riddle points to this, and that he calls the word of faith "silver," is shown from many passages;

and especially from the verse: "The oracles of the Lord are pure oracles, silver tried in the fire, purified in the earth."

Search, then, the storehouses of your hearts.

Examine everything for me in the hidden storerooms, lest there be somewhere a counterfeit drachma — that is, lest there be somewhere a doctrine that has been falsified, not marked by the Spirit with his own genuine imprints of truth, which he graciously granted us through the Prophets and Apostles, but debased secretly and undetectably, through their own devising, by scheming men — men who, by introducing into the royal treasuries foreign coinage bearing the image of the enemy, both corrupted the great wealth and produced in the many a confusion as to what should be chosen.

"For few are the approved money-changers."

Few are those able to test all things, and to hold fast what is good, while abstaining from every form of evil.

"Your merchants mix wine with water."

Hear, then, even the bare letter of the word — you who sell wine: do not adulterate what is created.

For this is no trifling matter, but an evil deemed worthy of the gravest accusation.

But nevertheless, the discourse hastens toward the spiritual sense.

"Wine is that which gladdens the heart of man" — that is, the mind and the ruling faculty of the soul — namely the teachings of the Scriptures, which the Spirit pours out for us like wine, through the holy Apostles and Prophets, unto everlasting gladness.

But many, trafficking in these things like hucksters, water down the word, mixing in their own opinion to the harm of their hearers;

for by indulging their hearers' pleasures and flattering them with smooth speech, they nourish their passions unto destruction;

relaxing the austere, vigorous, and beneficially astringent quality of the Scriptures, and setting forth certain undisciplined kindnesses and indiscriminate forgivenesses of sins, and other such things pleasing to the many to the ruin of their hearers, they further effeminate the souls of the pleasure-loving.

"Your rulers are disobedient."

We are the hucksters, we also are the rulers, who, by disobeying and not believing, are the first cause of the faithful cities' falling away into fornications.

For, for the most part, that which is ruled is naturally shaped according to the character of those who rule;

whatever those who lead may be, such of necessity must also be that which is led.

Since, then, the rulers of the faithful city were once disobedient, the city too, being made like them, cast off its faithfulness and fell into fornication.

Let us not become disobedient too, and unbelief will not rule over us.

"Your rulers are disobedient."

Now among the commandments was this: to shake off one's hands from gifts, not to run along with thieves;

but they, through love of money, for the sake of shameful gain, became partners of thieves.

We must not understand these "thieves" as merely purse-cutters, or those who steal clothes in the baths;

but even also if certain persons, entrusted with the command of armies, or receiving the rule of cities and nations, secretly filch some things and openly extort others by force.

And whoever is reckoned a ruler of the Church, if he receives from such men — whether for his own enjoyment, under the pretext of the honor due to him for his oversight, or on the pretext of the administration for the poor in the Church — he is a partner in theft;

instead of reproving and admonishing the thieves and turning them away from injustice, he readily holds out his hand for the gain and calls him blessed — though he ought rather to hate him the more, the more he steals.

But instead he praises him, acting as his bodyguard and escort, hovering about his doors, and grasping the hands by which, alike privately and publicly, everything was stolen.

In truth, by doing these things, we are called partners of thieves.

When in the courts we see small thieves punished by great ones, we hate the household servants for this, yet we admire these great ones.

For the former we avoid, because they are thieves;

but the latter we are astonished at, because they grow rich from theft.

Of what else are the rulers accused? "Loving gifts."

It is said very precisely, "those who love gifts," not "those who receive gifts."

For otherwise even those things given fittingly in the associations of life would have been condemned;

but "loving gifts" means being wholly melted into the desire of receiving.

And this is the accusation against the rulers: that they have poured out their sacred love upon perishable and earthly things.

For we must love the Lord God with all the power for loving that is inherent in us, and also love our neighbor, and also love our enemies, that we may be perfect, imitating the goodness of the Father in heaven, who makes his sun rise on the evil and the good.

But to squander the power of loving upon other things is not permitted.

Now if it is evil to love anything whatsoever apart from the things mentioned, then whoever loves silver in the manner in which he ought to love the Lord God — with his whole heart and his whole soul and his whole mind — such a one, instead of serving the Lord, serves Mammon, having transferred to silver the measure of love owed to God.

We are therefore commanded not to love gifts, so as, on their account, to grant to those who approach us many of the things that are forbidden.

And in general, the word does not permit us to love even such gifts, nor to be passionately disposed toward them, but to receive them only as a necessary service.

For it is impossible for that which is "with the whole heart" to admit of any division toward another object.

For just as in a vessel filled with some liquid, however much flows out to the outside, by so much the fullness must necessarily fall short, so too is it with the soul;

however much of its love is emptied out upon things it ought not, by so much it must necessarily fall short toward God.

But whoever has once set out to love silver empties all his love out into that.

For "he who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver."

"If I have repaid those who repaid me with evils —"

nor remembering the word of Jeremiah, that "it is good for a man when he bears the yoke from his youth;"

"he shall sit alone and keep silence, because he has taken it upon himself."

But what need is there to speak of the teachings of the Lord, and how those who pursue retribution despise them? For the Lord says:

"If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."

Now, pursuing retribution is a charge against anyone, but especially when someone does this from a position of ruling authority, when he ought by his deeds to become for the people a teacher of the good things that come from patient endurance.

For what a spectacle it is — how dignified and admirable, and almost transcending human nature — for one who has been much reviled, and perhaps even struck a blow on the cheek, and has suffered countless other things, both in word and deed, tending to the utmost dishonor, not to boil over with anger, nor to rise up in retaliation;

but rather, rising up gently and without anger, to pray for the one who insulted him;

so that the sin already committed against him might be forgiven, and that, for the future, the offender might be deemed worthy of fitting care from God, so as to cease his wanton behavior.

But now we rulers, along with our other evils, sin especially in this too: we pursue retribution, not even repaying in equal measure, but retaliating with excess — provoked not only if we are insulted, but even if we are not honored, considering as enemies even those who honor us less than we have supposed ourselves worthy.

"Not judging for the orphans, and not attending to the cause of the widow."

The rest concerning orphans and the widow has already been said in what precedes;

but here take note of the phrase "not attending," how much arrogance it reveals in the ruler, and how it shows him to be even more savage than the unjust judge;

for that judge, after many petitions, even though he was otherwise unsympathetic, yet because of the widow's persistence, did attend to her cause, seeking to avoid being troubled by her any further.

But of these it is said that they, altogether, do not deign even to attend to the widow's cause.

It is a peculiar usage of Scripture to shape the expression in this way;

Instead of "to those who are strong," it says "Woe, you who are strong" — meaning that this cry, uttered over sufferings hard to bear, is fitting for those who shall shortly be in most grievous torment, namely the strong ones of Israel.

And this is said by the Prophet not as conjecture, but as a decree, proceeding from a mouth that cannot lie.

And these "strong ones" are to be understood as the same as the rulers, who, besides disobeying God, also love gifts and pursue retribution, and the rest of the things of which they stand accused.

"Woe to those who are strong and disobedient."

For to the weaker, perhaps, there is pardon;

for the least is deserving of pardon and mercy;

but the mighty shall be mightily examined.

And, "from him to whom much has been entrusted, they will require the more."

And if anyone, being more quick-witted in understanding than another, does not make use of the strength of his nature for the investigation of divine things, woe to him too, when the work shall be required of him in proportion to what was given.

And if any who have taken hold of ecclesiastical leadership do not adorn their work with a manner of life befitting their profession, woe to them too.

"For my wrath shall not cease among the adversaries."

Those who oppose God are those who resist his commandments;

and as long as they remain in opposition, the so-called wrath of God against them shall not cease.

citing, according to what is said, that "A fire is kindled out of my wrath."

But when we have ceased from sin —

"I will execute judgment upon my enemies."

"He who believes in me," he says, "shall not be judged;"

"but he who does not believe has already been judged."

The enemies, therefore, are the cause of the judgment, according to what has been said:

But since he said, "My wrath shall not cease against my adversaries," this is so that we should not suppose God's anger against those who provoke him to be without judgment.

"Even though I am indeed angry against my adversaries, nevertheless I will not bring the punishments upon them without judgment, but punishments determined according to the worth and measure of their offenses."

This is what "I will execute judgment upon my enemies" means.

Now the enemies of God are those who commit unjust deeds.

Wickedness is hostile to the good;

injustice is hostile to the just;

Against these, therefore, his wrath shall not cease, so long as they remain adversaries;

nor did he say he would bring punishment upon them without judgment.

"And I will lay my hand upon you, and I will refine you into purity."

See the good end of the righteous judgment, and of the punishments brought about according to that judgment.

"My wrath shall not cease; I will execute judgment."

And to what end? "That I may show him to be pure."

Thus God is angry, in order that he may do good to sinners.

For he does not punish unto destruction;

but he chastens for correction.

He brings this fire to obliterate what was cast into the soul by the fiery darts of the devil — into the soul that does not have the shield of faith — and this fire, falling upon it, quenches the shafts of the evil one;

and the divine fire becomes a purging away of another fire — the fire that kindles us to foolish and harmful desires.

"He enters like the fire of a smelting furnace, and like the launderers' herb."

"And he shall sit smelting and purifying, as silver, and as gold."

And what is the benefit from this? "They shall belong to the Lord," he says, "offering sacrifice in righteousness."

"And I will take away all the lawless from you."

It is a great benefit to a soul that has fallen into estrangement from God on account of those who take the lead in evils, that the lawless be removed from her.

So it is characteristic of a good God to take away the lawless from a people.

For the lawless shall not enter together with the saints into the holy places, since the winnowing fan is in the hand of the Lord.

But those who are now separated from the people as lawless bear what happens lightly, not understanding that these things are a type of what will happen in the fearful judgments of God.