Беседа XLVII

“And it came to pass according to these words, that God tempted Abraham” (Gen. 22:1). 1. There is much profit for us in today's reading from Scripture, and untold treasure is hidden in these brief words. These are the Divine sayings: not in many words, but in short expressions they contain great wealth. So, let us examine the indicated words of Scripture and carefully study the meaning of this reading. Here we will see new examples of both the great virtue of the forefather and the wondrous love of God. “And it came to pass,” says the Scripture, “according to these words, that God tempted Abraham.” What do these words mean: “And it came to pass according to these words, that God tempted Abraham?” See how Divine Scripture already in these very words wants to reveal to us the virtue of the righteous. Intending to tell us about the temptation brought by God on Abraham, Scripture first wants to show us the very time at which the forefather was given the command to sacrifice Isaac, so that you (more fully) know the great obedience of the forefather and how he did not allow himself to consider anything higher than pleasing God. What does it mean: “to be according to these words”? After the birth of Isaac, Sarah, seeing the close treatment of Ishmael with Isaac, as we talked about this with you yesterday, was indignant at this and said to Abraham: “Marry the servant and her son, for the son of the servant will not inherit with my son,” and this seemed cruel to the forefather. Then God, wanting to console the righteous man, said to him: listen to Sarah your wife and do as she tells you, “and let it not be cruel to you on the boy and on the servant:... for in Isaac your seed shall be called,” but also Ishmael “I will make a great tongue: for he is your seed” (Gen. 21:12,13). The whole promise and gospel given to him from God was that the descendants of Isaac would multiply into a great nation. Fueled by these hopes, the righteous man approached the end of his career, as if he had already received retribution for such great and continuous sorrows and temptations, having finally achieved peace; he saw before his eyes the successor who was to succeed him. Thus, I say, the righteous man lived in the world, tasting the fruits of the greatest consolations for himself. But the Leader of the innermost thoughts, wanting to show us all the virtue of the righteous and the great love that he had for God - after such great promises and especially after the new, recently former 441, which was still fresh in memory - when Isaac had already come of age and was in the prime of life, and his father’s love for him, apparently, grew more and more intensified, then it was precisely after those words of promise, after it was said: “In “Isaac, your seed will be called,” and he will be your heir, “according to these words, God tempted Abraham.” What does it mean: “tempted”? It’s not as if God did this out of ignorance; and He subjected the forefather to temptation so that both his contemporaries at that time and his descendants to this day would learn, like the forefather, to have the same love (for God) and to show the same obedience to the commandments of the Lord. “And God said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he said: “Behold” (Gen. 22:1). What does the repetition of the name mean here? This is a sign of God’s great favor towards the forefather, and such a call made him understand that God wanted to command him something especially important. Thus, by an intensified calling urging him to intensify his attention and listen carefully to the word of God, God says to him: “Abraham, Abraham. And he said: behold. And he said: understand your beloved son, whom you have loved, Isaac, and go to the high earth and offer him there as a burnt offering, one of the mountains where the river flows” (Gen. 22:1-2). The command is too heavy! A matter beyond the powers of human nature! “Understand your beloved son, whom you loved, Isaac.” See how these very words only further ignited and intensified the fire of love that the righteous man had for Isaac. “Understand your beloved son, whom you loved, Isaac.” Each word in itself was enough to shake the soul of the righteous. (God) did not simply say: Isaac, but added: “your son,” whom you received beyond all hope and could give birth to in very old age; “beloved” - your desired one, whom you love so deeply; “Isaac” - whom you want to have as your heir, from whom I promised to multiply your descendants and multiply them so much that their number will be equal to the many stars and the sand on the seashore. So, take this very son “and go to the high ground, and offer him there as a burnt offering, one of the mountains where the river is.” It’s also amazing to me how a righteous man could listen to such words. This very son, says God, so much desired for you, offer Me as a burnt offering on one of the mountains. What about the righteous? He was not troubled in spirit, did not waver in his thoughts, did not become perplexed at such a strange command, did not begin to think or reason with himself like this: what does this mean? He who, beyond all expectation, gave me a helper, who, out of His love for mankind, revived the dead womb of Sarah, now, when my son has already been raised, has grown up and is in blossoming years, He commands me to kill my child and offer it as a burnt offering? The One who recently said to me: “Your seed will be called in him,” now demands the opposite? How will the promises He made be fulfilled? How is it possible that branches will ever grow from a cut-off root, or fruit from a cut-down tree, or rivers from a dried-up spring? According to human judgment, this cannot be. However, for the will of God everything is possible. 2. However, this righteous man did not think anything of the sort; but, like a grateful householder, he abandoned all human reasoning and cared only about one thing, to fulfill the command; he became, as it were, alien to human nature, and placing all compassion and fatherly love below the commandments of God, he hastened to begin to fulfill them. “And Abraham arose in the morning,” says the Scripture, “and saddled his donkey; and the two young men gave water with them, and Isaac their son, and grew the wood for a burnt offering; Notice how the Lord, the Lover of Mankind, tempts the virtue of the righteous by the very distance of the place. Imagine what the righteous man had to endure for three days, reflecting with himself about the command given to him - about how he should slay such a beloved son with his own hands, and yet he could not tell anyone about this matter - and marvel at his God-loving and wise soul. Understanding the full importance of this command of God, he absolutely does not reveal it to anyone, neither to the slaves, nor to Isaac himself, but he alone accomplishes this feat and remains indestructible, like adamant, showing all the courage of his spirit, not thinking much, but completely willingly obeying the call of God. Upon arrival at the indicated place, “Abraham looked up,” says Scripture, “and saw the place from afar, and said to his servant, “Sit here with the donkey” (Gen. 22:4–5). Note here too the great prudence of the righteous man: he wanted to hide (his intention) even from his servants, showing in everything his fiery zeal and decisive readiness to fulfill the will of God. He knew that this business was new and unusual and that no one else had done anything like this before, and therefore he hid it from the slaves and, leaving them with the donkey, said: “Sit here ...; Let us and our offspring go as far as Onde, and having bowed we will return 442 to you” (Gen. 22:5). He said this without knowing that it would be so; but he prophesied, probably without knowing it. And he said this to the servants, of course, in order to hide the real matter from them and force them to stay in that place. Then the forefather departed with his son. “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; taking fire and a knife in his hands, and finishing both together” (Gen. 22:6). What courage of spirit! What strength of will! “And lay the wood of the burnt offering on Isaac,” says the Scripture; and he himself took a knife and fire, and both (with his son) went together. With what eyes did he look at his son, who was carrying firewood, on which he was to offer him as a burnt offering a little later? How could his hands hold fire and a knife? And while he carried sensual fire in his hands, the inner fire inflamed his heart and crushed all thoughts (that arose in him), arousing in him the determination to overcome (real temptation) with love for God and forcing him to think that the One who gave him the opportunity to become a father, even beyond the strength of human nature, can now accomplish a work that exceeds human reason. Look, however, how, even before the sensual fire, little by little the inner fire ignited in him and burned the soul of the righteous. “And Isaac said to Abraham his father,” says Scripture, “Father” (Gen. 22:7). This one word was enough to shake the entire inside of the righteous man. “He said: what is there, child?” You call the one who a little later will be childless father; and I call my son the one who is soon to ascend the altar, whom I myself will slay with my own hands. The son says: you carry the fire, and I carry the wood; where is the sacrifice appointed to be offered (to God); “Where is the hedgehog for a burnt offering?” Imagine here all the torment of the righteous man - how could he bear what he heard, how could he answer his son, how could he not be shaken in spirit, how could he hide from his son and not discover the impending deed? But with a firm thought and courage of spirit, he answers his son: “God will see for Himself the sheep for a burnt offering, my child” (Gen. 22:8). Look here too, how he again foreshadows the future, without knowing it. With this answer he thought to hide the truth from Isaac; but with these words he calmed his son for a while, and meanwhile he himself endured even greater and more intense grief, thinking about these very words, looking at his son’s physical beauty, and at his spiritual goodness, his obedience, attractiveness and his very blooming age. “And as they both walked together, they came to the place that God had spoken to him” (Gen. 22:9). They came, says Scripture, to a high mountain, which God showed him, “and there Abraham built an altar.” Again, I am amazed at the courage of the righteous man, how could he create an altar, how did he have enough strength for this, how was he not crushed in spirit from internal suffering? But so he built an altar, and laid wood on it, “and having bound Isaac your son, lay him on the altar 443. And Abraham stretched out his hand, took a knife, and sacrificed his son” (Gen. 22:10). 3. Let us not, beloved, ignore this story, but let us think how the soul of the forefather did not leave his body, how he had the strength with his own hands to bind and lay on the firewood his beloved, dear to his heart, his only begotten son. “And,” says the Scripture, “Abraham stretched out his hand, take a knife, and sacrifice his son.” O God-loving soul! O courageous spirit! Oh, strong love! Oh, reason that conquers human nature! Take a knife “sacrifice your son.” But who is more surprised and amazed here? Is it the courageous spirit of the forefather or the obedience of the son? He did not run away, was not upset by his father’s action, but obeyed and submitted to his intention and, like a lamb, silently reclined on the altar, awaiting a blow from his father’s hand. When everything had already been prepared and there was nothing more left, the good Lord, wanting to show that He gave him such a command not for the actual slaughter of his son, but for the discovery of all the virtue of the righteous man, finally reveals his own love for mankind, crowning the righteous man for his very will, i.e. taking the very determination of the forefather as a truly made sacrifice. “And the angel of the Lord called from heaven,” says Scripture, “and said, Abraham, Abraham” (Gen. 22:11). As soon as God saw that the righteous man was ready to fulfill His will and was already beginning to slaughter his son, he called to him from heaven: “Abraham, Abraham!” Here, too, repetition (of the name) is used to restrain the zeal of the righteous and with this exclamation to stop the hand of the forefather, already raised to slaughter his son. “He said: behold. And he said: Do not lay your hand on the youth, but do this to him: now I know that you feared God, and you did not spare your beloved son for My sake” (Gen. 22:12). “Do not lay your hands on the youth,” he says. I did not give My command so that it would actually be fulfilled, and I do not want you to slay your son, but so that your obedience becomes obvious to everyone. So, “don’t do anything to him”; I am content with your very will, and for it I crown and glorify you. “Now I know that you fear God.” Look at the condescension in these words. So what? Didn’t the Lord previously know the virtue of the righteous, but only now recognized it? No; It’s not that He says that He himself only just found out now, but what? Now, he says, you have shown everyone how sincere you are in your fear of God. I, of course, knew My servant; but the deed you have now accomplished will become a subject of edification both for your contemporaries and for future generations. Now you have shown everyone how you fear God and diligently fulfill His commands. “And you did not spare your beloved son for My sake”: you did not spare your son, so dear to you and so sincerely beloved by you, for My sake, for the sake of My demand, for the sake of the command given by Me, but you preferred My command to love for your son. Therefore, take your son to you again. After all, I promised you to multiply the descendants of your seed. Go now, crowned for your obedience. I consider one will to be worthy of crowning and reward (good) intentions, and let what you said to your servants and Isaac actually come true. You promised them: “Having bowed, we will return.” So it will be. And to the question: “Where is the sheep for a burnt offering?”, you answered: “God will see the sheep for a burnt offering.” Look around you, and you will see the ram you predicted; offer him as a burnt offering instead of your son. “And Abraham looked with his eyes, and behold, there was one ram held by his horns in the garden of Sheba: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son Isaac” (Gen. 22:13). I saw, says God, piety in your heart: so I have prepared for you what you previously told your son about. “And Abraham took (the ram) and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son Isaac.” Do you see God's love for mankind? And the sacrifice was completed, and the forefather showed the piety of his soul, received a crown for one of his (good) intentions, and, taking back his son, returned with countless crowns. And all this was a prototype of the Cross of Christ. That is why Christ said to the Jews: “If your father Abraham had rejoiced, that he might have seen my day, he saw it and rejoiced” (John 8:56). How did a person who lived so many years earlier see this? In the prototype, in the shadow. Just as here a ram was sacrificed in place of Isaac, so the verbal Lamb was sacrificed for the whole world. Truth had to be prefigured in the shadows. Look, beloved, how truly everything has been transformed into shadows. There is the only begotten son, and here is the only begotten. There is the beloved and true (son), and here is the Beloved and Consubstantial Son, as God the Father says: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 17:5). Isaac was offered by the Father as a burnt offering, and Christ was betrayed by the Father, as Paul exclaims, saying: “Who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up to eat for us all: why should He not also with Him freely give us all things” (Rom. 8:32)? Here (appeared) a shadow; and subsequently a much more excellent truth of things is revealed: the verbal Lamb was sacrificed for the whole world. He cleansed the entire universe. He freed people from error and led them to the truth. He made the earth into heaven, not by changing the nature of the elements, but by introducing heavenly life between earthly people. He destroyed all service to demons. Through Him, people no longer worship stones and trees, and those gifted with words no longer honor the insensitive (graven images). All error has been destroyed, and the Light of truth has illuminated the universe. 4. Do you see the superiority of truth? Do you see what is shadow and what is truth? “And the name of that place,” says the Scripture, “was called Abraham, The Lord has seen, Let them say this day, The Lord will appear on the mountain” (Gen. 22:14). Notice the pious feelings of the righteous man - how he every time names places according to the events that happened there. Wanting to perpetuate in the very name of this place, as if on some copper pillar, the visit of God that took place on the mountain, Abraham named the place as the Scripture says: “The Lord is seen.” It was enough (it seems) for the righteous man that reward was that he returned Isaac to himself alive, and received great praise in the words (of the Lord): “Now I know how you feared God.” But the generous God, whose gifts and blessings always exceed our considerations, now showers the righteous with His bounties, and giving him reward after reward, says again: “And the Angel of the Lord called Abraham a second time from heaven, saying: By myself you swore, says the Lord, for his sake you created this word, and you did not spare your beloved son for My sake: Having truly blessed I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your seed like the stars of heaven and like the sand in the depths of the sea: and your seed will inherit the cities of adversaries: and all the nations of the earth will be blessed for your seed, because you have listened to My voice” (Gen. 22:15-18). Since you have fulfilled, he says, My command and have fully demonstrated your obedience, then listen: “You yourself swore by Me, says the Lord.” Note the condescension of God: “By myself,” he says, “I swore,” so that you can be sure that everything I have said will be completely fulfilled. Just as people, accompanying their promises with an oath, give them great firmness and thereby reassure those who receive the promises, so the Lord, using human custom, says: “By myself you swore, for whose sake you created this verb and did not spare your beloved son for my sake.” Notice the Lord's love for mankind. “You did not spare,” he says, “your beloved son for My sake”; and meanwhile He Himself returns him (the son) alive. Do not look here, beloved, at the end of the event, but delve into the spiritual disposition with which the forefather unquestioningly fulfilled the command. As for will, the forefather had already stained his hand with blood, had already touched his son’s chest with a knife and actually made a sacrifice. Therefore, the Lord, as if the sacrifice had actually been made, praises the righteous for this and says: “Thou didst not spare thy beloved son for My sake.” But if you did not spare him for the sake of My command, then I spared him for the sake of your obedience. As a reward for such obedience, I will “bless and bless you and multiply and multiply you.” Notice the abundance of blessing - this means: I will multiply your seed even more. The son slain in your intention will spread your descendants to such a multitude that they will be equal to the number of stars and the sand, and “all the nations will be blessed because of your seed, since you have listened to my voice.” All this, he says, will be given to you for your great obedience. Can’t we also receive countless benefits if we show obedience to the Lord, obey His commands, and like our forefather, do not test His commands, but, like well-minded servants, only fulfill them, leaving every judgment about what is commanded to the Lord Himself? If we teach ourselves this way, then we will be able to show the same obedience as our forefather, and receive the same crowns. How will we show our obedience? If we actually fulfill His commandments. “Those who do not hear the law,” says Scripture, “are righteous before God; but they who are the authors of the law will be justified” (Rom. 2:13). And what good is it for us if we hear (about God’s commandments) every day, but do not care about their fulfillment? Therefore, I exhort everyone, let us hasten to good deeds - after all, it is impossible to be saved otherwise - we will cleanse our sins, and thus we will be rewarded with mercy from the Master himself, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, with the Holy and Life-giving Spirit, be glory now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. The promise is that in Isaac Abraham's seed will be called; this promise was given for the last time during the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael from the house of Abraham. ᾿Ανακάμψομεν according to sp. Dorothea; in Alex., Lucian. and other sp. – ἀναστρέψωμεν, although the meaning of both verbs is the same. Words: ἐπ᾿ἄνω τῶ᾿ν ξύλων - “on top of the firewood” (Slav. B.), usually read in Greek. sp., omitted from Zlat. You might be interested in: