Беседа XLIX

“And this was the life of Isaac the son of Abraham” (Gen. 25:19). 1. Again I want to lead you to an ordinary meal, and offer you a treat from the words of Moses, or better yet, from the words of the Spirit, because Moses does not tell us his story on his own, but at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So, let's see today what he teaches us. After all, it is not without reason and not without purpose that he sets forth to us the lives of the righteous, but so that we imitate their virtue and be followers of their perfections. Having told in detail the circumstances of the life of the forefather (Abraham) and described his last feat, the sacrifice of his only begotten son, showing us how the forefather brought this wondrous sacrifice to God, if not by deed itself, then by intention, Moses thus ended his story about him. Now he tells us what relates to Isaac, sacrificed and not sacrificed - so this event resembled a parable. Listen, in fact, to what Paul says: “By faith Abraham brought Isaac to the test, and he offered his only begotten, receiving the promises” (Heb. 11:17). And then, so that we know exactly how the forefather accomplished all this by faith and how he was not troubled in spirit, seeing that the command given to him was contrary to the promise, the apostle says: “He received the same in parables” (Heb. 11:19). What does it mean: “accepted in parables”? This means that by sacrificing his son and showing a decisive intention in this, he himself was awarded the crown and received his son back, and meanwhile the sacrifice was completed by the offering of a ram. In all this, the God of all revealed the superiority of his own love for mankind and showed that he gave (the forefather) such a command, not wanting the death of Isaac, but only experiencing the obedience of the righteous. So, we saw the virtue of the forefather shining in everything he did. Now, reviewing the legends about Isaac, we also see how he revealed his pious spirit in all his deeds. Let us listen to how Scripture itself speaks about this. “This is the being,” it says, “of Isaac, the son of Abraham: Abraham begat Isaac. When Isaac was about forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian from Mesopotamia..., the sister of Laban the Syrian, to be his wife” (Gen. 25:19-20). Notice, beloved, the accuracy of Divine Scripture - how it says nothing without need. Why does it mean to us the years of Isaac’s life and say: “Isaac was forty years old when he sang to Rebekah”? Not without reason, and not without purpose. But since Scripture will further tell you about the barrenness of Rebekah, and that only through the prayer of the righteous man did she begin to give birth to children, then it wants to depict to you all the strength of Isaac’s patience, and accurately indicate the time during which he was childless, so that we, imitating the righteous man, would also be persistent in prayers to God when we ask him for something. This righteous man, so virtuous and so favored by God, showed such great zeal and strength of spirit, constantly begging God to resolve Rebekah's barrenness. What will we say, burdened with many sins, and not revealing in ourselves the slightest share (of the virtues) of the righteous? And when some zeal appears in us for a short time, then we become embarrassed and retreat from the feat if we are not heard immediately. Therefore, I convince you: learning from the events in the life of this righteous man, we will never stop begging God for mercy on our sins; let us show fiery zeal and not be impatient, we will not become lazy if we are not immediately heard. Perhaps the Lord hesitates, thereby teaching us unremitting diligence (in prayer) and wants us to receive a reward for our patience. He also knows the time when it is useful for us to get what we want. But we ourselves do not know what is good for us, as He, who knows the most secret thoughts of everyone, knows. Therefore, we should not experience much, or reason much about what comes from God; and for everything to express our gratitude to Him and be amazed at the virtues of the righteous. So, the Divine Scripture, having said how old Isaac was, further says about Rebekah, his wife, that she was barren. Pay attention to the piety of the righteous. As soon as he saw the lack of nature, he resorted to the Creator of nature and tried to resolve its bonds with the power of prayer. “And Isaac prayed,” it is said, “to the Lord for his wife Rebek, because she was barren” (Gen. 25:21). First of all, it is worth examining one thing here: why was she barren, while both she and her husband were people of amazing life, and both maintained great chastity? We cannot suspect their lives and say that their barrenness was the result of sins. And what is surprising is that not only was Rebekah barren, but also the mother of the righteous man, Sarah; and not only his mother, but also his daughter-in-law - I mean Rachel, Jacob’s wife. What does this meeting of the barren mean? They are all righteous, all are virtuous, all have received evidence from God (of their righteousness). After all, God spoke about them: “I am... the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:6). And blessed Paul says: “Even so he is not ashamed... God, God, has called them names” (Heb. 11:16). They are praised a lot in the New Testament, and they are glorified a lot in the Old. In all respects they are glorious and eminent: and yet they all had barren wives and were childless for a long time. 2. So, when you see a husband and wife living virtuously, and yet childless, when you see that they fear God and care about living a pious life, but do not have children, do not think that this is a consequence of sins. Many of the intentions of the Divine economy are unknown to us, but we must thank (God) for everything, and consider as unfortunate only those who spend their lives in vices, and not those who do not have children. God often arranges many things in our favor, but we do not know the reasons for the events. Therefore, in any case, one should be amazed at His wisdom and glorify His ineffable love for mankind. All this is being told to you for your benefit, so that you always show gratitude to God’s providence, and not test His destinies. However, it is necessary to reveal the reason why those wives were barren. What is this reason? So that you do not fall into disbelief when you hear: “The Virgin” gives birth to our common Lord. Train your mind, as Scripture says, here by the example of the barren, and seeing how an outdated and barren womb is opened by the grace of God for childbearing, do not be surprised when you later hear that a Virgin has given birth. Or better yet, be surprised, amazed, but believe in the miracle. So, when a Jew says to you: how did a virgin give birth, tell him: how did a barren and elderly woman give birth? In the latter case there were two obstacles to the birth: the untimeliness of age and the incapacity of nature; but for the Virgin there was only one obstacle - that she was not involved in the marriage. So, the barren wife prepares the way for the Virgin. To be convinced that the barren appeared before so that we would believe in the birth of the Virgin, listen to the words of Gabriel spoken to the Virgin. When he came to Her and said: “Conceive in your womb, and give birth to a Son, and call his name Jesus,” She was amazed and asked in bewilderment: “How will this happen if I don’t know a husband?” What about Angel? “The Holy Spirit will come upon You,” he says, “and the power of the Most High will overshadow You” (Luke 1:31, 34–35). Do not demand, he says, the natural order, when this matter is above nature. Do not anticipate the sorrows of marriage, when the image of birth will be higher than marriage. “And what will this be like,” She says, “where I don’t know my husband?” That is why this will happen because You do not know the husband. If you knew your husband, you would not be worthy to serve this secret. So, believe for the very reason you don’t believe. Not, however, because marriage in itself is bad, but because virginity is better than it. The image of the coming of the common Lord to earth should have been higher than ours, since it was the coming of the King. In His birth He had to have something in common with our birth, but also have something different from ours. Both happened; Well, listen. The fact that he was born from the womb of the Mother is something He has in common with us; and that He was born without marriage is beyond our nature. To be pregnant is human nature; but conception without copulation is beyond human nature. So understand from this both His similarity and superiority to you. Notice also the wisdom in the fact that neither His superiority destroyed the similarity and affinity with us, nor His affinity with us darkened the superiority. But both were revealed in His deeds: some of them were completely common with us, while others were different from ours. For this reason, as I said, those wives were barren, so that we would believe in the virgin birth, so that She herself would be led (by their examples) to believe in the gospel and promise given to Her. Listen to what the Angel says to Her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Highest will overshadow You.” Thus, he says, You will give birth, and everything will be accomplished through the action of the Holy Spirit; don’t look at the ground; this power will come from heaven; this is a matter of the grace of the Holy Spirit; do not look here for the order of nature and the laws of marriage. But since these words were beyond Her understanding, he wants to present Her with other evidence. 3. See, beloved, how the barren wife leads the Virgin to believe in this birth. Since the first proof was beyond the understanding of the Virgin, listen to how (the Angel) reduces his word to the simplest objects, admonishing Her with tangible examples. “And behold,” he says, “Elizabeth, Thy little girl, also conceived a son in her old age; and this sixth month is hers, which is called unfruitful” (Luke 1:36). Without a doubt, to identify the Virgin, he also pointed to his barren wife. Otherwise, why would he give Her the birth of Her relative as an example and why would he add: “called barren?” With all this he guides Her to believe in the gospel; for this purpose he mentioned both the age (of Elizabeth) and the exhaustion of nature; for this purpose it also meant the time of conception. The angel did not immediately, from the very beginning (conception by Elizabeth), preach to the Virgin, but after six months, so that clear evidence of pregnancy would clearly confirm the reality of conception. And note the wisdom of Gabriel: he did not mention to Her either Sarah, or Rebekah, or Rachel. Why and for what? After all, they were barren and elderly, and a great miracle happened over them? But they all belong to ancient history, and therefore the Angel points Her to the nearest event in order to confirm (in faith) Her thoughts. 4. But let us return to the word we began before, and show the virtue of the righteous Isaac - how through prayer he resolved the infertility of Rebekah and overcame the bonds of nature. “And Isaac prayed,” says the Scripture, “for Rebek his wife, because he was barren: and God listened to him” (Gen. 25:21). Do not think that as soon as it is written here, so quickly he received what he asked for. For twenty years he did not stop asking and begging God - only then did he receive what he wanted. How do we know this? We will find out if we carefully follow the stories contained in the Divine Scripture. It did not hide this time from us, but signified it, albeit covertly, in order to arouse our attention and encourage us to investigate. Just as it showed us how old Isaac was when he took Rebekah, so clearly it shows us that circumstance. “Now Isaac,” it says, “was about forty years old, when he sang to Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian” (Gen. 25:20). Notice this time carefully. Then the Scripture said: “As Isaac prayed... about his wife, for she was barren” (Gen. 25:21) - so that we know the number of years that have passed during all this time, which also means how old Isaac was when his children were born from Rebekah. “And Isaac,” it says, “was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth” (Gen. 25:26). So, if he was forty years old when he took her, and sixty years old when his wife gave birth, then it is obvious that for twenty years he prayed to God, and thus aroused Rebekah’s barren womb to bear children. Do you see the power of prayer - how could it defeat nature itself? Let us all imitate Isaac: let us also be constant in prayer, with an alert soul and a contrite heart. Let us listen to Paul, who exhorts us with the words: “Lifting up holy hands without anger or reflection” (1 Tim. 2:8). Let us always try to be free from spiritual disturbance and keep our mind in peace, especially during prayer, when we need special love for mankind from God. If He sees that we pray according to the laws established by Him, He will soon give us an abundance of His gifts, which may we all be worthy of, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: