Since it has been clearly established in the fifth treatise of the Evangelical Demonstration, on the subject of Father and Son, that there is one God who is confessed over all, and that a second essence has been demonstrated after him, ruling over all things begotten — which the divine oracles have called beforehand "the firstborn Wisdom of God," "the only-begotten Son," "God from God," "the Angel of great counsel," "the ruler of the heavenly hosts," "the minister of the Father," yes, and also "Lord of all," and "the Word of God," and "the Power of God" — if the prophetic testimonies should now appear, foretelling that God is about to come among men, it will be plain to everyone to whom the reference of what is signified must be made — most of all since, in earlier times, in human form and shape, God the Word appeared to those who loved God around Abraham, under the name of Lord and God, having made his visitations to men.
Come, then, let us see how the oracles among the Hebrews clearly foretell that sometimes as Lord, sometimes as God, he was to come down among men and to ascend again, and let us note also the causes of his descent; and let it be observed that some things are spoken in riddles, and some more plainly.
Now the things spoken through concealment, I judge, were delivered veiled for the sake of those of the circumcision, on account of the grim things foretold against them; on account of which it is likely that they would even have suppressed the Scripture, if it had signified openly their final rejection. Thus, at any rate, tradition holds that they plotted even against the prophets themselves, on account of the reproofs which these made against them.
But the clear prophecies contain most plainly the calling of the nations, proclaiming the promises of the good things pertaining to piety not to the Jewish nation, but to all men throughout the whole inhabited world. Since this is so, it is now time to hear the divine oracles themselves.
A declaration of God's coming among men, and, upon this, the calling of the nations. "And he bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was under his feet. And he mounted on the cherubim and flew; he flew upon the wings of the winds. And he made darkness his hiding place; round about him was his tabernacle."
I hold that these words plainly set forth God's descent from heaven; for having earlier spoken many theological statements, he now adds the passage set out. By saying that he "bowed the heavens" and "came down," he signifies the withdrawal of his divine glory, which the divine Apostle described when he said, "Who, being in the form of God, did not think it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." And "he mounted on the cherubim and flew" seems to me to hint at the restoration to the glory of God, which he accomplished attended by angelic and divine powers. This same thing seems to me also to be signified by "he flew upon the wings of the winds."
And his making darkness his hiding place, and darkness being said to be under his feet, would be indicative of the hidden and unspoken dispensation, according to which all these things were being accomplished by him. And what is it fitting to understand by "round about him was his tabernacle," except his holy and catholic Church, whether the one on earth or the one in the heavens?
Next, as the same Psalm draws to its close, the passage foretells together both the rejection of the former people and the calling of the nations, in the words: "You will deliver me from the contradictions of the people; you will make me the head of nations. A people whom I did not know has served me; at the hearing of the ear it obeyed me. Sons of strangers lied to me; sons of strangers grew old and went lame from their paths." What sense these words bear will be examined at the appropriate time. From Psalm 46.
All you nations, clap your hands; shout to God with a voice of exultation. For the Lord Most High is terrible, a great king over all the earth. He subdued peoples to us, and nations under our feet. He chose for us his inheritance, the beauty of Jacob which he loved. God went up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to our God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding. God reigned over the nations; God sits upon his holy throne. The rulers of the peoples are gathered together with the God of Abraham; for the mighty ones of the earth belong to God, they have been greatly exalted.
And what else does the ascension of the Lord God, indicated through these words, mean to signify, but his descent prior to that ascension — upon which, in turn, the calling of all the nations is foretold, and signs of joy and gladness are proclaimed as good news to all the nations concerning the coming knowledge of God — at which time the Lord himself, the Most High, confessed as the only God and King of all the earth, is said to have subdued peoples to us?
But to us — which "us"? Clearly, to those who prophesy these things. And this may plainly be seen to have been fulfilled, when all the nations that have believed in Christ have been made subject to the words of the prophets. These things might also be spoken as from the persons of the apostles of our Savior, who might likewise say the words, "He chose for us his inheritance."
And what must one understand by "his inheritance" except the calling of all the nations, which Christ of God himself, setting it forth, declared, saying: "The Lord said to me, You are my Son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession."
This inheritance, then, given him by the Father, he subjected to his apostles and prophets, in that those who have believed in him have been made subject to their words, in accordance with the oracles set forth above. And having accomplished all these things at his coming among men, God the Word, concerning whom we have discoursed at great length, "went up with a shout."
Interpreting this, the Apostle says: "Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same who also ascended far above all the heavens." And he says that he went up "with a shout" on account of the theological acclamation given him by the angels who attended him as he ascended, who said: "Lift up, you rulers, and be lifted up, you everlasting gates, and the King of glory shall come in." And you would not err if you called the "shout" the evangelical proclamation that has resounded throughout the whole inhabited world.
For since the trumpet is louder-voiced than every musical instrument, the example has fittingly been taken to set forth that the teaching concerning Christ, proclaimed to all men, is mightier and louder-voiced than all things from eternity — a teaching through which, as though through a trumpet, the Holy Spirit cries out and proclaims aloud, to be heard by all men, the words that follow in the Psalm, in which it says: "Sing praises to our God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises." For God is King no longer of the Jewish nation alone, but, it says, "of all the earth; sing praises with understanding."
For no longer, he says, do the demons of former times reign, nor the earthbound and deceitful spirits, but God himself has reigned over all the nations — God himself, who sits upon his holy throne. And we have already, earlier, in the treatise before this one, set forth the throne of God the Word, upon which the Father bade him sit, saying, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."
And the words "the rulers of the peoples are gathered together with the God of Abraham" show still more clearly that the rulers from among the nations of the Church of Christ have been transferred into the lot of God's prophets of old, who were beloved of God — rulers who, being made mighty by the power of our Savior, have been greatly exalted, no man having had power to cast them down and humble them, because of the right hand of God that exalts and empowers them. These matters will receive a full discussion at leisure. From Psalm 49.
The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion comes the beauty of his comeliness. God shall come manifestly, our God, and shall not keep silence. And after other words: Hear, my people, and I will speak to you, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God. I will not reprove you for your sacrifices; but your whole burnt offerings are before me continually.
I will not accept calves out of your house, nor goats out of your flocks; for all the beasts of the forest are mine, the cattle on the mountains, and the oxen. I know all the birds of the sky, and the beauty of the field is with me. If I should hunger, I would not tell you; for the world is mine, and its fullness. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of affliction.
Here too the divine prediction clearly foretells that God will come manifestly, indicating none other than the Word of God. And it sets forth most plainly the cause of his coming, again signifying the calling of the nations throughout the whole inhabited world. For it says, "He called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting." And very fittingly, following after his manifestation and after the calling of the nations, it teaches the abrogation of the more bodily worship according to the law of Moses, which itself also came to its end after the manifestation of God the Word to all men.
For from that time to the present all men throughout the whole inhabited world have been called, and all the nations from the rising of the sun to its setting. And the religion practiced according to the Jews has ceased and been abolished, in accordance with the new covenant of the evangelical proclamation — not in accordance with the law of Moses, men having been charged to be pious. These things might also be referred to the second and glorious manifestation of the Savior. From Psalm 83.
The God of gods shall appear in Zion. O God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob. Behold, O God our defender, and look upon the face of your Christ.
Having foretold that the God of gods will appear, he prays that his manifestation may come to pass with speed, teaching in what manner he will appear through the words, "look upon the face of your Christ" — as though he had said more plainly, "appear through the face of your Christ." For since he who has seen the Son has seen the Father who sent him, he fittingly announces that the God of gods, who dwells in Christ, will appear through the face of Christ. From Psalm
Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name. Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all peoples; for the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all the...
And after all this he adds: Then shall all the trees of the forest rejoice before the face of the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He shall judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his truth.
Here too the Lord is once again prophesied as coming among men, and a new song is to be sung at his coming — clearly, the new covenant — and not the Jewish nation, but the whole earth is to receive the good news; and no longer Israel, but all the nations, since he says that the coming Lord shall be their king.
And who might this be but God the Word? Who, being about to judge the world in righteousness and mankind in truth, has deemed all men throughout the whole inhabited world worthy alike of his calling and of the salvation from God that comes with it. From Psalm 7.
Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. And what follows: The Lord has made known his salvation; before all the nations he has revealed his righteousness. And again: All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout to the Lord, all the earth. And after all this: Let the mountains exult before the face of the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He shall judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in uprightness.
By these words too the coming of the Lord is prophesied to have become for the nations the cause of many good things, which are also shown to have been brought to fulfillment through the manifestation of our Savior. For it is from that time, and not before, that the new song of the new covenant is sung to all men, and his marvelous works have become known and audible to all through the writing of the Gospels. Not only that, but the salvation according to his resurrection from the dead has been revealed to all the nations, and the true righteousness, by which it was plainly demonstrated that God is not the God of the Jews only, but of the nations also.
Since, as the sacred Apostle says, God is one, "who will justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith." And the words, "for he comes to judge the earth," might also be indicative of his second coming. From Psalm 106.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercies, and his wonders to the sons of men. For he broke the gates of bronze, and shattered bars of iron. He took hold of them out of the way of their transgression; for because of their transgressions they were humbled. Their soul abhorred all food, and they drew near to the gates of death. And they cried to the Lord in their affliction, and he saved them out of their distresses. He sent his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
And after other words: Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people, and praise him in the seat of the elders. He turned rivers into a wilderness, and springs of water into thirsty ground; a fruitful land into salt marsh, because of the wickedness of those who dwelt in it. He turned a wilderness into pools of water, and a waterless land into springs of water. And there he settled the hungry, and they established cities to dwell in.
And these words proclaim as good news, expressly by name, the descent of God the Word from heaven, and the achievements of his coming. For it says, "He sent his word and healed them." We plainly say that this is the Savior sent from the Father to all men, whom we have also been taught to speak of theologically through the sacred Gospels.
And it also hints at his descent even to the point of death, which came about for the sake of those who had come to this extremity; and it sets forth the cause of his coming, indicating the redemption of those who were to be saved through him. For he alone saved those who had come as far as the gates of death; and he delivered them, healing them of their destructions. And he accomplished this in no other way than by breaking what are called the bronze gates of death, and shattering its iron bars.
And indeed after this it goes on fittingly to prophesy the reduction to a wilderness of those who did not receive him when he came. For it says, "He turned rivers into a wilderness, and springs of water into thirsty ground; a fruitful land into salt marsh, because of the wickedness of those who dwelt in it." And you will understand these words if you go back to the Jewish nation, to the once-famous Jerusalem, and to its glory and its fruitfulness in God, of which — through the holy and God-beloved men who once had their citizenship there — it is at present deprived.
For after the coming of Christ it truly became fruitless and waterless and utterly desolate, and, as the prophecy says, turned to salt marsh because of the wickedness of those who dwelt in it. He goes on next, prophetically hinting at the change to piety, and the fruitfulness in the divine words, either of every human soul, or of the Church out of the nations, that had once been a wilderness and a thirsty land.
This it also plainly hints at, saying, "He turned the wilderness into pools of water," and what follows — a matter which only one who is wise before God could understand, according to the conclusion at the end of the Psalm, which says, "Who is wise, and will keep these things?" and what follows. From Psalm 116.
Praise the Lord, all you nations; praise him, all you peoples, for his mercy has been made strong toward us. And what follows: O Lord, save now! O Lord, prosper now! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. God is the Lord, and he has appeared to us.
And the sacred writing of the Gospel records this as having come to fulfillment, at the time when our Savior and Lord, Christ himself, entered into Jerusalem, and a great multitude of men and children went before him, crying out with gladness, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" For instead of "O Lord, save now," as it stands in the Psalm, they cried out "Hosanna," saying it in the more Hebraic form; and this is interpreted "Save now."
And "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" is clarified by the oracle that follows, which says, "God is the Lord, and he has appeared to us." Therefore it was one and the same, God the Lord, who appeared to us — namely, the Word of God — who is also for this reason called "blessed," because he made his coming among men in the name of the Lord, the Father, who sent him. Indeed, refuting those of the circumcision who did not believe in him, he said to them, "I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive." Fittingly, then, the Holy Spirit addresses the words at the beginning of the Psalm no longer to the Jewish people, but to all the nations. From Psalm 143.
O Lord, what is man, that you are known to him, or the son of man, that you take account of him? O Lord, bow the heavens, and come down; touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. And further on he adds, O God, I will sing a new song to you. I hold that these words too pertain to the subject before us. For, marveling at the knowledge of God the Word extended to men, he is utterly astonished at the loving-kindness by which, having descended from his deity and diminished himself from his connatural greatness, he deemed the human race worthy of knowledge of himself.
Here, then, he prays, saying, "Lord, bow the heavens, and come down." But in the seventeenth Psalm it is said, "And he bowed the heavens, and came down, and darkness was under his feet; and he mounted on the cherubim and flew, he flew upon the wings of the winds."
By which words it foretells the ascent that he made from earth to heaven. But how one must understand the descent and ascent of God the Word — who does not make spatial transitions, but whom Scripture calls by this manner of speech in a figurative sense for such dispensations of his — we shall render at a fitting occasion of leisure.
And it was necessary in these words also to make mention of the new covenant, which the coming of Christ was destined to procure for men; and this is the new covenant given by Christ to all the nations after the old. Wherefore the oracle now before us says, "O God, I will sing a new song to you."
And "touch the mountains, and they shall smoke" hints at the burning up and disappearance of all idolatry, which among the ancients was practiced chiefly upon the mountains — so that even the Jews themselves are hereby convicted, as having practiced idolatry on every high mountain, in imitation of the foreign nations. From Psalm 146.
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion. Then, going on, it says, He sends his oracle to the earth; his word runs with speed. Now it is clear that he who sends is other than the one who is sent. You have here, then, on the one hand the God over all as the one who sends, and on the other the Word as the one sent — the Word who, being called by many names, is proclaimed at one time Wisdom, at another Word, at another God, and again Lord, through the divine oracles.
And if you consider in what manner, in a very short time, the word of his teaching filled the whole inhabited world, I know well that you will marvel at the outcome of the prediction that says, "His word runs with speed." From the second book of Kingdoms.
And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song. Then it goes on to say, And he bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was under his feet. And he mounted on the cherubim and flew; he flew upon the wings of the winds; and he made darkness his hiding place.
And at the end of the same song it says, Deliver me from the contradictions of the people; you shall make me the head of nations. A people whom I did not know has served me; at the hearing of the ear it obeyed me; sons of strangers shall be cast off.
God, who bowed the heavens and came down, mounted upon the man he had assumed — whom the passage now calls "the cherubim" — and flew upward together with him, having made his ascent accompanied by the divine spirits that attended him, these very spirits being spoken of as "the wings of the winds." And it hints that these things came to pass darkly and in secret, according to certain unspoken and hidden words, saying, "and he made darkness his hiding place." What follows signifies, in accordance with the incarnation of Christ, the contradiction that arose against him from the Jewish people, and the obedience of the nations to the teaching of Christ. You would find similar words also in the seventeenth Psalm, to which the things already shown have been referred above. From the third book of Kingdoms.
And now, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed which you spoke to your servant David my father. For will God indeed dwell with men upon earth? If heaven, even the heaven of heaven, cannot contain you...
These same words stand, verbatim, in Chronicles also. Now to David, God promised to raise up a king from his belly, of whom God himself says he will be father — so that the one born of the seed of David should be named Son of God, and should have an eternal throne of kingship.
Now these things were declared to David by the prophet Nathan in the second book of Kingdoms in this manner: And it shall be, when your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, that I will raise up your seed after you, who shall come from your belly, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build for me a house for my name, and I will set up his throne forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.
The same things are likewise stated in Chronicles as well. And in the eighty-eighth Psalm it is said: He shall call upon me, You are my father, my God, and the helper of my salvation. And I will make him my firstborn, high above the kings of the earth. I will keep my mercy for him forever, and my covenant shall be faithful to him; and I will establish his seed forever and ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
And again: Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie to David. His seed shall remain forever, and his throne as the sun before me, and as the moon established forever.
Of these things the hundred and thirty-first Psalm also makes mention, and refers what it indicates to Christ. Hear, then, and mark this too: Remember, O Lord, David, and all his gentleness; how he swore to the Lord, and vowed to the God of Jacob. And after other words it adds: The Lord swore truth to David, and he will not turn back from it: Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne.
And going a little further, it names more plainly the one who shall arise from the fruit of David's body, saying: There I will make a horn to spring up for David; I have prepared a lamp for my Christ. His enemies I will clothe with shame; but upon him shall my sanctification flourish.
Solomon, then, the wisest of men, having pondered these things declared to his own father, and having perceived that they were no small matters, but greater than human nature, and more fitting to God than to himself — even though he himself was a son of David — and understanding the one who was named "firstborn" by God, and clearly prophesied as "Son of God," was overjoyed at these promises, and joins in praying that the things foretold might be confirmed, and that the one prophesied would come to dwell among them, proclaiming him firstborn and Son of God. Wherefore he says, "And now, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed which you spoke to your servant David my father. For will God indeed dwell with men upon the earth? If heaven, even the heaven of heaven, cannot contain you..." From Micah.
Hear, all you peoples, and let the earth attend, and all who are in it; and let the Lord our God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy house. For behold, the Lord, the Lord comes forth out of his place, and shall come down upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be shaken beneath him, and the valleys shall melt like wax before the fire, and like water poured down a slope. All this is because of the impiety of Jacob, and because of the sin of the house of Israel.
And now, the Lord God, coming down unveiled from heaven, and going forth from his own place, is proclaimed through the passage before us. This would be the Word of God, whom alone we have shown, through what has preceded, to exist as begotten God and Lord after the Most High and God over all. And you would not err in calling his "place" the kingdom in the heavens, and the glorious throne of his deity, concerning which the prophet, speaking of him theologically, sang, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever" — the throne upon which the Father bade him sit, as his only-begotten Son, saying, "Sit at my right hand."
For we have shown clearly before that these things are to be referred to none other than our Savior, God the Word alone; and it is this very one whom the present passage foretells will go forth out of his place, and will come down upon the high places of the earth.
And what might these "high places" be but, expressly, the mountains of Israel and the hills, concerning which countless prophecies foretell things, and Jerusalem herself, and Mount Zion, where our Savior and Lord spent most of his time? And it foretells that destruction and ruin shall come upon these at the descent of Christ. And it is very plain that, after the coming of our Savior and the deeds that were dared against him, all the things aforesaid have been besieged and have come to utter desolation.
Not only that, but also the rulers of the Jewish nation, the kingdom that formerly stood among them, the priesthood, and the presidency of the teachers -- now called 'mountains' in a figurative sense -- are said to be shaken at the coming of the Lord from heaven. And who would not admit, after the times of our Savior Jesus Christ, how this reached its fulfillment, seeing all those things not only shaken but even removed out of the way? And the 'valleys' still melting even now would be their synagogues, established in every city in place of Jerusalem and Mount Zion, wailing and weeping and melting like wax before the fire on account of grief and excess of mourning, both for the desolation of their own people and for their long and many-years' slavery.