Беседа LII

“And Isaac sowed in that land, and in that summer ye obtained a hundredfold fruit of barley” (Gen. 26:12). 1. Today you need to give your love the remains of yesterday’s conversation and, remembering the sequence of the (biblical) speech, pay attention to how righteous Isaac enjoys the care from above. The one who forbade him to travel to Egypt and said: “Dwell in this land, and I will be with you,” glorified him so much in all respects that, a little time later, the king of Gerar began to envy him. Seeing how his property increased from day to day, they began to fear this husband’s settlement there and forced him to move from there. But let us better listen to the very words of Divine Scripture in order to fully see the favor that God shows to His servants. “And sow Isaac,” it is said, “in that land, and in that summer you will gain a hundredfold fruit of barley.” I ask you to note the wisdom of God: in order to show the righteous that He, the Creator of nature, can make the impossible possible, that in the beginning He, by His command, aroused the earth to grow fruits, (God) did so that the righteous received a hundredfold fruit from what he sown on that land, which brought him into greater prosperity, so that he no longer needed anything, and he showed those (the inhabitants of Gerar) by his very deed what kind of help he was enjoying from above righteous. The well-skilled and wise One (the Lord) often benefits His chosen ones with the same deeds, and also gives those who go astray a means to know the power of His providence. He did this later in Egypt, when he brought executions on its inhabitants, but kept the people of Israel unharmed. (The Egyptians), not only in God’s wrath against them, but also in God’s providence for those (Israelites), learned to know the power of God and the Creator of all things. But these, in turn, not only from the providence and care of God for them, but also from the very spectacle of the executions that befell Egypt every day, understood the wondrous love of God for them. Thus, by the same deeds, He demonstrated the greatness of His power both to His own and to His opponents. And the very elements, for their part, render service and obedience to the servants (of God) when the Master favors them. This can be seen through experience in the life of this righteous 485: what at other times the nature of the earth did not show, now it produces all sorts of things according to the will of God, and it bears such fruit that Isaac suddenly becomes very rich: “For God 486 bless him, and man was exalted, and prospered greater than he was, until he became great” (Gen. 26:12-13). Since the wealth of the righteous then consisted in the fruitfulness of the land and the large number of herds, it is said: “God bless him and exalt man,” i.e. He became rich, and not just rich, but also “he was great, and he became very great.” Think how much it meant to receive a hundredfold fruit from what was sown. If this seems important to you, then know the even greater power of God’s love for mankind, which later he showed to those living virtuously, after His coming (to earth). He promises them not only to reward them here a hundredfold, but also to let them enjoy eternal life and the Kingdom of Heaven. Do you see the generosity of the Lord? Do you see the greatness of the good deed? Do you see how much the coming of the Only Begotten has given us? What unspeakable change did it make in affairs (our lives)? Therefore, everyone, reasoning about this with himself and seeing the difference between what (God) promised to those who lived before grace, and what - after grace, let him at least glorify God’s boundless love for mankind, and let him not attribute everything only to the change of times. But we should return to the order of the story and consider how the inhabitants of Gerar, noticing the wealth of the righteous man, were inflamed with envy and decided to remove him from there: “Because the Philistines saw him,” it is said, “(Gen. 26:14). Then the Divine Scripture, wanting to show where they discovered their envy, adds: “And all the treasures that the servant dug in the time of his father, I blocked and filled 488 with earth” (Gen. 26:15). Look what malice they have: and in the water they envied the righteous; even the king, having plenty of everything himself, was unable to restrain himself from envy and said: “Get away from us, for you have created a stronger one than you.” Great hostility! Why do you drive out the righteous? Did he harm you in any way? Did I offend you in any way? But this is envy: it does nothing with reasoning. If the king saw that the righteous man enjoyed such mercy from the God of all, then he had to respect him even more, serve him even more, so that by honoring the righteous man he himself would gain favor from above. But he not only does not do this, but also tries to remove him, and says: “Get away from us, for you have created the mightiest of us” (Gen. 26:16). Such is hatred: it does not complacently tolerate the happiness of others; He considers his neighbor's prosperity to be his own misfortune and languishes looking at his neighbor's blessings. It was the same here. The king, who has the entire city in his power, keeping everyone under fear, says to the wanderer, the stranger moving here and there: “Get away from us, for you have created a stronger one than us.” And, truly, he was stronger than them, because in everything he had assistance from above and was protected by the right hand of God. Where are you driving the righteous? Or don’t you know that wherever he happens to go, he will always be under the hand of his Master? Hasn’t experience itself taught you that the hand of God thus glorifies the righteous? Why do you, by removing a righteous man, show ingratitude towards his Master? And the great meekness of this husband could not overcome your envy, but, overcome by passion, you try to satisfy your hatred, and force someone who has not offended you in any way to move again. Or don’t you know that even if you forced him to retire into the very desert, he has such a skillful Master that he will glorify him even more there? There is no force that can overcome someone who uses help from above, just as there is nothing more powerless than a person deprived of help from above. 2. Do you see, beloved, the moral indecency of both the king of Gerar and all the inhabitants there? Look at the great meekness of the righteous man, how he did not dream much about himself, and despite the fact that he actually saw the great mercy of God towards himself, he did not rebel against the king in the hope of a (higher) power that would help him, but as a defenseless man, not receiving any help from anywhere, with great meekness, without resisting the king even in words, he fulfilled his command, immediately left there, and by his departure he calmed the flames of passion, showing his extreme meekness, and at the same time taming the irritation (of the king). “And he departed from there... and dwelt in the wilds of Gerarstei” (Gen. 26:17). And what Christ, having come (to earth), commanded his disciples with His words: “When you are persecuted in this city, flee to another” (Matthew 10:23), this is what Isaac has already fulfilled in practice. And just as David, taming Saul’s strong hatred, withdrew and diverted himself from danger, tempering his strong irritation, in the same way that righteous man fulfilled the word of the apostle: “give... to wrath” (Rom. 12:19). Leaving the city, he went (and settled) into the wilds. But look how there he behaved with great meekness, because his sorrows did not end there, but when he was here and wanted to dig up treasures, the inhabitants began to rebel against him. “He dug up,” says (Scripture), “the treasures that the servants had built... him, and the Philistines who blocked them, ... and gave them the names that his father had given. And Rabbi Isaac dug... and found... a well of living waters”, i.e. one that shoots upward from below. “And the shepherd of Gerarstia was spinning..., saying: Our water is 489” (Gen. 26:18–20). But even here the righteous man does not argue, does not resist, but yields even to the shepherds. This is true meekness, when someone does not complacently endure insults from those who are stronger, but yields when insulted by people considered inferior to him. In this case, only the meekness of the offended person is fully revealed. Otherwise, someone can say that he shows meekness because he is unable to resist the power of the offender. So that you know that in relation to the king he showed meekness not because of his power, but because of his character, look: he does the same with the shepherds. And just as at the time when the king told him: “Get away from us,” he immediately left, accepting this as a command, so now, when the shepherds began to insult him and appropriated the well, he yields to them. And so that this insult would be remembered for posterity, he gives the well a name from an incident that happened here. Since (the shepherds) caused him a clear offense, he, according to Scripture, “show the name of that storehouse (or place): offense” (Gen. 26:20). Thus, the very name of the place, as if (inscribed) on a copper pillar, served for subsequent times as a monument to both the meekness of the righteous man and the injustice of those inhabitants. Anyone, having learned from the name of the place the reason for its nickname, saw the virtue of one, and the extreme malice of others. And look how he himself exalts his virtue, revealing his meekness in everything, and even those, even against their will, contribute to his glorification by the very excess of their malice. Not content (with one insult), they again rebelled against him when he dug another well. “When he left,” it is said, “from there..., he dug another treasure trove; And I hide myself, and show him the name: enmity” (Gen. 26:21). Notice again the prudence of the righteous! Here, it seems, they did not completely take the well from him, but only argued and, having already clearly seen their injustice, retreated. That’s why he called that place “enmity,” since it became the cause of enmity. But enduring such insults every day, so to speak, from the surrounding residents, I did not lose heart, did not show cowardice, did not think to myself or say: I don’t have enough strength to use the wells - has help from above abandoned me, have I lost the Lord’s providence? He didn’t think or imagine anything like that, but he endured everything with complete meekness. For this reason, I had even more help from above in everything. Such cases were, so to speak, some kind of exercise for the virtue of the righteous. “When he left,” it says, “from there..., he excavated another treasure trove; and I did not hide about it, and called its name space, saying, “For now the Lord spread us, and make us grow upon the earth” (Gen. 26:22). 3. Notice the good thoughts of the righteous. When they wanted to take away his first wells, he was not upset, did not resist, but only by the name of the wells he left an indelible memory of the anger of the inhabitants. And now, when no one hindered him, and he enjoyed his labors with complete freedom, he attributes it all to God. “The nickname,” it is said, “his name is space.” Then, this name explains: because, he says, I call it space, because “the Lord spread to us and grow us on the earth.” Do you see a God-loving soul, how she, not remembering at all about previous troubles, but remembering only the good, brings thanks for this and says: “For the Lord spread to us and grow us on earth”? Nothing pleases God more than a grateful and appreciative soul. Every day, showing us all countless benefits, regardless of whether we want them or not, whether we know them or not, (God) does not require anything else from us except gratitude to Him for everything that has been given to us, in order to again give us even greater rewards for this. To verify this, look at the same righteous man, how, for his gratitude, he is again rewarded with a manifestation from above. Since he showed sufficient experience of his virtue before the inhabitants of Gerar and before the king who expelled him, and before the shepherds who took away his wells, the philanthropic Lord, wanting to strengthen his complacency and approve of his great meekness, at the time when he “went up from there to the well of the oath, the Lord appeared to him that night and said: I am God Do not be afraid of Abraham your father; For I am with you, and I will bless you, and I will multiply your seed, Abraham, for your father’s sake” (Gen. 26:23–24). “The Lord appeared to him that night,” it is said. Notice God's care for him! To strengthen and encourage him, God appears to him and says: “I am the God of Abraham your father,” Who glorified your father, placed him at such a level of greatness, and made him, a stranger, more glorious than the local inhabitants. I am the one who promised to multiply him so much (by posterity I showed special care for him in everything). “I am. Don't be afraid" . What does it mean: “do not be afraid”? Do not be embarrassed because Abimelech drove you out and the shepherds offended you. Your father also suffered a lot of this; but through this he appeared even more glorious. So, do not let this frighten you: “I am with you.” I allow this to happen, wanting you to show your virtue with your meekness, so that their evil disposition becomes known to everyone, in order to crown you for this. “I am with you”, therefore you will be invincible, stronger than all those who rise up (against you) and insult you. My providence for you will even make you an object of envy. “For I am with you, and I will bless you, and I will multiply your seed for Abraham’s sake, your father.” Notice God's love for mankind! Having said: “I am the God of Abraham your father,” God thereby showed how He brought the patriarch closer to Himself, deigning to call Himself the God of Abraham, i.e. The Lord and Creator of the universe calls Himself the God of one man, not in the sense that He limits His dominion to one patriarch, but for the purpose of showing His great favor towards him. I, he says, brought him so close to Me that before Me he appears worth all other people. Therefore, “I will multiply your seed Abraham for your father’s sake.” He should receive many rewards from Me for his obedience to Me; Therefore, for his sake I will multiply your seed. In this way, God both encouraged the righteous man and, by reminding him of his father, aroused in him zeal for the manifestation of virtue similar to his. After God promised him so many benefits, “he created,” it is said, “(Isaac) there an altar, and called on the name of the Lord; and pitch your tabernacle there” (Gen. 26:25). What does it mean: “created an altar there”? This means: he brought thanksgiving sacrifices to the Lord there for the great care shown to him. “The digging there is a treasure trove for Rabbi Isaac.” Now the righteous is safe. The one who said to him: “I am with you, and I will bless you and multiply your seed,” suddenly gave him glory and made him honorable to everyone. Look how the same Abimelech, who decided to expel him and said: “Get away from us,” now comes to him. “And Abimelech,” it is said, “came to him..., and the leader of his bride, and... the commander of his forces. And Isaac said to them: why come to me? But you will hate me and turn away from you” (Gen. 26:26–27). Look how great is the meekness of the righteous! Seeing that those who persecuted him and showed such hatred towards him now appear to him in the form of petitioners, he did not become proud before them, did not become exalted in thought, having still in his fresh memory the words spoken to him from God, and trusting in the power of the Lord, he did not rebel against the king, but again showing his usual meekness, he said to them with great modesty: “Why have you come to me? You will hate me and get rid of yourself.” Why, he says, did you decide to come to me, a man expelled by you and hated? “And I decided: having seen that the Lord was with you, I decided: make an oath between them and between you, 490 and we will make a covenant with you, so that you will not do evil to us, as we did not disdain you, and as we did good to you, and let you go in peace; and now you are blessed of the Lord” (Gen. 26:28–29). 4. See how great is the power of meekness, and how great is the power of virtue! Those who previously expelled him now come to the stranger who has no fatherland, to the stranger, and not only apologize for their previous actions with him, ask for forgiveness for their sins (theirs against him), but also glorify the righteous man, reveal the fear that has overcome them, confess their own powerlessness and recognize the great power of the righteous man. And what could be stronger than the one who has God with him? “We will see,” they say, “that the Lord is with you.” How do you know this? So, they say, the events themselves served as a lesson for us. We saw that you, the expelled one, became stronger than those who expelled you, the offended one prevailed over those who offended, and from the very course of events we understood that you benefit from great help from above. The work of Divine providence was that their minds should be filled with wonder at the righteous man and that such understanding should be instilled in them. We have known, they say, “that... the Lord is with you: let there be an oath between us.” Look how, prompted by their own conscience, they rush to expose themselves, while no one else forces them to do so and explains what happened. If you have not offended the righteous, then why, he says, are you asking him for an alliance? But this is not true: every day the conscience torments, and while the offended is silent; those who offended, thinking that they are threatened with punishment, worry every day and, as it were, sign their own sentence for the crime. So (those inhabitants of Gerar), knowing this, say: “Be an oath between us and between you.” Then they explain what kind of oath they want. “And we make a covenant with you, so that you will not do evil to us, as we did not abhor you.” Look how, out of confusion and torment (of conscience), they contradict themselves when they say: “Do not do evil to us.” Why are you so afraid of the righteous when you see that he shows such meekness to those who insult him? But the incorruptible judge, conscience, awakened in them and they realized what injustice they had done to the righteous; out of fear and embarrassment, they do not notice how they contradict themselves. “Do not do evil to us,” they say, “for we did not abhor you.” Why did you expel him? However, the righteous does not demand an account from them and does not expose their speeches. “And so,” says the Scripture, “I will do good to you, and let you go in peace, and now you are blessed of the Lord.” Do you see that they were afraid of punishment from above? They saw that although the righteous man, in his meekness, does not himself take revenge for what was done to him, the One who showed such providence for him will demand from them an account for their actions towards the righteous man. Therefore, they appease the righteous man and ask for an alliance, at the same time apologizing for their past deeds and protecting their safety for the future. “And create for them,” it is said, “a feast, and eat and eat, and when you rise in the morning, each one swears to his neighbor; And I let Isaac go, and when I left him I was healed” (Gen. 26:30–31). Notice the friendliness of the righteous man, how he talked to them without any rancor and not only consigned their actions to him to oblivion, but also showed them great hospitality. “Create,” it is said, “a feast for them, eating and drinking.” With such hospitality, he wants to prove to them that he does not at all remember the insults done to him by them. “And I let Isaac go, and when I left him I was healed.” Divine Scripture makes it clear with these words that they came to him with great fear, expecting trouble for themselves, and in a word, fearing for everything, they hastened to apologize to the righteous man. Do you see that there is nothing stronger and more powerful than virtue, and there is nothing safer than a person who uses help from above? Then, it is said, “on that day 491 the servants of Isaac 492 went away, ... dug up the storehouse, and 493 rekosha: did not find any water. And his nickname: oath; For this reason the name of the other city was called the treasury of oaths, even unto this day” (Gen. 26:32-33). Here too he gives the place a name from the event. Those who dug the well found nothing; but as it happened on the same day on which they entered into an alliance with each other, Isaac called this place a treasury of oaths in order to leave a memory of what happened. You see how a righteous man who did not yet have instructions from the law, who did not see an example in anyone else, but only studied his father, and was guided by a teacher located in the very nature of man, i.e. in his conscience, showed such great wisdom? The events that happened to him revealed not only the meekness of the righteous man, but also the fact that he was already fulfilling the commandments of Christ by his very deed. What Christ commanded to His disciples, exhorting them not only to love those who love them, but to show love also to their enemies, Isaac had already fulfilled before, when he showed such great hospitality to people who hated him so much, and drove out the sin of rancor from his soul. 5. What kind of condescension will we be worthy of, if after the manifestation of grace; After such teaching and commandments of the Savior, we cannot even reach the level of this righteous man? And what am I saying: to the same extent? We are not able to even get close to it. Human malice has now increased to such an extreme that people who love them are rarely loved anymore. Where will we have hope of salvation if we become worse than the tax collectors themselves, as Christ says: “If you love those who love you, what more do you do? Don’t tax collectors do the same thing” (Matthew 5:46–47)? Christ wants us to reach the very top of virtue, to be higher than publicans; and we try to be lower than them. And what do I say: tax collectors? We are becoming worse than robbers, grave diggers, and murderers. And of these, everyone loves the one who treats him with love, and is often in danger for his loved one. What could be more worthy of regret when we, who have been honored with such great love for God, turn out to be worse than people who have committed thousands of evils? So, I beg you: thinking about the great punishment, about the extreme shame that awaits us there, let us recognize, although it is too late, our dignity, we will submit to the teaching of Christ, and not only will we love those who love us sincerely, having expelled all malice and hatred from our hearts, but even if someone were hostile to us, we will try to love them too. It is impossible for us to be saved otherwise if we do not follow this path. Let us try even more than those who love us to love those who help us achieve countless benefits. In this way, we will be able to receive forgiveness of sins and send prayers to God with a humble mind and a contrite soul. When the soul is free from all enmity and the mind enjoys tranquility, then with great courage it calls on the Master and attracts great help from above, 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, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. Εὐλόγησε γὰρ instead of εὐλόγησε δε - “bless” in Lucian. and other sp. according to Heb. T. ὁ Θεὸς instead of Κύριος – Lord in Lucian. and other sp. according to Heb. t. Words: οί Φυλιστιεὶμ - “Philistines” and further: αὐτὰ, usually read in Greek. sp. with the inclusion of Lucian., are not read in Zlat., “Philistines” are not read only in one sp. (Higian in “Holmes”). Here the saint passes on the Bible. narration partly in the words of Scripture, partly in our own words - for brevity. Zlat.: ἀνὰ μέσον ἡμῶν καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον σοῦ; instead in Lucian. sp.: ἀνὰ μέσον σοῦ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον ἡμῶν – “between you and between us”; the first reading followed by Slavyan. B., consistent with Heb. t. Zlat.: ἀπελθόντες; in Lucian. and other sp. instead, according to Heb. t., παραγενόμενοι – “having come” (Slav. B.). Further words, usually read in Greek. sp.: ἀπήγγειλαν αὐτῷ περὶ τοῦ φρέατος οὗ – “I told him about the treasure trove, his” from Zlat. are not readable. In Lucian. sp. here it is also read αὐτῷ - “to him”, which is absent from Zlat. according to the original reading of the translation of the 70 (Field), in which Heb. “lo”, meaning here, in its outline, “him”, is taken as a negative particle “not”, as a result of which, according to the Greek word. The translation says: “I did not find water,” but according to Hebrew. t. - “we found water.” You might be interested in: