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HEBREWS xi. 7.
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet,
moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the
which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness
which is by Faith."
"BY faith" (he says) "Noah being warned of God." As the Son
of God, speaking of His own coming, said, "In the days of Noah
they married and were given in marriage" (Luke xvii. 26, 27),
therefore the Apostle also recalled to their mind an appropriate
image. For the example of Enoch, was an example only of Faith;
that of Noah, on the other hand, of unbelief also. And this is a
complete consolation and exhortation, when not only believers are found
approved, but also unbelievers suffer the opposite.
For what does he say? "By faith being warned of God." What is
"being warned of God"? It is, "It having been foretold to
him." But why is the expression "divine communication" (Luke ii.
26) used? for in another place also it is said, "and it wag
communicated to him by the Spirit," and again, "and what saith the
divine communication?" (Rom. xi. 4.) Seest thou the equal
dignity of the Spirit? For as God reveals, so also does the Holy
Spirit. But why did he speak thus? The prophecy is called "a
divine communication."
"Of things not seen as yet," he says, that is of the rain.
"Moved with fear, prepared an ark." Reason indeed suggested
nothing of this sort; For "they were marrying and being given in
marriage"; the air was clear, there were no signs [of change]: but
nevertheless he feared: "By faith" (he says) "Noah being warned
of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to
the saving of his house."
How is it, "By the which he condemned the world"? He showed them
to be worthy of punishment, since they were not brought to their senses
even by the preparation.
"And he became" (he says) "heir of the righteousness which is by
Faith": that is, by his believing God he was shown to be
righteous. For this is the [part] of a soul sincerely disposed
towards Him and judging nothing more reliable than His words, just as
Unbelief is the very contrary. Faith, it is manifest, works
righteousness. For as we have been warned of God respecting Hell,
so was he also: and yet at that time he was laughed at; he was reviled
and ridiculed; but he regarded none of these things.
(Ver. 8, 9) "By faith Abraham when he was called to go out
into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed;
and he went out not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in
the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in
tabernacles, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same
promise." ["By faith"]: for (tell me) whom did he see to
emulate? He had for father a Gentile, and an idolater; he had heard
no prophets; he knew not whither he was going. For as they of the
Hebrews who believed, looked to these [patriarchs] as having enjoyed
blessings innumerable, he shows that none of them obtained anything as
yet; all are unrewarded; no one as yet received his reward. "He
"escaped from his country and his home, and "went out not knowing
whither he went."
And what marvel, if he himself [were so], when his seed also dwelt
in this same way? For seeing the promise disproved (since He had
said, "To thee will I give this land, and to thy seed"--Gen.
xii. 7; xiii. 15), he saw his son dwelling there; and again his
grandson saw himself dwelling in a land not his own; yet was he nowise
troubled. For the affairs of Abraham happened as we might have
expected, since the promise was to be accomplished afterwards in his
family (although it is said even to himself,
"To thee, and to thy seed," not, "to thee through thy seed,"
but "to thee and to thy seed"): still neither he, nor Isaac, nor
Jacob, enjoyed the promise. For one of them served for hire, and
the other was driven out: and he himself even was failing through
fear: and while he took some things indeed in war, others, unless he
had had the aid of God, would have been destroyed. On this account
[the Apostle] says, "with the heirs of the same promise"; not
himself alone, he means; but the heirs also.
(Ver. 13) "These all died in faith," he says, "not having
obtained the promises." At this place it is worth while to make two
enquiries; how, after saying that [God] "translated Enoch, and
he was not found, so that he did not see death," does he say,
"These all died in Faith." And again, after saying, "they not
having obtained the promises," he declares that Noah had received a
reward, "to the saving of his house," and that Enoch had been
"translated," and that Abel "yet speaks," and that Abraham had
gained a hold on the land, and yet he says, "These all died in
Faith, not having obtained the promises." What then is [meant]?
It is necessary to solve the first [difficulty], and then the
second. "These all" (he says) "died in faith." The word
"all" is used here not because all had died, but because with that
one exception "all these had died," whom we know to be dead.
And the [statement] "not having obtained the promises," is true:
for surely the promise to Noah was not to be this [which is here
spoken of]. But further, of what kind of "promises" is he
speaking? For Isaac and Jacob received the promises of the land;
but as to Noah and Abel and Enoch, what kind of promises did they
receive? Either then he is speaking concerning these three; or if
concerning those others also, the promise was not this, that Abel
should be admired, nor that Enoch should be translated, nor that
Noah should be preserved; but these things came to them for their
virtue's sake, and were a sort of foretaste of things to come. For
God from the beginning, knowing that the human race needs much
condescension, bestows on us not only the things in the world to come,
but also those here; as for instance, Christ said even to the
disciples, "Whosoever hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters,
or father, or mother, shall receive an hundredfold and shall inherit
everlasting life." (Matt. xix. 29.) And again, "Seek ye
the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you."
(Matt. vi. 33.) Seest thou that these things are given by Him
in the way of addition, that we might not faint? For as the athletes
have the benefit of careful attention, even when engaged in the
combat, but do not then enjoy entire ease, living under rules, yet
afterwards they enjoy it entire: so God also does not grant us here to
partake of "entire" ease. For even here He does give [some].
"But having seen them afar off," he says, "and embraced them."
Here he hints at something mystical: that they received beforehand all
the things which have been spoken concerning things to come; concerning
the resurrection, concerning the Kingdom of Heaven, concerning the
other things, which Christ proclaimed when He came, for these are
"the promises" of which he speaks. Either then he means this, or,
that they did not indeed receive them, but died in confidence
respecting them, and they were [thus] confident through Faith only.
"Having seen them afar off": four generations before; for after so
many [generations], they went up out of Egypt.
"And embraced them," saith he, and were glad. They were so
persuaded of them as even to "embrace [or "salute"] them," from
the metaphor of persons on ship-board seeing from afar the longed-for
cities: which, before they enter them, they take and occupy by words
of greeting.
(Ver. 10) "For they looked" (he says) "for the city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Seest thou that
they received them in this sense, in their already accepting them and
being confident respecting them. If then to be confident is to
receive, it is in your power also to receive. For these, although
they enjoyed not those [blessings], yet still saw them by their
longing desire. Why now do these things happen? That we might be put
to shame, in that they indeed, when things on earth were promised
them, regarded them not, but sought the future "city": whereas God
again and again speaks to us of the city which is above, and yet we
seek that which is here. He said to them, I will give you the things
of the present [world]. But when He saw, or rather, when they
showed themselves worthy of greater things, then He no longer suffers
them to receive these, but those greater ones; wishing to show us that
they are worthy of greater things, being unwilling to be bound to
these. As if one should promise playthings to an intelligent child,
not that he might receive them, but by way of exhibiting his
philosophy, when he asks for things more important. For this is to
show, that they held off from the land with so great earnestness, that
they did not even accept what was given. Wherefore their posterity
receive it on this account, for themselves were worthy of the land.
What is, "the city which hath foundations"? For are not these
[which are visible] "foundations"? In comparison of the other,
they are not.
"Whose Builder and Maker is God." O What an encomium on that
city!
(Ver. 11) "By faith also Sarah herself," he says. Here he
began [speaking] in a way to put them to shame, in case, that is,
they should show themselves more faint-hearted than a woman. But
possibly some one might say, How "by faith," when she laughed?
Nay, while her laughter indeed was from unbelief, her fear [was]
from Faith, for to say, "I laughed not" (Gen. xviii.
15), arose from Faith. From this then it appears that when
unbelief had been cleared out, Faith came in its place.
"By faith also Sarah received strength to conceive seed even when she
was past age." What is, "to conceive seed "? She who was become
dead, who was barren, received power for the retaining of seed, for
conception. For her imperfection was two-fold; first from her time
of life for she was really old; secondly from nature, for she was
barren.
(Ver. 12) "Wherefore even from one they" all "sprang, as the
stars of the sky, and as the sand which is by the sea-shore."
"Wherefore" (he says) "even from one they" all "sprang." Here
he not only says that she bare [a child], but that she also became
mother of so many as not even fruitful wombs [are mothers of]. "As
the stars," He says. How then is it that He often numbers them,
although He said, "As the stars of the heaven shall not be
numbered, so neither shall your seed"? (Gen. xv. 5.) He
either means the excess, or else [speaks of] those who are
continually being born. For is it possible, tell me, to number their
forefathers of one family as, such an one son of such an one, and such
an one son of such an one? But here such are the promises of God, so
skillfully arranged are His undertakings.
But if the things which He promised as additional, are so admirable,
so beyond expectation, so magnificent, what will those be, to which
these are an addition, to which these are somewhat over and above?
What then can be more blessed than they who attain them? What more
wretched than those who miss them? For if a man when driven out from
his native country, is pitied by all; and when he has lost an
inheritance is considered by all as an object of compassion, with what
tears ought he to be bewailed, who fails of Heaven, and of the good
things there stored up? Or rather, he is not even to be wept for:
for one is wept for, when he suffers something of which he is not
himself the cause; but when of his own choice he has entangled himself
in evil, he is not worthy of tears, but of wailings; or rather then
of mourning; since even our Lord JESUS Christ mourned and wept
for Jerusalem, impious as it was.
Truly we are worthy of weepings innumerable, of wailings innumerable.
If the whole world should receive a voice, both stones, and wood,
and trees, and wild beasts, and birds, and fishes, and in a word,
the whole world, if receiving a voice it should bewail us who have
failed of those good things, it would not bewail and lament enough.
For what language, what intellect, can represent that blessedness and
virtue, that pleasure, that glory, that happiness, that splendor?
"What eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, and what hath not
entered into the heart of man" (1 Cor. ii. 9), (he did not
say, that they simply surpass [what we imagine]; but none hath ever
conceived) "the things which God hath prepared for them that love
Him." For of what kind are those good things likely to be, of which
God is the Preparer and Establisher? For if immediately after He
had made us, when we had not yet done anything, He freely bestowed so
great [favors], Paradise, familiar intercourse with Himself,
promised us immortality, a life happy and freed from cares; what will
He not bestow on those who have labored and struggled so greatly, and
endured on His behalf? For us He spared not His Only Begotten,
for us when we were enemies He gave up His own SON to death; of
what will He not count us worthy, having become His friends? what
will He not impart to us, having reconciled us to Himself?
He both is abundantly and infinitely rich; and He desires and
earnestly endeavors to obtain our friendship; we do not thus earnestly
endeavor. What am I saying, 'do not earnestly endeavor'? We do
not wish to obtain the good things as He wishes it. And what He has
done shows that He wishes it more [than we]. For while, for our
own sake, we with difficulty think lightly of a little gold: He, for
our sake, gave even the Son who was His own. Let us make use of the
love of God as we ought; let us reap the fruits of His friendship.
For "ye are
My friends" (he says) "if ye do what I say to you." (John xv.
14.) How wonderful! His enemies, who were at an infinite
distance from Him, whom in all respects He excels by an incomparable
superiority, these He has made His friends and calls them friends.
What then should not one choose to suffer for the sake of this
friendship? For the friendship of men we often incur danger, but for
that of God, we do not even give up money. Our [condition] does
indeed call for mourning, for mourning and tears and wailings, and
loud lamentation and beating of the breast. We have fallen from our
hope, we are humbled from our high estate, we have shown ourselves
unworthy of the honor of God even after His benefits we are become
unfeeling, and ungrateful. The devil has stripped us of all our good
things. We who were counted worthy to be sons; we His brethren and
fellow-heirs are come to differ nothing from His enemies that insult
Him.
Henceforward, what consolation shall there be for us? He called us
to Heaven, and we have thrust ourselves down to hell. "Swearing and
lying and stealing and adultery, are poured out upon the earth."
(Hos. iv. 2.) Some "mingle blood upon blood"; and others do
deeds worse than blood-shedding. Many of those that are wronged,
many of those that are defrauded prefer ten thousand deaths to the
suffering such things: and except they had feared God, would even
have killed themselves, being so murderously disposed against
themselves. Are not these things then worse than blood-shedding?
"Woe is me, my soul! For the godly man is perished from the earth,
and there is none upright among men" (Mic. vii. 1, 2,
LXX.); let us also now cry out, first about our own selves but
aid me in my lamentation.
Perhaps some are even disgusted and laugh. For this very cause ought
we to make our lamentations the more intense, because we are so mad and
beside ourselves, that we do not know that we are mad, but laugh at
things for which we ought to groan. O man! "There is wrath revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men" from.
i. 18); "God will come manifestly: a fire will burn before
Him, and round about Him will be a mighty tempest." (Ps. 1.
3.) "A fire will burn before Him, and consume His enemies on
every side." (Ps. xcvii. 3.) "The day of the Lord is as a
burning oven." (Mal. iv. 1.) And no man lays up these things
in his mind, but these tremendous and fearful doctrines are more
despised than fables, and are trodden under foot. He that
heareth,--there is no one: while they who laugh and make sport
are--all. What resource will there be for us? Whence shall we find
safety? "We are undone, we are utterly consumed" (Num. xvii.
12), we are become the laughingstock of our enemies, and a mockery
for the heathen and the Demons.
Now is the devil greatly elated; he glories and is glad. The angels
to whom we had been entrusted are all ashamed and in sadness: there is
no man to convert [you]: all means have been used by us in vain, and
we seem to you as idle talkers. It is seasonable even now to call on
the heaven, because there is no man that heareth; to take to witness
the elements: "Hear, O heaven! and give ear, O earth! for the
Lord hath spoken." (Isa. i. 2.)
Give a hand, stretch it forth, O ye who have not yet been
overwhelmed, to them who are undone through their drunkenness: ye that
are whole to them that are sick, ye that are sober-minded to them that
are mad, that are giddily whirling round.
Let no man, I beseech you, prefer the favor of his friend to his
salvation; and let violence and rebuke look to one thing only,--his
benefit. When one has been seized by a fever, even slaves lay hold of
their Masters. For when that is pressing on him, throwing his mind
into confusion, and a swarm of slaves are standing by, they recognize
not the law of Master and Servant, in the calamity of the Master.
Let us collect ourselves, I exhort you: there are daily wars,
submersions [of towns], destructions innumerable all around us, and
on every side the wrath of God is enclosing us as in a net. And we,
as though we were well-pleasing to Him, are in security. We all
make our hands ready for unjust gains, none for helping others: alI
for plundering, none for protecting: each one is in earnest as to how
he shall increase his possessions; no one as to how he shall aid the
needy: each one has much anxiety how he may add to his wealth; no one
how he may save his own soul. One fear possesses all, lest (you
say) we should become poor; no man is in anguish and trembling lest we
should fall into hell. These things call for lamentations, these call
for accusation, these call for reprobation.
But I do not wish to speak of these things, but I am constrained by
my grief. Forgive me: I am forced by sorrow to utter many things,
even those which I do not wish. I see that our wound is grievous,
that our calamity is beyond comfort, that woes have overtaken us
greater than the consolation. We are undone. "O that my head were
waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears" (Jer. ix. 1), that I
might lament. Let us weep, beloved, let us weep, let us groan.
Possibly there may be some here who say, He talks to us of nothing
but lamentation, nothing but tears. It was not my wish, believe me,
it was not my wish, but rather to go through a course of commendations
and praises: but now it is not the season for these. Beloved, it is
not lamenting which is grievous, but the doing things which call for
lamentations. Sorrow is not the: thing to shrink from, but the
committing things that call for sorrow. Do not thou be punished, and
I will not mourn. Do not die, and I will not weep. If the body
indeed lies dead, thou callest on all to grieve with thee, and
thinkest those without sympathy who do not mourn: And when the soul is
perishing, dost thou tell us not to mourn?
But I cannot be a father, if I do not weep. I am a father full of
affection. Hear how Paul exclaims, "My little children, of whom
I travail in birth again" (Gal. iv. 19): what mother in
child-birth utters cries so bitter as he! Would that it were possible
for thee to see the very fire that is in my heart, and thou wouldest
know, that I burn [with grief] more intense than any woman, or gift
that suffers untimely widowhood. She does not so mourn over her
husband, nor any father over his son, as I do over this multitude
that is here with us.
I see no progress. Everything turns to calumnies and accusations.
No man makes it his business to please God; but (he says) 'let us
speak evil of such an one or such an one.' 'Such an one is unfit to
be among the Clergy.' 'Such an one does not lead a respectable
life.' When we ought to be grieving for our own evils, we judge
others, whereas we ought not to do this, even when we are pure from
sins. "For who maketh thee to differ" (he says) "and what hast
thou which thou didst not receive? But if thou hast received it, why
dost thou glory, as though thou hadst not received it?" (1 Cor.
iv. 7.) "And thou, why dost thou judge thy brother" (Rom.
xiv. 10), being thyself full of innumerable evils? When thou
sayest, Such an one is a bad man, and a spendthrift, and vicious,
think of thyself, and examine strictly thy own [condition], and thou
wilt repent of what thou hast said. For there is no, no not any,
such powerful stimulus to virtue, as the recollecting of our sins.
If we turn over these two things in our minds, we shall be enabled to
attain the promised blessings, we shall be enabled to cleanse ourselves
and wipe away [what is amiss]. Only let us take serious thought
sometime; let us be anxious about the matter, beloved. Let us grieve
here in reflection, that we may not grieve yonder in punishment, but
may enjoy the everlasting blessings, where "pain and sorrow and
sighing are fled away" (Isa. xxxv. 10), that we may attain to
the good things which surpass man's understanding, in Christ Jesus
our Lord, for to Him is glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
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