Commentary on Isaiah 1 part 12/65

And his encampment shall be such as to fill the breadth of your land. For contrary indeed to what is customary among men, strange and worthy of all wonder shall be the birth of Emmanuel through the holy Virgin; and having very clearly declared that a great number of most illustrious and truly divine signs would be accomplished in due season, He thereupon reveals also to the prophet the madness of the Jews that would be shown against Him at the time of the incarnation.

The only-begotten Word of God came into this world in the likeness of sinful flesh, not having the glory of His God-befitting supremacy manifest and visible;

nor, as was His wont, dwelling in unapproachable light;

nor manifestly attended as by a bodyguard by the angelic powers;

nay, not even in the glory, it may be, of an earthly king;

but in a very moderate and lowly manner, and with exceedingly great quietness.

And this God the Father has made known to us through the voice of the saints, saying:

Behold My beloved Servant shall understand, in whom I am well pleased;

He shall bring forth judgement to the nations;

He shall not strive, nor cry, neither shall His voice be heard in the streets.

A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench. And such indeed was the manner of the fleshly dispensation of the Only-begotten.

But the wretched Jews, either not understanding at all the mystery concerning Him, or impiously thrusting it away, raged dreadfully, and sought to kill Him, saying:

For they brought Him to Pilate, saying:

Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him. And when he, in response to these things, all but smiling and saying:

Shall I crucify your King? they cried out, saying:

We have no king but Caesar. Consider then how they denied being ruled by Him, but enrolled Caesar and men as their kings.

Enigmatically, therefore, God makes this very thing plain to the prophet.

But since I judge it fitting to render also the exposition of the passage suited to the matters of that time;

Now Siloam is interpreted, 'sent.'

And Christ is in truth the One sent.

Accordingly the wise Paul also names Him the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.

Therefore, since this stiff-necked and unbridled people is not willing to have the water of Siloam that flows softly;

for it shakes off the yoke that is under God;

and desires rather to be under the kingdom of men, and that those who wish to lord it over it should prevail over it — I mean Rezin and Pekah;

for this cause I will bring up against them the water of the river, that is, of the Euphrates.

But since the saying was somewhat too obscure, He straightway adds and says, The king of the Assyrians, and his glory;

that is, all those under him, and every nation that has bowed its neck beneath him.

And by water He likens the multitudes.

And this is customary to the God-inspired Scripture.

And so concerning Nineveh, and the innumerable multitude in it, it says through the voice of the prophets:

And Nineveh, her waters are like a pool of waters. And He continues in the figure and says:

As upon water and a river, and he shall go up over every ravine of yours, and shall walk over every wall of yours, and shall take away from Judaea a man who shall be able to lift up his head, or capable of accomplishing anything.

And his encampment shall be such as to fill the breadth of your land. And all these things were brought to fulfilment, while Jeremiah prophesied, when Nebuchadnezzar marched against the country of the Jews;

and he razed the far-famed Jerusalem;

and having burned down also the temple, and slain the notable men of the Jews, together with the sacred vessels he carried off into his own land all the rest of the multitude that had been left over from the war.

It is plain, therefore, that upon those who are unwilling to have the water of Siloam that flows softly — that is, Christ, or the kingdom that is under God — the king of the spiritual Assyrians, that is, Satan, will by all means leap; and having taken them captive, he will place them under his own yokes and make them slaves, binding them fast with the chains of manifold sins.

God is with us; know it, O nations, and be overcome;

give ear, even unto the end of the earth;

For if again ye grow strong, again shall ye be overcome.

And whatsoever counsel ye take counsel, the Lord shall bring it to nought;

and whatsoever word ye speak, it shall by no means stand;

for the Lord God is with us. The prophet's mind leaps up for joy, having clearly recognised the mystery of Christ.

Then, taking up at once the person and the word of the holy evangelists and indeed of the apostles, he all but solemnly testifies to Greeks and Jews alike that to those who have made Him their own there shall be nothing to withstand them.

To the nations, then, he enjoins the accomplishing of these two things: to recognise clearly the mystery of Christ, and moreover that they ought to be overcome by those who teach it.

For know, he says, and receive the word that is in Him, and be overcome — that is, give way, and do not resist the holy initiators into the mysteries;

but rather hearken unto them even to the end of the earth — that is, those in every city and country, and even unto the very ends of the world under heaven.

And these things, then, the prophet says to the throngs of the Greeks, as in the person of the holy apostles and evangelists:

But ye, O Jews, though ye have prevailed, are overcome.

For so far indeed as concerns the aim residing in the Jews, they prevailed over Christ, the wretches, having delivered Him to the cross.

Nevertheless they took counsel a counsel which they can by no means make to stand, according to that which is written.

For it was not possible to encompass with death the Author of life.

Therefore, he says, even if you supposed that you prevailed by putting the Lord to death, yet you have now been defeated. So yield, and offer your ready obedience by embracing the faith; or else know this at least: that if you again exert your strength, refusing to bear with the teaching and instead savagely rebuking those who proclaim the Gospel, you will once more be defeated, since the Judge will thereafter chastise you and exact the penalties for so prolonged a madness.

For indeed, after Christ had returned to life and ascended into heaven, they still plotted against the holy apostles themselves;

and moreover, bringing them into the councils, they beat them, accusing them and saying:

'We strictly charged you not to speak to anyone in this name, and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching.'

So then, in this too they seemed indeed to prevail; yet all their counsel, deliberation, and reasoning was to no purpose for them;

for the divinely inspired disciples were victorious, saying, 'The Lord God is with us.'

But these men have paid a bitter penalty, defeated—and not willingly—by the Roman armies.

'They disobey the strong hand, in the walking of the way of this people,' saying:

'For everything that this people says is hard.' I have said that the blessed prophet, taking upon himself the person of the holy apostles and evangelists, counselled both Gentiles and Jews to be overcome by Christ, and that even those at the ends of the earth should obey him.

Then God speaks to him, all but marveling at Israel's perversity and their exceeding stupidity: 'With the strong hand,' he says, 'they disobey.'

For all-powerful, unbreakable, and mighty in all things is the right hand of God the Father—the Son, through whom are all things and in whom are all things;

who abolished death, and crushed Satan, and despoiled Hades, and bestows incorruption upon those subject to corruption, and renews all things unto their pristine state.

So too, through the voice of the psalmist, those who are saved in Christ say:

'Your right hand, O Lord, is glorified in power;'

'Your right hand, O Lord, has shattered the enemies.' Therefore they have advanced to such a pitch of both impiety and madness of mind that they chose readily to disobey the strong, saving hand, and to reckon the matter as nothing.

'And they likewise disobey the walking of this people,' he says;

whose person he took up when he said forthwith:

But what sort of thing is the walking of the people? It is the faith in him held by those who possess Emmanuel, the evangelical manner of life, once that which was in the Law and, as it were, in shadows has been set aside.

But they disobey the walking of this people, saying:

'For everything that this people says is hard.'

For the word of the holy apostles somehow seemed hard to the Jews, because, folding away the shadow as at the fitting time, they would not permit them to live according to the Law of Moses, but rather in an evangelical and spiritual manner.

'But you shall not fear their fear, nor shall you be troubled; the Lord himself sanctify, and he shall be your fear.'

'And if you are trusting in him, he shall be to you for a sanctuary, and you shall not encounter him as at a stumbling-stone, nor as at a fall of rock.' Having first accused those of Israel as having chosen to disobey the walking of the people—plainly the walking that is in Christ, and the mystagogies of the holy apostles—he now transfers to them the word of comfort, and works in them an unbroken mind, saying that they must not fear those who disobey them, nor at all admit the uproar arising from those men's perversity;

to bear themselves boldly against their enemies;

knowing full well that he will be to them both a weapon and a tower of strength, and that they will easily overpower those who set themselves in opposition.

'But you shall not fear their fear, nor be troubled.'

But if anyone should wish to apply a subtle mind to the meanings of what lies before us, he will understand it in another manner as well.

For the Jews were not a little afraid lest they should somehow give offense to God by thrusting aside the way of the manner of life in the Law;

yet accepting the word of the Savior that draws them away from the types, and that commands them to reckon the shadow as nothing.

And indeed they said concerning him:

'If then this man were from God, he would not break the Sabbath.' Therefore, seeing that, even though the divinely inspired disciples were of the Jews, they had to put away the fear of those who disobeyed—who feared, as I said, to offend against the Law—by rather choosing to live evangelically, he exhorts them, saying:

'But you shall not fear their fear, nor shall you be troubled;'

but rather let the Lord of glory—that is, Christ—be sanctified by you, he says, and let him be honored by faith, and let him be an object of fear among you.

'For thus he shall be to you a sanctuary, and you shall not encounter him as at a stumbling-stone, nor as at a fall of rock.'

For first, he says, he will sanctify you who believe, and will make you partakers of his divine nature through the Holy Spirit;

and in addition to this you will gain the benefit of falling into no stumbling, neither as against a stone, nor as against a rock of offense.

Which very thing the wretched Jews have indeed suffered, through their exceeding great ignorance, saying:

'We know that God has spoken to Moses;'

'but as for this man, we do not know where he is from.' Therefore, inasmuch as they neither sanctified him nor were willing to trust in him, they have remained wholly without share of sanctification, and, stumbling as against a stone, they have fallen, and have come to be in every evil.

'But the house of Jacob are in a snare, and sitting in a hollow in Jerusalem;'

'therefore many among them shall be powerless, and shall fall and be broken in pieces, and shall draw near and be taken captive, men who are in security.'

'Then those shall be made manifest who seal up the Law so as not to learn.'

The wise composer of Proverbs said:

'My son, let not your heart envy sinners, but be in the fear of the Lord all the day long.' For it would befit those who are truly right-minded to become imitators, not of the perversity of the base, but of the fair-mindedness of the good.

Therefore, since he had counselled the holy disciples to make Christ their sanctuary, and rather to trust in him, and to reckon as nothing the madness of the persecutors, he necessarily added how much and what kind of harm will befall those who have chosen to disobey.

For the house of Jacob, he says—that is, the Jews—being sick with an exceedingly great and unceasing madness against Christ, will be like those who have fallen into a snare and been hunted down to destruction;

or also like those in the hollows—that is, those who have slipped into a pit.

And for this cause many among them shall be powerless, and shall fall, and be broken in pieces, and shall draw near—that is, they shall be near and not far from that which is by nature ruinous.

For they shall be strengthless and shattered, and easy prey to those who war against them.

And this, indeed, was what was spoken concerning them by God through the voice of the prophet:

'Behold, I give upon this people weakness;'

'and among them fathers and sons together shall be weak.'

'Neighbor and the one near him shall perish;'

and yet it is not thus with those who in Christ are called to sanctification.

For the Lord is their strength and their song of praise, according to what is written.

And the divinely inspired Paul confirms this, saying:

'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.' Therefore, he says, those men who are unbelieving, though they are in security, shall be taken captive.

For as far as concerned the help from above that had ever belonged to those of Israel, they were as it were uncapturable and hard for their enemies—both visible and invisible—to overcome.

For God said somewhere concerning Jerusalem:

'round about, and I will be for glory in the midst of her.' But since they gave offense by their drunken insolence against Christ, they continue in the world bereft of all security, both spiritual and perceptible.

For the grace of the one who saves has passed over to others—that is, to those of the Gentiles.

'But then,' he says, 'those shall be made manifest who seal up the Law so as not to learn.' And who again might these be? Plainly those who in Christ have been justified and sanctified through the Spirit;

to whom it would be fitting to say:

'The light of your countenance has been marked upon us, O Lord.' For the image and likeness and, as it were, the countenance of God the Father, is the Son.

But the light sent from him into us is the Holy Spirit, through whom we have been sealed, being formed anew unto the first image through sanctification.

For we have been made according to the image and likeness of God who created us.

Therefore they shall be manifest, he says—that is, distinguished and most well-known to God, and eminent in the world—

those who are sealed by the Holy Spirit, so as not to learn the Law.

Shall we then abstain from the readings of the Law? And yet how is it not ignorant to understand it in this way, when Christ says plainly:

to know it in such a way, however, is to be avoided—namely, so as to choose to live according to the Law, that is, in a Jewish manner.

For we shall not sacrifice oxen, nor shall we honour the God of the universe with sacrifices offered through blood.

Rather, we shall bring to Him a spiritual worship, as a fragrance of sweet savour.

God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. And that for those who have been sealed by the Holy Spirit unto newness of life it is a great loss still to desire to live and conduct themselves after the manner of the Jews, that is, according to the shadow of the Law, the blessed Paul confirms, saying to those who after their faith turn back, as it were, to a worship that lies in shadows:

Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect in the flesh? And again:

But I say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.

Ye are estranged from Christ, whosoever of you live by the Law; ye are fallen from grace.

For we through faith await the hope of righteousness. And he will say:

I will wait for the God who has turned away His face from the house of Jacob, and I will put my trust in Him. And because there is much docility in those who are in Christ, through these words the prophet endeavours to give us full assurance.

For the God of the universe proclaimed to them concerning Emmanuel:

Sanctify Him as Lord, and He shall be thy fear.

And if thou put thy trust in Him, He shall be to thee a sanctuary.

But some, having most gladly received the word of the mystagogy that leads to this, without any hesitation promise their ready obedience, and setting all their hope upon Him, they say:

I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me. Now he waits for the Lord who has chosen to think the things that seem good to Him, and who follows His beckonings, most gladly enduring the struggles undertaken for godliness toward Him.

For to this very end the Spirit urges them on through the voice of the Psalmist, saying:

Be of good courage, and let thy heart be strong, and wait for the Lord. I will wait, then, he says, for the God who has turned away His face from the house of Jacob. Consider then, consider, alongside their obedience, how much prudence they possess.

For from those very things by which others gave offence and indeed suffered the turning away of the divine countenance, from these same things they render their own hearts more secure with respect to the inclination toward better things.

and in every way and altogether, fittingly and reasonably according to each one's ways, He will either grant praise or bring judgement.

And those who through their disobedience have behaved insolently He will put outside His presence, and will count them as objects of loathing.

But those who have honoured Him by their faith He will count as beloved, so long as they keep the faith; yet He will turn away from those who forsake sincerity, and will reckon them equal to those who have not believed at all, or perhaps even worse.

For it is written concerning certain persons:

For it had been better for them not to have known the way of truth, than, after they have known it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them. Behold, I and the children whom God hath given me; and they shall be for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of Sabaoth, who dwelleth in mount Sion. Now they had rightly distinguished the good confession (for they said:

I will wait for the God who has turned away His face from the house of Jacob, and I will put my trust in Him), forthwith He brings forward the face of Emmanuel Himself, who bestows His intimacy upon those who have set their hope on Him, namely that intimacy which is through the Spirit.

For the Son has infused into us His own Spirit, and we have become His own;

and in Him we cry, Abba, Father;

He therefore names us children of the Father, as having regeneration through the Spirit, that we may also be called brethren of Him who is truly Son by nature.

For He said through the voice of the Psalmist:

I will declare thy name unto my brethren. Yet even though He became a brother, and was called our firstborn on account of His humanity—being nevertheless God and only-begotten Son—we have not been ignorant of His glory and of His pre-eminence over all creation.

And we know that we have been given to Him by God the Father.

And this very thing He is found saying to His Father and God in the heavens:

Those whom Thou gavest me out of the world were Thine, and Thou gavest them to me. For the Son is Lord of all things by nature;

and He rules jointly with God the Father over all that is created.

But since He also became man, to whom all things are God-given and set apart, He is said to receive the very things of which He was Lord as God.

For He says: Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for thy possession. He therefore rejoices over those who have put their trust in Him, that is, those who have been called unto the knowledge of the truth through faith;

and He all but stretches out His hand and points them out, saying:

Behold, I and the children whom God hath given me. Who then is it that says these things? Emmanuel, clearly.

Who shall be, He says, for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Sabaoth, who dwelleth in mount Sion.

For in order that those throughout all the earth might believe that, being God by nature, He became man, and though being Lord of all things He bore the form of the servant dispensationally for our sakes;

and He wrought exceedingly many signs throughout Judaea, and made a most effective demonstration of His divine pre-eminence—

those things accomplished marvellously and beyond reason:

on the one hand raising the dead, on the other rebuking unclean spirits;

and bestowing sight upon the blind with authority.

But the prophetic word shall stand as an accusation of the perversity and impiety of the Jews.

For he says that the signs and the wonders came to pass from the Lord of Sabaoth who dwells in mount Sion.

But they, leaving nothing of outlandish deeds or words unattempted, dared to blaspheme, saying:

This man does not cast out the demons except by Beelzebul the prince of the demons. And if they say to you:

Seek those that speak out of the earth and the ventriloquists that utter empty things, who speak out of the belly—is not a nation to be with its God? Why do they seek the dead concerning the living? For He gave a Law for a help, that they might say:

Not according to this word, concerning which it is not possible to give gifts on its behalf. Emmanuel Himself weaves a catechetical word for those who have set their hope upon Him, who were reckoned among the children:

for Him who is able to illumine and to deliver from every evil;

and He wholly withdraws them from their ancient ways and from their former madness of mind.

For it was the custom of the worshippers of idols to love the oracles that come from the demons, and to be fond of clinging to certain empty-talking necromancers, who indeed say nothing true;

but they belch forth simply whatever comes into their mind.

But you, He says, even if someone should approach saying:

Seek those that speak out of the earth—that is, those who pretend to bring up the dead;

and to make their divinations as if out of Hades;

that is, the ventriloquists;

who pretend to have certain gods in their belly, and thus to speak to those who approach the things that come from them—do not accept the counsel.

For they speak out of their own belly alone, and they are not an understanding nation, so as to seek out God and to learn something from Him.

And say to those who give such counsel:

Why do they seek the dead concerning the living? Do you see how He makes them most prudent? For not only does He command them to depart from the perversity and madness of those men, but He also charges them to become good counsellors to those who have gone astray.

Why do they seek the dead concerning the living? For the reasoning is common and human.

For what sense could there be in wishing to inquire concerning those still living from those who lie in the earth, or from souls that have perhaps gone down to Hades? And in another manner too, it is altogether ignorant to give heed to necromancies and to the false utterances of sorcerers, who have a dead mind and, as it were, a chilled heart.

For they do not know the Creator of all things, neither have they within themselves the life-giving Word of God.

And in addition to this, they are also cultivators of dead works.

How then do the living—that is, those who have within themselves the life-giving power from above and are enriched with the living Word of God—inquire of the dead concerning themselves? Say these things, therefore, He says, adding that He gave a Law for a help—that is, the evangelical Law—so that those who give heed to it may say:

Not according to this word, concerning which it is not possible to give gifts on its behalf.

For they who speak the things out of their own heart alone sell falsehood;

but the saving and true Law of God—that is, the evangelical ordinance, which has been given for the succour of those upon the earth—is not like this word, that is, the word of the false prophets.

But neither is it possible to give gifts on its behalf.

For as I said just now, some purchase with money the false utterances of the sorcerers.

But the heavenly ordinance lies open to those who are willing, through which we have been guided toward each and every good thing.

And indeed, all that had to come to pass in the future we have learned beforehand.

For to whom is it not evident that, for those who do us good and keep genuine love toward Christ, whatsoever may come shall be according to their prayer? For He declares them blessed both in this present world and in the age to come.

It lies open, then, to those who so desire—apart from silver and every gift—to come to know the law given by Christ for their help.

And this, then, was what was wisely spoken through the voice of Isaiah:

You who thirst, go to the water; and as many as have no silver, go and buy without silver and without price. And a harsh famine shall come upon you, 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.

And they shall look up to heaven above, and they shall gaze down upon the earth below;

and behold, affliction and distress, and darkness, narrow perplexity, and darkness so that one cannot see; yet he who is in distress shall not be at a loss until the appointed time. He shifts the discourse to the disobedient nation—that is, to Israel—who, though possessing the consolation from God broad and abundant, and luxuriating richly in the instructions of the Law, yet for the very knowledge of that which brings profit did not receive Christ.

By this very thing they slipped away from intimacy with Him—an intimacy manifestly spiritual and of the mind—and, as it were, perished by famine.

For the God of all said through the voice of the prophets:

Behold, I bring a famine upon the land, says the Lord;

not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord;

and from east to west they shall run about seeking the word of the Lord, and they shall not find it. Whenever, therefore—He says—having killed the Author of life, you endure a harsh and unbearable famine, not having the word of God, the bread from heaven that gives life to the world, then you shall hunger.

And indeed, when you are brought to a perception of what has befallen you, you shall speak evil of the ruler and of the ancestral customs.

And what, then, is this? For the teachers of the Jews—I mean the Scribes and Pharisees—did not cease inciting the multitude under their hand against Christ, the Savior of us all.

And as a pretext for their madness against Him, they took reverence for Moses and for the Law.

If this man were from God, He would not have broken the Sabbath. Therefore they urged that He be persecuted as a lawbreaker.

You who have been deceived by them shall hunger; then you shall speak evil of every ruler of yours and of the ancestral customs—that is, of the lawful ordinances.

For you shall remember that your leaders incited you;

and the pretext of the rulers for their madness against Christ was the ancestral customs;

that is, the usages and the traditions—and not indeed altogether those through the Law, but they also received as teachings the commandments of men that came from vain observances.

There shall be, therefore, a harsh famine upon you; looking about both above and below and gazing in every direction—that is, turning about the eye of the understanding—you shall see nothing else, He says, except narrow perplexity and darkness, so that you can see nothing profitable; yet he who is in distress shall not be at a loss until the appointed time.

Again He foretells the calling of the nations.

For those who are now, He says, in distress and pressed down by the famine of divine teachings shall not be at a loss.

For Emmanuel shall bestow upon them the blessing, and shall set before them spiritual nourishment, and shall spread out for them the divine table.

Eat and drink, and be filled to gladness, you who are near.

But this shall be, He says, until the appointed time—that is, it shall not now come to its end.

When indeed the word of prophecy concerning them was also fulfilled.

But at the fitting time, at which Emmanuel shall shine upon those on the earth.