Беседа XVI

About the fall of the primeval ones. “And the devil was both naked, Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed” (Gen. 2:25). 1. Today I want to reveal to you, beloved, a spiritual treasure, which, being shared, is never exhausted, enriches everyone, and does not decrease at all, on the contrary, it multiplies. And from the sensory treasure, if anyone manages to take even a small particle, then he creates great wealth for himself; so in the Divine Scripture, even in a short speech, one can find great power and an unspeakable wealth of thoughts. This is the property of this treasure: while making those who receive it rich, it itself never becomes scarce, because it is poured out abundantly by the source of the Holy Spirit. And your job is to carefully observe what is proposed and firmly keep it in your memory so that you can easily follow what is being said. If only we diligently do what depends on us, grace is ready and is looking for someone to receive it in abundance. Let us listen to today’s reading in order to know for us the inexpressible love of God for mankind, and what condescension He showed for the sake of our salvation. “And the besta is both naked, Adam and his wife, and not ashamed.” Think about the great bliss (of our ancestors), how they were above everything corporeal, how they lived on earth as if in heaven, and, being in the body, did not tolerate bodily needs: they did not need shelter, or a house, or clothing, or anything else like that. The Divine Scripture told us about this not simply and not without intention, but so that we, having learned about their carefree and painless life, and about their angelic, so to speak, state, when we later see that they have lost all this and from great abundance fell into the most extreme poverty, would attribute this to their carelessness. However, you need to listen to the reading itself. Blessed Moses, having said that (the ancestors) “naked besta, and not ashamed” (since they did not know that they were naked, because they were clothed and adorned, better than any clothing, with ineffable glory), says: “The serpent was the wisest of all the beasts that are on the earth, which the Lord God created. And the serpent said to the woman, “Why, as God said, Do not eat of every tree of paradise” (Gen. 3:1). Look at the envy and intricate cunning of the crafty demon. Seeing that created man is in the highest honor and is almost no less than the Angels, just as blessed David says: “Thou hast made him a little less than the Angels” (Ps. 8:6), and even this little was introduced by the sin of disobedience, because the prophet said this after disobedience, - so seeing an earthly angel on earth and consumed by envy, the culprit of evil, the demon, who himself was among the highest forces, but due to the corruption of the will and the immensity of anger, he fell from that height, used great cunning to deprive a person of God’s favor and, making him ungrateful, deprive him of all the benefits bestowed on him by God’s love for mankind. And what does it do? Having found this beast, i.e. the snake, which was superior in meaning to other animals, which Moses also testified with the words: “The serpent was the wisest of all the beasts that are on the earth, which the Lord God created” - using it as an instrument, the devil through it enters into a conversation with his wife, and draws this simplest and weakest vessel into his deception. “And he said,” it is said, “the serpent to the woman.” Conclude from this, beloved, that at first not a single beast was afraid of either husband or wife; on the contrary, recognizing their subordination and power (of man), both wild and untamed animals were then tame, just as the gentle ones are now. 2. But maybe someone here will be perplexed and want to know whether this animal also had the gift of speech 96? No, one should not think like that, but always following Scripture, one must reason in such a way that the words belonged to the devil, who was excited by this deception with his envy, and used this animal as a convenient tool to cover his deception with bait, to seduce first the wife, who, as always, is more capable of seduction, and then through her the first-created One. So, taking advantage of this wordless thing to set up a war, (the devil) enters into a conversation with his wife through him and says: “What did God say: Do not eat from every tree of paradise?” Look at the extremely subtle trick here! What God did not say, the devil offers in the form of advice and questions, as if caring about them, because such a disposition is shown by these words: “What did God say: Do not eat from every tree of paradise?” As if that evil demon would say this: why did (God) deprive you of such pleasure? Why doesn’t he allow you to fully enjoy the blessings of heaven, allowing you to enjoy contemplation (of them), and doesn’t allow you to taste them and feel all the more pleasure from this? “What did God say?” What is this for? What is the use of living in Paradise, since you cannot use what is in it, and you have to experience all the greater sorrow because you can look, but not receive the pleasure that comes from using it? Do you see how through these words, as if through bait, he lets in poison? The wife should have guessed from this very beginning about the extreme insolence of the devil - that he deliberately talks about what does not exist, and even as if caring about them, (speaks) in order to find out what God has commanded them, and thus entice them to crime. So, the wife could immediately recognize the devil’s cunning, avoid conversation with him as if he were talking empty words, and not bring herself to such humiliation; but she did not want (this). She should not even enter into a conversation with him, but should only talk with the one for whom she was created, to whom she was equal in dignity and created as a helper. When she, I don’t know how, got carried away, already entered into a conversation with the serpent and through him, as through an instrument, accepted the disastrous words of the devil, and then, realizing the incongruity of his words and seeing that the Creator commanded something else, and the devil said something else, contrary to the words of the Creator, she immediately had to turn away her ears, flee from the conversation with him, and despise the one who dared to sharpen his tongue against the commandment given to him. But due to extreme inattention, she not only did not deviate, but also completely revealed to him the commandment of God, cast the pearls before the pig, and the word of Christ was fulfilled: “Do not cast your pearls before the pigs, lest they trample them under their feet, and you will be torn apart as you turn” (Matthew 7:6). This is what happened now: (the wife) cast the Divine pearls in front of the pig, in front of this evil beast or demon acting through him, and he not only trampled them and resisted what was said (from God), but, turning back, dragged into the abyss of disobedience not only the wife, but with her the primordial one. It is so dangerous to reveal, without reasoning, as it was necessary, Divine secrets! Let those who talk to everyone without distinction and without reasoning hear (this). And Christ does not speak to us about a sensual pig, but means people like these animals, wallowing, like dumb people, in the uncleanness of sin; and by this he admonishes us to pay attention to the difference of persons, and to carefully consider the circumstances in which it is necessary to reveal something from the word of God, so as not to harm either others or ourselves. Such people not only do not themselves benefit from the words offered to them, but they often drag into the same abyss of destruction those who recklessly give them these precious pearls. Therefore, we must carefully watch out so that we do not suffer the same thing that the now deceived (foreparents) suffered. After all, if in this case the wife had wanted not to cast the Divine pearls before the pig, then she herself would not have plunged into that abyss, and she would not have carried away her husband. 3. But let's listen to what she answers to the devil. When the serpent said: “What did God say: Do not eat from every tree of paradise?” then the wife says to him: “From every tree of paradise we will eat: but from the fruit which is 97 in the midst of paradise, God said, let you not eat 98 touch it, lest you die” (Gen. 3:1-3). Do you see what deceit? (The devil) said something that did not happen, so that by calling her to a conversation, he would find out what was (actually said). The wife, trusting him as one who is well-disposed towards her, reveals the entire commandment, talks about everything in detail and, with her answer, takes away any excuse from herself. Really, what can you, wife, say (in your defense). “God said: Do not eat from every tree of paradise.” You should turn away from him (the devil), as if he said something contrary (to the truth), and say to him: go away, you are a deceiver, you do not know the power of the commandment given to us, nor the greatness of what we use, nor the abundance of gifts (of God). You say that God said that we should not eat from any tree of paradise; and the Lord and Creator, out of great goodness, having allowed us to use and possess all (trees), commanded us to abstain from one, this as a result of his care for us, so that we, through eating from it, would not suffer death. She should have, if she had been prudent, having said these words to him, turn away completely and no longer speak to him and not listen to his words. But she, having revealed the commandment and saying what God told them, receives from the devil a new suggestion, more disastrous and deadly. When the wife said that “we will eat from every tree of paradise, but from the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of paradise, God said, let us not eat from it, touch it below, and you will not die,” then the crafty enemy of our salvation offers his suggestion, contrary to the (word) of the Lord. While the humane God, out of great care, forbade eating so that they would not become mortal through disobedience, this one says to the wife: “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). What excuse does the wife deserve for listening so willingly to someone who spoke so impudently? God said: “If you touch below, you will not die,” but this one says: “you will not die.” Then, dissatisfied with the contradiction of the Divine words, he also presents the Creator as envious, so that in this way it is more convenient to deceive and, by seducing his wife, achieve his goal. “You will not die by death,” he says. For God knows that if you take away a day from him, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like a god, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:4-5). That's all the bait! Having filled the cup with fatal poison, (the devil) gave it to his wife, and she, not paying attention to the deadly effect (if she wanted, she could have known this from the very beginning), but having heard that God therefore forbade eating (from the tree), “as if your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil,” carried away by the hope of equality with God, she dreamed finally a lot about myself. Such are the tricks of the enemy: he lifts you to great heights with flattery, and then casts you down into a deep abyss. Having dreamed of equality with God, she hurried to taste (the fruit) and directed both her mind and thought there and saw nothing more than to drink the cup dissolved by the evil demon. And in order to assure you that she took care of this, as soon as she took the fatal poison on the advice of the serpent, listen to what Scripture says: “And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it pleased the eye to see and that it was red to eat, and took 100 of its fruit and poison” (Gen. 3:6). Truly, “good customs are corrupted by evil conversations” (1 Cor. 15:33). In fact, why didn’t Eve experience anything like this before the suggestion of this crafty demon, didn’t think about the tree and didn’t see its beauty? Because she was afraid of God’s commandment and future punishment for eating. And now, when she was deceived by this crafty animal, as if they would not only not tolerate this (punishment), but would also become equal to God, the hope of this promise prompted her to eat of the tree, and she, not wanting to remain within her borders, but recognizing the enemy and adversary of our salvation as more worthy of trust than the words of God, a little later, from experience itself, learned the perniciousness of the (diabolical) suggestion and the misfortune that was about to befall them for eating. Having seen, as it is said, “like a good tree for food, and as one pleases the eye to see, and to understand redly,” the wife, by the seduction, of course, of the devil, into which he led her through the snake, thought to herself: if the tree tastes good, and can so delight the eye, and there is some inexpressible beauty in it, and eating from it will give us the highest honor, then that we will have the same dignity with the Creator, then why should we not partake of him? 4. You see how the devil took the wife captive, captivated her mind and forced her to dream of herself beyond her dignity, so that she, carried away by empty hopes, would lose what had already been given to her. “And he took,” it is said, “of the fruit thereof, and of the poison: and gave to his husband 101 and of the poison. And the eyes of both were opened, and they understood, as if the Nazis were besha” (Gen. 3:6-7). What did you do, wife? Having accepted this disastrous advice, you not only trampled on the law given by God and violated the commandment, and became so hungry that you were not satisfied with so many fruits, but you also dared to eat from that one tree, which the Lord commanded not to touch, believed the words of the serpent, considered his advice more worthy of trust than the commandment given by the Creator, and allowed yourself to be so deceived that you do not deserve an apology. Was the one who gave the advice of the same nature as you? It was from among the subordinates, from among the slaves under your authority. Why did you disgrace yourself so much and, leaving the one for whom you were created, to whom you were created to help, to whom you are equal in dignity, in essence and in the gift of speech, you decided to enter into a conversation with the serpent and through this beast accept a suggestion from the devil, and despite the fact that (this suggestion) clearly contradicted the commandment of the Creator, you did not shy away, but in the hope of the promise you dared to taste? Let it be so, even if you plunged yourself into such an abyss and lost the highest honor: why do you make your husband a participant in this terrible fall, and to whom you were appointed to be a helper, you became a slanderer and, through eating small food, deprived him, along with yourself, of God’s favor? What extreme madness drove you to such insolence? Wasn't it enough for you to lead a carefree life, to be clothed with a body and not need anything bodily, to enjoy all the fruits of paradise, except one tree? Wasn't it enough for you that everything visible was in your power and you had dominion over everything? Seduced by hopes, did you want to rise to the extreme heights? So, you will learn from experience that not only will you not gain what you hoped for, but you will also deprive yourself and your husband of everything that has already been given to you, and both will come to such repentance that you recognize what you have done as useless, and the crafty demon, who gave disastrous advice, will laugh and triumph over you, as those who have already fallen and experienced something similar to him. Just as he, having imagined more than what was proper for himself, fell from the dignity he had acquired and was cast out of heaven to earth, he wanted to do the same with you - through the transgression of the commandment, subject you to the punishment of death and satisfy his envy, as the wise one said: “Through the envy of the devil, death came into the world” (Wis. 2:24). “And gave,” it is said, “to your husband, and poison.” And the eyes of both were opened.” Great is the carelessness of the husband. Although (she who offered the fruit) was of the same nature as him, and his wife, he, as one who vividly remembered the commandment of God, needed to prefer her to the inappropriate desire of his wife, not to take part in the crime, for short-term pleasure, not to deprive himself of so many benefits and not to offend such a Benefactor, who showed him so much love and granted him such a painless and comfortable life. Were you not allowed to enjoy all the other fruits of heaven in abundance? Why didn’t you want to keep such an easy commandment? But you, of course, heard from your wife about the promise of the evil adviser, and immediately, carried away by hope, you took part in the food. Therefore, the punishment extends to both of you, and experience itself will teach you not to believe the suggestion of an evil demon more than God. 5. “And he gave to his husband, and poison. And the eyes of both were opened, and they understood, as if the Nazis were besha.” Here a very important question arises for us, which we previously promised to your love. Another will rightly ask what power this tree had, that eating from it opened their eyes, and why is it called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Be patient, if you like, I want to talk to you a little about this and teach your love that if we want to accept with reason what is said in the Divine Scripture, then not a single word will seem difficult to us. It was not eating from the tree that opened their eyes: they saw even before eating. But since this eating served as an expression of disobedience and violation of the commandment given from God, and for this guilt they later lost the glory that clothed them, becoming unworthy of such a great honor, therefore the Scripture, following its custom, says: “they were poisoned, and the eyes of both were opened, and they understood, as if they were besha.” Having been deprived of the highest grace for the crime of the commandment, they also feel sensual nakedness, so that from the shame that engulfs them they fully understand into what abyss the crime of the Master’s commandment has reduced them. In fact, until now they had enjoyed such freedom and did not even know that they were naked (they were not naked, because the glory from above covered them better than any clothing), but after eating, i.e. after breaking the commandment, they reached such humiliation that, unable to bear the shame, they began to look for veils. The transgression of the commandment that they committed removed from them that wonderful and extraordinary garment, that is, the garment of glory and heavenly favor with which they were clothed, and at the same time aroused in them a feeling of nakedness and covered them with inexpressible shame. “And she sewed together,” it is said, “fig leaves, and made girdles for herself” (Gen. 3:7). Think, beloved, from what height into what deep abyss their devilish suggestion plunged them. Hitherto clothed with such glory, they now sew together fig leaves and make girdles for themselves. Such is the fruit of the devil's deception; Such is the cunning of this suggestion that it not only did not bring great benefits to people, but deprived them of those that they had. Since such a reason - eating - produced disobedience, therefore the Scripture says: “and their eyes were poisoned, and their eyes were opened,” meaning not their bodily eyes, but their mental vision. Since they transgressed the commandment, (the Lord) made them feel what they had not felt before, due to the favor He showed them. When you hear that “their eyes were opened,” understand this to mean that (God) made them feel naked and deprived of the glory that they enjoyed before eating. And that this is the custom of Scripture, listen to how it says in another place. When Sarah's maid, having run away from her mistress, wandered and, casting "the child under one oil,... from afar" expected his death, (about her the Scripture) says: "God opened the eyes of Hagar" (Gen. 21:15-16, 19), not because she had not seen before, but because God (at that time) aroused her mind. Do you see that the word “open” does not refer to the bodily eyes, but to mental vision? The same can be said regarding another question that arises here. They say: why is this tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Many lovers of debate dare to say that Adam, after eating from the tree, received the ability to distinguish between good and evil. It would be extremely crazy to think so. So that no one could speak like this, for this purpose we, foreseeing this, recently talked so much about the wisdom given by God to man, proving it by naming the names that he gave to all the animals, and birds, and dumb (animals) and by the fact that in addition to this high wisdom, he was also awarded the prophetic gift. How could the one who gave names and uttered such a wonderful prophecy about his wife not know what is good and what is bad? If we allow this (which will not happen!), then we will again blaspheme the Creator. How did He give a commandment to one who did not know that crime (is) evil? This is wrong; on the contrary, he knew it clearly. Therefore, from the beginning (God) created this animal (man) autocratic: otherwise he should not have been punished for breaking the commandment, and rewarded for observing it. That he became mortal for a crime is clear both from the commandment itself and from subsequent events. Listen to what the wife herself said to the snake: “From the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, says God, do not eat from it, lest you die.” This means that before eating they were immortal: otherwise God, even after eating, would not have brought death on them in the form of punishment. 6. Who will tolerate those who want to claim that a person received the knowledge of good and evil after eating from the tree, whereas before eating he was filled with such wisdom and, in addition to wisdom, was also awarded prophetic grace? And how can one agree with reason that goats and sheep and all dumb things know which grass is good for them to eat, which is harmful, which ones should be especially abstained from and which ones to turn to, but man, a rational animal, did not know what was good and what was evil? But, they will say, Scripture called this tree the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I know this too. If you try to find out the features of the 102 Divine Scripture, you will understand why it gave this tree such a name. It was so named not because it imparted such knowledge; but since he 103 committed a transgression of the commandment and from him 104 later the knowledge of sin and shame appeared, that is why it is so called. Divine Scripture has the custom of naming the places where these events happened based on past events. Therefore, the Divine Scripture called this tree the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because it had to commit a crime and/or keep a commandment. The humane Lord, from time immemorial and from the beginning, wishing to enlighten and inspire man that he has a Creator and Creator, who produced everything visible and created him, deigned to show him His power in this small commandment. Just as a generous owner, having given someone a large and beautiful house for use, takes not the entire payment for it, but some small part, in order to preserve (the right) of dominion for himself, and to force that person to remember well that he is not the owner of the building, but uses it out of kindness and generosity, so our Lord, having entrusted to a person everything visible and leaving him to live in Paradise and use everything in it, so that, little by little, carried away by thought, he would not count everything apparently original and did not think too much about his dignity, commands him to abstain from one tree, and for violating this command he determines a severe punishment, so that he knows that he is under the Lord and enjoys everything else by the goodness of the Lord. But since (Adam), through extreme inattention, together with his wife, fell into misfortune through breaking this commandment and eating from the tree, that is why (Scripture) called it the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is not that man did not previously know what is good and what is evil; he also did not know that the wife, talking to the serpent, said: “God said: do not eat from him, lest you die”; This means that she knew that death would be the punishment if they violated the commandment. But - since after eating from this tree they lost both the highest glory and felt bodily nakedness, therefore (Scripture) called it the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: it had, so to speak, an exercise in obedience or disobedience. Have you found out why (the Scripture) said: “their eyes were opened, and they understood, as if they were besha.” We learned why the tree is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Think about the shame that finally gripped them when they, having eaten from the tree, transgressed the commandment of the Lord: “They sewed together the fig leaves and made girdles for themselves.” Look from what glory they have fallen into what humiliation. Those who hitherto lived like earthly angels invent clothes for themselves from leaves. Such is evil - sin. He not only deprives us of the highest favor, but also plunges us into great shame and humiliation, steals from us the blessings that we possess, and takes away all boldness. But so that, considering the sin committed by man through eating from the tree and disobedience, we do not make the whole word sad, let us translate the speech, if you wish, from this tree to another, to the tree of the Cross, and see what disasters this caused and what benefits this brought. However, the disasters did not come from the tree itself, but from the careless willfulness and contempt that (he) showed in relation to the commandment. That tree introduced death, because death followed disobedience; it granted immortality. That expelled him from Paradise; it took us to Heaven. For one crime he subjected Adam to such punishment; this freed us from countless burdens of sin and gave us boldness before our Lord. Do you see the difference between a tree and a tree? Do you see the malice of the devil, the carelessness of man and the philanthropy of the Lord? So, let us arm ourselves, I ask your love, with this life-giving tree, by its power let us mortify the soul-destroying passions, just as the Apostle Paul says: “Those who are Christ’s, the flesh has been crucified with its passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). And this means: those who have completely surrendered themselves to Christ have killed all unclean lust that arises in the body to the detriment of all the powers of the soul. By imitating them, we will make our members inactive to establish the dominion of the devil in us, so that in this life we ​​can calmly sail across this stormy and dangerous sea, and, having entered the quiet harbor of God’s love for mankind, receive the benefits promised to those who love Him in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. Zlat. instead of τοῦ ξύλου ὃ ἐστιν ἐν μέσω τοῦ παραδείσου - “the hedgehog tree in the middle of Paradise,” as the latter is read in Lucian. and other sp. Zlat. οὐ φαγησθε without the following then απ᾿ αὐτοῦ – “from him”, read in other lists. Zlat. ῇ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγεσθε according to Lucian. and other sp. and contrary to Alexander. sp., where ἐν ῇ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγεσθε . Zlat. καὶ ἔλαβεν ἀπὸ τοῦ καρποῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔφαγεν according to Hebrew. Masor. text and contrary to Lucian. and Alex. sp., where: καὶ λαβοῦσα τοῦ καρποῦ αὐτοῦ ἔφαγεν – “and took from the fruit its poison.” Zlat. after τῳ῀ ἀνδρὶ αὐτῆς omits μετ᾿ αὐτῆς - “with oneself”, which is read in Lucian. and Alex. sp., as well as in Hebrew. Masoret. text. You might be interested in: