OT § 161

(Vers. 11 seqq.) And he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up from the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his holy Spirit in the midst of them? He who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name. He led them through the depths like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. Like a beast going down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord was their guide. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name. LXX: And he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying: Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put in the midst of them the spirit of his Holy One? He led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name. He led them through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness, they stumbled not. As a beast goeth down into the valley, the spirit of the Lord caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name. The Lord, who became the protector of the adversaries of the people of Judah, who provoked his Holy Spirit to anger, and he defeated them: he remembered the ancient days, when Moses interceded for them in the wilderness, saying: Either forgive them this sin, or if you do not, blot me out from the book which you have written (Exodus 32:31-32). So Isaiah, recalling the story of old, says: Where is the Moses who led them out of the Red Sea? Where is the shepherd of the sheep? Where is he who labored with the other shepherds of the flock of the Lord? Who obtained and bestowed the Spirit of God through his prayers and supplications on the flock of the Lord? Or surely should it be understood this way: Where is that mercy of the Lord, by which he once had pity on his people, so that he would also grant them the grace of the Holy Spirit? He who led Moses, his servant, with the arm of his majesty to the right side, not to the left; he who split the waters before them, to make for himself an everlasting name, so that his power would be spoken of even to this day? For He led His people through the immense depths of water, like a horse through a wilderness, and beasts through a plain, and the Spirit of the Lord was their guide, that is, the flock of the Lord. (Exodus 14). Now by this Spirit we must understand the Angel, who was the guide of the people of Israel, according to what is written: He makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flaming fire (Psalm 104:4). And in the Letter to the Hebrews: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:14). Let us consider that which is written in the Acts of the Apostles: The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more (Acts 8:39). Should we understand this as referring to an angel? There are those who testify that it was an angel working through the Holy Spirit. We are exploring the obvious in order to dwell on the obscure.

Third, he sets out the remission of the fault: and he remembered, at last, Moses, who prayed for them: either forgive them, or strike me out of the book that you have written (Exod 32:31–32); he has remembered his covenant for ever: the word which he commanded to a thousand generations (Ps 104[105]:8).

1109. Where is he that brought them up? Here he laments the same benefits taken away from them.

And first, he laments the lack of benefits: where is he that brought them up out of the sea?, Moses, or God; with the shepherds, Miriam and Aaron: she led them out in the hands of the holy prophet (Wis 11:1). Where is he that put in the midst of them the spirit of his Holy One?, Moses, which is found in Numbers 11.

By the right hand, prosperously; where is the spirit that divided the waters before them? Who divided the Red Sea into parts (Ps 135[136]:13).

There can be no doubt that in refusing the accompaniment of an angel Moses was inviting God to lead them himself. God was making this promise, "This word that you have just spoken I shall accomplish, since you have found favor with me and I know you in preference to all the others." It is also said in Isaiah, "the one who made the shepherd of the sheep to ascend the earth? Where is he who put the Holy Spirit in their midst, who led Moses by his right hand?" … At that time God promised to lead the people himself, and now he promises to send, no longer an angel but the Spirit who is above the angels. It is he who becomes the guide of the people. He thereby shows that the Spirit is neither from among the creatures nor even an angel, but he is superior to creation, united to the divinity of the Father.

Where is he who put in them the Holy Spirit, that is, he who established the divine and saving Spirit in them? For the Spirit descended from the Lord and guided them, saying, "David divinely uttered, 'Send forth your word and heal us.' " For the Lord is the Spirit; he works through the Spirit that is of the same nature. Where then is he? For they forgot him and did not seek him, when they clearly should have remembered him and loved him. Where is he who led Moses by the right hand? Moses was great, famous and lofty in dignity. And this is shown in that it says [Moses] led them, working through [the Spirit] who is the right hand of God.

Indeed just as the Lord and the Son are one, the Lord is the Father. For they come together, and the Holy Spirit both is and can be understood to be in both, and he makes sharp the straight way of truth whenever the mind of believers lacks correct thinking. On account of this being the case, the Spirit is Lord and God, as the Scriptures declare, with the great Isaiah speaking concerning the race of Israel, "The Spirit came down from the Lord and led them."

It seems that Isaiah is making mention here of the resurrection of Christ, the Savior of us all. "He who has gone up" is said in place of "he who has risen"—from the earth—the chief shepherd of all, not just that he was rising up from the dead, but in the sense that he was clearly distinct among human beings. For he became like one of us, undergoing birth from a woman according to the flesh—he who was the only-begotten Word of the Father.

Just as with Pharaoh and the Egyptians chasing them, the people led by Moses crossed the sea, so, too, as the devil and the demons were waging war, Christ the master shattered the gates of death, was first to go through them and took with him human nature in its entirety!

And where is he that led them out as a horse that stumbles not, namely, without hindrance.

"Like cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. So you did lead your people." Through all these words that the prophet speaks about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, he leads the mind back to the wonders that God performed by means of his servant Moses, whom he called the shepherd of his flock, and through whose right hand, which moved the staff, he divided the sea. The staff, therefore, prefigured the cross of Christ, who is the hidden arm of the glory of the Father.

As a beast that goes down, with an unhindered course; the spirit of the Lord was their, the people's, leader: and in the Red Sea a way without hindrance (Wis 19:7); they shall walk confidently (Prov 3:23); where are his miracles? (Judg 6:13).

Here onwards the prophet prays for every nation, and in the person of the Israelites he presents his supplication. He prays that God will withhold his wrath from them and cease rebuking them and in a forgiving manner subdue Israel's desertion; for there was no one on earth for them other than the true God, one having a glorious home in heaven, their father. Although God is said to dwell in heaven, this should not be thought of him in physical terms. For we say that God is not in a place or to be circumscribed; he is simple, and without a body he fills all things.

(Verse 15) Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and glorious habitation. Where is your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me. LXX: Return from heaven and see, from your holy dwelling and your glory. Where is your zeal and your might? Where is the multitude of your mercies and the compassions you have shown us? You have granted such great things to the people, as the higher discourse has related, that you might lead us worthy of your spirit's companionship. Now also, pay attention from heaven and see our works, if indeed they are worthy of you. Why do you turn your face away from us? But heaven is called the holy dwelling place, and the house of his glory (Psalm 43), according to this: Heaven is my throne: and the earth is my footstool (Isaiah 66:1); and in another place: He who dwells in the heavens shall laugh at them; and: Unto you I lift up my eyes, O you who dwell in heaven (Psalm 113:1). Not that the omnipotent God, who holds heaven in the palm of his hand and the earth in his fist, is confined to any place; but rather that those things which are holier may be said to be his place and dwelling. Finally, Solomon, who built the house of God, speaks to him in prayer, 'The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you' (Sirach 16:18). And in the Lord's Prayer it is said, 'Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven' (Matthew 6:10). Therefore, wherever God's will is done, that is His dwelling place and the house of God. As for what follows, 'Where is your zeal and your might?' We can explain this with the testimony of God through Ezekiel to Jerusalem, which had followed her lovers: 'I will no longer be angry with you, for my jealousy has turned away from you' (Ezekiel 16:42). And the meaning is this: Because we have sinned and you have begun to hate us, your zeal has departed from us, which does not depart when speaking through Zachariah: I am zealous for Zion and Jerusalem with great zeal (Zech. I, 14). Therefore, in the following, he says: And I will be angry with the nations that have gathered against it all around. But as zeal departs, so does the strength of God, and the affection of the father's womb is overcome, while the incredible mercy of God is defeated by the greatness of sins, so that it may hold itself above my help, who could not see me overwhelmed.

1110. Second, he inclines the judge to affection.

And first, he seeks a hearing: look down from heaven: you will hear from your holy heaven (1 Kgs 8:32).

Second, he provokes him to mercy: where is your zeal with which you loved us. Lord, where are your ancient mercies? (Ps 88:50[89:49]); if he withhold the waters, all things shall be dried up (Job 12:15).

For Thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Sarah travailed not with us, need we inquire further on this point? And if the Psalmist says, Let them be troubled from His countenance, the Father of the fatherless, and Judge of the widows, is it not manifest to all, that when God is called the Father of orphans who have lately lost their own fathers, He is so named not as begetting them of Himself, but as caring for them and shielding them. But whereas God, as we have said, is in an improper sense the Father of men, of Christ alone He is the Father by nature, not by adoption: and the Father of men in time, but of Christ before all time, as He saith, And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.

(Verse 16) For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name. LXX: For you are our Father, because Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. But you, Lord our Father, free us: from the beginning your name is upon us. For you are our father, the creator of all, says he. Neither Abraham knows us, nor does Israel recognize us, because we have offended you, nor do they know the children who they understand are not loved by their God. A sudden question arises, why did Abraham and Israel, that is, Jacob, receive their names, while Isaac's name remained silent (Gen. XXXII)? To which we will respond, with the beginning and end stated, even the middle shall be named. Or thus: Abraham, called from the Gentiles to faith, underwent a change in his name according to the quality of the preceding and succeeding condition. Jacob, too, worked hard to be called Israel. Hence Abraham had three wives and Jacob had four. But Isaac, from the beginning to the end, possessed an ancient name, indicating the chastity of the Church, content with one wife. Therefore, those who pray for sinners, assume their semblance, to whom joy followed after sorrow. However, this is everything they request, that because He is their father, and He has dignified them with this name, He does not forget His children; lest through them the name of God be blasphemed among the nations.

Third, he sets out a cause for having mercy: for you are our father, and Abraham has not known us, when he was still alive, because we did not then exist; or, even now, he is unwilling to pray for us, because we do not call upon him; or, according to Augustine, because the dead, even the saints, do not know what is to be done for the living: but this is to be understood as to the power of human knowledge, not as to the illumination of divine light: he is your father, that has possessed you, and made you, and created you (Deut 32:6).

Is not sin also punishment for sin?… We can recount many other events clearly showing that perversity of heart comes from a hidden judgment of God, with the result that a refusal to hear the truth leads to commission of sin, and this sin is also punishment for preceding sin.

Behold how a person is hardened if he does not merit to be chastised by the Lord for his correction? Moreover, what is written concerning those whom God's mercy does not even allow to become hardened? "God scourges every child whom he receives"; … and again, "For whom God loves he reproves." Concerning this hardening the prophet also exclaims to the Lord in the person of the people, "Why do you harden our hearts that we fear you not?" Surely this is nothing else than, You have abandoned our heart, that we should be converted to you.

The punishment for previous sins is called "hardening" that comes from the divine righteousness.… While those who are righteous are in no way driven by God to become evil, nevertheless, when they are evil they are hardened so that they become worse, as the apostle says, "Since they did not receive the love of God's truth that they might be saved, God sent them a spirit of error." So God made them sin. But in these cases there was so much sin that came before that they deserved to become worse.… Some sins come from God's anger which are balanced against the merit of other sins.

Your great tolerance encouraged our shamelessness. When you did not punish our sins, we remained transgressors, disregarding your laws. In the same sense, God said to the blessed Moses, "I will harden Pharaoh's heart." He used his great forbearance and tolerance and punishes Pharaoh only with frogs and locusts and flies to begin with, and Pharaoh thought that God could not increase the level of punishment.… You have been patient for a long time; you have not disciplined us, seeing us transgressing without a care; we have accordingly hardened our hearts and as a consequence left the straight path.

1111. Why have you made us to err? Here he sets out the evils which they met.

And first, as to the evils of their fault: you made us to err, permitting, not sending grace and not correcting, from your ways, commands; you hardened, permitted: he has mercy on whom he will. And whom he will, he hardens (Rom 9:18).

1112. Second, he sets out the evils of their punishment.

And first, he asks for mercy: return, from wrath to mercy, for the sake of your servants, our fathers: return, O Lord, how long? And be entreated in favor of your servants (Ps 89[90]:13); convert us, O Lord, to you, and we shall be converted: renew our days, as from the beginning (Lam 5:21).

(Verse 18, 19.) Why have you made us err, O Lord, from your ways: you have hardened our heart, so that we would not fear you? Turn again for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance. Your holy people have possessed nothing: our enemies have trampled upon your sanctuary. We have become like in the beginning: when you did not rule over us, neither was your name invoked upon us. LXX: Why have you led us astray, O Lord, from your holy way: you have hardened our hearts, so that we would not fear you? Convert for the sake of your servants, for the sake of your inheritance, so that we may possess a little of your holy mountain: our adversaries have trampled your sanctuary: we have become as those who were not ruled by you from the beginning: nor has your name been invoked upon us. The letter that Paul writes to the Corinthians, when it is written to the people of a certain city, by reason of the diversity of its inhabitants, that is, of saints and sinners, now praises them, now corrects them, now teaches them, now rebukes them, provokes them to continence; he does not refuse marriage; he refrains from idolatry; he instructs them about the resurrection; he extends his hand to the divorced, so that he does not give a place to fornication. We have said this, so that we may understand that the present chapter, which is entirely covered by the prayer of the people, may be understood either as of the just or of sinners: and now to praise the Lord, now to bring a question to the Lord, and to attribute one's own guilt to God. Hence, even afterwards they speak of this: Why have you made us err, O Lord, from your ways, or have led us astray from your path: you have hardened our heart that we should not fear you? Not that God is the cause of error and hardness, but so that his patience, waiting for our salvation, may seem to be the cause of error and hardness by not punishing the wrongdoers. Being extremely angry with certain people, he refrained from striking them and said: 'I will not visit your daughters when they have committed fornication, and your wives when they have committed adultery' (Hosea IV, 14). He chastises every son whom he receives, and he strikes in order to correct (Hebrews XII). Finally, regarding those who have not lost the title of children but are drawn back to repentance through punishment, he says about them: 'I will visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with stripes; but I will not take away my mercy from them' (Psalm LXXXIX, 33). For there is a sorrow that leads to life, and there is a sorrow that leads to death. Hence the sinner speaks in the psalm: You have made our paths turn away from your way, and you have humbled us in a place of affliction (Psalm 44:19). And for forty years the people wander in the desert, so that they may not find the former way, nor return to the Egyptians (Numbers 32). Also in Hosea, the paths of Jerusalem are separated and closed with thorns, so that she may not follow her lovers, and being compelled by need, she may return to her former husband (Hosea 2). And it is said that the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, so that he would not let his people go, and that he would be afflicted with ten plagues (Exodus IV). This question was discussed in great detail by Paul to the Romans (Romans IX). And we have briefly addressed it in a certain work. Turn, O Lord, or turn us on account of your servants, Abraham and Israel, who do not know us, or whom we believe to be among the people. For our adversaries have possessed your holy people as if it were nothing and without any effort. Whether convert us, so that according to the Septuagint, we may possess a little of your holy mountain, because we cannot possess your whole mountain, so that when we have a part, we may come to its fullness and contemplate the glory of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1). Concerning this, it is said in the same prophet: In the last days, the mountain of the Lord shall be revealed (Isaiah 2:2). But concerning what is stated above: Why have you made us stray (Isaiah 63:17)? Jeremiah teaches in the fullest sense in what meaning it is to be understood: You have seduced me, Lord, and I have been seduced: you have taken hold of me, and you have been able to ((Al. you have placed)) (Jeremiah 20:7). For while you promise me mercy, and as a merciful father you hide your severity, and as a skilled doctor you hide the sharpest iron, lest you frighten the sick before you cure them, you have made me negligent; therefore, God says about Jerusalem: Behold, I will seduce her, and I will make her like a desert, and I will lay her waste like a land without water, and I will speak to her heart: and I will give her belongings from there, and the valley of Achor for opening understanding (Hosea 1:14, 15). Let us consider the order of these things: he seduces her and makes her a deserted and without water, so that she suffers from thirst for virtues. After she has said: My soul thirsts for you, how greatly my flesh longs for you (Psalm 41:2), then he will speak to her heart and console her in mourning. And he will give her possession, that is, of repentance and sorrow that works salvation. And the humility of her troubled heart (for this is what the valley of Achor signifies) opens understanding, so that she may not ignore her Creator. The enemy, he says, have trampled upon your sanctuary. There is no doubt that it signifies the Temple, which the victorious Romans trod upon. And we have become as in the beginning before we were called in Abraham, and while we were in Egypt, having neither God, nor kings, nor princes, nor prophets, nor the Law of God's commandments (Ose. III), all of which were completed after the passion of the Lord, and are fulfilled even to this day. For when they said: His blood be upon us and upon our children (Matth. XXVII, 25), there remains an everlasting curse, and their God does not reign, nor is his name invoked above, since he is not at all called the people of God.

Second, he sets out their misery as to slavery: they have possessed your holy people as nothing, that is, without resistance, above: O Lord our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us (Isa 26:13); as to the profanation of their holy places: our enemies have trodden down your sanctuary: the holy places are come into the hands of strangers (1 Macc 2:8).

The church is often called "the holy mountain" in the sacred Scriptures, and those from Israel are only a small part of it. For if they had demonstrated faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the company of the faith would have sprung from them for the most part and the Gentiles would have been added in to complete the number. But because of the serious disobedience of the Jews, the people of the church were consequently largely drawn from the nations, and these provided the majority; the former people were few in number (for a remnant shall be saved), so only in small measure will they be called on to the holy mountain, that is, into the church.

And you did this on account of our turning away from you. For we are now a desert untended by your careful attention. We are now like we were in the beginning. For there was a time when we had neither prophet nor priest not king nor any of your gifts of grace—in like manner we have now come back to the desert. Such were we in Egypt frittering away time before Moses took us out of there. Neither did we have your name to adorn us when we were not called your people, and we did not have a share in your inheritance. And now we have arrived at a similar point. It is right to refer these words to the season after the arrival of our Savior, by whom all those things will in the end be put behind them, through what was dared by our Savior for them.

The holy of holies of the sanctuary, which it was forbidden to touch and to which access was reserved for priests alone, has been despoiled and trampled by impious enemies. For the Babylonians were not the only impious ones; the Macedonians and the Romans were also, when they devastated Jerusalem.… We have resembled our ancestors who, in the time of slavery in Egypt, had not yet received the title of "your people."

As to the loss of their former honor: we are become, without a king, without the temple, as in the beginning, in Egypt, or even before the calling of Abraham: but you, O Lord, are among us, and your name is called upon by us, forsake us not (Jer 14:9).

This power is present to you, that of which we did not hear from all time, nor were we able to say (which would be bearing false witness) that someone else was such a God, in the way that our eyes have now seen the effects in such works. We have neither seen God nor divine deeds except from you—to those waiting to see, you provide vision and understanding, which coming from outside ourselves is set in place.… "For no one can see God," and "no one can see my face and live." But it seems that the Christ of God is praised through these things, he who talked with Moses in the desert and was made visible to all people through his glory appearing to all, about which was said, "we have beheld his glory."

(Chapter 64, Verses 1 and following.) Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake before you! As when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil, to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. Chapter 70: If you open the heavens, trembling will seize the mountains from you, and they will melt like wax before fire, and the fire will consume your adversaries, and your name will be made known among your adversaries, and the nations will tremble at your presence. When you have done glorious things, the mountains will tremble because of you. For our enemies have trampled your sanctuary, and we have become like those in the beginning, when your name was not invoked upon us. Therefore, we implore and say: Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down; that you, who are always promised, would finally fulfill your promises. But this was said at that time when the Saviour had not yet come, nor had he taken upon himself a human nature and substance from a virgin's womb in order to save humanity: so that as we have borne the image of the earthy, we may bear the image of the heavenly (1 Corinthians 15). But if you were to do it, they say, and the heavens were to open up, or even the heavens, at the coming of your majesty, would flow down, or if trembling were to seize the mountains, and they were to be consumed, as wax is consumed by fire. And the heavens were opened before Ezekiel, and he saw a great vision (Ezek. I). But even Moses, in the blessings of Deuteronomy, implores: May the Lord open his good treasury, the heavens, to give you blessing (Deut. XXVIII). And in the Gospel (Matt. III), it is said (or it is testified) that John the Baptist saw the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit descending upon the Lord in the form of a dove. But the mountains, which at the coming of the Lord, of whom it is written: God is a consuming fire (Deut. IV, 24), will be consumed like wax and melt, are the opposing powers, and all those who rise up against the knowledge of God. Concerning them, it is also sung in the ninety-sixth psalm: The earth saw and trembled. The mountains melted like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth (Psalm 96:4, 5). For if you were to come down and fulfill your promises, the waters of the sea would dry up and their saltiness would be consumed by fire (according to Symmachus). This is also written in another psalm: Like smoke disappears, let them disappear; like wax melts before fire, let the sinners perish before God (Psalm 68:2). And it should be noted that when the waters of the sea are consumed by divine fire, then the name of the Lord Savior becomes known to his enemies. Concerning this, it is said in the sixty-seventh psalm: The tongue of your dogs is from enemies themselves, so that those who had not sensed his kindness may know by the destruction and their own captivity of their city. And the nations will be troubled by his presence, or rather, as it is more significantly said in Hebrew, they will be moved: so that those who were previously immobile may come to salvation. And when he has done wonderful things and shown signs in the Gospel, which he once showed in Egypt and in the wilderness, they will confess that they cannot bear the glory of his coming, either because trembling has seized the mountains. And beautifully, as if those who had prayed above were heard: Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down, that the mountains would melt away at your presence, afterwards they say: You have descended, the Word has become flesh and dwelt among us, truly Emmanuel, which is interpreted as God with us. And therefore all the mountains have flowed down from your face, of which we have spoken above. The Hebrews have interpreted this passage as follows: Thus the fire will burn the wicked, just as water boils with the heat of fire; for they do not understand the word Amasim () as destruction and decay, as others have interpreted, but they understand it as referring to the wicked.

David also said "Lord, bend the skies and come down," and Moses said, "Show me your face that I might see you clearly." For no one saw more closely than Moses when receiving the law of God. God was speaking from the clouds, and [Moses] witnessed that same presence of his majesty. How, since no one saw God closer than he did, could [Moses] demand a view that was closer still when he said, "Show me yourself, that I might see you clearly"? Indeed, we can pray the same thing to happen that the apostle declared already occurred; the Lord openly revealed himself in the flesh and clearly appeared in the world, was openly assumed into glory; the saints saw the things with their physical eyes that they had previously seen with their spiritual sight.

1113. Here he offers a petition. And first, he asks for the presence of the judge; second, he asks for mercy: "behold you are angry" (Isa 64:5). Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he sets out the petition; second, the fulfillment of the petition: "you didst come down" (Isa 64:3). Concerning the first of these, he does two things.

First, he asks for the coming of the judge: "O that you wouldst rend the heavens." He speaks figuratively, as though to one living above the heavens; or: that you would empty yourself, putting aside your majesty, and would assume flesh: "bow down your heavens and descend" (Ps 144:5).

1114. He sets out the effect of the coming of the judge in insensible creatures, namely in the mountains: "the mountains would melt away at your presence," as if to say: they would not endure your presence, if it pleased you; or the mountains, the powerful and the proud, above: "the mountains shall be melted" (Isa 34:3) with their strength.

In the waters: "the waters would burn with fire," because you are all fiery, if you should wish: "at another time the fire, above its own power, burnt in the midst of water" (Wis 16:19); or, by the waters are signified peoples: "the many waters are many peoples" (Rev 17:15).

The effect on men, and first, on the gentiles: "that the nations might tremble at your presence": "the Gentiles shall be troubled" (Ps 65:7-8); literally, they will be shaken; or this refers to the conversion of the gentiles after the coming of Christ.

These things we suffered were not on account of your weakness but on account of our transgression. For when you make your personal appearance from heaven, the mountains will melt and dissolve like wax too near to the fire. For fire will feast on our enemies, and your power will become obvious to all.

The effect on the Jews: "when you shall do wonderful things, we shall not bear," that is, we, who are accustomed to see and hear, because of our stupor, as they were terrified in Exodus 20:18, thus: "they that had excused themselves" (Heb 12:19); or we shall not bear his coming, even having seen his miracles.

1115. Here he sets out the fulfillment of the petition. And first, as to his coming: "you didst come down," to judge us: using the past tense for the future; or, into the womb of the virgin. Or better, according to the literal sense, he sets out the proof of the effect, as if to say: if you should come down now, the same things would happen, which happened when you came down to free your people from Egypt (Exod 4); "he bowed the heavens, and came down, and darkness was under his feet" (Ps 18:9).

1116. As to the effect, first, in wonders: "at your presence the mountains," the rocks of Arnon, "melted away," Numbers 21:14-15; "the mountains skipped" (Ps 114:4); mystically: the Jews, or the demons.

Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. [Isaiah 64:4] But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

The divine is invisible in nature. "For no one has ever seen God," as it is written. But God can be seen by the eyes of faith from those things that happen without explanation and beyond speech. For the invisible things, since the foundation of the world, are clearly understood by the things that are made, that is, his heavenly power and godhead. For he is often recognized through those in whom he works the good and makes a sign of the serenity dwelling in him, marvelously saving those deprived of all hope, and he extends a saving hand from the ground to those lying on the earth. In like manner, they who make this prayer speak, "From the foundation of the world we have not heard nor have we seen such a God, except now for you and you alone. For you give mercy to those who wait for you and put their hope in you, refining and making them to fit together, those who work for your justice and who are mindful of your paths, that is, all who carry out the things you want. For we say that his commandments are the ways of the Lord."

But it may be argued that the apostle was not inspired by the Spirit of prophecy when he borrowed these prophetic words; that he was only interpreting at random the words of another man, and though, no doubt, everything the apostle says of himself comes to him by revelation from Christ, yet his knowledge of the words of Isaiah is only derived from the book.… Isaiah says that he has seen no God besides him. For he did actually see the glory of God, the mystery of whose taking flesh from the Virgin he foretold. And if you, in your heresy, do not know that it was God the Only Begotten whom the prophet saw in that glory, listen to the Evangelist: "Isaiah said these things when he saw his glory and spoke of him." The apostle, the Evangelist, the prophet combine to silence your objections. Isaiah did see God; even though it is written, "No one has seen God at any time, except for the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father; he has declared him." It was God whom the prophet saw. He gazed on the divine glory, and people were filled with envy at such honor graciously granted to his prophetic greatness. For this was the reason why the Jews passed sentence of death on him.

The apostle Paul inserts a paraphrase of this passage, like a Hebrew from the Hebrews, in the original text of the letters that he wrote to the Corinthians, not rendering it word for word, which he altogether despised doing, but expressing the truth of its meaning, a practice that he used for purposes of emphasis. Hence, the nonsense of the apocryphal texts, which are conveyed to the churches of Christ on the occasion of this passage, fall silent. It can truly be said of these texts that the devil would sit in ambush with the riches of the apocrypha to kill the innocent or that he would "wait in the 'apocrypha' like a lion in its lair to seize the poor." For the Ascension of Isaiah and the Apocalypse of Elijah contain this very passage.

(Verse 4, 5.) From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. You meet those who rejoice in doing righteousness, who remember you in your ways. (LXX: From ages past no one has heard, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him, and the works that you will do for those who hope for mercy. For you meet those who rejoice in doing righteousness, and they will remember your ways.) The Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, takes a paraphrase, as it were, of this testimony from a Hebrew of the Hebrews, from the authentic books, not rendering word for word, which he altogether despises, but expressing the truth of the sense, which he uses to strengthen what he wants to say. Hence, let the delirium of the apocryphal writings be silenced, which are foisted upon the Churches of Christ on the occasion of this testimony. Of which it can truly be said that the devil sits in ambush with the rich in the apocrypha, in order to kill the innocent. And again: He lies in wait in the apocrypha like a lion in his den; he lies in wait to seize the poor (Psalm IX, 8). For the Ascension of Isaiah and the Apocalypse of Elijah bear witness to this. And on this occasion, many such women, burdened with sins, who are led by various desires, always learning but never able to come to knowledge of the truth (3 Timothy III), were deceived in Spain, and especially in Lusitania, so that they would embrace the marvels of Basilides, Balsamis, and Thesaurus, as well as Barbelo and Leusibora, and other such names. About which the apostolic man Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons and martyr, writes very diligently, explaining the origins of many heresies, especially the Gnostics, who deceived noble women of Egypt first around the Rhone, and then of Spain, mixing pleasure with their fables and claiming the name of knowledge for their ignorance (Irenaeus, Book 1 on Heresies). But what the people say at present is that they have never known, neither with their ears nor with their eyes, what God has prepared for his saints in the future: that it happens to those who practice righteousness and remember His ways. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, they say that they never knew any other God except for the one who truly is God, nor have they seen any other works so great that He will do for those who wait for His mercy, and they will do justice and remember His ways. And as it is written: No one has ever seen God (John 1:18). And again: No one can see My face and live (Exodus 33:20). Therefore, God is not explained by words, nor is He visible to the eyes, but He is seen by those about whom it is written: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8).

Let us scrutinize those who enjoy the good things of the world in this present life, I mean wealth and power and glory. Exulting with delight, they reckon themselves as no longer being on the earth. They act this way even though the things that they are enjoying are acknowledged not to be really good and do not abide with them but take to flight more quickly than a dream. And even if these things should even last for a little time, their favor is displayed within the limits of this present life and cannot accompany us further. Now if these things uplift those who possess them to such a pitch of joy, what do you suppose is the condition of those souls that are invited to enjoy the countless blessings in heaven, blessings that are always securely fixed and stable? And not only this, but also in their quantity and quality heaven's blessings excel present things to such an extent as never entered even the heart of the human being.

The brightness of the true light will not be able to be seen by the unclean sight, and that which will be happiness to minds that are bright and clean will be a punishment to those that are stained. Therefore, let the mists of earth's vanities be shunned, and let your inward eyes be purged from all the filth of wickedness, that the sight may be free to feed on this great manifestation of God. For to the attainment of this we understand what follows to lead.

Do not thou then, O thou who hast denied the things which are seen, ask what kind of riches thou wilt receive in exchange for thy poverty, but be thou in earnest only to forsake thy poverty, and to hasten to possess them. Now what these riches are, and unto what they are like, Paul explaineth not unto thee, nor of what kind they are, for there is nothing which can be compared with them, nor how much they are, because they cannot be measured. "That which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, and what hath not gone up in the heart of man, is what God hath prepared for them that love Him"; and the greatness of the reward is made manifest by these and such like words.

He has shown the justice of mercy. For the mercy of God is not without judgment, nor is his judgment lacking in mercy. On that account he adds the provision of his mercy to those who are patient and acting justly.… He compares not their sin but their righteousness with an unclean rag. Now if it is their righteousness that is compared with this, it is because their sin does not have anything with which it can be compared.

In benefits, he sets out the greatness of his benefits: "from the beginning of the world they have not heard," for never has anything been seen or heard, like what God did for the Jews, and will do for the saints in glory: "eye has not seen, nor ear heard: neither has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for them that love him" (1 Cor 2:9).

1120. Note on the words, "what things you have prepared for them that love thee" (Isa 64:4), that God prepares for the saints, first, a place of eternal rest: "if not, I would have told you: because I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2); second, a kingdom of eternal dignity: "come, you blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt 25:34); third, a table of divine refreshment: "you have prepared a table before me" (Ps 23:5); fourth, a lamp of eternal light: "I have prepared a lamp for my anointed" (Ps 132:17).

"You were angry, and we sinned." This is a sentence with reversed terms, that is, since we have sinned, you were angry and had us deported; and this is analogous to the words "and they made his grave with the wicked." "Some day we will be saved." With the same mercy through which you saved us once from Egypt, we will be saved from Babylon as well.

It is not because you are angry that we sinned, but rather it is because we sinned that you are angry. Because we sinned, you are angry with us, O Lord, for we strayed and abandoned the right path, or, according to the Hebrew text, we, who always lived in sin and are unclean in ourselves, will be saved only by your mercy.

As to the promptness of his benefitting them: "you have met him that rejoices," to help him, while he was still petitioning or coming to you; "him that rejoices," in you: "wisdom goes about seeking such as are worthy of her" (Wis 6:17). Mystically: Simeon (Luke 2).

1117. "Behold you are angry." Here he sets out mercy. And first, he shows the need of the petitioner; second, he offers the petition: "and now, O Lord" (Isa 64:8). Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he shows his need from the eminence of evil, as to their fault; then from the committing of evils: "behold you are angry, and we have sinned": the order is reversed: for this reason you are angry, because we have sinned, and, nevertheless, we shall be saved, by your mercy, above: "our wicked doings are with us" (Isa 59:12).