Ответ брату о священнике Илии

Question . Scripture says about the priest Elijah that “God slandered his sons, and did not discipline them” (1 Samuel 3:13), although we also hear that his father reprimanded and admonished them (2 Samuel 23–25). Answer . Be attentive to yourself so that your mind, having become very curious, does not deviate from the right path, wandering where it should not, because everything is a matter of faith. And if there is no faith, then the one who hesitates will not find what he was looking for. For it is said: “If you do not believe, you will not understand” (Is. 7:9). It is said about Elijah, however, that he did not approve of his children who did evil. But, however, he could easily leave evil, as the next word shows. At least, what you took for admonition was not admonition, but negligence about the love of God, which is why Elijah’s behavior reaches the extreme limit of condescension. But there was a special care in this, so that Eli himself, with his own lips, would testify to the iniquity of his sons, as it is written: “Eli became very old, and when he heard what his sons did to all the children of Israel... And he said to them: Why do you do according to this word, which I hear from the mouth of all the people of the Lord (about you)? Neither, children, nor: for the rumor that I hear about you is not good”: do not serve the Lord. “If a man sins, men will pray for him to the Lord; if he sins against the Lord, who will pray for him?” (1 Samuel 2:22-25). Therefore, according to the testimony of the father himself, we must conclude that his sons are excessively wicked. Not one person, but everyone, from the smallest to the greatest, cried out to them, as Eli himself testifies: “Why are you doing according to this verb, which I hear from the mouth of all the people of the Lord?” They offended and seduced everyone, desecrating sacred sacrifices; Not only did they turn people away from making sacrifices, but even, horrified by the impermissible deeds to which the sons of Eli went, they plotted to retreat from the faith. Listen to what Eli says: “The hearing that I hear about you is not good”: do not serve the Lord. And if he said: “Don’t do this,” then, perhaps, fearing popular irritation, he used this expression to soften those screaming at his children. But if he cared about the worship of God, he would not have tolerated children doing so much harm to it, that is, disturbing the worship of God; but he would have tried to immediately eradicate lawlessness in his own house, because these priests were also guardians of the law, intending to break the law. And he would either admonish them legally, in case of obedience, or, in case of disobedience, he would repudiate them, according to the tradition of the law, because he was both a priest and a judge, and all the people listened to his word. Then he would have completely escaped God's wrath; but, having allowed the bad deeds of the children, he rightly experienced the wrath that befell him. Therefore, it is not God who is to blame: “For the Lord our God is upright, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (Ps. 91:16). And that legal admonition consists of punishment, this is clear from the next word. The righteous Job said: “Blessed is man, whom God rebukes, but do not turn away from the punishment of the Almighty. He makes you sick and makes you sick again” (Job 5:17–18). So the apostle advises fathers to raise their children “in the discipline and discipline of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). So, the Divine Scripture rightly says about Elijah that “God slandered his sons, and did not punish them”; for Eli did not have that zeal for God that the saints acquired, but he preferred servility to children over aspirations for the best. Every sensible person knows with what compassion he who gave birth to us was clothed with the gospel; He had in Himself “a womb of kindness, kindness... long-suffering” (Col. 3:12); but as soon as he heard that someone living in another country had sinned, he did not tolerate it and did not remain silent, but immediately instructed “to deliver him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 5:5). And the blessed Apostle Peter, not approving of disdain for the Divine, recognized those who dared to tempt the Holy Spirit as unworthy of their lives. The sons of Israel, when they became apostates from God, killed their sons and daughters to please the demons. And Eli, being a priest, when he could act, did not pay attention to such lawlessness. To promote their chastity, he did not use any instruction, nor corporal punishment, nor a cruel word for the desecration of sacred sacrifices, when, to please the demons, with their own hands they killed their children in front of every hay-leaved tree. Who will admit that Elijah is not responsible for evil, after he knew the sentence pronounced by God who arranged everything? But the merciful Lord, wanting to save him from the threatening anger through repentance, through the kindly youth revealed to him what had already been revealed. So that no bewilderment arises and leads to the impudent thought that the prediction was made at human discretion, envy or out of ill will of some towards him, God raises up a defender and witness to what was predicted and says in the words of Divine Scripture: “And the child Samuel served the Lord before Eli the priest, and the word of the Lord was in him... “in those days, without a vision being sent. And it came to pass in the day that Eli was saved in his place, and his eyes were often weary, and could not see: and before the lamp of God was quenched, and Samuel was saved in the church of the Lord, where the ark of God was. And the Lord called: Samuel, Samuel. And he said: behold, az. And he flowed to Elijah and said: Behold, I, as you called me. And Elijah said: “I didn’t call you, come back and sleep,” child. “And come back and spa. And the Lord added and called again: Samuel, Samuel... and he went to Elijah a second time, and said: Behold, I have called me. And he said: I didn’t call you, my child, come back and sleep. Samuel at that time did not yet know God, before the voice of the Lord was revealed to him. And the Lord caused to call Samuel as a third: and he stood up and went to Elijah and said: Behold, I have called me. And Eli thought, as if the Lord was calling the youth, and said: Return and sleep, child: and if the Caller shall call thee, and said: Say, Lord, for Thy servant heareth. And Samuel went, and was healed in his place. And the Lord came and the hundred, and called unto him as the first and the second: Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel said: Say (Lord), for Thy servant heareth. And the Lord said to Samuel: Behold, I create my words in Israel, so that everyone who hears it will make a noise in both his ears: in that day I will raise up on Elijah all the words of the words against his house: I will begin and finish: and I will tell him that I will take vengeance on his house forever in the iniquities of his sons, about whom I knew, as if I slandered God. his sons, and not to punish them: and for this reason he swore to the house of Eliin, that the unrighteousness of the house of Eliin in his censers and sacrifices would not be cleansed for ever. And Samuel slept until the morning, and in the morning, and opened the doors of the church of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Elijah. And Eli said to Samuel: Samuel is a child. And he said: behold, az. And Elijah said: what is the verb spoken to you; do not hide it from Me: may God do this to you, and may He add this to you, if you hide a word from Me from all the words spoken... in your ear. And Samuel told Elijah all the words, and did not hide a single word from him. And Eli said: The Lord Himself will do what is good before Him” (1 Samuel 3:1-18). What a weak soul in keeping God’s commandments! What criminal affection for wicked children! How could you not “fear his flesh” (Job 11:15) when you heard this? How did his insides not tremble? How could he not move his heart to take revenge on his law-breaking sons in imitation of Phinehas’ jealousy? How did he not tear his clothes to pieces and remain in the house after the condemnation was pronounced on him, and did not even hesitate? Achan, the son of Charmias, was not so much a criminal, who took “from the accursed” (Joshua 7:1). The sons of Eli, acting treacherously and hostilely, disrespected the Creator himself, who said to Moses and Aaron: “I will be sanctified among those who draw near to Me and will be glorified in all the congregation” (Lev. 10:3). And again: “Tell Aaron and his sons, let them take heed of the holy things of the children of Israel, and let them not profane the name of My holy one, for they sanctify Me: I am the Lord. Say to them: throughout your generations, if every man of your seed comes near to the saints, if the children of Israel sanctify the Lord, and his uncleanness remains on him, his soul will be required of Me" (Lev. 22:1-3). But Eli did not heed this, which is why he walked away, reaping the fruit of death. For he agreed better to offend God than to interrupt his compassion for law-breaking children. And although he clearly forbade it in word, saying: “Don’t do this, children,” he secretly participated in the atrocities of the children. Delve into the meaning of the answer, for he says: “The Lord is,” and “does what is pleasing before Him,” which means: I will not agree to insult my children. Even when admonished by Moses, he did not give up his compassion for children. For Moses, having received the tables, came down from the mountain and saw the worship of the calf, threw down the tables and crushed them, and did not respect the face of his brother, but cried out to Aaron in the most stern voice, saying: “What have these people done to you, because you have brought upon them a great sin” (Ex. 32:21). And Aaron, seeing that his brother was inflamed with divine jealousy, justified himself, saying this: “Do not be angry, sir: for you weigh the aspiration of these people” (Ex. 32:22). “Moses stood at the gates of the army and said: If anyone is the Lord’s, let him come to me. All the sons of Levi came down to him. And he said unto them, This saith the Lord God of Israel: Gird every man his sword upon his thigh, and pass on, and return from gate to gate through the army, and slay every man his brother, and every man his neighbor, and every man his neighbor. And the sons of Levi did as Moses said unto them: and the people fell that day unto three thousand men. And Moses said to them: Fill your hands this day with the Lord, every one of his sons and his brothers, that blessing may be given to you” (Ex. 32:26-29). And Job, who took care of the children, made sacrifices for them every day, so that they would be clean not only from obvious sins, but also have perfect thoughts. To such an extent did the righteous strive to present the fruit of their womb to the Lord blameless! But neither venerable old age, nor previous boldness, nor priestly rank saved the feeble-hearted Elijah, who was careless about correcting his children, from God’s wrath. So, when we listen to the Divine Scriptures and the enemy begins to sow something in our minds, then “in the foundation of faith” (Col. 1:23) we will say to him: “The Lord is faithful in all His words and honorable in all His deeds” (Ps. 145:13). You might be interested in: