Proph. 8. Which perhaps may also be taken of the Lord Himself, Who is the Head of all the good; for according to that which we have said before, whereas He saith of Himself, Luke Fo7' if they have done these things in a green tree, what 23,31. ^]^fj^ii ^g figyfg ^-^^ ^^ dry? He said that Himself was the green tree, and we the dry tree, forasmuch as He contained in His own Person the power of the Divine Nature, but we that are mere men are called a dry tree. And so ' there is hope of a tree if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,' in that even if He was able to be put to death by His Passion, yet by the glory of His Resurrection, He came to the greenness of life again; ' His branches shoot,' in that the faithful being multiplied by His Resurrection grew out far and wide; His root as it were waxed old in the earth, in that the preaching of Him was to the unbelief of the Jews a despicable thing; * and His stock dried in the dust,' in that in the heart of those that persecuted Him, which was uplifted by the wind of their unbelief, He was held as an object of scorn and contempt, in that Ho was capable of being put to death in the flesh; but ' at the scent of water He budded,' in that through the power of God His Flesh after demise returned to life, accord-Acts 3, ing to that which is WTitten, Whom God hath raised from ^^' the dead. For in that God is a Trinity, the Holy Trinity, i. e. the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, raised up to life the extinct Flesh of the Only-Begotten Son. And * II brought forth foliage as when It was first planted,' in that th( feebleness of the Apostles, which in the season of His deatl Man stript of innocency loses his true Being. 51 was afraid and denied, and by denying turned dry, by the Book glory of His Resurrection was again quickened in faith. In '- comparison with which Tree what is every man but dust? Hence it is added; - Ver. 10. But when man is dead, and stripped, and con^ sumed, where, I pray, is he?
9. There is no man without sin, save Him Who came not vi. into this world by sin; and whereas all we are tied fast in the bonds of guilt, we die by the mere loss of righteousness. Of the robe of innocence given us aforetime in Paradise, we are stripped naked, and we are yet further consumed by the subsequent dissolution of the flesh. Thus man being a sinner dies in guilt, is stripped bare of righteousness, is consumed in punishment. This nakedness of his erring son the Father vouchsafed to cover, who said, on his returning to him, Bring forth quickly the first robe. For ^ the first Luke robe' is the robe of innocence, which man being created ^^' ^^* aright received, but being persuaded wrongly by the serpent forfeited. Against this same nakedness it is said. Blessed z^Rev. 16, he that watcheih, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk ' naked. For we ' keep our garments,' when we keep the precepts of innocency in our hearts, that whereas guilt strips us naked to the Judge, penance should cover us returning to the innocence we had forfeited. And it is w^ell said. Where, I pray, is hef in that the sinner, man, refused to stand there where he was created; while here, where he fell, he is forbidden to stay for long. Willingly he forfeited his country, unwillingly he is driven forth from his exile, which he delights in. Where then is he, who is not in His love, where only it is truly to be? It proceeds; Ver, 31, 12. As if the waters fail from the sea, and the river being emptied drieih up: so man lieth down, and riseth not.
10. The mind of man is the sea, and the thoughts of his vii. mind, as it were, a wave of the sea; which sometimes swell in anger, are made calm by grace, and from haired run out in bitterness; but when man dieth, ' the waters of the sea fail,' in that according to the words of the Psalmist, In that very Ps. 146, day his thoughts perish. And again it is written concerning^* the dying soul. Also their love, and their haired, and their ^(^<^^-9, 52 Resurrection denied only till this icurld ends.
Job 14, envy shall j^erish together. Thus ' the river being emptied — \ — 1 drieth up,' in that, when the soul is withdrawn, the body remains empty. For the lifeless body is as it were the empty channel of a river, wherein it is to be marked with an attentive eye that the present life, i. e. the time while the soul stays in the body, is likened to the sea and to a river, for the water of the sea is bitter, of a river sweet. And because we that are living here are at one time under the influence of certain bitternesses, and at another time are seen to be serene and gentle with sweetness, the course of the present life is set forth by the similitude of the sea and a river.
11. But herein that seems to be exceedingly hard which is added. So man lieth down, and riseth not. Wherefore do we so toil and labour, if we are not straining after the recompense of the Resurrection? And how is it said, and riseth not, 1 Cor. when it is written, We shall all rise again, hut we shall not Vuia- ^^^ ^^ changed? And again, i/"m this life only we have hope V. 19. of life in Christ, we are of all men most miserable: and when John 5, ' Truth' says by Itself, All that are in the graves shall hear 29. jjj^^ voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrectio7i of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. But the sentence subjoined points out what distinction there is concealed in the sentence preceding. For it is added; 21:7/ the heavens he no more they shall not awake, nor he raised out of their sleep. viii. 12. For it is plain that they shall not rise again, that is, till the heavens be no more, in that except the end of the world come, the race of mankind shall not wake to life from the sleep of death. Not, then, that he shall not rise again at all, but that before the crumbling of the heavens the human race shall not rise again, is what he teaches. Moreover it is a thing to be marked, why after he had called man dead above, below he designates him not dead, but sleeping, and tells that he shall never rise again from his sleep until the heaven be crumbled in pieces, which is no otherwise than that it is plainly given us to understand, that by the likeness of the tree quickened afresh to life, he designates man a dead sinner, i. e. extinct from the life of righteousness; but when he speaks of the death of the flesh, he preferred to call I Christ trull/ died, yet Saints die not. Hell, hoio divided. 58 this not death but sleep, teaching us surely the hope of the Book Resurrection; in that as a man quickly awakes out of sleep, — so shall he rise in a moment at the nod of his Creator from the death of the body. For the name of death is horribly feared by weak minds, but the title of sleep is not feared. Hence Paul in charging his disciples saith, But I woiild'^^^^^^' not have you to he ignorant, brethren, concerning them ' which are asleep, that ye sorrow not as men without hope. For if we helieve that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which are fallen asleep in Jesus ivill God bring again with Him. How is it that the great Preacher calls the death of the Lord death, but the death of the servants of the Lord he names not death, but sleep; but that, having regard to the w^eak hearts of his hearers, he mixes the medicine of his preaching with wonderful art, and Him, Whom they knew to have risen already, he does not doubt to teach them was dead, while those, who had not as yet risen again, that he might teach the hope of the Resurrection, he calls not dead, but sleeping? For he did not fear to call Him dead Whom his hearers knew to have already risen, and he was afraid to call those dead, whose rising again they scarcely believed. Thus blessed Job, seeing* that he does not doubt of those that are dead in the flesh waking again to life, calls them sleeping rather than dead. It goes on; Ver. 13. O that Thou wouldest defend me in hell!
13. That before the coming of the Mediator between God ix. and man, every person, though he might have been of a pure and approved life, descended to the prisons of hell, there can be no doubt; in that man, who fell by his own act, was unable by his own act to return to the rest of Paradise, except that He should come. Who by the mystery of His Incarnation should open the way into that same Paradise. For hence after the sin of the first man it is recorded, that a flaming sword was placed at the entrance of Paradise, Gen. 3, which is also called ' moveable S' in that the time should it*„ ' * versacome one day, that it might even be removed. Nor yet do tills, V, we maintain that the souls of the righteous did so go down into hell, that they were imprisoned in places of punishment; but it is to be believed that there are higher regions in hell, and that there are lower regions apart, so that both the 54 Job prays for safety in IleV^ and release at last.
Job 14, righteous might be at rest in the upper regions, and the -j-^^— unrighteous be tormented in the lower ones. Hence the Psalmist, by reason of the grace of God preventing him, says, Ps. 86, Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. Thus blessed Job before the coming of the Mediator, knowing of his going down into hell, implores the protecting hand of his Maker there, in order that he might be a stranger to the places of punishment; where, while he is brought to enjoy rest, he might be kept hidden from punishment. Hence he subjoins; ^^ P®?"* That thou woiddest keep me secret^ until Thy wrath quite^ Vuig. pass by, X. 14. For the wrath of Almighty God does herein execute the force of its severity every day, that those who live unworthily it swallows up in most worthy punishments. Which wrath now indeed ^ passes by,' but at the end it ' quite passes by,' in that now it is executed, but at the end of the world it is finally consummated. Yet this wrath as to the souls of the righteous * quite passed by' on the coming of our Redeemer, in that those the Mediator between God and man brought back from the prisons of hell to the joys of Paradise, when He did Himself go down there in pity. And on this subject it is necessary to be known, that the term ' wrath' does not suit the Divine Being, in that no disquieting influence disorders the simple nature of God.
Wisd. Whence it is said to Him, But Thou, Rider of power, ' ' judgest with tranquillity, and orderest us with exceeding great regard. But because the souls of the righteous were one day to be set free by the coming of the Mediator from the regions of hell, though not the places of punishment, this too the righteous man foresees, and beseeching adds; And appoint me a set time, when Thou shouldest remember me. xi. 15. But when the fulness of the time was come, Ood sent 4.V. ' forth His Son, made of a woman, inade under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law. Thus the man of the Lord foreseeing this redemption, wherein many of the Gentile world as well were destined to be set free, as he Job 10, himself says; Though these things Thou dost hide in Thine heart, yet I know that Thou dost remember all things; Our Lord the Death of death ^ the Biting of Hell. 55 prays for a time for the remembering of him, to be appointed Book him with Almighty God. For it is hence that the Lord saith in the Gospel, Ajid I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will JohnU, draw all things imto 3Ie, i. e. ^ all things Elect;' for neither did the Lord, when He returned from hell, draw the Elect and the lost together, but He bore off all those things from thence, which He did foreknow would have attached themselves to Him. Hence He also says by the Prophet Hosea, I will be thy death, O death; I will be the biting of thee^UcsA'S, O hell. Now what we put to death, we do our best that it ^ * should not be at all, and of that which we bite, a part we take away, and a part we leave. Therefore whereas the Lord wholly destroyed death in His Elect members, He proved Himself the ' Death of death;' but whereas He took a part from hell, and left a part, He did not wholly destroy but did * bite hell.' Therefore He says, / will be thy Death, O death; i. e. ' in Mine Elect, I utterly destroy thee. — I ivill he the biting of thee, O hell; in that in taking those away, I pierce thee in part.' And so let blessed Job, knowing of this coming of our Redeemer to hell, pray for what he foresaw in the future, and let him say. And that Thou shouldest appoint me a set time wherein Thou wouldest remember me. It goes on; Ver. 14. Thinkest thou that a dead man shall live again? ^u'g.
116. It is common with righteous men, in that which xii. they themselves feel to be sure and well-grounded, to urge something as if in doubting, so as to put the words of the weak into their own lips; and again by a strong sentence they gainsay utterly him that halts in doubtfulness, that by that which they are seen to put forth doubtfully, they may in some degree condescend to the weak, and hereby, that they deliver a sure sentence, they may draw the doubtful / minds of the weak to firm ground. Which whilst they do, they are following the pattern of our Head. For our Lord, when He was near to His passion, took up the voice of those that were weak in Himself, saying, O My Father, if it be Matt. possible, let this cup pass from Me; and that He might ^ ' '^ " remove their fear. He took it in Himself. And again shewing by obedience the force of strength. He saith. Nevertheless, not as IiviU, but as TJwu ivilt. That so when that thing threatens 56 Job fieems to doubt that he may confirm the Resurrection. Job 14. us which we would not have take place, we should so in j~^~ weakness pray that it may not, as that in strength wc may be ready for the will of our Creator to be done, even in opposition to our own will. After this pattern, then, the words of weakness are sometimes proper to be adopted by the strong, that by their strong preachings afterw,ards the hearts of the weak may be more acceptably strengthened. Hence blessed Job when he uttered words as of one in doubt, saying, Thinkest thou that a dead man shall live again? presently added the sentence of his sure belief, whereby he saith.
All the days that I now serve militant will I wait, till my change come. ^1"* 17. He that waits for his change with such ardent longing, shews how great his certainty was of the Resurrection, and he makes it appear how greatly he looks down upon the course of the present life, who designates it a ' service militant.' For in the militant state there is the going on continually to an end, day by day the finishing of the conclusion is expected. Thus he despises the course of this life, and looks for the settling of fixedness, who hereby, that he is serving subject to changeableness, is in haste to attain to his change. For to the just man in this life the very load of his corruption is burthensome. Because watchings exhaust with weariness, sleep is sought, that the labour and harassing effect of watchings may be moderated: but sometimes even sleep kills. Hunger wastes the body, and that its craving may be banished, victuals are sought after: but frequently even the very victuals oppress, which had been sought in order to banish the oppression of debility. And so the load of corruption is a heavy burthen, which except it were so heavy, Rom. 8, Paul would never have said, jPor the creature teas made subject ' to vanity, not willingly, but hij reason of Him Who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall he delivered from the bondage into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groavieth and travaileth in pain together until now. So let the holy man, longing for the state of in corruption, say. All the days that I now serve militan t ivill I wait till my change come. In which same change what it is that takes place, he adds; Ver. 15. Thou shall call me, and I will answer Thee.
I Man enabled to answer God through His ' Right Hand.'' 57 18. We are said to answer any one, when we do works in Book XII turn answerable to his deeds. Thus in that change the Lord * calls,' and man ' answers,' in that, before the brightness of The Incorrupt, man is shewn forth incorrupt after corruption. For now so long as we are subject to corruption, we do not in any wise ' answer' our Creator, seeing that whereas corruption is far from incorruption, there is no similarity suitable to our answering. But of that change it is written, JVhen } John He shall appear, we shall be like Him: for we shall see ' Him as He is. Then therefore we shall truly ' answer God,' Who ' calleth,' when at the bidding of the Supreme Incorruption we shall arise incorruptible; and because the creature is not able to earn this by itself, but it is brought to pass by the gift of Almighty God alone, that it should be changed to that exceeding glory of incorruption, it is rightly subjoined; Thott wilt stretch forth Thy right hand to the work qf Thine hands.
19. As if he said in plain words; * For this reason Thy xv. corruptible creature is able to hold fast unto incorruption, because he is lifted up by the hands of Thy power, and is kept by the grace of Thy regard, that he should hold fast.' For the human creature by this alone, that it is a creature, has it inherent in itself to sink down below itself, but man has obtained it from his Creator, that he should both be caught above himself by contemplation, and held fast in himself by incorruption. And so that the creature may not fall away beneath himself, but hold on in incorruption, he is lifted to the stedfastness of immutability by the right hand of His Maker. Moreover it may be that by the title of ' the Right Hand' the Son may be designated; in that, All things 3 o\m i, were made by Him. Thus Almighty God ' stretched out His^* Right Hand to the work of His hands,' because, that He might lift on high the human race, become refuse and grovelling in the lowest things, He sent the Only -Begotten One, made Incarnate for this end. By Whose Incarnation it has been vouchsafed to us that we, who fall into incorruption of our own will, should one time be enabled to answer God when He calls us in the glory of incorruption. Wherein who can estimate the bountifulness of Divine Mercy, that He should bring man after sin to such a height of glory?
58 God numbers our stepSy yet spares our sins.
Job 14, God takes account of the bad things we do, yet by the grace -y' — * of His lovingkindness He remits them to us in mercy. And hence it is added; Ver. 16. For now Tkou niimherest my steps, but Tkou sparest my sins.
xvi. 20. God ' numbers our steps,' when He marks each one of our several deeds for the recompensing them. For what is denoted by the steps, but each particular act of ours? Thus Almighty God both * numbers our steps' and ' spares our sins,' in that He at once surveys our actions with exactness, and yet remits them in mercy to those that repent, Who both sees obduracy in those that sin, and yet softens it into penitence by preventing grace. Thus He ' numbers sins,' in that He turns us ourselves to bewail the several things which we have done. And He remits them in mercy, in that whilst we our own selves punish them. He Himself never judges them in the last reckoning, as Paul testifies, 1 Cor. who saith. For if we should judge ourselves.^ we should not ' * be judged. Hence it is further added; Ver. 17. Thou hast sealed up as it were in a bag my transgressions; but Thou hast healed mine iniquity, xvii. 21. Our ' transgressions are sealed up as it were in a bag,' in that that thing which we ourselves do in outward act, except we wash away by penance in the mean while, is kept in the secresy of God's judgments under a kind of hiding, that one day it may also come forth out of the bag of secresy into the publicity of the Judgment. Hence it is said by Deut. Moses too; Is not this laid up in store with Me, and sealed ' ' up among My treasures? In the day of vengeance I will repay them. But when for the evil things that we have done, we are bruised with the stroke of discipline, and lament the same by penance, He ' sealeth up,' and ' healeth' our iniquity, in that He neither leaves things unpunished here, nor reserves them to be punished in the Judgment. Thus He ' seals transgressions,' in that He marks them with exactness here, to chastise them with the rod, but He ' heals' Ihem, in that He wholly remits them in the stroke. Hence the iniquity of that persecutor of Flim, whom He laid prostrate on the ground, He did also by sealing heal, seeing Acts 9, that He said concerning him to Ananias; He is a chosen Sins sealed up, yet healed. Two hinds of temptation. 59 vessel unto Me to bear My Name before the Gentiles, and Book kings, and the childi'en of Israel. For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My Name\s sake. For to that man, whom on account of past transgressions He still threatens with future sufferings, what he had done wrong, surely He kept sealed in the heart; but as surely in so sealing He had healed his transgressions, in that He called him ' a chosen vessel ^' Or, surely, ' our transgressions are ' vas esealed in a bag,' when the evil things we have been guilty of, we reflect on continually with a heedful heart. For what is the heart of man, but God's ' bag?' wherein whilst we earnestly look to see how much we transgress, we carry our sins as it were ^ sealed up in God's bag.' Did not David keep his sin ' sealed up in a bag,' when he said. For I acknoic- Ps.5i,3. ledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. And because the faults, which we are made acquainted with in reviewing and repeating, the pitiful Creator remits to us, after the ' transgressions being sealed in a bag,' it is rightly subjoined, But TJiou hast healed mine iniquity: as if he said in plain speech, * What things Thou dost now seal, so that I in repenting should see, doubtless Thou doest it, that in the retribution they should never be seen.' It follows; Ver. 18, 19. And surely the mountain falling slippeth away, and the rock is removed out of his place. The waters wear the stones, and by washing little by little the earth is consumed, and so Thou wilt in a like way destroy man.
2*2. This is very often the case, that upon rocks falling, a xviii. piece of rock is removed to other places; that waters wear stones, and little by little the ground is wasted by the washings of the flood: but we have need to make out with great diligence that which is brought in; and man Thou wilt in a like icay destroy. For what is that, that to a mountain falling, a rock removed, a stone worn hollow, and ground consumed by the washing of the flood, the ruin of man is likened, but this, which we are plainly given to understand, that there are two sorts of temptations, one sort, which passes in the mind even of the good man by sudden accident, that he should be so tempted of a sudden, that by the unexpectedness of the event it should make him reel, and bring him to the ground, and that he does not see his CO The strong mind may he slowly worn, or Jail suddenly.
Job 14, falling, until after he has fallen; while there is another which ^jj^—j^ comes by little and little into the mind, and by gentle suggestions corrupts the resisting soul, and not by its excessiveness but by its importunity wastes all the powers of righteousness therein? And so, whereas there is one sort of temptation, which by a sudden assault very often brings the good down to the ground, let it be said. And surely the mount am falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of Jus place, i.e. the holy mind, whose place was righteousness, is by a sudden impulse removed into sin. Again, because there is another sort of temptation, which infuses itself gently into the heart of man, and wears and wastes all the hardness of its resolution, let it be said, The waters wear the stones; in this way, viz. that the unremitted and soft flatteries of lust suck away the hardness of the soul, and the slow and penetrating evil habit corrodes the hard and forcible purpose of the mind. Hence it is added. And by stashing the ground is consumed little by little. For as when water flows in, ' the ground is consumed little by little,' so when bad habit creeps on ° by gentle degrees, even the strong mind is engulphed. Hence it is well added. And Thou wilt in a like way destroy man, i. e. in this way, that when Thou by a righteous appointment sufFerest temptation of a sudden to get the dominion over the mind of him, w^ho is seen to have his stand on high. Thou causest ' the mountain to fall and slip away,' and when the will is changed to evil, it is as if ' the rock were removed to a new place,' but whilst Thou lettest a gentle and fine yet unremitting temptation prevail over the minds of those, who are accounted strong, ' the waters in a manner wear the stones, and by washing, the ground is consumed little by little,' in that the hardness of the mind being subdued by gentle suggesting is made soft.
23. Let us see how that David was a ' high mountain,' who was enabled to contemplate such great mysteries of God by the Spirit of prophecy; but let us mark how he ^ slipped down,' by a sudden fall, who whilst walking on the solar, lusted after and carried off another man's wife, and killed her husband with loss to his own army. Then ' fell a mountain with a sudden fall,' when that mind which was used to " al. ' surripienti,' * encroaches.'
David's sudden fall; Solomon* s slow loastiiig. 01 dwell \\\i\\ heavenly mysteries, was overcome by sudden Book X [T lempiatioD, and brought under to such most monstrous '- pollution. And so ' the rock was removed from its place,' when the mind of the prophet being shut out from the mysteries of prophecy came to imagine filthy things. Let us see moreover how ' the waters wear the stones, and by washing the ground is consumed little by little,' in that Solomon by an immoderate intercourse and frequency with women was brought to this pass, that he built a temple to idols: and he who had before erected a temple to God, by frequency of lust, being even bowed down under misbelief, was not afraid to erect idol-temples. And so it came to pass, that by unremitting wantonness of the flesh, he was brought even to misbelief of the spirit. What else then, but that the ' waters did wear away the stone, and by washing the ground was consumed little by little,' in that by the encroaching ^ of sin as it flowed in little by little, the ground ^ surriof his heart crumbled away unto wasting.? Thus let blessed P^^"*® Job consider both sorts of temptation, whether the sudden and excessive, or the gentle and prolonged sort, let him contemplate the falls of his fellow-creatures, and from those things which take place outwardly let him catch the keynote of his contemplation within, saying. And surely the mountain falling cometli to nought, and the rock is removed out of Iris place: the waters wear the stones, and by washing little by little the earth is wasted; and Thou wilt in like manner destroy men; i. e. ' as these things without sense at one time are brought to the ground suddenly, at one time are worn little by little by the softness of water being let in; so likewise him, whom Thou hast created a reasoning creature, Thou dost either overthrow by sudden temptation, or permittcst to be worn and wasted by a long and gentle one;' and that reasoning creature he directly describes in the following words, saying, Ver. 20. TJiou hast strengthened him for a little space, that he might pass by for ever.
24, Man has been ' strengthened here for a little space,' xix. in that he has received here powers of living for a while, that ^^t. he should for ever pass away thither, where no end should bound and shut in his life, but in this moment's space where 62 Man, defaced hy death, knows not things on earth save in God.
Job 14, he has been ^ strengthened/ he extracts that wherefrom in the everlasting world he may either find how always to have joy, or not ever escape the punishments he has entered upon. And for this reason, that ' he has been strengthened for a little space,' to ' pass away for everlasting,' it is fitly added immediately; TJiou wilt change Ids countenance, and send him away. XX. 25, ^ The face of man is changed,' when his form is wasted by death; but * he is sent away,' in that from those things which he kept willingly he is necessitated to pass away to the eternal world against his will, and while he is brought thereunto, these things which he held long and thought on, how it will be with them now left behind him he knows nothing. Hence it is added;