Homilies on Hebrews 26

'By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.'

'By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.'

'By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the sons of Israel, and gave commandment concerning his bones.'

'Many prophets and righteous men,' he says, 'desired to see the things which you behold, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.'

Did the righteous, then, know all things to come? Indeed, most assuredly.

For even if, on account of the weakness of those who could not receive Him, the Son was not revealed, to those who shone in virtue He was fittingly revealed.

This too Paul now says: that they knew the things to come, that is, the resurrection of Christ.

Either, then, he means this, or by 'By faith concerning things to come' he speaks not of the age to come, but of the things here which were to come to pass later.

For unless it were so, how could a man sitting in a strange land bestow such blessings? And how again did he obtain a blessing, yet not receive it? Do you see that, as I said, concerning Abraham and concerning Jacob one may say that he did not enjoy the blessing, but the things of the blessings passed over to his descendants, while he himself obtained the things to come? For we find the brother rather to have had the enjoyment.

For the one spent all his time in slavery and hired service and dangers and plots and deceits and fears, and being questioned by Pharaoh he says:

'Few and evil have the days of my life been;'

but the other lived in security and great authority, and even after these things was formidable to him.

Where, then, did the blessings issue, save in the age to come? Do you see that from of old the wicked had the enjoyment of the things here?

but the righteous the contrary — yet not all of them.

For behold, Abraham was righteous, and he enjoyed also the things here, though with affliction and trials;

for wealth alone was his, since all the rest of his affairs were full of affliction.

For it is not possible that the righteous man should not be afflicted, even if he be rich;

for when he is willing to be over-reached, to be wronged, to suffer the rest, of necessity he is afflicted.

So that even if he enjoys his wealth, it is not without grief.

Why so? Because he is in affliction and anguish.

But if the righteous were then in affliction, much more are they now.

'By faith,' he says, 'concerning things to come, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau.'

And yet Esau was the greater;

but he sets Jacob before him on account of his virtue.

Do you see that it was faith? For from where did he promise his sons such great blessings, save entirely from his believing God? 'By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph.'

Here one ought to set down the whole of the blessings, that both his faith and his prophecy may be made manifest.

'And he worshipped,' he says, 'leaning upon the top of his staff.'

Here he shows that he not only spoke, but was so confident concerning the things that were to be, that he even demonstrated it by the very deed.

For since another king was to arise from Ephraim, on this account he says:

'And he worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.'

That is, even when he was already an old man he worshipped Joseph, thereby signifying the homage of the whole people that was to be paid to him.

And this indeed had already come to pass, when his brethren bowed down to him;

but it was also to come to pass afterwards through the ten tribes.

Do you see how he foretold the things that were to be afterwards? Do you see how great faith they had? How they believed concerning things to come? For the examples here are of endurance alone—the present sufferings, both of suffering ill and of receiving no good thing—such as in the case of Abraham, and in the case of Abel;

but others are of faith, such as in the case of Noah—that God is, that there is a recompense.

For 'faith' is a word of many meanings;

and now it signifies this, and now that;

but here it is significant both of there being a recompense, and of that recompense not being awaited by all

upon the same terms, and of contending before the prizes.

And the things concerning Joseph too are of faith alone;

for because He had promised to Abraham, because He had pledged:

'To you will I give, and to your seed, this land'—Joseph had heard this;

and though he was in a strange land, and did not yet see the promise fulfilled, not even so did he sink down, but so believed that he even spoke concerning the Exodus, and gave commandment concerning his bones.

So then not only did he himself believe, but he also led others on to faith.

For this reason he also gives commandment, that they might ever be mindful of the Exodus;

and he would not have given commandment concerning his bones, unless he had been fully assured that the return would come to pass.

So that when some say, 'Behold, the righteous too took thought for tombs,'

let us say to them that it was for this reason, and in no other way whatever;

for he knew that 'The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.'

He then who lived his whole time in Egypt, and lived in such great wisdom, would not have been ignorant of this.

And yet it was in his power, had he so wished, to return, and not to mourn nor to be troubled.

But even after bringing his father up thither, for what reason did he charge that his own bones also should be brought up from there, save clearly for this reason?

But tell me, do not the bones of Moses himself lie in a strange land? And those of Aaron, those of Daniel, those of Jeremiah, and those of the many apostles—we do not even know where they lie.

For the tombs of Peter, and Paul, and John, and Thomas are indeed known;

but of the rest, being so many, none have become known anywhere.

Let us therefore in no way distress ourselves over this, nor be so faint-hearted;

for wherever we may be buried, 'The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.'

In every case, what must come to pass, comes to pass;

but to mourn and to beat oneself and to lament for those who have departed comes from faint-heartedness.

'By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his fathers.'

Do you see that here they hoped for the things after death upon the earth? And many things came to pass after their death.

This is against those who say that these things happen to those men after death, things which they did not obtain while living, nor did they believe concerning what would be after death.

And Joseph did not say, 'While I was living He did not give me the land, nor to my father, nor to my grandfather, whose virtue also He ought to have reverenced;

will He then count these worthless men worthy of the things whereof He did not count those men worthy?' He said none of these things, but by his faith he both overcame and rose above all these considerations.

He spoke of Abel, of Noah, of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, of Joseph—all men of renown and admirable.

Again he heightens the exhortation, bringing the matter down to persons of low estate.

For that admirable persons should suffer this is nothing admirable, and to appear inferior to them is not so grievous;

but to be seen inferior to nameless persons—this is what is grievous.

And he begins from the parents of Moses, obscure men, having nothing so great as their child.

For this reason too, as he proceeds, he heightens the paradox, enumerating even harlot women and widows;

'For by faith,' he says, 'Rahab the harlot did not perish together with those who were disobedient, having received the spies with peace.'

And he sets down the wages not only of faith, but also of unbelief, as in the case of Noah.

But for the present it is necessary to speak concerning the parents of Moses.

Pharaoh commanded that all the males should be destroyed, and no one escaped the danger.

From where then did these people expect to save the child? From faith.

From what kind of faith? 'They saw,' he says, 'that the child was beautiful.'

This sight drew them on to faith.

Thus from the very beginning and from the very swaddling-clothes great grace had been poured out upon the righteous one, not nature, but God working this;

immediately when born the child appears beautiful, and not ill-favored.

Whose then was this? Not of nature, but of the grace of God, which also stirred up and strengthened that barbarian Egyptian woman, and took hold of her and drew her on;

and yet faith in these matters had no sufficient ground;

for what was there in the mere sight to make one believe? 'But you,' he says, 'believe from facts, and possessing many pledges of faith;

for to accept with joy the plundering of your possessions, and all such things, is of faith and

But since these people too believed, and then afterwards became faint-hearted, he shows that their faith also was extended over a long time;

such as was the faith of Abraham, even though the facts seemed to be in conflict with it.

'And they were not afraid,' he says, 'of the king's decree.'

And yet that decree was being carried into effect;

but this was simply a bare expectation.

And this indeed was the parents';

but Moses himself contributed nothing.

Then again he adduces another example proper to them;

What kind of thing is this? 'For by faith,' he says, 'Moses, when he had become great, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction together with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season';

'esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt';

'for he looked to the recompense of reward.'

It is as though he were saying to them: None of you has forsaken a kingdom, and a splendid kingdom at that, nor such treasures, nor, when it lay in his power to be a king's son, did he despise this, as Moses did.

And that he did not merely forsake it, he made clear by saying, 'He refused';

that is, he hated it, he turned away from it.

For since heaven was set before him, it was superfluous to admire the palaces of Egypt.

And observe how admirably Paul has put it.

He did not say, Esteeming heaven, and the things in the heavens, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt;

but what? 'The reproach of Christ.'

For he esteemed it better to be reproached for Christ's sake than to be at ease;

thus this very thing was in itself a reward.

'Choosing rather,' he says, 'to suffer affliction together with the people of God.'

For you indeed suffer on behalf of yourselves, but he chose to suffer on behalf of others;

and of his own accord he cast himself into so many dangers, when it lay in his power both to live godly and to enjoy good things.

'Than to have,' he says, 'the temporary enjoyment of sin.'

He called it sin—the unwillingness to suffer affliction together with the others;

this, he says, Moses reckoned to be sin.

If then that man reckoned it sin not to suffer affliction readily together with the others,

then affliction is a great good—the affliction into which he cast himself down from the palaces.

And these things he did, foreseeing certain great things:

'Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.'

What is 'the reproach of Christ'? That is, to be reproached with such things as you are, the reproach which Christ endured;

or because he endured it for Christ's sake, when he was reviled concerning the rock, out of which he brought forth water.

'And that rock,' he says, 'was Christ.'

But how is it a reproach of Christ? Because we are reproached for spurning our fathers' ways, because we suffer ill for having run to God.

And it is likely that he too was reproached, when he heard, 'Do you intend to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' This is the reproach of Christ: to suffer ill even to the end and to one's last breath, just as He Himself was reproached and heard such things;

'If you are the Son of God'—from those for whose sake He was being crucified, from those fellow-countrymen.

This is the reproach of Christ: when a man is reproached by his own household, when a man is reproached by those to whom he does good;

for He too suffered these things at the hands of the one He had benefited.

Here he raised them up, showing that Christ too suffered these things, and Moses also—two glorious persons;

so that this reproach is rather Christ's than Moses', since he suffered such things at the hands of his own people.

But neither did that One suffer any harm, nor did this one hurl thunderbolts, but he was reproached and bore all things, while they shook their heads.

Since therefore it was likely that they too heard such things, and desired requital, he says that both Christ and Moses suffered such things.

So then ease belongs to sin, but to be reproached belongs to Christ.

For what will you have? The reproach of Christ, or ease? 'By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king';

'for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.'

What do you say? That he was not afraid? And yet the Scripture says this, that having heard he was afraid, and on this account by flight he procured his safety and fled and stole himself away, and afterwards he was full of dread.

Attend carefully to what is said: 'Not fearing the wrath of the king.'

He has said this with reference to his returning once again.

For it belonged to one who was afraid not to take up the leadership again, nor to put his hand to the task;

yet the taking of it up again belonged to one who committed the whole matter to God.

For he did not say, He seeks me and hunts me down, and I cannot endure to lay hold of the same things again.

So that even his fleeing was of faith.

Why then did he not remain, one may say? That he might not cast himself into a manifest danger.

For this henceforth would have belonged to one who tempted God—to leap into the midst of dangers, and to say, Let me see whether God will save me.

This the devil also said to Christ;

Do you see that this is devilish—to hurl ourselves rashly and in vain into dangers, and to tempt whether God will save? For he could no longer lead them, seeing that those whom he benefited were so ungratefully disposed;

it was therefore foolish and senseless to remain there.

And all these things came to pass because he endured as though seeing Him who is invisible.

If then we too always see God with the mind, if we always turn our understanding in remembrance of Him, all things will appear to us most easy, all things bearable, we shall bear all things with ease, we shall become superior to all things.

For if a man, seeing one whom he loves—or rather, merely remembering him—rouses up his soul, and becomes lofty in understanding, and bears all things with ease, revelling in the remembrance;

then he who holds in his understanding, and remembers, the One who deemed us truly worthy of His love—when will he ever be sensible of anything grievous, or dread anything fearful and perilous? And when will he be faint-hearted? Never.

For all things appear difficult to us because we do not hold the remembrance of God as we ought, because we do not carry Him about in our understanding continually;

for He might justly say to us:

'You have forgotten Me; I too will forget you.'

So that the evil becomes twofold—that we forget Him, and that He forgets us.

For these two things are indeed intertwined with one another, yet they are nonetheless two.

For it is a great thing that we should hold God in remembrance, and a great thing also that we should be remembered by Him;

the one causes us to choose good things, the other to accomplish them and bring them to their end.

For this reason the Prophet says:

'I will remember You from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the little hill.'

This the people that were in Babylon say: Being there, I will remember You.

Let us then also, as though being in Babylon, say the same things.

For even if we do not sit in the midst of enemies at war, yet we are in the midst of foes.

For some sat as captives, but others did not even perceive their captivity, like Daniel, like the three young men;

who, even while being in captivity, became more illustrious than the very king who had taken them captive, in that very land;

for the one who had taken the captives did obeisance to the captives.

Did you see how great a thing virtue is? While they were in that very captivity, he waited upon them as though they were masters;

so then it was that man who was the captive, rather than these.

It would not have been so marvelous had he, coming among them while they were in their own country, done reverence to them, or while they reigned there;

but the marvel is this, that having bound them and taken them captive, and holding them in his own power, he was not ashamed, while all looked on, to do them reverence and to pour out an offering of manaa.

Do you see that the things which are truly splendid are those that pertain to God, while human things are but a shadow? For he knew not that he was leading away as captives his own masters, and that those whom he was destined to worship he had cast into the furnace;

yet to them these things were but as a dream.

Let us therefore fear God, beloved; let us fear Him;

even if we be in captivity, we shall be more illustrious than all men;

let the fear of God be present, and nothing shall be grievous, though you speak of poverty, though of sickness, though of captivity, though of slavery, though of any grievous thing whatsoever;

nay, those very things shall work together with us unto the contrary results.

These men were captives, and yet the king did reverence to them;

Paul was a tentmaker, and yet they sacrificed to him as to a god.

Here a question arises;

for many ask, saying:

Why in the world did the apostles reject the sacrifices, and rend their garments, and turn the people back from the attempt, and lament, saying, What are you doing? We also are men of like passions with you;

whereas Daniel did no such thing?

For that he too was humble, and no less than these referred all things to God.

Now first and foremost, this is plain from the very fact of his being loved by God;

for God would not have suffered him even to live, I say not to be in high repute, had he usurped to himself the honor due to God;

secondly, because with much boldness he said, And as for me, O king, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom that is in me;

and thirdly again, because he was in the den for God's sake;

and when the prophet brought him food, he says, For God has remembered me;

so humble was he and contrite.

He was in the den for God's sake, and yet he deemed himself unworthy to be remembered and to be heard.

But we, who dare ten thousand foul deeds, and are of all men the most defiled, if we be not heard at our first prayer, withdraw.

Truly great is the distance between them and us, as great as that of heaven from earth, and even more.

What say you? After so many achievements, after the miracle wrought in the den, do you thus account yourself humble? Yes, says he;

for whatsoever we may accomplish, we are unprofitable servants.

Thus, taking the lead beforehand, he fulfilled the Gospel precept, and accounted himself as nothing.

For God has remembered me, he said.

And see again his prayer, how full it is of lowliness of mind.

So also the three children spoke;

and everywhere they show their own lowliness.

And yet Daniel had ten thousand occasions for being lifted up; but he knew that these very things had accrued to him from his not being lifted up, and he did not corrupt the treasure.

For beyond all men and in the whole world you were renowned, not on this account only, that the king cast himself upon his face and poured out an offering to him, but also that he who was everywhere honored throughout the earth as a god accounted him a god;

and this is plain from Jeremiah;

for He that covers the earth, he says, as with a garment;

and again, I have given it to Nebuchadnezzar my servant.

And from what he writes in his epistles this again is plain, that he was admired not only there where he was, but everywhere; and he was greater as one heard of than if the remaining nations had seen him present, seeing that even by letters he confessed his servitude and the wonder.

But nevertheless he was admired again for his wisdom also;

For are you wiser, he says, than Daniel? And after all these things he was so humble as to be ready ten thousand times to die for the Master.

Why then, being thus humble, did he refuse neither the reverence from the king nor the drink-offerings? This I will not say;

for it suffices me merely to state the question;

the rest I leave to you, that even so I may rouse your understanding.

This, however, I charge you: to choose all things for the fear of God, having such examples;

and that we shall in truth obtain even the things here, if we genuinely lay hold of the things to come.

For that he did not do this from arrogance is plain from his saying, Let your gifts be to yourself.

For indeed this too is yet another question, how, while refusing it in word, he received the honor through deeds, and wore the collar of gold.

And Herod, when he heard, The voice of a god, and not of a man, because he gave not the glory to God, burst asunder, and his bowels gushed out;

but this man admitted even the honor of God, not merely the words.

Here it is necessary to say what indeed this is.

That from the one case men fell away into a greater idolatry, but from the other no longer.

How? For that this man should be accounted such was an honor unto God;

for on this account, taking the lead beforehand, he said:

And to me also it was not revealed for any wisdom that is in me.

And besides, he does not even appear to have accepted the drink-offerings;

for he said, it says, that an offering must be poured out, but it has not yet become plain that the deed also followed.

But there they brought oxen so as to sacrifice them;

and they called the one Zeus, and the other Hermes.

The collar of gold, then, he accepted, that he might make himself manifest;

but why does he not appear to refuse the drink-offering? For there too they did not do it, but attempted it, and the apostles prevented them;

so that here also he ought forthwith to have refused;

and there indeed it was a whole populace, but here a tyrant.

Why then did he not turn him aside? I said beforehand, that it was not as to a god that he poured out the offering, unto the overthrow of true worship, but unto a greater wonder.

How? Because for God's sake he issued a decree, confessing His dominion;

so that he did not mutilate the honor.

But those men were not so, for they thought that these very persons were the gods;

And besides, having first done reverence here, he then does these things;

for he did not do reverence to him as to a god, but as to a wise man.

Nor is it even plain that he poured out an offering;

and even if he did pour it out, yet it was without Daniel's accepting it.

But what of this, that he also called him Belteshazzar, the name of his own god? So little did they account their own gods to be any wonder, seeing that he too called the captive by such a name, he who commanded all men to worship the image of every kind and manifold sort, and who worshiped the dragon;

And the Babylonians were far more senseless than those at Lystra;

and therefore it was not possible to lead them straightway to this.

If, then, we wish to obtain all good things, let us seek the things that pertain to God.

For just as those who seek the things of this world fall short both of these and of those,

so those who prefer the things that pertain to God attain to both.

Let us then no longer seek these things, but those, that we too may obtain the good things which are promised, in Christ Jesus our Lord.