Беседа LX

“And having built an altar, he called the name of the place Bethel: there God appeared to him, while he fled from the presence of his brother Esau” (Gen. 35:7). 1. If you wish, today turning to the continuation of what we read before, we will offer you a lesson from the subsequent narrative (Scripture). The story of Jacob even today can sufficiently show how great God’s providence was for him, and how God strengthened him with His promises, rewarding his good thoughts. In the previous legend (Divine Scripture) we were told how Jacob, at the command of God, leaving Shechem, because of the actions of his sons, retired to Luz. “And having built,” continues the Scripture, “an altar, he called the name of the place Bethel: there God appeared to him, when he fled from the face of his brother Esau.” Having commanded this to the righteous man and freed him from the fear in which he was on the occasion of the killing of the Shechemites, God, as it is said, brought such fear to the inhabitants of those cities that they did not pursue Jacob. Look how great God's providence was for him, and what care God had for him! God struck fear into the souls of the inhabitants of those cities so that they would not pursue him. They probably wanted to avenge the Sichemites. But since this happened without the will of the righteous, and Simeon and Levi did this, taking revenge for the offended chastity of their sister, then (God) not only delivers Jacob himself and his sons from the torment of fear, but also brought fear to the inhabitants of the country and kept them from persecution. You see how much it means to be favored from above! When God shows His favor towards us, then all sorrow disappears. Just as He gave courage to the righteous, so He brought fear to those. As the Lord of everything, He directs everything to whatever He wants, and in everything He reveals His graceful wisdom. There is no stronger person who has acquired heavenly help, just as there is no weaker person who is deprived of this help. This righteous man was few in number and very small; but since he was protected by the Divine right hand, he received boldness and escaped the intrigues (of enemies). And the inhabitants of those cities gathered in large numbers and showed unanimity in their plans; but they did not have the strength to fulfill any of their intentions in practice. “There was,” it is said, “the fear of God in the cities around them” (Gen. 35:5). So, when the righteous man freed himself both from his fear and from the natives, here again God reveals His abundant love for mankind towards him. “Having appeared,” it is said, “God still exists to him in Luz” (Gen. 35:9). Why is it added: “still”? Not simply, but because He had already appeared to him in this place before, when he, having fled from his brother, headed his way to Mesopotamia. Therefore, it is now said: just as God appeared to him then, when he departed from here, so now he appears to him in the same place, upon his return, and confirms the promises that he gave him at his departure, predisposing the righteous to firmly believe the promises and not be shaken in spirit until the time of their fulfillment. “And bless him, and say unto him, Thy name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name” (Gen. 35:9-10). Although God had previously given him such a nickname, when the righteous man was crossing Jabbok 712, yet now, wanting to instill in the righteous man even greater confidence (in His promises), he gives him the same blessing and says: “Israel will be called 713 your name:... and nations and congregations of tongues will grow and multiply from you, and kings will come out of your midst” (Gen. 35:10-11). Notice the greatness of the blessing! (God) says that not only will he increase in numbers, but that glorious offspring will come from him: “Kings will come from your loins,” he says, thereby foreshadowing the greatness of those who will come from him. “And the land,” he also says, “which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I gave to you 714, and to your seed after you I will give this land” (Gen. 35:12). Since Jacob, on the occasion of the well-known act of Simeon and Levi, said: “I am small in number, and they will gather against me and cut me off, and I and my house will be destroyed” (Gen. 34:30), and in everything he showed cowardice and the great fear that took possession of him, therefore the man-loving Lord says to him now: you said: “I am small in number,” but know, that your seed will multiply and spread and will be so glorious that an assembly of nations and kings will come from it, not only will you not be destroyed, but you and your seed will inherit this whole land. Having given him such promises, “God, it is said, went up from him from the place where he spoke with him” (Gen. 35:13). Look how Divine Scripture descends upon us (in the form of expressions). “God came forth,” it says, “from him,” not (so it says) so that we imagine the Divinity limited in some place, but so that in this too we recognize the ineffable love of God. And in this way of narration, the grace of the Spirit condescends to human weakness. The words: “ascending and descending” are unworthy of God 715, but since the use of such sensual sayings for our teaching serves especially as evidence of His ineffable love for mankind, then (Divine Scripture) uses human expressions. Otherwise, it would be impossible for human hearing to comprehend the height of the word, if it were spoken to us in accordance with the greatness of the Lord. 2. Having this in mind, let us not dwell on the simplicity of expressions; but let us marvel at the ineffable goodness of the Lord and the fact that He does not refuse to show such condescension due to the weakness of our nature. But look how the righteous man expresses his own gratitude. “And Jacob set up,” it is said, “a pillar of stone 716 in the place where God spoke with him, and he burned a sacrifice 717 on it, and libations of oil, and called the name of the place where he spoke with him... Bethel” (Gen. 35:14-15). See how this righteous man always perpetuates the memory (of events) with the names of places, so that subsequent generations will know the vision that the righteous man had here. “And Jacob arose... and set up his tent further than the pillar of Gadir 718” (Gen. 35:16). The righteous man moves further again, so that little by little he can reach the place where Isaac lived. Then, “when I drew near to come to Euphrabe 719, Rachel was born in distress. And when she was suddenly cruelly born, the woman said to her: Be of good cheer, for this is your son” (Gen. 35:16–17). Do not be discouraged, he says, you will give birth to a son; although pain torments you, you will still have a son. “It came to pass when my soul left me and died, and I called his name: son of my illness; and his father called him Benjamin” (Gen. 35:18). The mother gives the baby a name after an event that happened to her; and his father named him Benjamin. Rachel, after she gave birth to a son, “died,” it is said, “and was buried on the path of Euphrabe: this is Bethlehem. And Jacob set up a pillar on the tomb” (Gen. 35:19–20). The grief over the death of Rachel was eased by the newborn and disposed the righteous man to bear the loss of Rachel complacently. But then Reuben's folly is revealed. “I went,” it says, “Reuben and slept with Bilhah, his father’s concubine. And when Israel heard, evil appeared before them” (Gen. 35:22). It was a very criminal matter. Therefore, subsequently, the lawgiver Moses forbade the son and father to have cohabitation with the same woman. To prevent this from becoming a custom later, the legislator prevents him from doing so by declaring him guilty of execution. However, now Jacob endured this too meekly, overcome by natural love. Subsequently, moving away from real life, he reproached his son, clearly depicting his crime and condemning him to damnation, so that through the fate that befell Reuben, others would also become wise. Next, blessed Moses numbers the sons of Jacob for us, and with his narration again teaches us the virtues of the righteous. So that you do not think that Jacob, without a special reason, by chance, was in marriage with Rachel, Leah and two slaves, Moses shows that, obeying some providence 720, he had cohabitation with them, so that the twelve tribes would come from him. Therefore, Scripture no longer mentions any other son still born from him, in order to show that this did not happen simply and not without a purpose. “Besha,” it is said, “the sons of Jacob are twelve.” Scripture separates the sons of Leah and the sons of Rachel, and then counts those born of slaves, and says: “These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Mesopotamia” (Gen. 35:26). However, Benjamin was born when (Jacob) was hurrying to Bethlehem: why does Scripture say this: “who was born to him in Mesopotamia.” Perhaps Rachel conceived him even before leaving Mesopotamia. “And Jacob came to Isaac his father” (Gen. 35:27). Look here too how the humane God wanted to satisfy the righteous in everything. When Jacob, after so many years of separation, came to his father, and when there was great consolation for both, both for the son from meeting his father, and for the father because he saw such abundance in everything for his son and many children; then, says Scripture, “Isaac died, old and full of days” (Gen. 35:29). If at the time when Jacob stole the blessing, the vision of his eyes was dulled, he says, which is why he fell into deception, then think how he must have grown old, so many years after that. "And Esau and Jacob buried it." But after the burial of his father, “Esau, watered his wives and his sons and all his 721 ... and all the great attraction in the land of Canaan, and departed ... It was not possible for 722,” it is said, “the land of habitation to contain them from the multitude of possessions. And then they dwelt in Mount Siir” (Gen. 36:6–8). Having told us about those born from Esau and about the nations descended from him, the Divine Scripture says: “And Jacob dwelt in the land where his father dwelt, in the land of Canaan” (Gen. 37:1). And from here begins another story about the wonderful Joseph. 3. Here, if you want, we will finish the word; We will postpone the story of the son of Jacob until another conversation. We only ask your love that you carefully listen to what is said, so that you derive the greatest benefit from everything set forth in the Divine Scripture, and leave nothing unattended. The Word of God is a spiritual treasure. And just as someone who receives even one stone from a material treasure often acquires great wealth, so here too the virtues of the righteous, if we want to be attentive, can bring us such great benefit that zeal will be aroused in us to imitate them. And in this way, we too can receive the same favor from God as the righteous. “For God does not look at personalities, but fear Him in every nation, and do what is right and He is pleasing” (Acts 10:34-35), so that if we want, nothing will prevent us from receiving the same, or even greater, help from above. If He sees that we, on our part, are making every possible effort and preferring what is pleasing to Him over human things, then He Himself will show such care for us that we will become insurmountable in everything. We have a constant enemy who has irreconcilable hatred towards us; therefore we must be vigilant in order to defeat his wiles and rise above his arrows. And we can only win if by living a virtuous life we ​​acquire help from above. The best way of life is a pure life. This is the foundation and root of virtue. Whoever firmly lays such a foundation will easily overcome everything else: neither the passion for wealth, nor the love of fame, nor envy, nor any other passion will overcome him. I’ll tell you how it is. Whoever has a clear conscience and free from all vice, the Lord of all will dwell in him: “Blessed are those who are pure in heart, so that they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). When someone is worthy of having Him in himself, he will be in such a state as only one clothed with a body 723, and will show complete contempt for everything human. Everything visible will appear to such a person as a shadow and a dream; as if already in heaven, he will not want anything in real life. Such was Paul, the teacher of the universe, why did he exclaim, saying; or “you are seeking temptation, Christ speaking in me” (2 Cor. 13:3). And again: “I live not for this purpose, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). And again: “And as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith.” Do you see a man here, clothed with a body, but speaking about everything as if he had the lot of an incorporeal being? 4. We will all be jealous of Him, we will mortify the members of the flesh and make them ineffective for sin. In this way we can present them to God as an acceptable sacrifice. Do you see something new and strange in such a sacrifice? When the members (of the flesh) become dead, then they become most suitable for the victim. Why and for what? Because this is a spiritual sacrifice and has nothing sensual. In a sensual sacrifice, not only everything dead is rejected, but even the living, as soon as it has some kind of damage, can never be a pleasant sacrifice. This was legalized from the beginning, and not simply, but so that through such observation of the dumb, we would little by little be led to make spiritual and rational sacrifices with the same attention. There - in sensual sacrifices - damage consists, for example, in the absence of an ear or tail (in an animal); here (in spiritual sacrifice) in wickedness, lust, luxury, love of money and all sin. There (the sacrificial animal was required) to be in a healthy state, alien to any corruption; here it is necessary to become dead to the world and thus prepare oneself as a spiritual sacrifice. Let us not ignore this, but having confirmed this in our thoughts, we will try to be no worse than the Jews who showed such observation when they served in the canopy. They, while still sitting by the lamp, had such prudence in the reasoning of their victims; We, having been worthy to be illuminated by the Sun of Truth and having already been brought from the shadows to the truth, will show similar thoroughness in relation to spiritual sacrifice. Let us not ignore even sins that are considered minor; but every day we will demand from ourselves an account both in words and in looks, and subject ourselves to punishment in order to be freed from punishment in the next century. That’s why Paul says: “If we had reasoned with ourselves, we would not have been condemned” (1 Cor. 11:31) - so if here we judge ourselves in our daily sins, then we will be delivered from the severity of the future judgment. If we do not serve, then “we will be judged,” says Paul, “and we will be punished by the Lord.” So, let us judge ourselves in advance with complete sincerity, let us enter the judgment seat of conscience, where no one sees us; So let us begin to test our thoughts and pronounce the right judgment on ourselves, so that our mind, fearing the future judgment, would refrain from hobbies, curb its impulses and, imagining that never-slumbering Eye, would block the entrance to the devil. That we suffer from our own negligence is clearly shown by experience. If we wanted to perk up a little, we would shake off all his (the devil’s) machinations like dust; So, when we fall (into sin), we endure it not because of his (the devil’s) violence, but because of our own carelessness. He overcomes us not by force or coercion, but only by seduction. And it is in our power not to get carried away by seduction if we only want to stay awake and sober a little, not because we ourselves have such power, but because in this case we will also be rewarded with help from above. When we show diligence on our part, then everything will follow from the Lord. Let us, please, be sober, and, knowing the tricks of the evil one, let us constantly watch and pray to God to give us His help in the fight against the devil. In this way we will become invincible, and we will avoid his tricks, and we will use God’s help, and we will achieve eternal blessings, which may be given to all of us, 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 to the ages of ages. Amen. ᾿Ιαβὼχ – the Jabbok River, now Zerka, in the East Jordanian country. Gen.32:22. Instead of ἔσται - “will be”, as was said above, here κληθήσεται, as it is read, however, in 135 sp. (Holmes). In Lucian. and a few others, then it reads: σοῖ ἔσται - “it will be for you” (Slav. B.), which is absent from Zlat. according to Alex. and many more etc., as well as Heb. t. ἀνάξιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, that is, incompatible with the Divine being, as completely spiritual. Zlat.: ἔστησε γὰρ ᾿Ιακὼβ στήλην λιθίνην; Here the saint, for the sake of brevity, rearranges the words of the Bible. text, connecting together the words: στήλην... στήλην λιθίνην - “pillar... stone pillar”, usually read separately in lists. In agreement with the usual reading of the translation. 70 the saint here reads: καὶ ἔσπεισεν ἐπ᾿ αὐτὴν σπονδὴν, which literally means: “and he poured out a drink offering on him,” i.e. brought a sacrifice consisting of a libation of wine, which idea about the peculiarity of this sacrifice does not appear clearly in the non-literal Slavs. translation: “devour the victim on it.” Zlat.: Γαδὴρ according to sp. Dorothea; in Alex. and Lucian. – Γαδὲρ – “Gader”, in Hebrew. t. – “Geder” or “Eder”. ἤγγεισε τοῦ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς ᾿Εφραθὰ with the omission εἰς Χαβραθά - “to Havrafa” (Slav. B.), which is read in Lucian. and so on. sp., with 70 perev. common noun the word (kibrat), meaning “extension, field,” was taken as a proper name. It is remarkable that the saint omitted this proper name as superfluous. οἰκονομίᾳ τινὶ ὑπηρετούμενος. καὶ παντας τοὺς αὐτοῦ, says Zlat., replacing with this general expression those listed in the book. The existence of daughters, slaves and various types of property. Οὐκ ἠδύνατο γὰρ, instead of what is usually read in the book: καὶ οὐκ ἠδύνατο - “and it is not possible” (Slav. B.). ὡς ἀπλῶς καὶ εἰκῆ τὸ σῶμα περικείμενος . You might be interested in: