Commentary on the Twelve Prophets 1 part 5/19

for these things too are by no means less naturally apt to destroy the fruits from the earth.

And he calls them the fair things of the wilderness—things that of old were fair, but now have become desolate because of the evils that have befallen.

For, he says, the time of punishment draws near; which one would not err in calling a day of gloom and darkness, of mist and tempest;

for such are the evils in it, that no one perceives any light, but supposes himself to be passing his life in darkness and gloom.

Then he tells also the form of the punishment:

As the dawn shall there be poured out upon the mountains a people numerous and strong;

the like of it has not been from of old, and after it there shall not be added such, even to the years of generations of generations. And through these words he hints at both things—both the locust and the cloud of enemies.

For both it and they, by their multitude, covered both the plains and the summits of the mountains.

Now that there had not come another such invasion in that day, he declared indefinitely;

but that none should follow, he stated with a certain qualification.

For so great a devastation, he says, will it bring upon the land, that the beholder likens the parts that had not yet received a trial of the evils to the paradise of luxury;

but the parts after the invasion, to a ravaged plain, utterly destroyed.

For to such utter destruction shall they be delivered, that not even those who escaped shall attain to any deliverance.

For, he says, there shall not be one who is preserved from among them. And by these words he hinted at the assault of the enemies.

As the appearance of horses is their appearance, and as horsemen, so shall they pursue.

As good is God to Israel!—that is, exceedingly good.

How beloved are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!—that is, very greatly beloved.

How exceedingly are you magnified!—that is, You are utterly magnified.

So then here also, taking what is said as concerning the enemies, we shall understand the phrase 'the appearance of horses' to mean that they will employ many horses and horsemen, and will come with many chariots, whose drivers are so skilled that they can steer them even up the very mountain-tops, and use the rough places as though they were plains.

But taking what is said as concerning the locust, we shall understand the phrase 'As the appearance of horses is their appearance,' using experience in addition as our teacher.

For if one should examine closely the head of the locust, he will find it exceedingly like that of the horse.

And it is possible to see it also in flight, in no way falling short of the swiftness of horses, easily flying over mountains and plains;

and indeed advancing upon the standing crops like a flame, devouring the stubble.

And it resembles a multitude arrayed for battle, both flying and creeping (for joined to one another they do what they do), displaying a kind of locked-shield formation and a martial array.

Before his face, he says, peoples shall be crushed;

and every face shall be as the scorching of a pot. For such a calamity will he bring upon men, that their faces will be likened to a pot blackened by some fire, since the famine and the want works in them this disfigurement.

As warriors shall they run, and as men of war shall they mount up upon the walls;

each shall walk in his own way, and they shall not turn aside from their paths.

And each shall not hold back from his brother. And these things too let us understand in a manner similar to what has been said, taking them as referring both to the enemies and to the locust.

For it is possible to see the locust also, like the enemies, mounting upon walls, and marching in the roads, and not enduring to be scattered by any necessity, but making its assault as with a kind of common breath.

They shall fall among their weapons, and shall not be brought to an end. Now the locusts have natural weapons—teeth, and wings, and saw-like legs;

but the enemies have added by art to nature the things procured thereby.

But both these and those, he says, will use their weapons continually.

For even when fighting in the fiercest wars, and bearing arms, they are wont to partake of food and sleep, dreading the assaults of the enemies who draw near them;

So then 'They shall fall among their weapons' means their resting with their arms.

And 'They shall not be brought to an end' means: they shall not take their fill of the enemies;

nor indeed shall the locusts have their fill of eating.

Then he adds that the height of the enclosures does not suffice to become an obstacle to their entrance;

but they will easily overleap the walls, and like thieves will enter into the houses through the windows.

And this we have often beheld happening not only by enemies, but also by locusts;

for not only flying, but also creeping up along the walls, through the light-openings they make their way into the houses.

Before his face the earth shall be confounded, and the heaven shall be shaken;

the sun and moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall not give their light.

And the Lord shall utter his voice before his host, for his encampment is very great. Now these things may probably come to pass even through the events themselves;

for he calls the thunder a 'voice,' and we have often beheld eclipses of the sun and moon that have taken place, and the stars are sometimes rendered exceedingly dim by some drought;

and the earth, when it is shaken, makes manifest the wrath of God.

But it is possible to understand these things in another way also;

for those who are in calamities, as though passing their life in a kind of darkness, do not perceive the stability of the heavens, do not suppose the earth to be unmoved, do not see the day in light, nor the night in some measured glow, but think that all things have been utterly overturned.

'For the works of His words are mighty.' That is: No word of God remains barren of works;

for whatever He may speak, this immediately proceeds into deed.

For He has called 'great and manifest' that day whose report of the dreadful things about to be inflicted runs abroad among all men.

And no man will be able to withstand the evils brought on by God.

After these harsh threats, He turns His discourse to exhortation and counsel (12).

'Turn back,' He says, 'with your whole heart'—not dividing it between pleasures and prayers, but employing fasting and tears.

'And rend your hearts, and not your garments.' That is: Make use of the reasonings of contrition, soften the disobedience of your mind, receive the profitable counsels, and forsaking the way of wickedness, travel earnestly along the road that leads to God;

for with Him are many fountains of compassion and mercy, and being long-suffering He knows how not to carry His threats into effect.

For this He indicated when He said:

'And repenting of the evils'—that is, terrifying men with the threats of punishments, but, at men's change for the better, Himself changing His threats into what is pleasing.

For the God of all does not will now these things and now those, nor does He, like us, repent of what He does;

but even while threatening He holds mercy in reserve with Himself, which He bestows on those who repent of the sins they have committed;

and while promising good things, He knows both the good and those unworthy of the gifts;

and to the former He extends these things, while to the latter He gives the opposite of what He promises.

For He makes use of both promises and threats for men's benefit, that fearing the one and longing for the other, they may embrace a lawful manner of life.

Then, with a certain measure of doubt, the prophet announces the divine favor, and in this too he strikes fear into the insensible.

'...a blessing behind Him, a sacrifice and a drink offering to the Lord our God?' 'It is likely,' he says, 'that leaving His threats unfulfilled, He will bestow on us the accustomed abundance of good things, so that we may again offer the accustomed worship at the altar.'

For by 'blessing' he called the supply of good things.

'Therefore with this very hope,' he says (15),

'Blow the trumpet in Zion'—gathering all the people together in fasting and the service of God, so that the whole Church may attend zealously to repentance.

Let those who have lived a longer time take the lead;

let every age also be present, not even the infants at the breast being left behind.

And let those who have but now taken up the yoke of marriage, forsaking the wedding festivities, together with all the people pour forth the tear of repentance.

And let the assembly of priests, beside the gates of the temple and the altar before them, lamenting and imploring, propitiate the God of all, crying out:

'Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your inheritance to reproach, that nations should rule over them, that they may not say among the nations:'

'Where is their God?' Here, then, he clearly taught that the supplication was offered concerning Sennacherib, on whose account also King Hezekiah entreated the great prophet Isaiah to bring the intercession on behalf of the people before God.

And what follows teaches that even the fruits of the earth had been ruined by the God-sent plagues.

For He added: 'You shall be filled with them.' That is: You shall enjoy them to satiety.

'And I will no longer give you over to reproach among the nations.' The gift corresponds to the request;

for since in their supplication they said:

'Do not give Your inheritance to reproach, and let them not say among the nations:'

'Where is their God?'—He made the answer fitting to their supplications, namely: I will not allow you to become an object of malicious joy to your neighbors, but I will impart to you My providence, so that they too may know, through what is done for you, the strength of your God.

'And I will drive far from you the one from the north, and I will thrust him out into a waterless land, and I will make his face vanish into the first sea, and his rear parts into the last sea; and his rottenness shall rise up, and his stench shall rise up, because he has magnified his works.' By 'the one from the north' He means the Assyrian, whom of old He drove from Jerusalem, cutting down most of them by an angel, and whom afterwards He made prey of the Babylonians, and the Babylonians in turn He delivered over to the Persians.

By 'seas,' then, He calls the armies: as the first, that of the Babylonians, by whom the royal power in Nineveh was destroyed;

for these, under the leadership of Cyrus, both took Babylon and slew most of them, and the rest they enslaved.

By 'rottenness' and 'stench' He named the foul odor that follows after death;

for the bodies being cast out unburied, as happens in war, these too followed as a consequence.

'Therefore, since these things,' He says, 'come to pass from Me,' (21)

'Take courage, O land; rejoice and be glad, because the Lord has done great things.' And that I may not, by enumerating everything, prolong my discourse beyond measure—He likewise bids the cattle also take heart, since rains will come as usual, and the grass will appear, and there will be pasture to satiety, and vines, and fig trees, and the other fruit-bearing trees will be laden with fruits of every kind.

'And you children of Zion, rejoice and be glad in the Lord your God.' For He will supply you with the necessary needs, and will grant the rain in its season, both the early and the latter rain, just as before you enjoyed.

'...the vats overflow with wine and oil.'

And teaching plainly that they had not only endured the onslaught of war, but had also been severely scourged by the locust and the rest, He immediately went on:

but since the harm that came to them from this was greater, He called it a 'great power.'

'And you shall eat and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of the Lord your God, who has done wondrous things with you.' For this is the sum of good things: not to enjoy good things to satiety, but to praise the Giver of good things.

And to those so gratefully disposed, and mindful of the divine benefactions, He promises that His people shall not be put to shame forever. But if the Jews are now in shame, it is not that the God who cannot lie belied His promises;

but they themselves showed themselves unworthy of the promises, having become ungrateful toward their Benefactor, having called the Master of the house Beelzebul, and having killed the Heir, and not only having failed to render up the fruits in their season, but having even attempted to seize the inheritance.

'And you shall know the weakness of your idols, and that I alone am God, able both to chastise those who transgress and to have mercy on those who repent.'

'And abiding in these reasonings, you shall live in all security, no longer receiving the reproaches of the nations.'

Having thus foretold the things concerning the return, and the deliverance from bondage, and the God-given freedom, and the good seasons, and the abundance of fruits, and the deliverance from error, and having predicted the beams of the knowledge of God, he further makes known the manifold gifts of the divine Spirit, which, after the incarnation of the Only-begotten, and the saving Passion, and the Resurrection, and the Ascension into heaven, the God of all bestowed upon the holy apostles, and through them upon all throughout the inhabited world who believed.

'And it shall come to pass after these things.' That is, after the return and the recognition of the truth.

'And I will pour out from My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.'

'And indeed upon My male servants and upon My female servants in those days I will pour out from My Spirit.' This received its fulfillment openly and expressly on the day of Pentecost, when the divine apostles spoke in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them to utter;

and after these things the grace was distributed through them to all who believed;

of whom were also the prophets in Antioch, and Agabus who took Paul's belt, and those in Corinth, to whom Paul writes:

'But if all prophesy, and there come in someone who is an unbeliever or unlearned, he is convicted by all, he is judged by all; and so, falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that God is indeed among you.' The four daughters of Philip also received the gift of prophecy.

For concerning the divinely-inspired Paul, what need is there even to speak?—who at Miletus said to the elders of the Ephesians:

and writing, he cries out that 'In the last days grievous times shall set in;'

'for men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money,' and what follows.

'And the Spirit expressly says, that in the last days some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits,' and what follows.

But indeed I am doing a superfluous thing, in trying to demonstrate the truth of the prophecy.

For even down to our own time this gift has been preserved, and there are among the holy men some who have the eye of the mind pure, who both foreknow many of the things to come and foretell them.

Having thus spoken of the gifts supplied by the divine Spirit after the first appearing of our Savior, he also foretells the things that shall be before the second appearing.

'And I will show wonders in the heaven and on the earth: blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.'

'The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and manifest day.' These things also the Lord foretold in the holy Gospels:

'For there shall be,' He says, 'signs in the heaven, and in the sun, and moon, and stars.' And by 'the great and manifest day' he names the second appearing of our Savior.

For since at the former appearing He was born of a poor woman in a cave, and being born was laid in a manger, and until He began His miracles He was unknown to the many;

but coming upon the clouds He shall be seen, with those myriads of myriads going before, and those thousands of thousands singing praises, and to Him every knee bows, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth—with good reason he calls that day 'manifest.'

'And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' But indeed it is time to utter that apostolic saying:

'How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?' For which reason he fittingly went on:

'For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be one who is saved, as the Lord has said, and those bringing good tidings, whom the Lord has called.' For here he clearly signified to us the holy apostles, who were commanded to preach the good tidings and to say:

'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' And he says that there is deliverance in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, signifying that everyone who believes in him who was crucified there and who took upon himself the sufferings on our behalf shall obtain salvation.

After foretelling the spiritual gifts, he transfers the prophecy to another subject, and foretells concerning Gog and Magog, about whom the divine Ezekiel also prophesied; and he predicts that they, employing an exceedingly numerous army, will after the return march against Jerusalem, the surrounding nations, as is likely, urging them on to this.

For since after the return they had become exceedingly conspicuous and admired—for he who then ruled the world (and Cyrus was the first to reign over the Persians) had escorted them forth with gifts and every honour, and had commanded that the divine temple be rebuilt—these nations, smitten with envy, gathered countless multitudes from every quarter, hoping to take the city with all its inhabitants.

But they were deceived in their hope;

for they suffered utter destruction beside that very city, since the God of all fought on its behalf and contrived that they should be slain by one another.

'When I turn again the captivity of Judah and of Jerusalem.' For not in the season of the spiritual gifts, but immediately after the return from Babylon. (v. 2)

'I will gather,' he says, 'all the nations'—that is, I will permit them to be gathered, and I will not hinder their first onset;

there, on behalf of my people and of my inheritance Israel;

who were scattered among the nations, and they divided up my land.

(v. 3) 'And they cast lots over my people, and gave the boys for harlots, and sold the girls for wine, and drank.' From this it is clear that, as the neighbouring peoples led the way, the others followed;

for these very people, at the time of the captivity, also divided up the land, as though no one were left—neither owner nor tiller—and they cast the lot, making their allotments;

and those who had escaped they sold, squandering the price paid for them upon riotous living and luxury.

From here he brings a charge against Tyre and against the Galilee of the foreigners (this being a region of Tyre), because she too took part with those who did these things, dealing vindictively against the people.

And appropriating to himself the outrages committed against the people, he said:

'Do you render me a recompense, or do you bear a grudge against me?' For just as, when the apostles were persecuted by Saul, he said from on high:

'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'—calling the outrages committed against them his own sufferings—

so here too, in addressing Tyre, he has assumed the person of the people, and referred to himself the things done against them.

And he threatens them with the swiftest requital—the just recompense for their lawlessness against the people.

Then he mentions also the kinds of injustice.

'For you took,' he says, 'my silver and my gold and my other treasures dedicated to me, and brought them into the temples of your idols;

and the Jews who had escaped the assault of the Babylonians you sold to the sons of the Greeks, having one aim—to settle them far from the land given them by me.

But I, having gathered them together from every side, will contrive that they recover their own power once more, so that you may justly be avenged upon, and that your arrogance may be brought down, and that you may be enslaved and forced to serve at the uttermost ends of the earth.

From Tyre he again transfers the prophecy to the Scythian regions, and he commands proclamation to be made among the nations, to rouse up the warriors and to set them apart for war;

for this is what he called 'to sanctify.'

For since the holy person sets himself apart from unhallowed affairs, he calls everything that is set apart for some purpose 'to sanctify';

so too above he said, 'Sanctify a fast,' that is, 'Set it apart.'

And Isaiah, concerning the Babylonians:

'They are sanctified, and I lead them'—that is, set apart for this purpose.

Then he commands the agricultural implements to be refashioned into weapons of war, and the man who is feebly disposed to prepare himself as though he were robust for the battle-line, and the man who lives in gentleness, being transformed, to play the man with eagerness;

and all to be gathered together into the valley of Jehoshaphat.

'For there,' he says, 'I will sit to judge all the nations round about'—that is, those dwelling around Jerusalem: Idumaeans, Ammonites, Moabites, Amalekites, foreigners, Tyrians, Sidonians;

for these were the ones who gathered together the Scythian nations against Jerusalem.

Then, portraying their destruction figuratively, he calls the slaughter a vintage, the spears and swords by which they were slain sickles, and the ravine filled with their blood a winepress and a wine-vat.

And the cause of the punishment:

'For their wickedness,' he says, 'has been multiplied.' Then the tumult amid the slaughter:

'Sounds have resounded in the valley of judgement;

for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of judgement.' By 'valley of judgement' he named the ravine of Jehoshaphat, as the tribunal that received the verdict pronounced against them.

And he says that the sun, the moon, and the rest of the stars will be deprived of their light.

And it is likely that these things did in fact come to pass, since the God of all set the whole creation in motion against them.

Yet it is possible to understand it in another way as well.

For to those who have passed out of life and have been given over to death, neither the sun nor the moon nor any of the stars sends down the radiance of its light;

gripped by unexpected evils, they passed their time in darkness, reckoning the day to be night.

'And the Lord shall cry aloud out of Zion, and out of Jerusalem shall utter his voice;

and heaven and earth shall be shaken';

for by 'voice' he means the thunder;

for we find it thus designated in the books of Kingdoms as well.

But the Lord of all will do these things, exercising compassion toward his own people, so that, enjoying this providence, it may know, he says (v. 17):

'That I am the Lord your God, who dwell in my holy mountain.' When these things come to pass, Jerusalem will be admired, seeing that she has enjoyed my care;

and fear will possess all the foreigners, so that not even a wayfarer of that kind will pass through her, dreading the things that befell those nations.

For this he intimated when he said:

'And a stranger shall no longer pass through her.' But their lawless deeds do not allow the divine predictions to come to fulfilment.

For the God of all, when he legislates and promises good things, makes his statements with a condition:

'If you keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and if you walk in his ways, and if you are willing and hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land;

but if you are not willing, nor hearken to me, the sword shall devour you.' So that even if we do not everywhere find such conditions, let us understand in this way also the things spoken without qualification.

'And it shall come to pass in that day, the mountains shall drop down sweetness, and the hills shall flow with milk.' By these things he intimates the fruits of the earth and the well-being of the livestock;

for milk too is a fruit of the flocks.

'And all the fountains of Judah shall flow with waters, and a spring shall go forth out of the house of the Lord, and shall water the torrent-bed of the rushes.' Now by 'outlets of waters' he names the springs, and by the spring going forth out of the house of the Lord, the grace of the Holy Spirit, of which he prophesied above as well—the grace which has given drink not only to Jews, but to all the nations.

For by 'torrent-bed of rushes' he designates the nations, which of old dragged away with error those who drew near, but after their faith in the Lord received the pure waters of the holy spring, and were freed from the cords of sin, concerning which Isaiah cries out:

'Woe to those who draw their sins to themselves as with a long cord!' And when these things come to pass (v. 19):

'Egypt shall be a desolation.' That is, the madness concerning idols shall be extinguished;

for Egypt was the leader of impiety.

'And Idumaea,' he says, 'shall be a plain of desolation.' And the earthly mindset, he says, shall be destroyed;

for 'Edom' is interpreted as 'the red and earthy one.'

And it is possible to understand what has been said according to history as well:

Egypt as being made desolate through the loss of its kingdom;

for Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, overthrew it;

and Idumaea too endured desolation, as the very events also testify.

'And these things,' he says, 'they shall suffer, paying the penalty for the wrongs by which they injured Judah.'

'But Judaea shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to generations of generations';

and these I will deem worthy of my providence, showing forth my own manifestation in Zion.

As for the words, 'Judea shall be inhabited for ever,' let us understand them according to the sense we have set forth above.

For it is not just that God should bestow good promises upon those who are unworthy, since He is just and abhors iniquity.

The Jews, therefore, became to themselves the authors of their dispersion among the nations, having raged against their Benefactor.

Let us continue to love ardently Him who has deemed us worthy of gifts, that we may not fall away from the eternal promises, which may we all attain by the grace of Christ who has saved us, with whom, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory to the Father, now and always, and unto the ages of ages.

He who alone fashioned our hearts and understands all our works, as the divine Scripture says, knowing the hardness and stubbornness of the heart of Israel, does not address it through one prophet only, but employing many wondrous men as His servants, He both offers exhortations and foretells things to come, showing by the concord of the many the infallibility of His prophecies.

Among these is also the inspired Amos.

For he lived in the same period as those wondrous men Hosea and Joel, and he prophesied the same things concerning both the Assyrians and the Babylonians, and the return therefrom, and the events that would come to pass after the return.

Having first foretold a few things against the neighbouring nations, he thus began his prophecy concerning Israel.

And by this very prophecy he conferred a very great benefit upon the Jews.

For he taught that the Lord of all is able to have mercy on and to chastise not only them alone, but all the nations as well, inasmuch as He is the maker and fashioner of all.

In addition to this, he also made clear how great is the care He takes for them, punishing those who attempt to wrong them.

This, then, is the subject of the prophecy at hand.

But from the interpretation taken part by part, we shall learn more accurately the meaning of the divine oracles.