Commentary on Isaiah 1 part 28/65

In this way you will understand the earth to mourn, for when it suffers such things, it is necessary that those exalted in it — that is, the more eminent — should suffer as well.

For surely those who have been stripped of honour, wealth, and all the other things that are wont to attend the glorious, bear a more grievous sorrow amid the sufferings. But he says that the earth has committed lawlessness because of those who dwell in it.

For a city is called lawless, and indeed very often a whole region is so called, even though the insensate earth knows nothing of committing lawlessness; rather it receives this verdict from the wickedness of its inhabitants.

But you may again take the saying in a general sense.

For if, as one of the holy disciples says, the earth and all the works in it shall be burned up, then at the time of the consummation the face of the earth shall be gloomy and like unto those in mourning.

And as a lawless earth — that is, one that has served the lawless — it is consumed by fire.

For we look for new heavens and a new earth and his promises, according to what is written; and Paul too writes that the creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.

For lest any should suppose that the God of all inflicts punishments upon certain people without cause, he links the reasons to the movements that proceed from wrath, and plainly declares the charges against those who are being punished.

'For those who dwell in it have sinned.'

The prophet seems again — since together with the other cities or regions he also demanded a reckoning from the land of the Jews, for it too was laid waste, as I said — to bring forward into the midst the transgressions of those under the Law.

'For they transgressed the Law,' he says, those of Israel deeming it worthy of no account, and turning aside as it were into another path, and giving heed to the teachings and commandments of men. For when we render the general sense of the meanings, we say that the God of all created man in the beginning, and engraved in him a natural law, training him toward the knowledge of evil and good.

And this, I think, is what was spoken through the voice of John concerning the only-begotten Son of God:

that 'It was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.' This indeed we understand to have come to pass also in the last times — I mean those of his sojourning in the flesh.

For it is written: 'In those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their mind, and write them upon their hearts.' This law, then, which inwardly steers us toward the knowledge of good and evil, those upon the earth transgressed, and they changed the ordinances.

For though created unto good works, they turned aside to fleshly desires and an earthly mindset.

For this reason too the earth has become accursed.

'For few and easily numbered shall be left.'

And these things indeed pertain to the letter, and to what is manifest in the history.

But as regards the innermost meaning we say this again: that altogether and in every way those who at the divine tribunal are condemned for their many exceedingly great transgressions shall assuredly be poor, and in want of the good things from above, and stripped of the hope prepared for the saints;

for they shall depart into Hades to be punished, and few shall be left — that is, those who through righteousness have pleased God, and who possess the wealth that comes from good and valiant deeds;

and these are easily numbered, according to the word of the Saviour: 'For many are called, but few are chosen.' The wine shall mourn, the vine shall mourn, all who rejoice in soul shall groan;

the mirth of timbrels has ceased, the arrogance and wealth of the ungodly has ceased;

the sound of the harp has ceased; they were put to shame, they drank no wine; strong drink became bitter to those who drink it.

Every city has been made desolate; one shall shut up his house so that none may enter.

Wail concerning the wine everywhere;

all the mirth of the earth has ceased, and cities shall be left desolate, and houses that are forsaken shall perish. The God of all very often brought charges against those of the blood of Israel, as having committed unbearable offences, and, though foreknowing that they would be punished on this account, yet not choosing to ward off the wrath by labours of repentance.

For he said: 'And the Lord of Sabaoth called in that day for weeping, and for wailing, and for shaving of hair, and for girding with sackcloth; but they made merriment and gladness, killing calves and sacrificing sheep, so as to eat flesh and drink wine, saying:

"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."' And indeed through another prophet he says:

'Woe to those who sleep upon beds of ivory and live delicately upon their couches.'

The harms that come from war have been justly brought upon them;

and those who of old lived in luxury have, beyond their hope, fallen into calamities.

The vine has mourned — not the plant itself, but those who drink the fruit that comes from it. Those, he says, who of old rejoiced in soul shall lament, and wailing shall rather become their occupation.

'For the mirth of timbrels has ceased, the arrogance and wealth of the ungodly has ceased.'

By 'arrogance' he means the excessively haughty brow, that is, boastful pride.

And he concludes by saying that the things which come from wealth also cease: 'and the sound of the harp,' and strong drink has become bitter to those who once lived delicately, and cities and houses have become desolate.

'For all the mirth of the earth has ceased.' And if in this connection someone should also reflect upon the consummation of the age, at which the time of judgement shall be, he will say again:

that all the luxury of those in the world shall pass away, and there shall rather be groaning and gnashing of teeth on the part of those who shall depart into Hades;

and wealth shall in no way profit those who possessed it, but all luxury shall be idle, and bodily things shall cease; nay rather, the thrice-longed-for love of the flesh that once was theirs shall issue in a bitter end for those who love sin.

For they shall render an account to the Judge of all;

for as the most wise Paul writes, we must all be made manifest before the judgement-seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done through the body according to what he has practised, whether good or evil.

'In the manner that one gleans an olive tree, so shall they be gleaned.'

For with a careful eye those who seek the fruit from the olive trees scrutinize the plant;

and if anything should fall anywhere, they eagerly snatch it up, and gather it down to the very last one;

so, he says, shall the enemies glean them, destroying them with utter ruin; and even when the vintage has ceased, these shall cry out with a loud voice.

And as from a custom naturally practised at the completion of the vintage, he takes up this also.

For those who gather the vintage, when they have brought their labours to this point, rejoicing shout for joy, and having composed some rustic song, they carry themselves off from the fields.

...when the enemies shall glean them and leave utterly no one, then, as though the vintage were finished, they shall cry out with a loud voice, evidently exulting and rejoicing over those who lie fallen and are laid low.

And we say again, looking to the innermost meaning, that at the time of judgement there shall be none of those who have lived unholily who shall be able to escape notice.

But those who have conducted themselves and lived rightly and lawfully shall pass on to the mansions above;

while the profane and wicked shall be the food of the all-devouring fire.

'Careful, then,' he says, 'shall be the gathering of such,' and this the Saviour himself will teach, saying:

'The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind; which, when they had drawn it up and sat down upon the shore, they gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.' Careful, then, he says, shall be the seeking out of the unholy, and there shall be left over in all not one of those who have so lived;

for he who knows hearts and reins will display them all to the angels who are appointed for this task.

But those left upon the earth shall rejoice together with the glory of the Lord. In saying that the scrutiny of those caught in sins shall be careful, so that none can escape notice, he does not permit the godly and God-loving man to be shattered by fears of this.

For even if it be said that the things proceeding from wrath go forth against all, yet the God of all does not destroy the righteous together with the ungodly.

And this he teaches, speaking through the voice of Ezekiel:

a man clothed in a long robe and having a girdle, and six men coming after him;

and each one, he says, had his axe in his hand; and he said:

He seems, then, to liken to Noah those who through faith in God are well-pleasing to him;

and to Job, again, those who through patience — plainly the patience directed toward everything whatsoever that is praiseworthy — are well-pleasing to him.

For they shall be gladdened, having been saved through the ineffable glory of him who presides over the saints, and who builds up as a wall the godly man by his sparing mercy and grace.

And we shall add to what has been said this also.

For at the time of the consummation of the present age, those shall be sent down into Hades to be punished who have become lovers of aberrant practices;

but those who are left — that is, the righteous — shall rejoice together with the glory of the Lord, for they shall be together with Christ, who is the glory of God and the Father.

For he himself said: 'I glorified thee upon the earth; I finished the work which thou gavest me to do.' And indeed God the Father himself somewhere says to the blessed Moses:

'As I live, and as my name lives, verily all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.'

For all things have been filled with Christ.

'And the water of the sea shall be troubled.'

For it is the custom of the holy prophets to do this.

'This is the great and wide sea, wherein are creeping things innumerable, living creatures small with great.'

There the ships pass through; there is that dragon which You formed to sport in it. Yet we do not by any means say that his discourse concerned the creatures swimming in the sea, nor did he wish to intimate the varieties of fishes; still less do we say that some bodily and perceptible dragon dwells in the waters of the sea.

Rather, by 'dragon' he means Satan, who goes about among all men and roams throughout the inhabited world that is ours, plotting against the souls of the saints.

Accordingly, by the 'water of the sea' he names the multitude of the nations;

and by 'islands' he perhaps means the cities.

Indeed he says that all who dwell in them shall be troubled, since the divine wrath leaps upon them.

He says, however, that the glory of Christ shall in a certain manner be in them all.

They shall recognize that it is by the divine nods that they have been sacked and utterly destroyed, and that, having grievously offended Him who is almighty through the impiety within them, they have been given over to desolation.

And they shall utterly and altogether condemn their own gods, who in no way came to their aid.

And this was nothing other than that the glory of the Lord should be lifted up to a great height.

It seems that the aim of the prophetic predictions now passes over to the mystery of Christ, and makes remembrance of the salvation that shall come through Him.

For those, he says, who are left upon the earth shall rejoice together with the glory of the Lord;

for we expect that we too shall be together with Christ Himself, who is the glory of the Father, as I said just now.

And since from one end to the other of what is under heaven the word of the holy apostles has spread abroad, removing the nations from the error of many gods and bringing them to the grace that is through Christ;

he says that the water of the sea was troubled, that is to say, the peoples throughout all the earth under the sun.

They are troubled as those who hear a strange voice, departing from their ancient error and being brought over to anchor at the knowledge of the truth.

'The glory of the Lord shall be in the islands of the sea.'

By 'islands', as I suppose, he means the holy Churches of God, which, lying as it were in the sea of this world, hold themselves up above the tumult within it and are borne aloft, since Christ preserves them and does not permit them to be shattered by the waves of persecutions.

For since he names the nations 'sea' in a riddling manner, following this turn of speech with good sense he names the churches 'islands', in which the glory of God is marveled at.

'O Lord, the God of Israel, from the wings of the earth we have heard wonders: hope to the godly.' In these words the prophet brings before us the person of those who are left upon the earth and rejoice together with the glory of the Lord, and of those who dwell in the islands—I mean the churches—as they glorify the God of all and say:

'From the wings of the earth hear wonders'—and moreover of those who have believed that there shall be for the godly a good hope of being justified by Him, and indeed of richly partaking of His gentleness.

By the 'wings of the earth' they seem to name the holy initiators into the mysteries, by whose words we are all but given wings and set our minds on the things above, leaping up from earthly affairs and, having laid aside the earthy and fleshly mind, we have our citizenship in the heavens.

From the 'wings of the earth' thus understood we have heard wonders—the wonders that are through Christ, he plainly means.

For we have been initiated into the mysteries by the writings of the holy apostles and evangelists, and learning the divine signs wrought through the Savior, we have in them a most firmly grounded faith; we have taken courage and are steadfastly disposed and believe that the hope of the godly is exceedingly good;

for we look for the kingdom of the heavens, and the honors and glories prepared for those who love God.

'Woe to those who set at naught, they who set at naught the law;'

'fear and a pit and a snare are upon you who dwell upon the earth.'

'And it shall come to pass that he who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit, and he who comes up out of the pit shall be caught by the snare.' Who shall say these things? Those who are left, entirely upon the earth, and rejoice together with the glory of the Lord, and those who dwell in the islands, that is, the Churches.

And to whom shall they say them? To those who set at naught the law, that is, to those who have not believed.

For if they had believed Moses, they would have believed Christ; for concerning Him that man wrote.

See how, having received the faith, they at once admonish those who set at naught the law, and hold over them the fear arising from the punishment that shall be upon them, and terrify them with dreadful things, foretelling what is to come.

For 'fear', he says, 'and a pit and a snare', that is, every kind of evil, are upon you, and there shall be no swerving aside from the calamity.

But even if one should perchance escape some of the evils, he shall be taken by another, and in every way and altogether he shall be caught by one of the evils that have been brought upon them.

And this it befell the Jews to suffer, after the cross of the Savior, when their land was ravaged and their cities and houses were shaken down;

and it would be long to tell each thing, especially to those nurtured in the Church who know it well.

'Because windows have been opened from heaven, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken.'

'The whole earth has bowed and shall be shaken like a watchman's hut, like one drunken and heavy with wine, and it shall fall, and they shall not be able to rise up; for lawlessness has prevailed upon it.' He renders the cause of the things foretold as about to come to pass, and shows that they shall fall into bitter and inextricable calamities.

For he said that fear and a pit and a snare are upon you;

and that if anyone should escape the pit, he shall be caught by the snare.

What then is the occasion of this? 'Windows', he says, 'have been opened from heaven', that is, God has visited those upon the earth.

For so long as He forbears with those accustomed to transgress, He seems in a way not even to look upon them, and heaven is rather shut fast.

But when He surveys the ways of those upon the earth, then indeed, then, as though windows were opened, He holds before His eyes those who are upon the earth;

and bringing charges proportionate to the transgressions of each, He fills all things with tumult;

and fills them with dread, and all those upon the earth, as if from drunkenness, are flung about toward every kind of evil.

And it is added usefully, the saying that the earth was shaken like one of the watchmen's huts in the fields;

namely, because lawlessness has prevailed upon it.

For so long as those upon it transgress in bearable ways, the God of all holds back the penalties and reins in His movement.

But when the impiety of all has become unrestrained, it is altogether of necessity both that the earth be watched over by God, and that, when lawlessness prevails upon it, it be drunken in a manner and heavy with wine, and be shaken toward every kind of calamity.

'And God shall bring His hand upon the ordered array of heaven, and upon the kings of the earth.'

'And they shall gather them together and shut them up in a stronghold and in a prison; after many generations there shall be a visitation of them, and the brick shall melt, and the wall shall fall.' This too is a splendid achievement of the incarnation of the Only-begotten.

For it was necessary, indeed necessary, that, when the Sun of righteousness shone forth, that spiritual darkness should be scattered, which Satan had poured into the hearts of all.

For he darkened the minds of the unbelievers, according to what is written, and persuaded them to worship the creation rather than the Creator.

For those who were deceived divided among themselves the elements of the world;

and some inscribed the sun as god, others the moon, and others some of the stars according to their pleasure.

And with this same impiety the very multitudes of the Jews were sick as well.

And so God once said somewhere to the prophet Jeremiah, when he was offering up supplications on their behalf:

'And do not pray for this people, and do not make request, and do not approach Me on their behalf in petition and prayer, for I will not hear.'

'Do you not see what these are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? Their sons gather wood, and their fathers kindle fire, and their women knead dough to make cakes to the host of heaven; and they have poured out drink offerings to strange gods, that they might provoke Me to anger.' And moreover through another prophet He says to them:

'Did you offer Me slain victims and sacrifices in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel, says the Lord? And you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of the god Rephan;'

'the figures which you made to worship them.' Therefore, he says, God shall bring His hand upon the ordered array of heaven, that is, He shall scatter those who worship the array of heaven, I mean the sun and moon and stars.

And it is likely that the whole of idolatry is here named as it were by way of a part.

For the worship of the elements of the world has ceased, now that Christ has been manifested.

And if we understand the very inventor and father of sin—that is, Satan—to be also the 'array of heaven', we shall perhaps arrive straight at the truth.

'How is Lucifer fallen from heaven, he who rises in the morning?' And since he is once compared, on account of his ancient glory and the glory before his fall, to Lucifer, the prophetic word now names him for us the 'array of heaven'.

...of heaven, but indeed also upon the kings of the earth, that is, upon those who through covetousness have gained mastery over what is under heaven, that is clearly the world-rulers of this age, the wicked and hostile powers.

For they have reigned over the earth, having marked out those upon it as their own worshipers, and having persuaded them utterly to disregard love toward God.

These, therefore, who through deceit and falsehood and covetousness have gained mastery, or rather have reigned, they shall gather together and shut up in a stronghold and in a prison.

For the power of the Savior sent them down into the prison of punishment, into the inescapable stronghold.

And indeed the demons, coming to Him, besought Him that He would not command them to depart into the abyss.

And the prophet adds and says that after many generations there shall be a visitation of them;

for they have played the tyrant from the foundation of the world, and have not ceased to war against the divine and ineffable glory.

He prolonged for them the effects of their madness, even until the time of the coming of Christ, the Saviour of us all.

But at last, when a visitation came upon them, they were shut up in prison.

Yet they suffered this over the course of many generations.

He says that the brick shall dissolve and the wall shall fall, likening Satan, it would seem, to a wall.

But it was taken and has fallen, when Christ shook it down.

For it was not possible to slip past His invincible power.

That, once Satan has been cast down and has fallen, the mockeries of idolatry have been laid waste, and those who were long astray have been called through faith to the knowledge of the truth—the all-powerful right hand fairly snatching them away—the Saviour Himself will teach us, saying:

'Or how can anyone enter into the house of the strong man and plunder his goods, unless he first bind the strong man, and then he shall plunder his goods?' It is customary for the God-inspired Scripture to liken those who are exceedingly mighty to a wall and to cities, just as indeed it did also concerning the blessed prophet Jeremiah.

And it was an image of a true enclosure.

For through the might of Christ, the wicked and hostile powers, which once had held sway over all that is beneath heaven, were shut up in a stronghold and in a prison.

And together with them there was also destroyed that great and once unspeakable wall—that is to say, Satan.

And thus, through faith, those who were astray have been called henceforth to know the One who is truly and by nature the Creator and God and Lord of all things.

But one must know that some carry these words, according to another interpretation, over to the ordering of the heavens, and they say that at the time of the consummation the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light.

But I think that, following upon the contemplations and joining things together aptly, one ought in each case to bring the meanings of the passages before us to their conclusion.

'For the Lord shall reign in Zion and in Jerusalem, and shall be glorified before the elders.' Zion is interpreted 'lofty' and 'a watchtower,' or 'Jerusalem, the vision of peace.'

The true watchtower, then, and indeed the vision of peace, would in truth be the Church of Christ.

For in her the most exalted contemplation of His divine mysteries is wont to be practised, and indeed also the vision of peace.

And we say that Christ is the peace, whom we recognize from the God-inspired Scripture, since the all-wise Moses wrote concerning Him, and besides him the holy prophets also.

And when those who through covetousness had held sway over all beneath heaven have been shut up in a stronghold and in a prison, and when the wall has been melted away and shaken from its very foundations—according to the meanings already set forth above—'the Lord shall reign in Zion, and shall be glorified before the elders.'

By 'elders,' I think, He here means those who are perfect in mind and who, as it were, have their understanding grown grey, so as to be able to behold with the eyes of the heart the depth of the mysteries concerning Him.

To these the wise John also writes, saying:

'I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning.' But those who have come to know Him marvel and kindle up glory befitting God unto Him, confessing Him to be King and Lord of all.

And that, when the devil's tyranny has been wholly abolished, Christ has come to reign, He Himself will teach, saying—at the time when He offered Himself to God the Father as a ransom for the life of all, enduring for our sake the precious cross:

'Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the ruler of this world be cast out.

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.' Therefore He has subjected beneath His own sceptres all men throughout the whole earth, having first cast out the ruler of this age.

And the word 'casting out' seems to signify the overthrow of his covetous dominion over all.

(FIVE BOOKS. BOOK ONE.) 'O Lord my God, I will glorify Thee, I will sing praise to Thy name, for Thou hast done wondrous things, an ancient and true counsel.

So be it, O Lord.' In the completed book the prophet's discourse was long, and coming by way of hidden meanings, concerning both the perversity of the devil and the punishment and judgment that would come upon him, and moreover concerning the overthrow of the wicked and hostile powers.

And he added to these things also the proclamation of the kingdom of Christ.

For he said that the Lord shall reign in Zion and in Jerusalem, and shall be glorified before the elders.

For all these reasons, therefore, the prophet becomes filled with great joy, and honours with his praises the Accomplisher of things so marvellous.

'O Lord my God, I will glorify Thee, and I will sing praise to Thy name, an ancient and true counsel, and Thou hast done marvellous things.'

But since, concerning things which had not yet come to pass at that time, he says 'Thou hast done,' he intimates that though it has not yet happened, yet it shall assuredly and altogether come to be, adding 'So be it, O Lord.'

For with the eyes of their understanding they gazed upon the time of the coming as though it were already present, yet they were by no means ignorant that it was not yet at hand; and he names the mystery of the Incarnation of the Only-begotten, and the things accomplished throughout all the earth by means of it, as an ancient counsel and wondrous deeds. For we have been saved in Christ, who was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times of the age, as the all-wise Paul says:

For the mystery of Christ is not new or newly appeared, but was foreordained before the foundation of the world, yet has been manifested in its own times. 'For Thou hast made cities a heap, strong cities, that their foundations should fall;'

'but the city of the ungodly shall in no wise be built up for ever.' This too belongs to the true counsel and the blameless devices of the all-powerful God: that strong cities should be shaken and become a heap, and, as it were, be levered up from their very foundations and set beyond all hope, from which they shall never be able to recover.

'For it shall in no wise,' He says, 'be built up for ever.'

But we rather suppose that each of the wicked and hostile powers, and before all the rest, Satan, has been named a city, and that a strong one.

For it is customary for the God-inspired Scripture at times to liken those who are exceedingly mighty to towers and walls, or even to cities, just as indeed we said before that even the blessed prophet Jeremiah was set by God as a strong city and as a strong wall of bronze.

But when Emmanuel had been made manifest and had shone forth upon the world, the unholy throng of the hostile powers was destroyed, and out of their very pits [var. foundations] Satan was shaken down,

and thus he has fallen so as to lie in unending weakness, with no hope at any time of rising up again or lifting his head.

'For Thou hast become a helper to every lowly city, and a shelter to those disheartened through want; from evil men Thou shalt deliver them;'

'a shelter of them that thirst, and a spirit of men that are wronged;'

'they shall bless Thee as faint-hearted men that thirst;'