Беседа XII

To the words that follow the legend of creation: “this is the book of the being of the heavens and the earth, when the heavens and the earth came into existence, in the same day that God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 2:4). 1. Today we will fulfill our promise, we will offer the usual teaching and add to what was said before what we should now talk about. You know that we tried again and again and wanted to do this, but concern for our brothers drew our tongue to admonish them. Then we convinced the weak brethren who, following custom, moved away from this spiritual meeting and thereby upset our joy about the sacred holiday; We strongly inspired and advised them not to separate from the flock of Christ in the future and not to wander outside this spiritual courtyard, not to unite with us only in name and title, but in fact following the Jews who sit in darkness by the lamp, when the Sun of righteousness has already risen. We exhorted those who came here, but were not yet enlightened, to follow the spiritual calling and, shaking off sleep and laziness, with an ardent disposition and intense zeal, make themselves ready to accept the royal gift, and hasten to the One who grants remission of sins and generously bestows countless blessings. Since we took care of those who were mistaken regarding the Easter holiday and by observing this apparently unimportant custom 61 and caused great harm to themselves, applying decent medicine to their wounds, and gave proper instruction to the unenlightened 62, then, having arranged what is necessary for (healing) illnesses and having completed our work, we should finally offer all of you a spiritual feast today. Just as if we, before taking care of our brothers, leaving an admonition to them, began to continue (the explanation of the Book of Genesis) in order, and despised these weak (brothers), someone would rightly reproach us for omitting the necessary time - so now, when we did not leave anything that depended on us, but gave instructions, distributed goods and sowed seeds on this spiritual land, - now we should again - offer reading from blessed Moses, so that we, having received edification from here, can return home with it. Let's listen to what was read. “This is the book,” says (Moses), “of the being of heaven and earth, when it came into being, in the same day God created heaven and earth, and every herb of the herb, before even being on the earth, and every grass of the herb, before even vegetating: God had not rained 63 on the earth, and man would not have done it. A fountain came up from the earth, and watered all the face of the earth” (Gen. 2:4-6). Pay attention here too to the wisdom of this wonderful prophet, or better yet, to the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Having told us about each creature separately, outlining the affairs of the six days and the creation of man, and the power given to him over everything visible, now he again presents everything in its entirety, and says: “This is the book of the being of heaven and earth when there was.” Here it is worth considering why Moses calls this book the book of “heaven and earth,” when it contains much more, teaches us about many other things, about the virtue of the righteous, about God’s love for mankind, about the condescension that the Lord showed both to the primordial world and to the entire human race, and about many other things that do not need to be counted at the present time. Do not be surprised at this, beloved: this is the custom of the Holy Scriptures - not always to tell us everything in detail, but, starting with what is most important in content, leaving the rest to the consideration of those who have a good disposition to perceive what is proclaimed. And in order to make sure that this is so, I will explain this to you from what has now been read. Having shown in the previous words the creation of everything separately, the Divine Scripture no longer mentions all creatures, but says: “This is the book of the being of heaven and earth, when it came into being, on the same day God created heaven and earth,” and so on. 2. Do you see how (Scripture) turns its entire speech to heaven and earth, leaving us to understand everything else from this? When it speaks of heaven and earth, it means everything collectively that is on earth and in heaven. Therefore, just as when narrating about creatures, it does not speak about all of them in order, but having mentioned the most important ones, then does not tell us about each one separately, so it calls this entire book, although it contains many other things, the book of “the being of heaven and earth,” leaving us to conclude from the mention of them that this book must contain everything visible that is in heaven and on earth. “On that same day,” he says, “God created heaven and earth, and every herb before it even existed on the earth, and every grass before it even vegetated: for God had not rained on the earth, and man would not have done it. A fountain came out of the earth, and watered the whole face of the earth.” Great treasure lies in these few words. Therefore, we should, under the guidance of God’s grace, reveal these words with due intelligibility and make you partakers of this spiritual wealth. The Holy Spirit, foretelling the future, so that no one could subsequently argue and, contrary to the Divine Scripture, introduce their own considerations into church dogmas, and now, having shown the order in which things were created - what happened before, what happened later, and also that the earth sprouted its seeds according to the word and command of the Lord and began to give birth, having no need either for the assistance of the sun (and could this have happened when it had not yet been created?), or for rain moisture, nor in cultivation by a person who has not yet been created, again reminds of everything in detail precisely in order to curb the intemperate tongue of impudent talkers. What does (Scripture) say? “On that same day the Lord God created heaven and earth, and every herb before it was even on the earth, and every herb before it even vegetated: for God had not rained on the earth, and man had not done it. A fountain came up from the earth, and watered all the face of the earth” (Gen. 2:4-6). This means that what did not exist before came into being and what did not exist suddenly appeared according to His word and command. Grass grows 64 from the earth; and when (Scripture) speaks of grass, it means all seeds. And when teaching us about rains, the Divine Scripture noted: “God shall not rain on the earth,” that is, the rains have not yet fallen from above. After this, it finally shows us that (the land) did not need cultivation by man: “Man,” he says, “doesn’t have to make the land.” It is as if it cries out and says to all subsequent generations: when you hear this, know how everything that grows on the earth was produced in the beginning, and do not attribute everything to the care of farmers, do not attribute its fertility to them, but to the word and command first given to it by its Creator. And all this so that we know that the earth, in order to grow its seeds, did not need the assistance of other elements, but the command of the Creator was sufficient for it. And here is what is especially wondrous and wonderful: He who now with His word aroused the earth to grow so many seeds and in this showed His power, surpassing the mind of man, founded this very earth, heavy and bearing such peace on its backbone, on the waters, as the prophet says: “he who established the earth on the waters” (Ps. 135:6). What human mind is capable of comprehending this? When people build houses and want to lay a foundation, they first dig the ground, and if, having descended into the depths, they see at least a little water, they try to scoop it all up and then lay the foundation; but the Creator of everything creates everything differently than people, so that from this you may know His ineffable power and the fact that, if it pleases Him, then the very elements, obeying the command of the Creator, produce things contrary to their natural action. 3. And so that my words are clearer to you, let’s talk a little more about this subject, and then we’ll move on to another. Indeed, it is contrary to the nature of water to carry such a heavy body, and it is equally unnatural for earth to lie on such a foundation. However, the land lies on waters. And why be surprised! If you want to look at each of the creatures, you will discover in it the boundless power of the Creator and the fact that He controls everything visible according to His will. This can also be seen on fire. It has destructive power, overcomes everything and easily destroys any substance - stones, trees, bodies, and iron; but when the Creator commanded, he did not touch the tender and corruptible bodies, but kept the youths unharmed in the middle of the furnace (Dan. 3 ch.). And do not be surprised that the fire did not touch their bodies: the unreasonable element showed such submission that it is impossible to say; She didn’t even harm their hair. The fire surrounded them and penetrated inside; however, being obedient and obeying the command of the Lord, he kept these wonderful youths safe and sound, and they felt as safe in the oven as if they were walking in the meadow and in the garden. And lest anyone think that in this phenomenon there was no action of fire, the man-loving God did not bind its activity; leaving its burning power with it, He only delivered His servants from its harmful influence. So that those who plunged (the youths into the oven) would know how great the power of the God of all is, the fire above them showed its effect: the same fire that covered the youths burned and destroyed those standing outside. Do you see how the Lord, when He wants, forces each element to act against its nature? He is the Creator and Ruler, and arranges everything according to His will. Do you want to see the same in relation to water? Just as here the fire did not touch those thrown into it and did not have its effect on them, but showed its power on those standing outside, so we will see that the water drowns some, but retreats before others so that they pass safely. Now remember about Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and about the Jewish people: the Jews, at the command of the Lord, led by Moses, walked through the Black Sea as if on dry land, and the Egyptians and Pharaoh, who decided to go the same way, were covered with water and drowned. So the elements submit to those who serve the Lord and retain their swiftness within themselves. Let us listen to this, who are ruining our salvation by being carried away through negligence by irritability, anger and other passions, and let us imitate such obedience of these unreasonable elements - we, gifted with reason. If a fire so destructive and so strong did not touch corruptible and so tender bodies, then what kind of forgiveness will a person receive who does not want to curb, according to the commandment of the Lord, his irritability and drive out anger towards his neighbor? And what is especially important: fire having such a property, i.e. burn, did not have its effect, but man, a meek, reasonable and quiet creature, does the opposite of his nature and, out of carelessness, likens himself to animals. That’s why the Divine Scriptures give people gifted with reason the names of dumb people, often even animals, for their outrageous passions. So it sometimes calls them dogs, for shamelessness and arrogance: “dumb dogs that cannot bark” (Is. 56:10); sometimes horses for lust: “horses of misogyny have been created, each to the wife of a sincere... Laughing" (Jer.5:8); sometimes donkeys for madness and stupidity: “become like the foolish cattle and become like them” (Ps. 49:13); sometimes lions and lynxes for predation and greed; sometimes asps for deceit: “the poison,” he says, “of asps is under their lips” (Ps. 139:4); sometimes by snakes and vipers for poisonousness and malice, just as blessed John cried out, saying: “serpents 65, birth of vipers, who told you to flee from the wrath to come” (Matthew 3:7)? It also gives people other names, corresponding to their passions, so that, although ashamed of this, they will someday turn to the nobility inherent in (people), reconcile with their brothers, and prefer the laws of God to the passions to which they indulged in carelessness. 4. I don’t know how we were carried here by the flow of the word. Let us finally return to the subject and see what else this blessed prophet wants to teach us today. Having said: “This is the book of the existence of heaven and earth,” he then again tells us, with greater detail, about the creation of man. Above, he said briefly: “And God created man, in the image of God created him” (Gen. 1:27); and now he says: “And God created man, and took away dust from the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). These words are significant; They contain much that is amazing and beyond the human mind. “And created,” it is said, “God of man, dust from the earth.” Just as in relation to all visible creatures I showed that the Creator of all things does everything differently from people, so that His ineffable power would be revealed in this too, so now the same thing turns out to be true in the creation of man. Look: He founded the earth on waters, which the human mind is not able to understand without faith; He, we have shown, whenever he wants, forces all beings to do things contrary to their properties. The same thing, as Divine Scripture now shows us, happened during the creation of man. “Creation,” it says, “God of man, dust from the earth.” What do you say: He took dust from the earth and created man? That's right, he says. And it is said not simply: “took the earth,” but “dust,” that which, so to speak, is the lightest and most insignificant thing in the earth itself. Does this seem unusual and strange to you? But if you think about who the Creator is, then you will no longer disbelieve the event, but will marvel and bow before the power of the Creator. If you decide to judge this based on the considerations of your weak mind, then you will probably come to the conclusion that a (human) body can never come from the earth, but there will be either a brick or a tile, just not such a body. You see, if we do not take into account the power of the Creator and do not moderate our, so weak, conclusions, then we will not be able to comprehend the heights of what has been said. These words require the eyes of faith and were said so out of great condescension towards our weakness, because the very expression: “God created 66 man and breathed into him” is unworthy of God, but Divine Scripture tells about this for the sake of us and our weakness, condescending to us, so that we, having been worthy of such condescension, could ascend to the heights (of the true concept). “And God created man,” he says, “and removed the dust from the earth.” From this follows, if we are careful, an important lesson in humility. When we think about what our body was originally formed from, then no matter how much we frown, we must humble ourselves, humble ourselves; By reflecting on our nature, we learn modesty. That is why God, who cares about our salvation, directed the prophet’s tongue to our admonition. Since the Divine Scripture previously said: “God created man, in the image of God create him” and gave “him” all “power” over the visible, so that man, not knowing the composition of his nature, would not dream highly of himself and transgress his limits - it, having begun to speak again (about the creation of man), shows both the method of his formation and the beginning of being - from what, i.e. and how the first man was created. If even after this instruction, which showed (to man) that he was originally made up of the same earth from which plants and dumb animals (came) (although the image of creation and the incorporeal being of the soul gave him, according to God’s love for mankind, a great advantage, because as a result of this he received rationality and dominion over everything), then if, having learned this, man, through the seduction of the serpent, dreamed of equality with God, he, created from earth - then to what madness we would not have reached if the blessed prophet had been content with the first legend 67 and in a new narrative had not outlined everything to us in detail? 5. Thus, a very useful admonition is the knowledge of what originally gave us the composition of our being. “And God,” it is said, “make man, remove dust from the earth, and breathe into his nostrils the breath of life.” (Moses) used such a rude manner of speech because he spoke to people who could not hear him otherwise, as it is possible for us; and also in order to show us that God’s love for mankind pleased this creature created from the earth to participate in the rational being of the soul, through which this animal appeared excellent and perfect. “And I will blow into his face,” he says, “the breath of life.” That is, inspiration imparted vital force to the creature created from the earth, and thus the being of the soul was formed. That is why (Moses) added: “and I became a living man”; created from the finger, having received the breath, the breath of life, “living into the soul.” What does it mean: “I live in the soul?” Into the active soul, which has members of the body as instruments of its actions, submissive to its will. I don’t know how we have perverted the order and evil has intensified to the point that we force the soul to follow the wishes of the flesh, and the one who, as a mistress, should both preside and command, having been brought down from the throne, we force to obey the whims of the flesh, forgetting its nobility and superiority (over the flesh). In fact, think about the order of creation (man) and consider what he was like before the inspiration of the Lord, which became the breath of life for him - “and he became a living soul?” He was simply a soulless idol, inactive and good for nothing, so that all the advantage that elevates him so much lies in that breath of God into him. And so that you understand this not from what happened then, but from what now happens every day, think how ugly and unpleasant this body is after the soul leaves it. And what am I saying: ugly and unpleasant? How scary, fetid and ugly it is, whereas before, when the soul controlled it, it was light, pleasant, very beautiful, imbued with reason and had a great ability to do good deeds. Reflecting on all this and imagining the nobility 68 of our soul, let us not do anything unworthy of it, let us not defile it with obscene deeds, enslaving its flesh and being so insensitive and unfair towards one who has such nobility and is awarded such an advantage. Through her being, we, clothed with flesh, if we want, can, with the assistance of God’s grace, compete with incorporeal forces and, while on earth, live and act as if in heaven, and achieve no less in comparison with them, and, perhaps, in something more. How is this possible? I'll tell you. If there is someone who, being clothed in flesh, acts in the same way as the powers above, then how can he not be awarded greater mercy from God for the fact that, subject to bodily needs, he has preserved the nobility of his soul intact? Is it possible, anyone will say, to find such a person? Of course, this is considered impossible for us due to our great poverty in virtue. But if you want to know that this is not impossible, think about those who from the beginning to the present have pleased the Lord - about the great John, the son of the barren, the inhabitant of the desert, about Paul, the teacher of the universe, and about the whole host of saints who had a common nature with us, were subject to the same bodily needs - and no longer consider this matter impossible, no longer be careless in virtue, having received from the Lord so many means that you can easily cling to her. Knowing the weakness of our will and inconstancy, our philanthropic Lord left us important medicines in reading the Scriptures, so that we, constantly using them and reflecting on the lives of those wonderful and great men, would dispose ourselves to imitate them, so that we would not be careless about virtue, but would avoid sin and do everything so as not to appear unworthy of those indescribable benefits that may we all receive through the grace and love of mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, dominion, honor, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. Zlat. ἐποίησεν ό Θεὸς according to Lucian. and contrary to Alexander. and other Greek sp., as well as Jewish-masoret., where Jehovah Elohim – Κύριος ό Θεὸς. Here, of course, we mean those of the Antiochian Christians who celebrated Easter with the Jews and whom St. Chrysostom denounced in his “Conversations against the Jews.” Those. catechumens, who on Holy Pentecost were preparing for “enlightenment” with the sacrament of Baptism. And in 5 tbsp. at Zlat. one deity is read. name: ό Θεὸς, according to Cottonian and other sp. and contrary to Lucian, where Κύριος ό Θεὸς, as in Hebrew Masoretic. Literally: “grass growing from the ground.” A few words are missing here to complete the meaning; one must assume that there was an omission in the publication. So in Zlat.: ῎Οφεις, γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν. ῎Επλασεν, which means more closely: “invented, composed, formed,” as, for example, an artist composes and forms a statue from rough matter. Those. about the creation of man in the image of God, Gen. 1:27. Τὴν εὐγένιαν, although others instead read ἐνέργειαν – activity; The first reading, however, is more likely, since Chrysostom repeatedly and further points to the nobility of the soul. You might be interested in: