Commentary on Isaiah 1 part 43/65

And He says that He took hold of Abraham, and called him from the ends of the earth, or rather from her watchtowers, inasmuch as he was summoned from afar and from the land of the Chaldeans to Judaea.

For he heard God saying:

'Go out from your land, and from your kindred, and from the house of your father, and come to the land which I will show you.' Then He speaks as concerning all Israel, that 'I said to you:'

And he became chosen, as I said, and was not forsaken by God.

'Do not fear,' and furthermore, 'Do not wander astray.'

'For I am your God who has strengthened you.'

For he was taught through the Law that God is one, and the Lord is one, and that Him alone must one serve, and that he was helped by Him and through His right hand, which is His Creator-Power, that is, the Son.

And he became secure and superior to every plot.

For he conquered nations, and inherited the land of those very ones.

'Behold, all who oppose you shall be turned back and put to shame.'

'For they shall be as those who are not, and all your adversaries shall perish.'

'You shall seek them, and you shall not find the men who behave insolently toward you.'

'For they shall be as those who are not, and those who war against you shall not be, because I am your God who holds your right hand, who says to you:'

'Do not fear, worm Jacob, least among men, Israel.'

'I have helped you,' says God, 'your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, and praised unto the ages.' These things also are a repayment to what is above.

'For you, O Israel, are My servant,' He says, 'and Jacob, whom I have chosen, seed of Abraham, whom I have loved.'

'Behold, all who oppose you shall be put to shame and turned back.'

For very many there have been, in various seasons, who impiously plotted against the holy initiators, and endeavoured to set forth against the saving proclamations the things arising from their own perversity.

But they became as nothing, and the adversaries of piety have perished.

For to work against the ministers of the divine proclamation would be nothing other than to fight against the doctrines of piety.

'They shall not be, therefore,' He says, 'but you shall seek them, and you shall by no means find those who have behaved insolently toward you.'

'...and lifting himself up like the cedars of Lebanon; and I passed by, and behold, he was not;'

'and I sought him, and his place was not found.' For many of those accustomed to think lofty things exalt themselves against the standing of the holy initiators.

But 'they shall perish root and all from the earth,' as the sacred Writing says.

And those who think lofty things shall undergo a dreadful and unexpected wearing away.

'He who makes his own house lofty seeks his own crushing.' Therefore they shall not be, He says, those who war against you.

And surely he does not mean merely that no one shall stand against the holy apostles.

Rather, it shall wholly be theirs to go forward in radiant tranquillity.

For countless are those who have warred against them, yet they would not even be found to exist, being brought low, that is, and falling under the stirrings of the divine wrath.

For this reason he restores them to manly courage, saying:

I am the Lord your God who holds your right hand, that is, who takes hold of you and shows you to be stronger than every trial;

I am he who says to you: Fear not, Jacob, least among the number of Israel.

For in relation to the multitude of their foes, or to their powers, Israel was altogether the least in number — and I do not mean the whole nation, but those taken up by him for apostleship.

But he who saved them was great, mighty and strong for aid, having an unconquerable hand.

For when God redeems, who is able to do harm? Behold, I have made you as the wheels of a cart, threshing, new, storm-like.

And you shall thresh mountains, and grind small the hills, and reduce them as to dust, and winnow them, and the wind shall take them, and the tempest shall scatter them. The children of the Egyptians, gathering the sheaves from the fields onto the threshing-floor, then loosing oxen upon them and driving them round in a circle, grind down the ears of grain with their hooves.

This is the very thing they were practised in accomplishing.

Behold therefore, he says, O Israel, I have made you as the wheels of a cart that thresh, new, storm-like.

And what is it that is threshed? Is it then ears and grain, and the things mingled from the fields onto the threshing-floor? By no means, but mountains and hills.

And who again might these be? First of all the wicked and hostile powers.

Then he seems to liken to mountains and hills those accustomed to think lofty thoughts and to hold an overweening mind, lifted up on high, wielding worldly dominions, and setting themselves up against the holy mystagogues, and after the manner of mountains or hills wont to obstruct them, so as to render most difficult for them the road — I mean that of fulfilling in time the course of their apostleship.

But even those who are thus, he says, you shall grind small, causing them like chaff to be blown up and scattered by the breezes of the winds, and giving as it were a tempest, so as to disperse them.

For thus they shall go their way into nothingness.

But you shall rejoice over the saints, O Israel.

And the poor and the needy shall exult.

For they shall seek water, and there shall be none;

and their tongue is parched from thirst.

I am the Lord God, I the God of Israel will hearken, and I will not forsake them. Now the enemies of the divine preaching, who cut across your path, O Israel, he says, shall depart unto destruction.

But you shall rejoice in the saints, O Israel — that is, you shall delight when you see many become saints and numbered among the sons of Israel.

For not all who are of Israel are Israel, nor because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but the children of the promise are reckoned as seed. And that it was a custom for the holy apostles to rejoice and to take delight in those who were wont to be well approved — evidently through faith in Christ — Paul too makes clear when writing to them and saying:

For the occasion of their highest gladness was the conversion of those who had gone astray, and the restoration to a better state of those who did not know the truth.

You shall therefore rejoice in the saints, O Israel.

And who these are he shows plainly, saying:

The poor and the needy shall exult — that is, the nations.

For they were in want of every good thing, and wholly without share in the gifts that are from God.

For those who are utterly ignorant of him must needs be destitute of the glories that lead to virtue.

The poor therefore and the needy shall exult.

How, or in what manner? For they shall seek water, he says, and there shall be none, and their tongue is parched from thirst.

And the phrase 'they shall seek' in these words stands, he says, in place of 'they sought.'

And since they did not find, their tongue was parched by thirst.

For among the Greeks too there arose many lovers of learning and lovers of inquiry, and searchers after the truth;

but there was none among them who knew how to teach these things.

There was none able to satisfy to the full with the doctrines that lead to truth those who longed for her.

Their tongue therefore was parched by thirst.

But I will hearken to them, says the God of Israel, and I will not forsake them.

For he had compassion on the multitude of those who had gone astray, and did not leave it in want of the gifts from above, but rather filled it — and in what manner he makes very clear through what follows.

But I will open rivers upon the mountains, and springs in the midst of the plains;

I will make the wilderness into marshes, and the thirsty land into watercourses.

I will set in the waterless land the cedar, and the box tree, and the myrtle, and the cypress, and the white poplar;

that they may see and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done all these things, and the Holy One of Israel has made them manifest. He says that the country of the nations was both a wilderness and waterless.

A wilderness, because it was in a manner stripped bare, and destitute of the most flourishing plants — spiritual plants, that is;

and to be seen as nurse of thorns alone, and mother of wild trees, and of all such things as are fit for fire to consume.

Such fruit did the nations once bear. But to those who long ago had thirsted he says:

I will open rivers upon the mountains — evidently holy men, those who from above have been enriched with the divine word, and who like river-streams pour it out upon the thirsty, and as it were gush it forth.

So that the wilderness too, once changing its aspect, appears as marshes, and thickets, and the thirsty land in watercourses.

And the watercourses again would be those who in their several times, and in each country and city, became mystagogues and teachers of the Churches;

who, having as it were from springs and rivers — those of the God-inspired Scripture — settled the word into mind and heart, transfer it also to others, like certain watercourses that water the most flourishing gardens.

And in what manner the wilderness shall be transformed into marshes, and of what trees it shall be the nurse, he teaches, saying:

I will set in the waterless land the cedar, and the box tree, and the myrtle, and the cypress, and the white poplar. And all these are fragrant and incorruptible woods.

And to the saints there belongs also fragrance — spiritually, through a pure manner of life;

and the not being corrupted by letting themselves loose and unrestrained into worldly desires, but standing firm and well-rooted, since God roots them and upholds them with his aids.

For the Lord upholds the righteous, as it is written.

There shall be, he says, rivers, and springs, and watercourses, both on the mountains and in the plains, and as it were everywhere.

And the wilderness too shall become marshes, that those who are called through faith may both see with their very eyes, and recognize through good thoughts, and indeed also learn from the greatness of what has come to pass, and from the unexpected change, that things so great and renowned are not wont to be accomplished simply or of themselves.

For rather the hand of the Lord made them manifest — that is, the power and the God-befitting authority, or rather the Son, through whom are all things, and in whom all things have already come to be and been wrought as wonders by the Father.

For they are not falsely-named gods, nor yet worldly elements;

he did not become his workman, but the Holy One of Israel has made them manifest.

Your judgment draws near, says God;

your counsels have drawn near, says the King of Jacob. Having very fully declared how the calling of the nations shall come to pass in its times, and having promised to make the wilderness into marshes, and the thirsty land into watercourses, and to render it leafy with cedars, and the box tree, and the other plants, and saying that his own hand should be wondered at, as the maker of things so great, he addresses himself again to the makers of idols, and to the craftsmen of such things, and says that their judgment has drawn near.

And by 'judgment' he means either the punishment owed to them,

or rather the shame and disgrace.

For by the holy vote of God, and by a righteous verdict, they would be punished, as having deceived all under heaven, and having introduced counsels that were not true.

For they taught those on the earth to say to the wood:

You are my father, and to the stone, You have begotten me. For this reason also he says that their counsels have drawn near — that is, have come to their end, since God shakes down the error, and pours over them the mist that comes from ignorance; and he is not one of those among them, that is, of the falsely-named ones, we say, but the Lord, and truly God, and the King of Jacob, that is, of those of the blood of Israel.

And through these things he brings back to remembrance the signs that came to pass at the redemption of those of Israel, through which the power of the God-befitting authority that is in him, or of his incomparable pre-eminence, is very well discerned.

Let them draw near, and let them declare to you the things that shall come to pass, or what the former things were.

'Declare, and let us fix our mind upon it, and we shall know what are the last things and the things that are to come.'

'Tell us, announce to us the things that are coming at the last, and we shall know that you are gods.'

'Do good, and do harm, and we shall marvel and behold together; for whence are you, and whence is your work?'

'Out of the earth they chose you as an abomination.' It is proper and peculiar to the divine and unutterable glory to know all things, and to be utterly ignorant of nothing—neither of things past, nor of things present, nor of things to come.

Through the all-wise Moses He sets forth plainly to those upon the earth the things before the framing of this world and the things at the beginning, saying:

'In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.'

'And the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was upon the deep'; and he recounts with the utmost exactness the making of the whole world.

But our Lord Jesus Christ also, who of old spoke those things through Moses, has announced to us the things that are in the last days;

for as His own disciple says:

'We look for new heavens and a new earth, and His promises.' And one may hear Him plainly saying:

'Shall anything be hidden from Me?'—For truly the word of God is living and clear, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow; and there is no creature hidden before Him, but all things are naked and laid open to His eyes. And since He is God, He saves and does good and fills with all gladness—spiritual gladness, that is—those who reverence Him;

but He afflicts and subjects to judgments those who are wont to despise Him and will not endure to do good.

But one would perceive nothing of these things in objects made of stones.

For what does lifeless matter know? Or how could things that cannot even defend themselves do anyone good, or be able to harm—things that have received from others even their very standing and their being seen at all? 'Let them come, then,' He says, 'those who among you are reckoned to be gods;'

'let them announce what shall come to pass, let them tell the former things, and the last things, and the things that are coming.'

'For then,' He says, 'we shall know that you are gods.'

'But you cannot,' He says, 'announce them.'

'Well then, at least do good and do harm.'

'But if you can do none of these things, it remains that we shall behold'—that is, it is easy to see—'whence you are, and whence is your work;'

'for you are made out of the earth as an abomination.'

not of some bright and choice, or of some other material;

but all these things are out of the earth.

For they neither knew nor foretold that they would be burned up together with their very sanctuaries, and would in due time lie as a laughing-stock even to those who of old had been deceived by them.

'But I have raised up him from the north, and him from the rising of the sun;'

'they shall be called by My name.' For the swarm of unclean idols—since they were nothing else but merely wood and stones—deceived those who had been deluded.

And they announced to them absolutely nothing, neither of the first things nor of the last, nor indeed did they do anyone good, nor were they able to do harm.

'But I,' He says, 'since I am a good God, have willed that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.'

'I have saved that which is under heaven; I have raised up many who lay like the dead.'

And who these might be He teaches, saying:

'Him from the north, and him from the rising of the sun,'—that is, the people from among the nations.

For inasmuch as, in relation to the land of the Jews which is very much to the south, the land of the nations lies rather more to the north and has obtained the place toward the sunbeam,

therefore he that is from the north and from the rising of the sun would be the people from among the nations, who have been called by the name of Christ.

For we are named Christians, and we are such.

For He acquired us by His own blood, and we were bought with a price, and we are not our own.

For One died for all, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to Him who died for them and rose again.

Therefore we say, as to our own Saviour and Redeemer:

'Lord, besides You we know no other; we name Your name.' We have therefore been called by His name, and this indeed was what was spoken through the voice of the prophet:

'But to those who serve Me a new name shall be called, which shall be blessed upon the earth.'

'Behold a man, the Dayspring is his name.' And again, as of God the Father speaking concerning Him:

'Who raised up righteousness from the east?' For Christ has become for us righteousness, and sanctification, and moreover redemption. 'Let rulers come, and as a potter's clay, and as a potter treading down clay, you shall be trodden down.'

'For who shall declare the things from the beginning, that we may know also the things before? And we shall say that He is true.'

'There is none who foretells, nor any who hears your words.' For, at God's assent, the multitude of idols was destined to be burned up and to be cast down like clay beneath the feet of those who believed.

For they have been trodden down, and are like dust, or like a potter's clay, and are nothing else besides this.

For their generation was out of the earth.

And that all these things were destined to be brought to fulfilment in due time, through holy men serving as commanders and ministering vigorously to the beckonings of God, He shows by saying, 'Let rulers come'—that is, let there be shown forth the leaders of the peoples, who whet unto zeal those who believe in Me, and arm them against the lifeless gods.

'For who among them,' He says, 'shall announce the things from the beginning, that we may know, or also the things before, that when what has been spoken has come to pass we may consent that they have spoken true things? But there was not,' He says, 'among the falsely-named gods'—that is, among the unclean spirits—'one who foretells;'

'nor yet among men one who hears your words.'

Of old, throughout lands and cities, there were in the sanctuaries of the idols false prophecies and false utterances of demons, and tripods and cauldrons, and a countless multitude of those wont to deceive;

and many went to receive oracles from them.

But when the Word of God shone upon us, the idols in the shrines fell, and the demons that deceived fell silent;

or rather they were also sent down into Hades and cast into Tartarus.

And those who of old honoured the words that came from them have been called to the knowledge of the truth, and this He teaches, saying:

'I will give a beginning to Zion, and I will comfort Jerusalem into the way.'

'For from the nations, behold, there was none, and from their idols there was no one announcing;'

'and if I ask them, Whence are you? they will by no means answer me;'

'for those who make you are, and those who deceive you are, in vain.' Again He promises the manifestation of the Saviour, through whom that which is under heaven has been saved, and the multitude of those who went astray has been called to the knowledge of the truth.

For in order that we might have the Guide who knows and is able to bring us into the way of salvation, the Only-begotten Word of God became man, being also King by nature;

inasmuch as He is understood to be both God and from God the Father—Him, that is, who rules over all and has the creation lying beneath His feet—

He is said to have been appointed King over us.

For it is written concerning Him:

'Behold, a righteous king shall reign, and rulers shall rule with judgment.' For Christ has reigned over that which is under heaven, and this He makes plain to us, saying:

'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.' For although as God He has authority over all things, yet on account of the economy in the flesh He says that there has been given to Himself the very things which He had as God.

Having reigned, therefore, He appointed as rulers over us the holy apostles, who also ruled us with judgment—that is, with righteousness.

'And I will comfort Jerusalem,' which is again the entrance of the Church.

For we have been comforted, being empowered through Christ, and we have been taught the unwearying path that leads to life.

'For from the nations,' He says, 'behold, there was none, and from their idols there was no one announcing.'

For there were very many wise men and men of note among the Greeks;

but there was none among them able to teach the way unto godliness.

And the young men among them were full of idols; but neither among the idols—that is, among the falsely-named gods—was there one able to announce the pursuit of that which is profitable, or to direct into the way of righteousness.

'Nor,' He says, 'if they were asked, Whence are you? could they answer.'

But those who do not even know themselves — for they are dumb and senseless matter — how could they ever become teachers of others? Or how could they at all point anyone to that which leads to true benefit? For there are, indeed there are, those who make you into fabricators of falsely named gods, and again those who lead you astray, namely those who worship them.

Jacob My servant, I will lay hold of him;

Israel My chosen, My soul has received him.

I have put My Spirit upon him.

He will bring forth judgment to the nations.

He will not cry out, nor lift up his voice, nor shall his voice be heard outside.

A bruised reed he will not break, and smoking flax he will not quench, but he will bring forth judgment unto truth.

He will shine forth and not be crushed, until he has established judgment upon the earth;

and in his name nations and peoples will hope. He announced beforehand, saying, 'I will give a beginning to Zion,' and what sort of thing this is he plainly shows.

For he has been appointed ruler and guide over the spiritual Zion — that is, over the Church — not then first ascending to the beginning of the office at the time when he is said to have been advanced to it.

For the Word who is from the Virgin was and ever is King and Lord of all things.

But since he became man, he makes the measure of humanity his own.

For thus was it truly and beyond all doubt to be believed by us, that he became as we are.

And he calls him Jacob and Israel, inasmuch as according to the flesh he came into being from the blood of him who was from Jacob, who was also renamed Israel.

And he says, 'I will lay hold of him,' and he names him 'chosen.'

For the Father worked together with the Son, and as by his own power he accomplished the mighty deeds.

And he is also truly chosen, because he is beautiful in comeliness beyond the sons of men, and acceptable as one beloved;

'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And that he was anointed according to his humanity, and is said to have partaken of the Holy Spirit — even though he himself gives the Spirit and sanctifies the creation — he makes clear, saying:

I have put My Spirit upon him.

For when he was baptized, the Spirit, it says, came upon him from heaven in the form of a dove and remained upon him.

And if at the time of his baptism he receives the Spirit according to the measure of his humanity, this too would be along with the other things.

For it was not in respect of his being God that he was sanctified by receiving the Spirit;

for he himself, as I have said, is the one who sanctifies;

but rather in respect of his having appeared as man according to the divine economy.

He is anointed, therefore, so as to bring forth judgment to the nations.

And by 'judgment' he here means righteous judgment.

And this he himself taught us, saying:

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 to myself. For he condemned to destruction him who, as I have said, had seized dominion over all that is under heaven, and by a holy judgment he saved those who had been deceived.

But he will not cry out, it says, nor lift up his voice, nor shall his voice be heard outside.

For the Saviour and Lord of all sojourned among us in great lowliness and without ostentation, and as it were noiselessly, wronging no one;

but in silence and gentleness, so as not even to break a bruised reed, nor to quench smoking flax — that is, neither to set his foot to bring harm upon those who are utterly lowly and who are wont most readily and boldly to endure injury.

What then will he do, and what will he accomplish for the nations? He will bring forth judgment unto truth.

In these words he seems to be calling the Law 'judgment.'

For it is written concerning Israel and the God who rules over all, that 'there he gave him ordinances and judgment;'

and again, 'Judgment and righteousness in Jacob hast thou wrought.'

The judgment, therefore, that is, the Law which was in shadows and types, he will bring forth unto the truth of the evangelical decrees, through which he made manifest the way of the manner of life pleasing to him, and transferred the service which was in the letter according to the Law into the truth.

And the wretched Jews acted insolently toward him, daring to grieve him with the death of the flesh.

Nevertheless he shone forth as light, and was not crushed — that is, he was not overcome by corruption, nor did the madness of those who plotted against him prevail.

For death has been undone, and he rose again in a manner befitting God, and trampled his enemies, and his suffering became the occasion of salvation for those throughout all that is under heaven.

He will not be crushed, therefore, until he has established judgment upon the earth.

And do not suppose that he is defining some set time at which he will be crushed — that is, after establishing judgment for those on the earth;

but rather he means this: He will prevail over those who oppose, and will conquer to such a degree that he even establishes judgment in all the earth.

For the Gospel has been proclaimed in all the earth, and his decrees have as it were been firmly fixed.

For having come to know that he is truly God, even if he appeared in the flesh, they will make him their hope, and as the Psalmist says:

In his name they shall rejoice all the day long. For we have been called Christians, and in him we place all our hope.

Thus says the Lord who made the heaven and fixed it fast, who established the earth and the things in it, and gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those who tread upon it:

I the Lord God have called you in righteousness, and I will lay hold of your hand and strengthen you.

And I have given you for a covenant of the race, for a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out from bonds those who are bound, and from the prison house those who sit in deep darkness. False prophets and false diviners very many indeed have arisen from time to time in Israel,

who were accustomed to claim to speak in the Holy Spirit.

And the strange thing is that Christ himself was reviled, as though he were neither sent from God, nor truly holy, nor accomplishing wonders in the surpassing excellence of Godhead.

And indeed the teachers of the Jews, although they saw him working marvels, at one time said that he cast out the demons by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons;

and at another time again they said to one another:

If this man were from God, he would not have broken the Sabbath.

And in reply to these things, Christ tried many times to make his defense and to give full assurance that he was not like those who existed in the bare and mere semblance of having been sent from God.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.

I came that they may have life. And again:

I have come in the name of my Father. Therefore, in order that he might also have the Father who is in the heavens bearing witness to him, he said, usefully and necessarily and through the holy prophets, that: 'I the Lord God, who fixed fast the heaven, who declared the earth most firm and unshaken, who lives and gives life, and gives breath to all,'

I the God and Lord of all have called you in righteousness.

For he did not come, it says, as a deserter, like those false prophets who spoke from their own heart and not from the mouth of the Lord;

but 'I have called you,' that is, according to my good pleasure I have brought you forth in righteousness.

I will lay hold of your hand, and strengthen you;

which is to say, I will work together with you, and will make you mighty in all things.

And by no means do we say that the Father knows the Son to be weak and without strength, nor indeed lacking in help.