約伯倫理 第 1297 章

64. From threats they burst forth into open torments. — Against God's preacher, after the sounding of the quiver, the spear is brandished, when after the terrors displayed, the open punishment is now brought forth, striking from close by. But holy preachers, when for the defense of the faith they undergo torments, do not cease even amid the blows to snatch to that same faith whomever they can; and while they patiently receive wounds, they prudently return the arrows of preaching against the hearts of the unbelievers. Whence it sometimes comes about that those very men who rage in persecution grieve not so much that they fail to soften the preacher's heart, as that through his words they lose others also.

Since therefore by striking him they do not overcome him, lest perchance others also who hear him should forsake themselves, they at once prepare against the speaker's words the shield of a rejoinder. Whence, when he had said, 'The spear shall be brandished,' he rightly subjoins: 65. They even seek out the arguments they may set against him. — For the raging persecutor, after he strikes the preacher's body with torture, fortifies the heart of the hearers, as with a shield, by the words of his own disputation. The holy man therefore, that he may be struck, has the spear brandished at him; but lest he be heard, a shield is set against him. For God's defenders have in the battle their own arrows, which they cast into the hearers' hearts the more swiftly the more they draw them from the spiritual bow, that is, from the inmost straining of the heart.

With these indeed Paul had armed himself in the battle of the faith, when he said: 'I labor even unto bonds as an evildoer, but the word of God is not bound' (2 Tim. 2:9). As if he said: I am indeed struck by the spear of tortures, yet I do not cease to send forth the arrows of words. I receive the wounds of cruelty, but by speaking the truth I transfix the heart of the unbelievers. Let it be said therefore: 'Upon him shall the quiver rattle, the spear shall be brandished, and the shield.' Against God's horse, because the counsels of the wicked make their din, the quiver sounds; because open punishment is sought out, the spear is brandished; and because he is resisted even by disputation, the shield is held before him. But is he by these things restrained from his ardor?

For the holy man, the greater the persecution by which he is pressed, the more keenly is he spurred on to preach the truth; and while he patiently endures the persecutors, he ardently hastens to draw the hearers to himself. Whence fittingly it is further said concerning God's horse: