Numbers 25

Yet far more execrable is that general fornication in which every kind of sin is alike contained. Now it is called general fornication when the soul, which has been admitted into fellowship with the Word of God and in some manner joined to Him in matrimony, is corrupted and violated by some other — namely by one foreign and hostile to that Husband who betrothed her to Himself in faith. The bridegroom, then, and husband of the pure and chaste soul is the Word of God, who is Christ the Lord, as the Apostle also writes: "I wish to present you all as a chaste virgin to one husband, Christ; but I fear lest perhaps, as the serpent seduced Eve by his cunning, your senses be corrupted from the simplicity which is in Christ Jesus." As long, therefore, as the soul clings to her bridegroom and hears his word and embraces him, without doubt she receives from him the seed of the word; and as he said: "From fear of you, Lord, we have conceived in the womb," so also she says: "From your word, Lord, I conceived in the womb and travailed and brought forth the spirit of your salvation upon the earth." If, therefore, the soul thus conceives from Christ, she makes sons, for whom it may be said of her that: "She shall be saved through the bearing of children, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety" — even if the soul may seem first, like Eve, to have been seduced. And so the offspring is truly blessed where there has been an intercourse of the soul with the Word of God and where they have given embraces to one another. Thence a noble progeny will be born, thence chastity will arise; thence righteousness, thence patience, thence gentleness and charity, and the venerable offspring of all the virtues will follow. But if the unhappy soul forsakes the holy nuptials of the divine word and, deceived by the enticements of the devil and of other demons, gives herself over to adulterous embraces, she will without doubt beget sons even from that, but those of whom it is written: "The sons of adulterers shall be imperfect, and from the unjust bed the seed shall be exterminated." All sins, therefore, are sons of adultery and sons of fornication. Whence it is shown that through each single thing which we do, our soul gives birth and generates sons — namely the thoughts and works which it does. And if indeed what it does is according to the law and according to the word of God, it brings forth the spirit of salvation, and therefore it shall be saved through the bearing of children; and these are the sons of whom the prophet says: "Your sons like young olive-shoots round about your table." But if what it does is against the law and is sin, without doubt from the conception of the contrary spirit it begets a wicked offspring; for it brings forth sons of sin. And these are the accursed generations, in which by some of the saints even the day on which they were born is cursed. There is therefore never a time when the soul does not give birth; the soul always gives birth, always generates sons. But that generation indeed is blessed which, conceived of the word of God, is generated, and this is the bearing of children through which she shall be saved. But if, as we have said, she conceives from the contrary spirit, it is certain that she bears sons of wrath fitted for destruction. And perhaps to both these generations of the soul that refers which was said: "For when they were not yet born, nor had done anything good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of him who calls, it was said that the greater shall serve the lesser, as it is written: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." For such generations of the soul, even before they do anything good — if indeed they are generated of the Holy Spirit — are already loved; but if they are of the evil spirit, even before they accomplish anything of evil in work, yet by this very thing, that the soul has brought forth a will of this kind, the execrable conception of the evil will is worthily hated in her. Therefore perhaps, as a figure of this sacrament, even the boy Canaan is cursed before he was born. For Ham his father had sinned, and Noah, prophesying, when he was signing out each best thing to each of his sons, when it came to Ham, said: "Cursed be the boy Canaan." Ham sinned, and Canaan his offspring is cursed and was cursed. And therefore we must apply ourselves more sharply and look ahead, lest perhaps the soul generate something worthy of a curse; even if it has not yet accomplished it in work, yet in its very will and purpose there will be an accursed progeny of this kind. And if perhaps this should ever happen — for who will easily be found who is held immune from such generation, that is, from the will to sin? — if therefore anything of the sort should happen, let us seek from the divine volumes what remedy is given. We find, then, written in the Psalms concerning this: "O wretched daughter of Babylon, blessed is he who will repay you the repayment which you repaid to us; blessed is he who will hold and dash your little ones against the rock." Even if this conceived Babylonian has not yet performed any work in us, while it is still a little one, do not pity it nor spare it, but at once kill it — for it is hateful — destroy it, slay it, dashing it against the rock. And the rock is Christ. Who then is so great and such a man that he will not by any means wait until the Babylonian offspring grows within him and the works of confusion are increased within him, but at the very first beginnings, when they have begun to be born and to grow strong from the motions of the will, and, so to speak, when the pernicious desires conceived by the inspiration of the evil spirit have begun to bring forth their head from the womb of the soul, will at once seize them and dash them against the rock — that is, bring them to Christ, so that, placed in the sight of His fearful judgment, they may wither away and perish? These things have been said by us concerning the general fornication, which has very many species, of which one is this which, in common usage, on account of bodily debauchery is called fornication. But I, reading the Apostle, when I had come to that place in which he says: "He who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit," and: "He who joins himself to a harlot is one body," was inquiring whether there is anything else in between besides this — that either one is joined to the Lord or to a harlot; and, examining according to my strength the sufficiently deep and hidden sense in these words, I beheld the meaning of the Apostle, who thus defined that every soul is either joined to the Lord or to a harlot, and I understood that by the Lord he meant the virtues, which are Christ, that is, the word, the wisdom, the truth, the righteousness, and the rest of this kind, but by the harlot all the contrary species of malice. This I understand to be said also in Solomon in that which he says of the harlot, that: "She looks out through the windows into the streets, and if she sees any of the foolish young men and one lacking in senses passing by the corners of her house and speaking in the evening darkness, when there is the silence of night or the gloom of night, a woman meets him, having the appearance of a harlot, who makes the hearts of young men fly away." This, then, which is called a harlot, is malice itself, and he who joins himself to this harlot becomes one body of malice. As, therefore, he who joins himself to the Lord joins himself to wisdom, joins himself to righteousness, joins himself to piety and truth, and with all these becomes one spirit, so also he who joins himself to this harlot joins himself to unchastity, to impiety, to iniquity, to falsehood, and at once to all the evils of sins, with which he becomes one body.

The reading recited today contains, first, a piece of history about the fornication of an Israelite man and a Midianite woman, and second, about the visitation of the people, in which it is commanded that they again be numbered by the precept of the Lord, the former number having, of course, been made void on account of the sins which those had committed who had earlier been enrolled under the reckoning of the number. Therefore the number that had been written down is cancelled and rendered void because of sins, and offenses have such power that not even this profits a man — that he had been counted in the number in God's sight — once he has turned aside. But, as Scripture reports, even the limbs of those who withdrew from God fell in the desert. There are, then, two histories that have been recited; but we, for the present, will speak of the first, which describes the fornication of the people, if the Lord shall deign to grant any grace as you pray; and if He Himself shall grant it, we shall venture also to touch upon something of the second. "And Israel sojourned at Shittim," it says, "and the people was defiled, and committed fornication with the daughters of Moab. And they invited them to the sacrifices of their idols, and the people ate of their sacrifices and worshipped their idols, and was consecrated to Baal-peor; and the Lord was angry with fury against Israel." In these words is shown that which we have often recalled, namely that Balaam, after he had been so constrained by the power of God that he was not permitted to curse Israel, yet wishing to please King Balak, said to him, as it is written: "Come, I will give you counsel." And what counsel he gave did not appear there, but it is reported as written in the later parts of the book of Numbers itself. Yet more fully in the revelation of John, where it is contained thus: "You have there," it says, "the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling-block in the sight of the sons of Israel, that they should eat things sacrificed to idols and commit fornication." From this, therefore, it appears that Balaam used wickedness and gave counsel to the king, saying to him something of this sort: "This people conquers not by its own strength, but by worshipping God and by preserving chastity. If you wish to conquer it, first cast down their chastity, and they will be conquered of their own accord. But against these we must fight not with the strength of soldiers, but with the beauty of women, not with the rigor of armed men, but with the softness of females. Away, far away from here remove the band of armed men, and gather a choice display of maidens; let them go dancing with their feet and clapping with their hands; beauty conquers armed men, loveliness takes the sword captive, they will be conquered by beauty who are not conquered in battle. But when the Moabite women perceive that they have surrendered to lust and bowed their necks to sin, let them not offer themselves to their desirers before the men have agreed to taste of the sacrifices of the idols, so that, driven by lust, they may obey the counsels of the women and be first consecrated to Baal-peor, which is the idol of shamefulness." These were the counsels of Balaam; having received them, King Balak at once prepares an army composed not with the strength of arms, but with feminine elegance, kindled not with warlike fury, but with the flame of lust. Shame restrains none, modesty forbids none. Love of country and the vice of the nation conspire alike into wantonness, and to deceive, upright behavior turns to depravity. O the wickedness! scarcely is lust checked by the threats of laws, scarcely repressed by the terror of the sword! What crime would it not commit, when a woman believes that by her outrage she will please the king and secure the safety of her country? So the Israelites are taken captive not by iron, but by luxury, not by valor, but by lust, and they commit fornication with the Midianite women, and the wrath of God rises up over them. There are indeed in these things certain mystical matters and secrets of a deeper understanding; but let first the very text of the history edify us, and let us learn from it that fornication wars against us, that the darts of luxury are hurled against us. But if we do not lack the arms with which the Apostle bids us be armed, darts of this kind will not be able to pierce us, if we have the breastplate of righteousness, if we have the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit and above all the shield of faith and our feet are shod in the preparation of the gospel of peace. These are the arms which defend us in wars of this kind. But if we cast away such arms, at once we give place to the diabolical wound, and the whole chorus of demons leads us captive; and on account of this the wrath of God will rise up over us, and we shall be punished not only in the present age but also in that to come. Therefore that which makes us conquer in these battles which the devil stirs up against us is chastity and righteousness and prudence and piety and the other virtues. But those things which make us be conquered are luxury and lust, avarice and impiety and every malice. These, then, are the things which the text of the history has taught us. But since John in his revelation brings the things which are written according to the history in the law up to divine mysteries and teaches that certain sacraments are contained in them, it seems necessary that we too, according to what he perceived, should follow the rule of exposition given by him, and first recall those things which, writing to the angel of a certain church, he says: "You have there certain persons who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling-block in the sight of the sons of Israel, that they should eat things sacrificed to idols and commit fornication." Therefore in the times of the Apostle John there were some in that church to which he was writing who taught the teaching of Balaam. Do you suppose it is to be taken thus, that there were in those days people who said that they taught the things which Balaam taught, and who professed themselves to be teachers of his doctrines and traditions? Or ought we rather to note this, that, if anyone does the work which Balaam did, he is seen to teach the teaching of Balaam? Just as also concerning the teaching of Jezebel it is mentioned in the same revelation, not that anyone teaches from the disciplines of Jezebel the things which she handed down, but that if anyone, for example, either persecutes the prophets of God, as she did, or deceives some toward idols, or destroys the innocent by false frauds, this one is said to hold the teaching of Jezebel. So therefore, if anyone by evil counsels generates stumbling-blocks for the people of God and provokes divine offense and heavenly wrath against the people, either by communicating in the sacrifices of idols or by serving debaucheries and lust, this one is to be said to hold the teaching of Balaam. Even the fornication of the body, then, is execrable. For what is so execrable as to violate the temple of God and to take away the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot?

"But Israel sojourned at Shittim." In the interpretation of Hebrew names we find that Shittim, in our language, is said to mean "answer" or "refutation." Israel, then, sojourned at "answer" or "refutation." It did not sojourn well. See, finally, what it ran into, placed in this station. It committed fornication with the Midianite women and was refuted by God, because not only did it commit fornication, but it was also consecrated to the idols of the nations and ate of those things which had been sacrificed to idols — things which are altogether execrable in God's sight. For what agreement has the temple of God with idols? Indeed I have also greatly wondered at those things which the Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians, saying: "But if anyone sees you, who have knowledge, reclining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, since it is weak, be built up to eat things sacrificed to idols?" For he seems to pronounce not so much the matter itself grievous as the offense of that one who, seeing these things, is provoked by a like example, since he is not fortified by like knowledge — so that he shows that the one who, having knowledge, reclines in an idol's temple is made guilty not so much of his own harm as of another's. But see whether perhaps this alone was not being done among the Corinthians, that they reclined in an idol's temple and ate things sacrificed to idols. But perhaps, since they were men zealous for Greek letters and lovers of philosophy, they were still held by desire for their old studies and ate the doctrines of the philosophers as though sacrificed to idols; which, however, perhaps could not harm those who had received the full knowledge of the truth. But these, who had less learning in Christ, if they imitated them, reading such things and still giving attention to those studies, could be wounded and entangled in the various errors of diverse doctrines. So then it came about that another was harmed, whereby he who had the full knowledge of the truth could not be harmed. But since charity does not seek what is useful to itself, but what is useful to many, one must take care to receive such food of the word as not only builds us up and delights us, but also does not offend or harm those who see. There is, therefore, a thing sacrificed to idols not only in foods, but also in words. And I think that, just as every discourse which teaches piety and righteousness and truth is consecrated to God and sacrificed to God, so also every discourse which looks toward unchastity or injustice or impiety is sacrificed to idols, and he who receives it eats, as it were, things sacrificed to idols. "The people, therefore, ate of their sacrifices, and worshipped their idols." Not only did they eat, but they also worshipped. See the order of evil: first concupiscence deceived the servants of the Lord, then the gluttony of the belly, and last impiety took them captive. And the wage of impiety that is paid out is fornication. If you read again the things that are written concerning Solomon, you will find that he, and indeed although he was most wise, inclined his loins to many women, though the law of God says: "You shall not multiply women for yourself, lest perhaps they make you commit fornication away from your God." He, then, although he was most wise and of enormous merits before God, yet because he gave himself over to many women, was deceived. I think that "many women" is the name for many doctrines and the diverse philosophies of many nations. And when, as a most learned and most wise man, he wished to recognize and thoroughly examine each of these, he could not hold himself within the rule of the divine law, but Moabite philosophy deceived him and persuaded him to sacrifice to the Moabite idol, and likewise of the Ammonites, and also of the remaining nations, whose women he is said to have received and to have built temples or sacrificed to their idols. It is, then, a great thing and truly a work of God to be mingled with many doctrines as with women, and yet not to turn aside from the rule of truth, but constantly to say: "There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and young maidens of whom there is no number; yet my dove is one, my perfect one is one; she is the only one of her mother, the only one of her that bore her." But these worshipped idols and were consecrated to Baal-peor. Baal-peor is the name of an idol which among the Midianites was worshipped especially by the women. In the mysteries of this idol, then, Israel was consecrated. Yet when we inquired rather carefully into the interpretation of the name itself among the Hebrew names, we found only this written: that Baal-peor is a species of shamefulness. He was unwilling, however, to declare which or what sort of species, or of whose shamefulness — consulting, I believe, for decency, the one who interpreted, so as not to pollute the hearing of the listeners. Therefore, since there are many species of shamefulness, one particular species out of many of shamefulness is called Baal-peor. Whence it is to be known that everyone who commits anything shameful and turns aside into any species of shamefulness is consecrated to Baal-peor, the demon of the Midianites. But also through the individual sins which we commit — especially if we now sin not by some stealthy surprise, but with zeal and affection — we are without doubt consecrated to that demon whose care it is to work out that sin which we have committed. And perhaps it will befall us to be consecrated to as many demons as we commit sins, and in each and every offense we receive, as it were, the mysteries which they call of this or that idol. And perhaps on account of this the Apostle said: "For already the mystery of iniquity is at work." The evil spirits, therefore, go about and seek how they may deceive each one and, through the enticement of sin, consecrate him to their mysteries, and, without his perceiving or understanding, they bring him — for example, through the sin of fornication — to the demon of the Midianites and consecrate him to Baal-peor, consecrate him to shamefulness. Likewise also, through the other sins, as we have said, men are consecrated to other demons. But do you observe carefully what is written, and "stand in the ways and ask which are the eternal ways of the Lord and which is the good way, and walk in it," and do not approach the doors of the house of malice. But if you perceive an evil spirit speaking in your heart, so as to lead you to some work of sin, understand that it wishes to lead you in order to consecrate you to some demon, it wishes to lead you in order that you may receive the diabolical mysteries, the mysteries of iniquity. And this is, I think, what the Apostle writes: "But when you were gentiles, going after the form of idols, according as you were led." By whom, or by what, were you led? By the evil spirits, surely, you were led to the works of sins. Hearing these things, every watchful hearer will perhaps say: "What, then, shall we do? If the evil spirits go about each one of us and lead and drag us to sin, but there is no other who draws to righteousness, who invites and leads to chastity, to piety: how will it not seem that the way lies wide open indeed toward perishing, but that nowhere is any access given toward salvation?" Nay rather, consider more carefully, if you can with the eye of the heart opened consider with me the inner mysteries, and you will see how much greater care is exercised in the secrets of our salvation than opportunity is afforded for deceiving. There is present to each one of us, even to the least who are in the Church of God, a good angel, an angel of the Lord, who guides, who admonishes, who governs, who for the correcting of our acts and the seeking of mercies daily sees the face of the Father who is in heaven, as the Lord indicates in the gospels. And again, according to those things which John writes in the Apocalypse, over each church generally an angel presides, who is either praised for the good deeds of the people or also blamed for its offenses. In which too I am moved with wonder at the astounding mystery, that God's care for us is so great that He allows even His angels to be blamed and confuted on our behalf. For just as, when a boy is handed over with a tutor, if perhaps he appears imbued with less worthy disciplines and not according to his father's nimbleness, at once the blame is referred to the tutor, and the boy is not reproved by the father as the tutor is — unless the boy be too obstinate and have spurned the tutor's admonitions and, prone to wantonness and insolence, have despised his salutary words, obeying rather those who counsel luxury and provoke to wantonness. And learn from the voices of the prophet what befalls that soul: "The daughter of Zion," he says, "shall be left like a booth in a vineyard, and like a watchman's hut in a cucumber field, like a city that has been stormed"; and again: "Its wall shall be taken away and it shall be for a trampling, and all who pass along the way shall plunder it, and the solitary wild beast shall feed upon it." These things it will suffer, if it does not acquiesce in the admonitions of the angel who is placed for its salvation. For the soul is of its own free will, and it is free for it to incline to whichever part it wills; and therefore the judgment of God is just, because of its own accord it obeys either good or the worst counselors. Do you wish that I show you still further and more from the divine scriptures how much greater is God's care for the salvation of men than the devil's care for their destruction? Was not the diligence of the angels enough against the snares of the demons and against those who draw men to sinning? The Only-begotten Himself, the Son of God Himself, I say, is present, He Himself defends, He Himself guards, He Himself draws us to Himself. Hear how He Himself says: "And behold, I am with you all the days, even to the consummation of the age." Nor does it suffice Him to be with us, but in a manner He does violence to us, that He may draw us to salvation; for He says in another place: "But when I shall be lifted up, I will draw all things to myself." You see how He not only invites the willing, but also draws the hesitating. Do you wish to hear how He draws even the hesitating? He did not grant it to the one who wished to go and bury his father, nor did He give him a space of time, but said to him: "Let the dead bury their dead, but you follow me." And elsewhere He says: "No one putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God." But if you wish to know still more about this sacrament, I will show you from the scriptures that even God the Father Himself does not neglect the dispensation of our salvation, but He too not only calls us to salvation but also draws us. For thus the Lord says in the gospel: "No one comes to me unless my heavenly Father draws him." But also the householder, who sends his servants to invite friends to the wedding of his son, after those who were first invited had excused themselves, says to the servants: "Go out to the roads and lanes, and whomever you find, compel them to come in." So then we are not only invited by God, but also drawn and compelled to salvation. But neither indeed is the Holy Spirit lacking in dispensations of this kind; for He too says: "Separate for me Paul and Barnabas for the ministry to which I have taken them"; and again He forbids Paul to go into Asia, and again compels him to go to Jerusalem, foretelling him that bonds and prisons await him there. But if the angels of the Lord encamp round about those who fear Him, to rescue them, if God the Father, if the Son, if the Holy Spirit not only exhort and provoke, but also draw us — how is not far greater care taken for us toward salvation than is procured by our adversaries toward death? And let these things be said on account of the fact that the people was consecrated to Baal-peor.

I might say that those who deny Christianity on oath at the tribunals or before they have been put on trial do not worship but only bow down to idols when they take "God" from the name of the Lord God and apply it to vain and lifeless wood. Thus the people who were defiled with the daughters of Moab bowed down to idols but did not worship them. Indeed, it is written in the text itself, "They invited them to the sacrifices of their idols, and the people ate of their sacrifices, and they bowed down to their idols, and performed the rites to Baal Peor." Observe that it does not say "and they worshiped their idols"; for it was not possible after such great signs and wonders in one moment of time to be persuaded by the women with whom they committed fornication to consider the idols gods.

"And the Lord," it says, "was angry with fury against Israel. And the Lord said to Moses: Take the chiefs of the people and display them to the Lord before the sun, and the anger of the Lord's fury shall be turned away from Israel." I do not know whether, in discussing these things, we may not offend some; but even if we do offend, it is more fitting to obey and serve the word of the Lord than the favor of men. Israel sinned, and the Lord said to Moses that he should take all the chiefs and display them to the Lord before the sun. The people sins, and the chiefs are displayed before the sun — that is, they are brought forth to be examined, that they may be reproved by the light. You see what the condition of the chiefs of the people is: they are reproved not only for their own offenses, but they are also compelled to render account for the sins of the people, lest it be their fault that the people transgressed — lest perhaps they did not teach, lest perhaps they did not admonish, nor were solicitous to reprove those who gave the beginning of the fault, so that the contagion might not be scattered among the many. For it is incumbent upon the chiefs and the teachers to do all these things. For if, when they do not do these things nor bear solicitude concerning the people, the people has sinned, they themselves are displayed and they themselves are brought forth to judgment. For Moses — that is, the law of God — reproves them as negligent and slothful, and the wrath of God will be turned upon them and will cease from the people. If men considered these things, they would never desire nor strive after the chieftainship of the people. For it is enough for me if I am reproved for my own offenses; it is enough for me to render account for my own self and my own sins. What need is there for me also to be displayed for the sins of the people, and to be displayed before the sun, before which nothing can be hidden, nothing obscured? But perhaps even in this there is some hidden and secret sense which teaches something more than this common exposition seems to have. For perhaps this too can be referred to those chiefs of the people of whom we spoke a little above. For the angels too will come to judgment with us and will stand for us before the sun of righteousness, lest perhaps something of the cause of our transgression should have been from them too — lest perhaps they expended less of work and labor toward us, whereby they might have recalled us from the stain of sins. For unless there were something also in them which should seem blameworthy in the cause of ours, the discourse of Scripture would never say to the angel of this or that church that "you have, for example, certain persons holding the teaching of Balaam," or that "you have forsaken your former charity" or "your patience," or other things of this kind which we have already mentioned above, for which in the Apocalypse the angels of each church are blamed. For if the angel — for example, who received me sealed to him from God — hopes for a reward for those things which I did well, it is certain that he will also expect to be blamed for those things which were not done well by me. And therefore they are said to be displayed before the sun, without doubt so that it may appear whether the sins were committed through my disobedience or through his negligence, by which I was consecrated either to Baal-peor or to any other idol, according to the quality, that is, of the sinning. But if my chief — I mean the angel who is sealed to me — was not lacking, but admonished me of good things and spoke in my heart, at least insofar as my conscience recalled me from sin, but I, despising his admonitions and spurning the restraint of conscience, burst headlong into sins, my punishment will be doubled, both for the contempt of my admonisher and for the outrage of the deed committed. And do not indeed be surprised if we say that the angels come to judgment with men, since Scripture says that: "The Lord Himself will come to judgment with the elders of the people and with its chiefs." The chiefs, then, are displayed, and if the fault is in them, the wrath of God ceases from the people. There ought, therefore, to be a keener solicitude for us concerning our acts, knowing that not only shall we stand before the tribunal of God for our acts, but the angels too shall be brought to judgment for us, as our chiefs and leaders. For on this account Scripture also says: "Obey your overseers and submit to them in all things; for they keep watch, as those who will render account for your souls."

After these things it is reported that, when Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest had seen a certain Israelite man go in to a Midianite woman, he snatched up a lance in his hand, entered the brothel, and pierced them both through their very shameful parts. And for this, it says, the Lord said to Moses: "Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron has quieted my anger." Let these things have edified the former people; but you, who have been redeemed by Christ, and from whose hands the bodily sword has been taken away and the sword of the spirit given, snatch up this sword; and if you see an Israelite thought whoring with Midianite harlots — that is, wallowing with diabolical thoughts — do not spare, do not dissemble, but at once strike, at once destroy. The very womb also — that is, discerning and penetrating the secrets of nature — cut away that very kindling of sin, lest it conceive further, lest it generate further and the accursed offspring of sins contaminate the camp of Israel. For if you do this, you will straightway quiet the wrath of the Lord; for you have anticipated the day of judgment, which is called the day of wrath and fury, and, with the kindling of sin — which now is called the womb of the Midianite woman — exterminated from you, you will come secure to the day of judgment. And therefore, rising up, let us pray that we may find this sword of the spirit always ready, through which both the seeds themselves and the receptacles of sins may be exterminated, and that God may become favorable to us through the true Phinehas, our very Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen.

If Phinehas by his zeal in slaying the evildoer appeased the wrath of God, shall not Jesus, who slew no other but "gave himself a ransom for all," take away God's wrath against humanity?

But when we are aware of his attacks, we ought to repeat to ourselves the apostolic words, "As many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death." Now if we have been conformed to His death, sin henceforth in us is surely a corpse, pierced through by the javelin of Baptism, as that fornicator was thrust through by the zealous Phinehas. Flee therefore from us, ill-omened one! for it is a corpse thou seekest to despoil, one long ago joined to thee, one who long since lost his senses for pleasures. A corpse is not enamoured of bodies, a corpse is not captivated by wealth, a corpse slanders not, a corpse lies not, snatches not at what is not its own, reviles not those who encounter it.

Slaughter has brought about righteousness, and mercy has been a cause of condemnation more than slaughter, because the latter has been according to the mind of God, but the former has been forbidden. It was reckoned to Phinehas for righteousness that he pierced to death the woman who committed fornication, together with the fornicator. But Samuel, that saint of God, although he wept and mourned and entreated for whole nights, could not rescue Saul from the condemnation which God issued against him, because he saved, contrary to the design of God, the king of the alien tribes whom he ought to have slain.

As far as that goes, we too have examples from this same past in favor of our own way of thinking, examples of a judgment on fornication which was not only not remiss but rather immediately executed. It is quite enough, I should think, that so great a number of the chosen people, twenty-four thousand, perished at one stroke after they had fornicated with the daughters of Midian. I prefer, however, for the glory of Christ, to derive ecclesiastical discipline from Christ.

And lest we seem to you to bring these things forth rather from our own understanding than from the authority of divine Scripture, return to the book of Numbers and recall what Phinehas the priest did, who, when he had seen a harlot of the Midianite nation clinging in impure embraces with an Israelite man before the eyes of all, filled with the anger of divine zeal, seized a sword and drove it through the breast of both. Which work was reckoned to him by God unto justice, the Lord saying: "Phinehas has assuaged my fury, and it shall be reckoned to him unto justice." This earthly food of anger, then, becomes our food, when we use it rationally unto justice.

Neither, then, was God unjust, nor His purpose mutable; for He detected Balaam's mind and the secrets of his heart, and He therefore tried him as a diviner, He did not choose him as a prophet. Surely he ought to have been converted if it were only by the grace of such great oracles and the sublimity of his revelations, but his mind, full of iniquity, brought forth words but did not yield belief, seeking to frustrate by its counsels that event which it had predicted. And since he could not defeat the prophecy, he suggested deceitful counsels whereby the fickle people of the Jews were tempted but not overcome; for by the righteousness of one priest all the counsel of this wicked man was overthrown, and that the host of our fathers could be delivered by one man was much more wonderful than that it could be deceived by one man.