Беседа L

“And Rebekah was conceived in the womb..., and the child played in her” (Gen. 25:21–22). Would you like us to offer your love the remnants of our conversation yesterday? We could not (yesterday) finish the entire story about Isaac, but stopped at the fact that Isaac, with his own, unremitting prayer, aroused Rebekah’s womb to childbirth, and, so to speak, opened the damaged nature. Yesterday we sufficiently explained all this to you, showing the number of years that that blessed man spent in prayer and petition to God for this. Then, moving on to the word about the barren and explaining to you the reason why the spouses of those righteous were barren, with this we ended our word yesterday. And today it is necessary to study the pious soul of Rebekah, so that not only we can benefit from the virtue of the righteous Isaac, but so that by telling the story about Rebekah we can excite those listening to compete with her. After God heard the prayer of the righteous man, and Rebekah conceived in her womb, “there was a child in her,” says Scripture, “and that is why she endured severe pain. She said: “If this is how I want to be, why should I?” Not one (baby) was to be born, but she carried two together in her womb, and therefore the tightness in the womb caused her a lot of grief. But notice in this case the piety of this wife. She did not resort to any human help, as many of today's wives who live carelessly do; Nor did she appeal to those who would judge such events with their own minds, based on some guesses and observations; did not trust the seduction of deceivers and those who promise something that is above human nature; no, she “goes to ask the Lord.” Notice her prudence too. She knew that the Lord of Nature himself had opened her womb and suddenly made her barren womb so fruitful; She also saw, by the size of her womb, that something great was being prepared for her, and therefore “I went to ask the Lord.” What does it mean: “I’m going to ask the Lord?” This means that she resorted to true knowledge - to a priest, a servant of God, wanting to secretly acquire information through him and, having told everything about herself, she learned everything exactly, because the man-loving God through the lips of the priest revealed everything clearly and through this made her even more zealous. And so that you know how high the priestly dignity was then, Scripture nowhere says that the “priest” answered her, but, having said: “Go inquire of the Lord,” Scripture adds: “And the Lord spoke to her,” that is, through the priest: “You bear two tongues in your womb.” And in another place, Divine Scripture calls the priest an Angel, showing by this that the priest proclaims what the grace of the Holy Spirit will inspire him with. So, the Lord said to her through the priest: “There are two tongues in your womb, and two people will be separated from your womb, and people will surpass people, and the older will do the work of the younger” (Gen. 25:23). This prophecy clearly revealed future events to her. The babies, with their strong movements in the womb, already foreshadowed everything with accuracy. And now the wife herself knew not only that she would give birth to two children, but also that they would grow into nations, and that the younger would rule over the older. And when, the Scripture says, the time of birth came, “the firstborn came forth like a shaggy skin, and he called his name Esau; and therefore his brother went out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel, and he called his name Jacob” (Gen. 25:25-26). At the very beginning, God already seemed to indicate that, according to His prophecy, the lesser would rule over the greater. Jacob held, it is said, Esau's heel with his hand; and this was a sign that he was overcoming the one who seemed strong. And notice how the Divine Scripture already foreshadows the events that will take place later, when it shows you the occupation of each of the brothers from the very beginning: one was engaged in catching animals, and the other was a farmer, a simple man, constantly living in the house. That is why Rebekah loved Jacob, and Isaac loved Esau: “because he caught him,” says the Scripture, “it was cruel to him” (Gen. 25:28). Look how the parents themselves separated their children. The mother, seeing in Jacob a simple-hearted child who always stayed at home, showed more affection towards him. But the father loved Esau more, both because he was his first-born and because of his spoils (from the hunt). However, they did so, following natural love. But the prediction that “the greater will work for the lesser” (Gen. 25:23) little by little came true. Look now. “Brew,” says the Scripture, “Jacob boiled 477, and Esau went out from the field, exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob: nourish me with this juice, for I am exhausted. For this reason his name was called Edom. And Jacob said: Give me 478 ... primacy” (Gen. 25:29–31). To this Esau answered: What good is it to me to be first when I am threatened with death if I do not take food? But Jacob also demands an oath, through which the cession of primacy to him would receive its firmness. “And Esau swore,” it says, “(Gen. 25:33). 2. From that time on, the order (between the brothers) changed and the dignity of primogeniture passed to the one who shone with spiritual virtue. “And Esau gave the primacy,” says Scripture, “i.e. sold for food the dignity given to him by nature itself. That is why Scripture adds: “And Esau did not count the primacy of anything to himself” (Gen. 25:34): so he became insensitive to the advantage granted to him by nature itself. And all this was done so that his foolishness would be revealed and God’s prediction would actually be fulfilled. Hearing this, we will learn never to neglect the gifts of God, and not to lose something great for something small and insignificant. Why, tell me, when the Kingdom of Heaven and unspeakable blessings are prepared for us, why are we carried away by the passion for wealth, and prefer the temporary, which often does not remain with us until evening, to the endless and eternal? And what could be worse than this madness, when, through attachment to temporary goods, we are deprived of future ones, and cannot even enjoy the present ones blamelessly? What is the use, tell me, of having a lot of property? Or don’t you know that the increase in wealth brings us nothing more than an increase in worries, worries and insomnia? Don't you see that those in particular are, so to speak, slaves of everything, who are surrounded by great blessings, and every day they are afraid of the very shadows? This is where deceit, slander, intense envy and thousands of other evils come from. And you often see that he who has thousands of talents of gold lying around considers the worker happy who earns his livelihood by the labor of his hands. What is the pleasure, what is the benefit, when we do not enjoy these benefits, but through addiction to them we are deprived of the highest benefits? And what am I saying: the highest blessings - when, in addition to the disasters that befall us here and the deprivation of the blessings prepared there, we are also sent to Gehenna itself? Not to mention the thousands of sins generated by wealth - deception, malice, predation, covetousness. And even if someone were free from all such sins, which is difficult; but if he, having a lot of wealth, accumulates money and uses it only for his own pleasure, and does not show generosity to those in need, the fire of Gehenna will befall him too. The parable in the Gospel clearly teaches us about this, when he represents some at the right hand and others at the left, and says that the Kingdom of Heaven is prepared for the first for caring for those in need: “Come,” it says there, “with the blessing of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). Why and for what? “You are hungry, and you give Me food” (Matthew 25:35). And the last ones are destined for eternal fire. “Depart,” it is said, “from Me you are cursed into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angel” (Matthew 25:41). The importance of this saying is great! The Lord and Creator of all says: “For you are hungry, and will not give me food” (Matthew 25:42). What soul would not be moved by this, even if it were a stony soul? Your Lord walks hungry, but you live in luxury! And this is not the only scary thing, but also the fact that, living in luxury, you dare to despise Him, moreover, when He does not ask for much of anything, but only one bread to satisfy your hunger. He walks, numb from the cold; and you, dressed in silk fabrics, do not pay attention to Him, do not show any compassion, but pass by without any mercy. What excuse can this deserve? - Let us not be concerned about collecting, in any way, more wealth than anyone else; but let us pay attention to managing what we have well. Let us alleviate the misery of those in need, so as not to be deprived of those benefits that always remain and are not subject to any change. This is why the Lord hid the day of our death from us, in order to dispose us to constant sobriety and vigilance and thus further encourage us to care for virtue. “Watch,” He says, “for you know neither the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:13). But we do the opposite, and constantly sleep in a deeper sleep than natural sleep. The one who sleeps in natural sleep becomes incapable of doing either evil or good; but we sleep in a different sleep, we sleep for deeds of virtue and are awake for deeds of evil; We commit evil deeds absurdly, and in good deeds we show great negligence and drowsiness. And so we do, seeing every day that some leave here, while others undergo many changes in real life. However, this impermanence of life does not sufficiently enlighten us, does not sufficiently arouse in us the desire for virtue, disposes us to despise present goods and to desire future ones, so that we prefer truth to shadows and dreams. After all, real blessings are no different from shadows and dreams. So, let us not deceive ourselves and chase shadows; but, at least someday, we will take care of our salvation, and we will begin to spend our wealth on those in need, so that for this we will receive reward from the God who loves mankind, which we all will receive, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. Zlat.: πυῤῥάκης with the omission of ὅλος - “all”, which is usually read in Lucian. and other sp., according to Heb. t. Zlat.: ἕψημα without addition: φακοῦ – lentils, which is read in Luke. sp. (according to "de Lagarde") σήμερον – “today”, read in Alex., Lucian. and other sp., according to Heb. t., at Zlat. omitted. You might be interested in: