Беседа XIV

“And the Lord God took man whom he had created, and brought him into the Paradise of sweetness 75, made it and kept it” (Gen. 2:15). 1. Again today, if you wish, turning to what follows what was said yesterday, we will try to extract spiritual teaching for you from here. And in the present reading (from the Book of Genesis) there is great power hidden: therefore we must go deeper and, having carefully considered everything, benefit from it. If those who want to look for (expensive) stones in the sea endure so much trouble and trouble, abandoning themselves to the swiftness of the waters, just to find what they are looking for, all the more should we strain our attention and find what is hidden in the depths of the words (of Scripture) in order to thus find these precious stones. But do not be afraid, beloved, when you hear about the depth. Here is not the disorderly striving of water, but the grace of the Spirit; it illuminates our mind, helps us quickly find what we are looking for and makes all this work easier. The acquisition of those stones does not bring much benefit to the owner, often even harms and is the cause of countless troubles for him; It is not so much the joy he feels when he finds them, but the troubles he suffers after finding them; from the fact that he aroused the eyes of envious people against himself and armed the greedy money-lovers. Thus, the discovery of these stones not only does not bring us any benefit in life, but is also the cause of great enmity. This is the object of greedy covetousness, kindles the furnace of the love of money and torments the soul of devotees (of this passion). Nothing of the sort can be feared from spiritual gems; no, the wealth they provide is incalculable, and the joy is unfading and incomparably higher than the pleasure that people receive from those (material) stones. Listen to what David says: “Your words are more desirable than gold, and many precious stones” (Ps. 19:11). You see how he, having exposed the substances considered the most precious, not only was not satisfied with such a comparison, but also added: “many,” and this showed us the superiority of the word of God; “More than gold,” he says, “and many stones are fair.” This does not mean, however, that only to this extent are the words of God desired; but, since I saw that people give the highest price to these especially substances, I put them on display to show the superiority and highest preciousness of the words of the Spirit. And in order to see that Divine Scripture always has the custom of comparing the benefits it provides with sensible objects and thus showing its superiority, listen to what follows. “And sweeter than honey and honeycomb.” And here, too, it is not that (the words of God) were sweet only to this extent or could only give such pleasure, but since David did not find anything else in sensual objects to compare with the sweetness of the words of God, he mentioned precisely these things (honey and honeycomb) and thus showed the superiority and highest sweetness of spiritual instructions. This same rule 76 was also used by Christ in the Gospel. When I was talking with the disciples, and they wanted to know the meaning of the parable about the one who sowed good seed in the field, and about the enemy who sowed tares among the wheat, then, explaining the whole parable in detail, saying who was the one who sowed the good seed, what is the field, what are the tares, who sowed them, who are the reapers and what is the harvest, revealing to them all this clearly ( Matthew 13:37–42), He said: “Then the righteous women will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43). It’s not that the righteous will have only such (like the sun) radiance - no, they will have much more; but Christ said so because it is impossible to find a better image in visible objects. So, when we hear something like this, we will not stop at words, but from sensory and visible things we will begin to conclude about the special superiority of spiritual objects. And if in this way we can find both great pleasantness and supreme pleasure here, since these are Divine and spiritual words, and can bring great spiritual joy to the soul, then let us listen to what is offered with great zeal and ardent disposition, so that, having received here true wealth and collected many seeds for godly wisdom, we can return home with them. 2. Let’s listen to what was read today. Just tense your mind, abandon distraction and worldly cares, and thus listen to the words (of the Scriptures). These are Divine laws sent down from Heaven for our salvation. If during the reading of the royal charter there is great silence and all noise and disorder ceases, because everyone stands with intense attention and wants to hear what the royal charter proclaims, and anyone who makes even a little noise and interrupts the sequence of reading is exposed to great danger, then all the more you need to stand here with fear and trembling, observe deep silence and avoid agitation of thoughts, in order to both understand what is proposed and be rewarded for obedience with even greater gifts from King of Heaven. Let us see what blessed Moses teaches us even now, who says this not on his own, but through the inspiration of the grace of the Spirit. “And taking,” he says, “the Lord God of man, created him.” He put these two names perfectly at the very beginning; Having said: “Lord,” he did not remain silent, but added: “God,” teaching us something secret and hidden, so that we would know that whether we hear the name “Lord” or “God,” there is no difference in these names. I mentioned this now not without a purpose, but so that when you hear the words of Paul: “There is one God the Father who is worthless of all things... and one Lord Jesus Christ, who is all things” (1 Cor. 8:6), you would not think that there is a difference in these names, and that one means more and the other less. Scripture uses these names indifferently for this reason, so that those who love to compete cannot mix their inventions with correct dogmas. And to make sure that Divine Scripture does not use any of these names in a deliberate and separate meaning, 77 pay attention to what it says now. “And he took,” he says, “the Lord God.” Who does the heretic think this is said about? About one Father? Fine. Listen to what Paul says: “There is one God the Father, from whom are all things,... and one Lord Jesus Christ, from whom are all things.” Do you see how he adopted the name “Lord” for the Son? And why can one say that the name “Lord” is more important than the name “God”? You see, what an absurdity, what a terrible blasphemy! He who does not want to follow rule 78 of the Divine Scripture, but gives place to his own conclusions, disturbs his mind and introduces endless disputes and arguments into the sound teaching of Orthodox dogmas. “And,” he says, “the Lord God took man, who he created, and placed him in the paradise of sweetness, to make him and keep him.” This is how he cares for created man! Yesterday, blessed Moses showed us that “God will plant Paradise and place man there” (Gen. 2:8), i.e. favored that man should have a home there and enjoy Paradise. Today he again shows us the inexpressible love of God for man and repeats the same legend: “And the Lord God took man, and created him, and placed him in a sweet paradise” (Gen. 2:15). He didn’t just say: “to paradise,” but added: “sweets,” to show us the high pleasure that a person tasted while living there. But having said: put “it in the paradise of sweetness,” Moses says: “make it and keep it.” This also shows great care. Since the life of paradise gave man complete pleasure, imparting both the pleasure of contemplation and the pleasantness of eating, so that man would not be corrupted by excessive peace (“because of much malice,” it is said, “idleness has taught.” (Sir. 33:28)), (God) commanded him to “make and keep” Paradise. What, they will say, did Paradise need cultivation on the part of man? I don’t say this, but God wanted man to have, albeit small and moderate, care for storing and cultivating it. If he were completely free from work, then, taking advantage of the perfect peace, he would immediately indulge in carelessness; but now, doing painless work, free from suffering, I could be more chaste. Moreover, the word “keep” was used not without reason, but to adapt speech, so that he, i.e. He knew clearly about himself that he was subordinate to the Lord, who gave him such pleasure, but, along with the pleasure, entrusted him with the custody of Paradise. God undertakes and does everything for our benefit, but at the same time gives us pleasure and peace. If He, out of His immeasurable love for mankind, prepared those indescribable blessings even before the creation of us, as He Himself says: “Come, blessed by My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34), then all the more will He provide in abundance all the blessings here. 3. So, having imparted so many blessings to the created (man), and firstly, bringing him from non-existence into existence and deigning to form his body from dust, and then, through inspiration, giving him the most important thing - an incorporeal soul, then commanding him to be Paradise and settling him there, after that the Lord God, like a tenderly loving father, who for his young son, enjoying complete contentment and peace, comes up with some easy and moderate care so that he does not spoil, commanded Adam to cultivate and preserve Paradise, so that in these two activities, with such great contentment, security and peace, he would have some barrier restraining his too great impulses. These are the benefits that were already given to the first-created, and others subsequently added to them show again the great and extraordinary love and condescension that (God) showed him in his goodness. What does Scripture say? “And the Lord God commanded Adam” (Gen. 2:16). Here again (Scripture) acted according to its custom, so that from the frequent repetition of words we would acquire accurate knowledge and would not agree with those who dare to posit a difference between these names (Lord and God), and attribute one to the Father and the other to the Son. Since both of them (the Father and the Son) have one essence, the Divine Scripture assigns the same name indifferently - sometimes to the Father, sometimes to the Son. “And the commandment,” it is said, “the Lord God to Adam, saying.” Here we must be amazed at the extraordinary love of God, which is revealed to us in this short saying: “and the commandments,” it is said. Look what honor God showed man at the very beginning. It does not say: ordered or commanded 79, but what? – “Commandments” 80. Just as a friend talks to a friend, commanding about something necessary, so God speaks to Adam, as if wishing with such an honor to dispose him to fulfill what he commands. “And the Lord God commanded Adam, saying: Bring food from every tree that is in paradise; But from the tree, which you understand to be good and evil, you will not cut it down; but if you cut it down one day, 81 you will surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17). The commandment is very simple, but carelessness is a grave evil, beloved! Just as it makes the easy for us difficult, so diligence and attention makes the difficult easy for us. What, tell me, is easier than this commandment? What is greater than this honor? (God) allowed Adam to live in Paradise, enjoy the beauty of the visible, amuse his eyesight with this, and receive great pleasure from eating (the fruits). Think what a pleasure it was to see trees laden with fruits, various flowers, herbs, leaves and everything else that could be in Paradise, and, moreover, in Paradise planted by God. Therefore, above, the Divine Scripture says: “God has grown from the earth every red tree for sight, and every good tree for food” (Gen. 2:9), so that we might know how much, while enjoying such abundance, man, due to his great intemperance and carelessness, arrogantly treated the commandment given to him. Imagine, beloved, what a high honor God honored him with: he gave him a special meal intended for him in Paradise, so that he would not think that his food was the same as the dumb ones, but living in Paradise, like a king, he would enjoy its pleasures, and, as a ruler, he would be distinguished from those under his control and lead a special life. “And the commandment,” he says, “the Lord God said to Adam: from every tree that is in paradise, you shall carry food; but from the tree that you mean, good and evil, you shall not eat from it: but if you eat one day from it, you will die.” It’s as if God were saying to Adam: “I don’t require anything difficult or heavy from you: I allow you to use all the trees and command you not to touch only this one; but I also determine a great punishment, so that you, although admonished by fear, will keep the commandment I have given you.” Just as some generous owner entrusts his huge house to someone and, in order to retain the ownership of this house completely, assigns a small amount of money from that person, so our humane Lord, having allowed Adam to enjoy everything in Paradise, commanded him to abstain from only one thing, so that he would know that he was under the Lord, Whom he must obey and fulfill His commands. 4. Who can worthily marvel at the generosity of the common Lord? The man has not yet done anything, but He honors him with what good deeds! He did not allow him to enjoy half of (the trees of paradise), nor commanded him to abstain from most of them and use only the rest; allowing him to use all the trees that are in Paradise, he ordered him to abstain from one, showing by the very deed that he did this not for anything other than so that man would know the author of such great benefits. Along with everything else, see here the goodness of God and in the honor He showed to the wife who was created from Adam. When it had not yet been created, God gave a commandment, as it were, to two: “You shall not carry it away; but if you take it away one day, you will surely die”; Thus, in advance and at first it already shows that husband and wife are one, just as Paul says: “The head of the wife is the husband” (Eph. 5:23). Therefore, he speaks, as it were, to two people in order to later create a wife out of him, to give him an incentive to communicate to her the commandment He had given. At the same time, I know that the question of the (forbidden) tree is on the minds of many people; many of the reckless talkers dare to shift the blame from man to God and say: why did (God) give him such a commandment when he knew that he would break it? Or: why did he command this tree to be in Paradise? – and much more. But so that we do not go into the explanation of this now - before the time of the crime (the commandment about the tree) - we must wait for the story of blessed Moses; Having reached this place, we will speak about this in good time, which the grace of God will give, and we will explain to your love the true meaning of Scripture, so that you, having correctly understood what is written, give due praise to the Lord, and, leaving the sinner (man), do not lay the blame on the innocent 82 God. Now, for now, let us consider, if you like, the further words of the current reading. “And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone” (Gen. 2:18). Here again Moses said the same as before: “Lord God,” so that we, having rooted these words in our minds, would not put human considerations above Divine Scripture. “And the Lord God said,” he said: “It is not good for man to be alone.” See how the good God does not stop, but adds good deeds to good deeds, and, rich in goodness, wants to invest this rational being with all honor, and along with honor to grant him the convenience of life. “The Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone; let us make him a helper according to him.” Here again is the word: let us create. Just as at the beginning, when creating man, God said: “Let us create man in our image and likeness,” so now, intending to create a wife, he uses the same word and says: “let us create.” Who is he talking to? Not to any created power, but to the one born of Him, the Wonderful Counselor, Ruler, Ruler of the world, His Only Begotten Son. So that Adam knows that the being created will be equal to him in dignity, for this God, as he said about himself: “Let us create,” so now he says: “Let us make him a helper after him.” These two expressions: “helper” and “by him” are significant. I don’t want, he says, for him to be alone, but for him to have some consolation from the community, and not only that, but it is necessary to create for him an assistant appropriate to him, i.e. wife. This is why God, having said: “Let us make him a helper,” added also: “according to him,” so that when you now see how all the animals and birds of the air are brought (to Adam), you would not think that these words were spoken about them. Although many of the dumb help a man in his labors, not one of them is equal to a reasonable wife. Therefore, after the words: “a helper for him,” he added: “And God created from the earth all the wild beasts, and all the birds of the air, and I brought them to Adam to see what I would call: and every thing that 83 called Adam the living soul, this is his name” (Gen. 2:19). This is not done simply and not in vain, but in view of the events that are soon to follow, foreseeing which, God shows us how great wisdom He has endowed what He has created, so that when the transgression of the commandment given by God is committed, you would not think that man transgressed it out of ignorance, but would know that the fall is (the consequence of) carelessness 84 . 5. That he was gifted with great wisdom, you can verify from what happened now. “And I will bring,” it is said, “to Adam, to see what I will name.” God does this to show us the great wisdom of Adam. And again: “he called the hedgehog Adam, this is his name.” However, this is done not only so that we can see his wisdom, but also so that in the naming of names a sign of 85 dominion can be seen. And people have a custom of believing that it is a sign of their power that, having bought slaves for themselves, they change their names. So God forces Adam, as the ruler, to give names to all the dumb. Do not, beloved, let these words pass without attention, but think about what wisdom was needed to give names to so many breeds of birds, reptiles, animals, cattle and other dumb, tame, wild, living in the waters, originating from the earth - to give all of them names and, moreover, proper names and corresponding to each breed. “Everyone,” it is said, “who is called Adam..., this is his name.” Do you see the fullness of power? Do you see the power of dominance? Think, by the way, about the fact that lions, leopards, vipers, scorpions, snakes, and all other even more ferocious animals came to Adam, as to a master, with all humility, in order to receive names from him; and Adam was not afraid of any of these beasts. So, no one blasphemes what the Lord has created, do not sharpen your tongue against the Creator, or better yet, against your own head, and do not say these crazy words: “Why were animals created?” The naming of names clearly shows you that animals, like domestic animals, recognized both their slavery and the dominance of man. The names that Adam gave them remain to this day: God established them so that we would constantly remember the honor that man received from the Lord of all, having accepted animals under his power, and the reason for the taking away (of this honor) would be attributed to man himself, who through sin lost his power. “And he called Adam... to all the livestock, and to all the birds of the air, and to every beast of the earth” 86 (Gen. 2:20). From here, beloved, see the freedom of will and the superiority of his mind and do not say that he did not know what is good and what is bad. Whoever was able to give appropriate names to livestock and birds and beasts, without violating the order and not giving wild animals names appropriate to the meek, and not assigning names characteristic of wild animals to the meek, but giving them all appropriate names, was he not full of wisdom and understanding? Conclude from this how great is the power of that inspiration, and how great is the wisdom with which the Lord bestowed upon the incorporeal soul, composing from two essences such a wonderful and intelligent animal and the incorporeal essence of the soul, like a beautiful artist, uniting it with the body as an instrument. Therefore, when you think about such great wisdom of this animal, be amazed at the power of the Creator. If a look at the beauty of the sky excites a well-meaning contemplator to praise the Creator, then all the more does this rational animal, man, reflecting on his structure, on the high honor given to him, on the great gifts and untold blessings, can constantly praise the Creator and offer all possible praise to the Lord. I wanted to consider further, but in order not to burden your memory with the multitude of things stated, I must stop speaking here. Our goal is not to just say a lot; We speak so that you, constantly keeping this in your mind, not only yourself know what is contained in the Divine Scripture, but also become teachers for others, able to instruct them. Therefore, each of you, upon leaving here, together with your neighbor, renew in your memory what is said here, and communicating yours to the other, accept from him what he remembers. And thus, collecting everything and keeping it fresh in your memory, go home and there, each on his own, again think through these Divine lessons, so that by devoting all your worries to them and occupying your mind with them, you can easily overcome the passions that disturb you and avoid the wiles of the devil. After all, when that evil demon sees that the soul cares about Divine objects, and only constantly thinks about them and is occupied with them, then he does not dare to approach, but immediately moves away, driven by the power of the Spirit, as if by some kind of fire. So, in order to bring as much benefit to ourselves as possible, and to defeat this enemy, and to receive greater mercy from God, let us occupy our minds with these subjects. Then all your deeds will be successful - the difficult will become easy, the seemingly regrettable will have a happy ending, and nothing here will be able to sadden us. If we take care of the Divine, then God himself (God) will take care of ours, and we will cross the sea of ​​real life with perfect safety and, guided by the great Helmsman - the God of all, we will enter the harbor of His love for mankind. To him be glory and power, now and ever, and to the endless ages of ages. Amen. Zlat. ἐν τῳ παραδείσῳ τῆς τρυφῆς according to Lucian. and other sp., contrary to Alexander. and others, where τῆς τρυφῆς – “sweets” is absent, in Hebrew. Masoret. instead it reads "eden" Edem, the name of the country. (παρατετηπημένως καὶ ἀποκεκληρωμένως) (προσέταξεν, ἥ ἐκέλευσεν) Zlat. φάγητε according to Lucian. sp., contrary to Alex. sp., where φάγησθε and Bodleian., where φάγη . Here at Zlat. after the words πᾶν ὅ, ἐὰν is omitted - “even” according to the Bodleian. sp. and Hebrew Masoretic. text and contrary to Lucian. and others where ἐὰν is read. Zlat. τοῖς θηρίοις τῆς γῆς according to Lucian. sp. and contrary to Alexander. and ev. Masoretic, where instead - τοῖς θηρίοις τοῦ ἀγροῦ - “by the wild beast.” You might be interested in: