約伯倫理 第 1094 章

VERSE 28. — 'That they should make the cry of the needy to come unto Him, and that He should hear the voice of the poor.' When the cry of the poor comes to God. He is a false shepherd who, neglecting preaching, is occupied with worldly cares. The necessity of confession. — For when these men are proud, those cry out to God who are oppressed by those same proud ones. Or else it is said that they made the cry of the poor to come to God for this reason, because, these having fallen, in their place the poor, that is, the humble in spirit, are substituted. And because this came about by their fall, they themselves are said to have done it, by that mode of speech, that is, by which we say that camps 'fight,' because the fighting is done from them.

Or indeed, because all the things which have been said above can also be referred to ecclesiastical rulers who, having abandoned the pursuit of preaching, under the occasion of governance become entangled in earthly affairs, it is aptly added: 'That they should make the cry of the needy to come unto Him, and that He should hear the voice of the poor'; because assuredly, while they themselves, occupied with secular cares, forsake the office of preaching, they compel the flock subject to them to break forth into a cry of complaints, so that, as it were by right, every subject murmurs against the life of the false shepherd, asking why he holds the place of a master who does not exercise the office.

Although perhaps it is better that by the fear of the powerful the pride of the Jews, and by the cry of the poor the desires of the Gentiles, are figured; just as, with Truth attesting, by the rich man feasting sumptuously the Jewish people is designated—taking, namely, the abundance of the Law not for the necessity of salvation, but for the pomp of self-exaltation, and in the words of the commandments not orderly refreshing itself, but boastfully displaying itself; and by the sorely wounded Lazarus, whose name is interpreted 'one who is helped,' the form of the Gentile people is expressed, whom the divine help raises up so much the more, the less it trusts in the resource of its own strength. He is described as poor and full of wounds, because the Gentile world, humble in heart, opened up the confessions of its sins.

For just as in a wound the poison is drawn out from within to the skin, so in the confession of sin, when secret things are laid open to the public, the evil humours as it were burst forth outward from the innermost bowels. When those men therefore sin, the cry of the poor is heard, because while the Jews are proud against God, the vows of the Gentiles have come to God. Whence also presently, shuddering at these very immense and profound judgments, he does not care to discuss them by reasoning, but to venerate them with wonder, and says: