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“And Rebekah called her youngest son, and said unto him 522” (Gen. 27:42). 1. Did you see yesterday the great kindness of the publican, and the indescribable love of the Lord, and the extreme insensitivity of the Jews? Have you seen how blessed Matthew, with his quick obedience (to the Lord) and such an important change (of life), teaches us all that after the highest grace, our will serves as the cause of virtue and vice, and that with our own zeal we can become virtuous, and with negligence we again fall into the abyss of sin 523? This is why we differ from the dumb, that the man-loving God honored us with reason, and put the knowledge of good and evil into our nature. So, no one should justify himself by saying that he neglects virtue out of ignorance, or because he does not have a guide on its path. We have sufficient guidance - conscience, and it is impossible for anyone to be deprived of its help. At the very creation of man, the knowledge of what he should do was implanted in him, so that, having demonstrated his prudence by practicing the deeds of virtue in this life, as if in some school of struggle, he would receive rewards for good deeds - having labored for a short time, he would be awarded crowns in the endless century - having acquired virtue in this fleeting life, he would enjoy imperishable blessings in boundless and endless centuries. Knowing this, beloved, let us not humiliate our dignity, let us not be ungrateful for such a blessing, and, chasing after temporary imaginary pleasures, let us not prepare ourselves for eternal torment. Let us organize our lives as if we constantly have before us a never-sleeping Eye, seeing our innermost thoughts; protected by the weapon of the Spirit and showing our own good disposition of heart, we will attract help from above, so that with its assistance, having defeated the enemy and the opponent and rendered his machinations harmless, we could enjoy the benefits that the Lord promised to those who love Him. Therefore, no one should look at the difficulty of virtue, but having in mind the benefit that comes from it, everyone should readily undertake all efforts for its sake. If those who are engaged in everyday affairs and madly strive to accumulate wealth, readily decide on everything and, although they foresee dangers at sea, and shipwrecks, and attacks by sea robbers, do not therefore become inactive, not even being confident in the successful completion of their affairs - what excuse will we have when we do not devote ourselves with full zeal and zeal to the exploits of virtue for the sake of eternal benefits? Why are we so ungrateful to our Benefactor? Why do we not think about what has already been given to us, nor about what is promised, but forgetting, so to speak, everything, we spend our whole lives without a goal and recklessly, like animals, not taking any care of the soul, only as if tearing our belly (from satiety), thereby causing great harm to our poor body, while due to immoderation and overeating we try to prepare many things for ourselves, leaving our soul to languish in hunger? But the soul is more important than the body, and when it leaves the body, the body remains dead. So, we must also provide the soul with food that is characteristic of it and in accordance with its nature; and not observing measures in either respect, i.e. By saturating one (body) beyond need, and forcing the other (soul) to die of hunger, we harm both. That with which the Lord of all, as with the greatest wrath, once threatened the Jewish people, saying: “I will not give you the famine of bread, nor the thirst of water, but the famine of hearing the word of the Lord” (Am. 8:11), teaching us that that hunger can weaken the body, but this one strikes the very soul; the very thing that the Lord then threatened to bring upon them instead of punishment, we now voluntarily bring upon ourselves, and moreover, when God showed such great care for us, and according to His dispensation, when reading the Scriptures, we also receive admonitions from our mentors. Therefore, I beg your love to put aside all laziness, although to perk up a little and turn all efforts towards the salvation of the soul. In this way, you too will earn great favor from God, and we will become even more zealous for your edification when we see that our admonitions are being fulfilled in practice. And the farmer, when he sees that the land is capable of cultivation and brings him a lot of fruit, then he himself goes to work on farming with great zeal; Likewise, when we see your progress in piety, your effort to carry out our teachings in practice, we ourselves will put even more effort into your instruction, knowing that we do not sow on stones, but throw seeds into rich and deep soil. 2. For this reason, we offer you teachings every day, so that you too leave here, having received some benefit, and multiply your good deeds, and we rejoice when we see your success. Do we want to talk with you without need and without purpose, just to receive praise from you, so that you will leave here with applause? Not for this, - let it not be; but for your benefit. For me, the greatest and most sufficient praise is if someone turns from vice to virtue, if someone who was previously careless becomes diligent from our admonition; this will bring me the greatest praise and consolation, and you great benefit and spiritual wealth. But I have no doubt that you will show great diligence, since I know that you are taught by God and can edify others. Therefore, having stopped my admonition on this here, I will continue the usual teaching from the words of the blessed Moses, or - better - from the words of the Holy Spirit, spoken to us through Moses, and, having offered your attention at least a little, I will arrange a treat for you today. You recently heard how Jacob, having acted in everything on the advice of Rebekah, received a blessing from his father, having performed this praiseworthy act, through which he received assistance from God, and his efforts achieved success. But after that, strong envy of him was born in Esau, so that Esau thought about murder; Such is this destructive passion: it will not stop until the person carried away by it is cast into the abyss, until it leads him to sin - murder, because the root of murder is envy. So it was in the beginning between Cain and Abel. And he, having nothing, neither small nor great, of which he could accuse his brother, only saw that the Lord favored (to Abel) for bringing gifts, and rejected him for his own negligence, immediately became inflamed with envy and, having given birth to the root of murder in his mind, soon discovered its disastrous fruit, and committed murder in practice. So now Esau, seeing that his brother had received a blessing from his father, carried away by anger and envy of murder, thought of destroying his brother. But the wonderful mother, feeling this, again shows her maternal love for her son and offers advice that could snatch him from his brother’s hands. Calling, it says, “his youngest son, he said to him: Behold, Esau is your brother 524 threatening to kill you: now 525 ... listen to my voice” (Gen. 27:42–43). Experience will show you, she says, that I advise you what is useful; and just as you, having listened to my words, received great blessings from your father, so now listen to me, so that you can escape the hands of your brother. So you will save yourself from dangers, and me from sadness. It is in the order of things that if he dares to do this, he will be punished; and then my grievous sorrows will increase on all sides. So, “listen to my voice, and rise up and run 526 ...to my brother Laban, to Haran; and live with him some days, until the wrath and anger of your brother turn away from you, and he will forget what you have done to him, and send and bring you from there, so that I will not be childless from both of you in one day” (Gen. 27:43-45). Go, he says, to my brother Laban, and live there with him. Naturally, both removal and continuation of time will produce a better effect: passion will be tamed, envy will fade away, and he will forget about your act regarding the theft of the blessing: “and he will forget what you did for him.” It is natural that he is angry, she says; therefore it is better to avoid his fury; and when, over time, he forgets this, you can safely settle here. And so that the son does not grieve, being forced to retire to a foreign land, see how she calms the spirit of the young man; firstly, he says: go “to Laban my brother.” Do I, he says, force you to go to someone else? “To my brother, and live with him for some days”; for a short time, he says, live a few days until the anger subsides. Now his anger is in full force: driven by passion, he has no respect for his father, and does not even think about brotherly love, but is only occupied with one thing - to satisfy his rage. “And having sent,” she says again, “I will quickly bring you from there”; I'll get you back. Therefore, go boldly, because “having sent, I will bring you.” I am afraid of everything and am afraid for both of you, so as not to lose me both. Notice the prudence of the mother - how she, driven by her own feelings, or better yet, serving in the present case (the fulfillment of) God’s prophecy, advises her son the same thing that Christ instilled in His disciples when he advised them not to expose themselves needlessly to danger, but to tame the fury of passion by removing themselves. She also offers the same to her son, first of all advising him and encouraging his spirit so that he does not grieve over his departure, and then presents a plausible reason for the journey, so that it would not be clear that he is leaving because of his brother’s hatred of him, so that the father does not know either the true reason for his departure or Esau’s indignation at him. And Rebekah came to Isaac, “speaking: I have made my daughters suffer the cold through my life for the sake of the sons of the Hittites; If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of that land, then I will live forever” (Gen. 27:46). 3. Look what a plausible excuse she found! When the High Right Hand assists you, difficult things become easy, and difficult things become easy. Since her intentions agreed with the will of God, therefore God put into her mind everything that could contribute to the future economy 527 and the salvation of her son. “The cold,” she says, “with my life my daughters for the sake of the sons of the Hittites; If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of that land, then shall I live?” Here, it seems to me, she understands the bad morals of Esau’s wives, precisely because they were the cause of many griefs for them. Above, the Divine Scripture told us that Esau took wives from the Hittites and Hivites, and “resisted Isaac and Rebekah.” Wanting to remind Isaac of this, Rebekah seems to say to him: You know how bitter the life of Esau’s wives has made my life, and how, because of their evil disposition, I now look with hostility at all the daughters of the sons of the Hittites and have hated all this people for their sake. And if it happens that Jacob takes one of them as a wife, then what hope of salvation will I have left? “How do I live?” If we cannot bear even those, and if Jacob hastens to take a wife from the daughters of this land, then our life is over. Isaac, hearing this and remembering the insults from Esau’s wives, “called Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, saying: Thou shalt not understand a wife from the daughters of the Canaanites. But 528 rise up, go 529 to Mesopotamia, to the house 530 ... of your mother’s father, and get yourself from there 531 a wife, from the daughters 532 of your mother’s brother” (Gen. 28:1-2). And he didn’t stop there, but wanting to incline him even more for the journey, he again uttered a blessing to him and said: “My God will bless 533 you and increase you, and multiply you, and you will become a collection of languages. And may the blessing of Abraham my father give you, that you and your seed after you may inherit the land of your habitation, which God gave to Abraham” (Gen. 28:3-4). See how the righteous man proclaims everything to him in advance and gives him sufficient means of consolation, predicting his return and inheritance of the earth, and that he will not only grow into a multitude (of descendants), but also hosts of nations will come from his seed. Hearing this, the son fulfilled his father’s command and went to Mesopotamia to Laban, his mother’s brother. But Esau, when he learned about this, also that Jacob, along with his father’s blessing, received a command from him - not to take a wife from the daughters of Canaan, and went to Mesopotamia, as if wanting to correct his mistake and appease his father, adding, it is said, “taking a wife to his wives, the daughter of Ishmael the son of Abraham” (Gen. 28:9). Do you see, beloved, with what prudence this loving mother pulled Jacob out of danger, presenting a plausible pretext for his removal; Moreover, she did not reveal Esau’s malice, and did not reveal the (real) reason to her father, but gave her son advice in accordance with the circumstances, in order to persuade him through fear to accept her words, and instilled in his father thoughts corresponding to that? Therefore, the righteous man agreed with her words and released Jacob, bestowing his blessings on him. But if you wish, and you are not yet weary, let us see how Jacob makes his journey. If we are attentive, then from here we can derive considerable benefit for ourselves, because the mode of action of righteous men contains the most instructive wisdom. Now look at this young man, brought up at home, who has never experienced the difficulties of traveling, or living on a foreign side, or any other worries - look at how he undertakes his journey, and learn high wisdom. “Jacob,” it says, “left the oath store and went to Harran. And you found a place and prospered there, for the sun had gone down: and you took from the stone of that place, and put it for your head, and slept in the place 534” (Gen. 28:10-11). Do you see the unspeakable wisdom? Do you see how the ancients made the journey? A person raised at home (again, I’ll say the same thing), who used such services, “a simple man 535 lives at home,” it is said (Gen. 25:27), setting out on a journey, did not require any pack animals, or retinue, or travel supplies; but he sets out on the path as if following the apostolic example. When the sun set, he fell asleep where night overtook him. “Take,” it says, “a stone and put it at your head.” Notice the courage of the young man: he used a stone instead of a head and fell asleep on the bare ground. Because he had a wise soul, a strong mind and was alien to all worldly vanity, he was awarded a wondrous vision. This is our Lord: when he sees a well-meaning soul, caring a little about the present, then he shows great providence for it. 4. Look at this righteous man, who lies on the bare ground and contemplates the vision, or better yet, is rewarded with the appearance of God himself. “And I saw a dream,” it is said, “and the ladder was established 536 on the earth, its head reached to heaven, and the Angels of God ascended and descended on it 537. The Lord established himself on her and said: I am the God of Abraham your father 538 and the God of Isaac, do not be afraid” (Gen. 28:12-13). See here the wondrous care of God, the lover of mankind. He saw that Jacob, on the advice of his mother, fearing his brother, had undertaken this journey and was making his way like some wanderer, not having any consolation from anywhere, but relying in everything on help from above; and immediately, at the very beginning of his journey, wanting to strengthen his desire, he appears to him and says: “I am the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac.” I did what both the patriarch and your father achieved such great glory; and therefore “do not be afraid,” but believe that I, who have fulfilled the promises given to them, will also honor you with My providence. So, do not be afraid, but be cheerful and, putting aside all fear, believe what I say to you: for “the earth on which you write 539 I will give it to you and to your seed, and your seed will be like the sand of the sea” (Gen. 28:13-14). Do not think that if you now go to a foreign country, you will lose the land where you were born, where you were raised and grew up. “I will give it to you and to your seed,” which I will multiply “like the sand of the sea, and it will spread over the sea, and Liba, and the north, and to the east, and all the tribes of the earth will be blessed for you and for your seed” (Gen. 28:14-15). Look how God is already predicting for him everything that will happen after a long time. This is what the Lord of all usually does in relation to every righteous person: he makes promises, but does not immediately fulfill them, but tests the obedience and patience of the righteous, and then fulfills what he has already promised with great generosity. Since he promised him what was to happen later, and the righteous man needed special consolation precisely in his then situation, look how the good Lord, along with the promise of the future, encouraged him in this very thing that he now announces to him. Do not think, He says, that I promise you only the future; but even now “I am with you; keep you on every path 540 even if you go” (Gen. 28:15). Therefore, do not think that you will make your journey alone: ​​you will have Me as your companion; You will have me along the entire path as a guard who will ease all difficulties for you and make difficult things easy. Then, even increasing his consolation, He already predicts his return to his homeland. “And I will return you,” he says, “to this land.” Don't be afraid that you will remain forever in a foreign country; “I will bring you back to this land and will not leave you until I have done all the great things that I have said to you” (Gen. 28:15). I will not leave you, he says, but I will bring everything that I have promised you to fulfill. Who can worthily marvel at God’s ineffable love for mankind and extreme condescension? Look how many promises He gave to the righteous man, and how he encouraged his spirit. But marveling at the love of God for mankind, imagine the good-naturedness of this righteous man - how, after such promises, having spent twenty years in labor with Laban, he did not grieve, did not become despondent from such a length of time, but endured everything complacently, waiting for the fulfillment of the promises and knowing that what God said cannot fail to be fulfilled, especially if we ourselves, for our part, try to add to this faith, patience and perfect confidence in unfulfilled promises, how soon they were given by God, as having already come to fulfillment. This is what true faith consists of: not paying attention to visible events, even if they were contrary to the promise, but trusting in the omnipotence of the One who promised. First, let's look at the good thoughts of the righteous. “And Jacob arose,” it is said, “from his sleep, and said: For the Lord is in this place, but I knew not. And he was afraid and said, “How terrible is this place, not this, but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (Gen. 28:16-17). Struck by the great love of God, the righteous man was afraid and said: “This is not, but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven”: I will now consider this place to be the house of God. Having been honored with such a phenomenon and having seen the very, so to speak, gates of Heaven, I, in all fairness, must here offer due thanks to the Lord. “And Jacob stood up 541 and took the stone he had 542 for his head, and set it up as a pillar, and drink offerings of oil on top of it. And Jacob called the name of that place: the house of God” (Gen. 28:18-19). Previously this place was called differently. Since he was rewarded with a vision of lofty objects, he wants to make this place memorable by its very name and make it significant for the future, placing a stone instead of a pillar and pouring oil (probably, he carried only one oil with him while on the road), and offered a prayer to the philanthropic God, filled with wisdom. 5. If you want, let’s listen to the very words of Scripture: “Pray for it,” it is said, “with prayer 543 saying: If the Lord God will be with me and keep me on this path, the same I go 544” (Gen. 28:20). Since the Lord said: I am with you and will keep you on the path you are going on, that is why he says: if you do to me what you promised. Then he adds a petition from himself in the following words: “If the Lord gives me bread... and clothe myself with garments” (Gen. 28:20). He does not ask for wealth or anything superfluous, but for bread and clothing - clothing to cover the body, but bread for the necessary food. Notice how with this petition he signified to us the apostolic spirit. The soul of the righteous was filled with such great wisdom! What Christ said: “Do not acquire gold, nor silver, ... nor two garments” (Matthew 10:9-10), he already knew, having not yet been taught by anyone, but of himself - from the teacher who is in our nature, and he wanted to receive from the Lord only “to eat bread and to put on garments.” If, he says, this happens to me in a foreign land, and then the Lord “brings me back in health to my father’s house,” as promised, “and the Lord will be my God: and this stone that I have set as a pillar will be the house of God, and of all that I am, I will tithe tithes to You” (Gen. 28:21-22). Notice the gratitude of the righteous! When he expressed his request, he did not want to ask for anything expensive, but only bread and clothing; when he makes a vow to the Lord, then, knowing His generosity in gifts, knowing that His rewards surpass every thought of ours, he says: “And this pillar will be the house of God,” and from everything that You have given me, “I will tithe tenths.” Do you see the God-loving intention? He has not yet received anything, but he already promises to bring tithes to God from everything that will be given to him. Let us not ignore, beloved, what has been said, but let us all be jealous of this righteous man; we who live in (the time of) grace will be jealous of him who lived before the law, and we will not ask our Lord for anything of this life. He does not expect our reminder, and even if we do not ask, He himself gives us what we need. “For His sun shines on the evil and on the good, and rains on the righteous and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). Let us listen to Him when He, convincing us, says: “Seek first the Kingdom of God,... and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Do you see that He Himself is ready to grant you this 545, and promises, in the form of an addition, to grant this 546? So do not ask as the main thing for what you should receive in addition. Let us not pervert the order, but let us seek first what He commanded, so that we may receive other things as well. Therefore, the Lord, in the words of the prayer, laying down for us the rules and limits to which our petitions about everyday objects should extend, commanded us to say the following words, filled with all wisdom: “Give us this day our daily bread” - i.e. daily food. That same righteous man, although he had not yet heard these words, prayed about this, saying: “The Lord will give me bread to eat, and to put on garments.” So, let us not ask Him for anything else of this life. It is completely unworthy of someone so generous and possessing such omnipotence to ask for something that is destroyed along with real life and is subject to many changes and accidents. And such is everything human: whether you point to wealth, or power, or human glory. Let us ask for something that does not pass away, that does not fail, that does not experience change. And knowing the goodness of our Lord, let us not think about the present, but let us turn all our efforts and desires to heavenly things. If He “makes His sun shine on the evil and the good and rains on the righteous and the unrighteous,” then all the more He will not despise those who turn away from evil and flee from unrighteousness, but He will honor them with special providence and show His care in everything. Knowing this, beloved, let us believe the promises of God and will not act contrary to His commandments. As for our current affairs, in them we are no different from unbelievers. If He promises the future, but we do not want to strive for this and cling to the present, then why look for another proof of unbelief, when the deeds themselves testify to this so clearly? And again, if He commands us not to ask Him for any of the temporal and worldly blessings, but to look for others, are we, on the contrary, turning to Him, looking for what He commanded not to look for, and not looking for what He commanded us to look for? And by doing this, so carelessly disposing of our lives, angering the meek and merciful Lord, we seem to forget what we ourselves are doing and look for the reasons for His anger at us - why He often leaves us when we fall into various temptations - rather than thinking about the severity of our sins, and voluntarily indulge in self-delusion. Therefore, I beg you: having rejected all this, let us not prefer anything to our own salvation. “What good is it to a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). We will waste excess wealth on the poor; in everything we will show much wisdom by contempt for vain glory, humiliation of human pride, discovery of mutual love for each other, in order to receive both here and future blessings, through 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 to the ages of ages. Amen. No reproducing the Bible with literal accuracy. text transmitted into Greek. sp. no special differences: εῖ᾿πεν αὐτῷ - “and he sent Jacob his youngest son and spoke to him.” Conversations about the publican who unquestioningly followed the Lord (Matthew), which is mentioned here by St. Chrysostom is not visible in the number of conversations on the book of Genesis. If it is impossible to understand here one of his conversations on Ev. Matthew (chapter 9), then we must assume that a special conversation about the publican Matthew has not survived to our time. Zlat.: ἀπειλεῖ; in Lucian. sp. ἀπειλεῖται, although the meaning is the same. τέκνον – “child”, usually read in Greek. sp., at Zlat. omitted. The words: εἰς τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν - “to Mesopotamia” (Slav. B.) are not readable, according to Bodleian, Koislian. (15 from Holmes) and others, as well as from Heb. T.; in Lucian. - read. τῇ οικονομίᾳ τῇ μελλούσῃ. Zlat.: ἀλλ᾿ according to sp. Dorothea; in Lucian. and so on. not readable, just like in Hebrew. t. – πορεύου according to the same clause. Dorothea; in Lucian., Alex. etc. instead it reads: ἀπόδραθι - “run away” (Slav. B.). The name Βαθουὴλ - “Bethuel”, usually read in Greek. sp., as in Hebrew. t., at Zlat. omitted. ἐκεῖθεν according to Alex. and many more other sp. and ev. T.; in Lucian. sp. it is not readable. The name Λαβὰν - “Lavana” is also omitted from Zlat. Zlat.: εὐλογήσει σε καὶ αὐξήσει σε καὶ πληθυνεῖ σε καὶ ἔση... according to sp. Dorothea, 59, 79 (at "Holmes") and Heb. T.; instead in Lucian. sp. εὐλογήσαι σε, τέκνον, καὶ πληθύναι σε καὶ ἔσει - “may he bless you, child, and may he multiply you and be”; last reading Greek The text differs from the first in that it uses the first two verbs in the command. incl. instead of the future tense, as in Heb. t., adds the word: “child”, unreadable in Hebrew. t., and omits the words: “and you will grow.” Addition: ἐκείνῳ – “onym” (Slav. B.), read in Lucian., Alex. and other sp. according to Heb. t., at Zlat. not readable. ῎Απλαστος γὰρ, as translated in 70 Hebrews. the word “there” actually means: “simple”; in Slav. B. it is translated: “not wicked.” Zlat.: ῆ᾿ν according to sp. Dorothea; in Lucian. and other sp. not readable. ᾿Επ᾿ αὐτῆς according to sp. Dorothea, Alex. and others, instead of ἐπ᾿ αὐτὴν - “on her” in Lucian. sp. In Lucian. sp. here is a different arrangement of words: τοῦ πατρός σου ᾿Αβραὰμ - “your father Abraham.” Zlat.: Καὶ γὰρ τὴν, ἐφ᾿ ᾖ σὺ καθεύδεις, which in Lucian. sp. corresponds to: ἡ γῆ, ᾿εφ᾿ ἣν σὺ καθευδεις ἐπ᾿ αὐτῆς – “the ground on which you sleep on it.” Zlat.: Μετὰ σοῦ εἰμι διαφυλάσσων σε ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ πάσῃ, to which in Lucian. sp. corresponds to: ἐγὼ μετὰ σοῦ διαφυλάσσων σε ἐν τῇ γῇ πάση – “I am with you, keeping you in every earth”; the first reading is closer to Heb. t. Το πρωὶ – “morning”, read in Lucian. and other Greek, with the exception of Monacan (“de Lag”. Genesis gr.), is not read in Zlat. Zlat.: ὃν εἶχε instead of ὃν ὑπέθηκεν ἐκεῖ – “put it there too” (Slav. B.) in Lucian. and other sp. Ηὔξατο γὰρ εὐχὴν, as this passage is read in Lucian. and so on. sp.; at Zlat. only here καὶ – “and” is changed to γὰρ – “for” and the name is omitted: ᾿Ιακὼβ – “Jacob”. Slavs translation: “and Jacob made a vow” follows here Heb. text. πορεύομαι instead of πορεύσομαι - “I will go” to Lucian. sp. You might be interested in: