Глава 20

Ezek.20:1. And it came to pass in the seventh summer, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that men came from the elders of the house of Israel to inquire of the Lord, and sat down before me. Ezek.20:2. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Ezek.20:3–4. Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them: Thus says Adonai the Lord: food, ask Me, are you coming? I live, O Az, if I answer you, says the Lord. If you take revenge on them, son of man, if you take revenge on them. Very similar to these words is what was said by God and our Savior: “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of God, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter into the kingdom of God” (Matthew 7:21). And these Jews, living viciously and not wanting to be healed by the medicines of repentance, attempted to question the Lord, not with the intention of certainly fulfilling what he commanded, but in order to find out whether the divine answers would not agree with their own thoughts. This is what Zedekiah often did, who conjured Jeremiah to clearly tell him what God wanted, and having learned what God commanded, he did the opposite; Those who went into captivity in Egypt ventured to do the same thing. Therefore, God of all kinds does not want to answer them, for, according to the teaching of the Holy Gospel, “The message itself is in man” (1 Cor. 2:11). Therefore, he commands the Prophet to neglect them and not to offer any prayer for them, for he expressed this by saying: “If you take revenge on them, son of man, if you take revenge on them,” that is, do not worry about them like some kind of trustee, and do not accept their question. Bear witness to their iniquities, their father, Ezek.20:5–6. And you said to them, “This is what Adonai the Lord says: I chose the house of Israel from the wrong day, and brought them to the seed of the house of Jacob, and they were known to them in the land of Egypt, and I took them by the hand, saying: I am the Lord your God: in that day I lifted up with My hand, even if I brought it out of the land of Egypt, into the land that was prepared for them, a land boiling with milk and honey, there are more than all lands. To them, says God, who have come to you, Prophet, point out My blessings, list the iniquities of their fathers, tell them how I appeared to their fathers in Egypt, when they had not yet honored and served the Egyptian idols, how I taught them that I am both God and Master; He says this with the intention of freeing them from slavery, fulfilling the promises, giving them the promised land - this mother of a thousand blessings, bringing fruits of every kind to the inhabitants, about which, without sinning, another can say that it is better than any earth, and call it the product of bees, for he expressed this by saying: “there is a honeycomb more than all lands,” and so he called a honeycomb full of honey. Ezek.20:7. And I said to them: renounce every abomination from your own hands, and do not defile yourself in the creations of Egypt, I am the Lord your God. I advised them, says God, to flee fellowship in the wickedness of Egypt and to recognize My sovereignty, teaching them to know it with signs and wonders, but they did not at all want to heed My suggestions. Meaning this, he added: Ezek.20:8. And you rejected Me, and did not want to listen to Me: you did not reject every abomination from your own hands, and you did not forsake the creations of Egypt. Then he explains the justice of anger. And I ordered that I should pour out My wrath on her, and put an end to My wrath against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. Then he teaches with what philanthropy and long-suffering he builds stewardship for the human race. Ezek.20:9. And I made it so that My name would not be greatly defiled before the tongues, in whom they are among them, in whom they would be known before them, even if I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I intended, says God, to immediately punish the disobedient, but since they were called My people, I did not subject them to punishment in the presence of those who were hostile to Me, “lest My name be greatly defiled before the tongues” with whom they lived, that is, so that the punishment of the Israelites would not turn into an excuse for the pagans to blaspheme Me. For by showing benefit to some, I wanted to change the way of thinking of others. The book of Exodus reveals this to us more clearly, for blessed Moses tells how all the people attributed to him the words of God, which he proclaimed to Pharaoh (Exodus 5:21, 6:9). Therefore, says God, by this patience he brought My people out of Egypt. Ezek.20:10. And I came up from the land of Egypt, and I led into the wilderness, Ezek.20:11. and I gave them My commandments, and My righteousnesses I showed them; whatever man does, he will live in them. Ezek.20:12. And I gave My Sabbath to them, to be a sign between Me and among them: understand that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Having freed them from this bitter slavery, as in some kind of military field, I taught them good and useful laws in the desert. And these laws brought life. He called the same thing commandments and justifications, for one thing is commandments, and another is justifications, but one and the same thing is called by different names, namely, commandments, because they were written by God and the Master, and He commanded to keep them; justifications - because not only are they written lawfully and justly, but they can also justify the one who performs them. But it is necessary to know that God separated the Sabbath from these commandments and the justifications by which those who keep them can be given life. For having said: “I gave them My commandments and showed them My justifications, and showed them their benefit, whatever a man does, he will live in them,” then he added: “And I gave My Sabbaths to them”; And he did not say that those who saved from them will live, but says: “This will be a sign between Me and among them: to understand that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” For I legitimized the Sabbath rest for them, not because it could bring them life, but so that this feature in the way of their life would separate them from pagan undertakings and bring to mind My good deeds, because from carnal rest, standing before God and listening to Divine words, they gained benefit, learning from God’s words that God is the Creator and Benefactor, and therefore not only was rest life-giving, but standing in the world was life-giving. to God. Ezek.20:13. And he said to the house of Israel in the wilderness: Walk in My commandments. And the house of Israel angered Me in the wilderness: for they did not walk in My commandments, and rejected My justifications, even as man did, and lived in them: and My Sabbath was greatly desecrated. Here again I mentioned the Sabbaths separately, without joining them to other justifications, because they are not life-giving, like the latter, but serve as a certain distinctive feature of the way of life. Natural law taught other people this: “thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal,” and other things connected with this, but in keeping the Sabbath the teacher is not nature, but the law. Therefore, in another way the Israelites had something in common with other nations, and in keeping the Sabbath they apparently had some special way of life, because none of the other nations observed the Sabbath rest. Even circumcision did not separate them from other nations as much as the Sabbath, because all the Edomites who were descended from Esau, as well as the Ishmaelites, had circumcision; and the Egyptians, having learned it from the Jews, tried to preserve it. And God Himself makes this visible, through the mouth of the Prophet Jeremiah, saying: “And I will visit all who have their circumcised flesh: Egypt and Edom” and so on (Jer. 9:25, 26). The observance of the Sabbath was kept by one Jewish people, which is why God said: “And My Sabbath I gave to them, to be a sign between Me and among them: you should understand that I am the Lord who sanctified them.” Therefore, having recounted their disobedience in Egypt and His long-suffering, He again mentioned the laws in the desert in the advice given to them, about their discord and violation of the laws. Then He explains the justice of His anger, and also allows us to see His inexpressible goodness. And I ordered that I would pour out My wrath on you in the desert, so that I could consume them. Ezek.20:14. And I made sure that My name should not be defiled before the tongues, which I have known before their eyes. God-wise Moses also informs us about this, saying that God said: “And now forsake Me, and being enraged with anger, I will consume them: and I will make you into a great tongue” (Ex. 32:10). Then he conveys his own prayer about them and at the end of it adds: if you consume them, Egypt will hear and say: “The Lord will not be able to bring His people into the land,” which He promised to their fathers, “destroy them in the desert” (Num. 14:16). God expressed the same thing here, saying: “And I created that my name should not be defiled before the tongues, of which I was brought out before their eyes.” Then he states at greater length that, intending to subject them all to final destruction in the wilderness, as having trampled upon the justifications that gave them life, and having defiled the Sabbath, and again mentioning the Sabbaths separately, he adds: Ezek.20:17. And I had mercy upon My eye when I consumed them, and I did not bring them to an end in the wilderness. And having handed over these lawless people to various punishments, he kept their children, although he knew that they would not be better than their fathers, and he brought them into the land promised to their ancestors. Ezek.20:18. And I said to their children in the wilderness: Do not walk in the law of your fathers, and do not keep their excuses, and do not mingle with their creations. Ezek.20:19. I am the Lord your God: walk in My commandments, and provide My justifications, and do I. Ezek.20:20. And sanctify My Sabbath: and it will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. And to their children, having removed them from the teaching of their fathers, I instilled my instructions in the desert, and advised them to be alien to their fatherly morals, to recognize My sovereignty, to follow My commandments, to fulfill the given justifications, to show by keeping the Sabbaths a distinctive way of life and, according to the guidance of the law, to ascend to the Lawgiver, but they did not cease to neglect these laws. And letting us see this, God added: Ezek.20:21. And you angered Me, and did not walk in My commandments for their children, and did not provide My justifications for what I did: for having done these things, man will live in them: and My Sabbaths have been desecrated. Then he adds that he also did not want to be punished for wickedness and give some to captivity and others to death. For he expressed this by saying: Ezek.20:23. And I lifted up my hand against her in the desert, so that I would be scattered among the nations, and I would be scattered throughout the countries. But so that no harm would come from this to the Egyptians and Canaanites, says God, I did not do this. On the contrary: Ezek.20:25. And I gave them bad commandments and excuses; they will not live in them. Others understood this as serving idols, taking the word “dah” to mean “allowed,” but it is clear that they did not understand the meaning of what was said, for none of the sane people would call the wicked worship of idols unkind, but would say, on the contrary, that it is extremely bad. Therefore, the Source of wisdom, the Lawgiver of piety, the Accuser of wickedness would not call extreme wickedness only evil, for he calls it the limit of evil. Therefore, the prophetic word makes it clear that something else is true: since, says God, “I have given them my justifications, whatever man does, he will live in them,” and he calls the ten commandments of the law justifications, and they transgressed them and did not stop trampling on them fearlessly, then I bound them and, as it were, nailed them with other commandments, which cannot in the least impart life to them, but the keeping of which and care for which will ensure that they cease to violate these necessary laws. By these he means the commandments about leprosy, about dead bones, about carrion, about he who sheds semen, and about other similar things, also frequent because of this sprinkling and sacrifices made for this. For those bound by the preservation of these decrees could not also neglect these necessary and useful laws. Therefore, God did not say that he gave them bad commandments, but says: “the commandments are not good,” because they did not teach vice, and did not constitute virtues in themselves, but encouraged them to often visit God’s church and stand before God. For he who considered himself defiled flowed to the church for purification, and when he came, he renewed his remembrance of God, and this remembrance drove out the evil thought and convinced him to keep God’s laws. Therefore, these commandments in themselves are “not good,” because they did not correspond to God’s intention, but were appropriate to the weaknesses of those to whom the law was given. However, being themselves not good and not necessary, they led to the good and necessary. To this God adds: Ezek.20:26. And I will defile them in their gifts, and always make Me see every lie that is revealed, so that I may destroy them, so that they will understand that I am the Lord. This is similar to what God said through the mouth of blessed David: “And I have let them go according to the intentions of their hearts, and they will go in their own intentions” (Ps. 80:13). since I saw that they were not deriving any benefit from My advice, I finally allowed them to follow their own thoughts, finding it unbearable for Himself to control them. He expressed the same thing here, saying: “And I will defile them in their giving.” Aquila translated this more clearly, saying: “and he defiled them in their teachings, always carrying out every revealed falsehood,” he allowed them to be defiled in their undertakings, when children were led through fire, and first-born children were sacrificed to demons, but having allowed it, he then imposed on them worthy punishments. Ezek.20:27. For this reason speak unto the house of Israel, O son of man, and say unto them: This saith Adonai the Lord: Even before this, your fathers angered Me in their sins, in the image of sinning against Me. Ezek.20:28. And I led into the earth, and raised up My hand to the land, and gave it to them: and I saw every high hill, and every fallen tree, and devoured there my God, and poured out there the wrath of my gifts, and laid there the stench of my incense, and poured out my drink offerings there. They were not content with controversy in Egypt and lawlessness in the desert, but, having entered the land promised to them, they filled it with great wickedness, building altars on all the hills and in all the groves, setting up idols and offering them libations and various sacrifices. It is said: “and they aroused the wrath of their gifts there” in the sense that with their lawless gifts they aroused My wrath. Ezek.20:29. And he said to them: What is the essence of Avvam? or as Symmachus puts it: what is Vama? as you entered there, and called his name Avvam even to this day. This place became famous for its evil worship of idols. Therefore God said to them: What benefit do you get from this? What benefit will it be to you because you have made it so famous, and its name remains unchanged to this day? Ezek.20:30–31. For this reason speak unto the house of Israel: This saith the Lord Adonai: Though ye are defiled in the iniquities of your fathers, and in the trace of their abominations ye walk: and in the firstfruits of your labors, and in the labors of your brethren, even though your children pass through the fire: ye are defiled in all your thoughts even unto this day: and will I answer you for the house of Israel? If I answer you, and if these things arise in your spirit. With all that is present among you as fatherly lawlessness and wickedness, and you dare to do everything that I have described, you hope to receive some kind of answer from Me. Don't fool yourself; answering your questions to Me when you dare to commit such wickedness is impossible; I convince you by your very actions to give up such hope. He expressed this by saying: “and if this comes upon your spirit.” Ezek.20:32. And it will not be as you say: let us, like the nations, and like the tribes of the earth, serve wood and stone. And this will not be carried out by you, so that you, like all the pagans, idolizing trees and stones, bring them a gift befitting God. And again God uses His usual oath: “before”, according to the word of the blessed Apostle, “swear to no one greater” (Heb. 6:12), then he says: Ezek.20:33. For this reason I live, says the Lord Adonai, if not with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with the fury poured out I will reign over you. I will no longer practice my usual long-suffering, but I will show my royal dignity and power in punishments; for with the words: “with a strong hand and a high muscle,” he depicted power and the right to punish. Then he reveals the method of punishment. Ezek.20:34. And I will take you away from the people, and I will receive you from the countries in which you have scattered the devil, with a strong hand, and with a high arm, and with inflamed rage. First, I will free you from the captivity in which you are now and lead you to your former land. Then: Ezek.20:35–36. I will bring you into the wilderness of man, and there I will judge with you face to face: just as I judged with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I judge you, says the Lord Adonai. He calls the pagan peoples, who in ancient times did not have knowledge of God, “human desert.” And by this he signified that when piety was brought to the pagans, then the Jews, ashamed of the change in the anciently wicked peoples, would retreat from serving idols. This: “and I will reason with you face to face” means reproof carried out by deeds themselves. For then the very deeds will, as it were, cry out and expose your rebellious, lawless heart, pointing to the obedience of peoples devoid of the knowledge of God. Therefore, just as, after the judgment with your fathers in the wilderness, I gave them over to complete destruction, so I will subject you to punishment. And he brought this into greater clarity in the added words, saying: Ezek.20:37. And I will bring you under my rod, and I will bring you into the number of the covenant. Ezek.20:38. And the wicked and the rejected will take from you: For I will scatter the wicked who have abandoned My law, using the rod, and those worthy of inclusion in the number, and who have become the keepers of My covenant, I will introduce and grant My providence for them. And this signified the face of the apostles and those who, with their assistance, believed in the divine preaching. Then, continuing his threat to the evil ones, he adds: For I will bring their habitation out of the land, and they will not enter into the land of Israel, and you will know that I am the Lord. Those same ones whom I am returning from captivity, because of their evil disposition, I will again scatter throughout all nations. And this came to fulfillment after the cross of our Savior. For the Romans, having enslaved them, scattered them throughout the world and expelled them from their royal city. So, having foreshadowed the sorrowful, the Lover of Mankind again turns to them with admonition and advice, for he reminds them of His promises, saying that “he does not want the sinner to die, but to turn to him and live” (Ezek. 18:23). Therefore he continues: Ezek.20:39–40. And you, O house of Israel, says to the Lord Adonai: take away every one of your undertakings, and then if you listen to Me, and do not profane My holy name with this in your gifts, and in your undertakings, since on My holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel, says Adonai the Lord, there the whole house of Israel will serve Me to the end on earth, and there I will receive, and there I will sit upon your firstfruits and the firstfruits of your vows, in all your sanctified ones. If you want to obey and stop desecrating My holy name (for by borrowing your name from Me and living lawlessly, bringing gifts to idols, you impose the blasphemy of this wickedness on Me), then you will be returned to your native land, and you will take advantage of the usual providence for you, graciously bringing the firstfruits of the goods acceptable to you, and at the same time seeing that I also accept them with favor. For he says: Ezek.20:41–42. I will take you into the stench of incense when I remove you from the people, and I will accept you from the countries that were wasted in them, and I will be sanctified in you before the eyes of men. And you will know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the land in which I lifted up My hand, which I gave to your fathers. He said: “I will be sanctified” instead of: “I will be glorified,” for everyone, looking at both My benefits and your gratitude, will receive great benefit from this, both seeing the powerlessness of the so-called gods, and also seeing My power in the benefit to you. Ezek.20:43. And there you will remember your ways, and all your undertakings, in which you have become defiled and disgraced your faces in all your evils that you have committed. For the knowledge of sin is the beginning of shame. Therefore, when our conscience pricks us, we usually hit ourselves on the forehead. This is expressed here too. For God says: having departed from your former iniquity, having loved serving Me and being considered worthy of My providence for you, you will feel how wicked the deeds of your fathers are, and you will hit yourself in the face, reflecting on what vices you have defiled yourself with. Ezek.20:44. And you will know that when I am the Lord, I will do this to you, so that My name will not be defiled by your evil ways, and by the corruption of your hands, to the house of Israel, says Adonai the Lord. I will vouchsafe you this care for you, with the intention of the benefit shown to you and to convert all other people to the knowledge of Me, because you yourself, having been brought up in lawless endeavors, are unworthy of philanthropy or condescension. Therefore, having learned how wicked it is to desecrate God’s name, let us avoid being the cause of blasphemy against the Lord, for those who are worthy to bear His name, but who live unworthy of this name, stir up the mouths of foolish people to blaspheme against Him. God said this about the Jews: “And having profaned My holy name, these people of the Lord never spoke to them, and came out of His land” (Ezek. 36:20). But we also bear the name of the Master, because we are named after Christ. Why, according to the apostolic law, it is necessary for all of us, “whether we drink, whether we drink, or whatever we do, to do everything for the glory of God. To be without offense, Jew and Greek and the church of God” (1 Cor. 10:31, 32). Glory to God forever and ever! Amen. Ezek.20:45–46. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face on Teman, and look on Darom, and the prophets on the oak grove 17 the elder of Nageb. Teman in Greek means "noon", Darom means Libya, and nagev means the south wind. This is how Symmachus translated: “Son of man, set your face on the southern path of Libya, and the prophets on the oak grove of the midday land.” By all of this, the Prophet means Jerusalem, because Jerusalem, relative to Babylon, has a position to the south, towards noon and towards Libya. And since it does not lie directly at noon, but deviates somewhat to the west, then, of necessity, in the reasoning for its position, the following is added: “and to Libya.” God called Jerusalem an oak grove and an elder because of its barrenness (for such is the oak grove) and the hardness of the heart (for such is the property of the oak tree), and moreover, because in the oak grove the trees are not planted in rows, but grow in great disorder - and also because the oak grove serves as a dwelling for animals; - yet another would have found this in Jerusalem then. Ezek.20:47. And you said to the oak grove of Nog: Hear the word of the Lord, this says Adonai the Lord: Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and will burn in you every green tree and every dry tree; the kindled flame will not be quenched, He continues the figurative image of speech, and since he called Jerusalem an oak forest, then, in accordance with this, he also calls the army of enemies fire, and those killed by them - burned trees; He called those who exalt themselves in wealth and those who live in poverty a green tree and a dry tree. Then he announces that those who live between the Jews and their enemies will be participants in the disaster. For he says: and he will burn up every face in him, from what is under the sun even to the north. Ezek.20:48. And let all flesh know that the Lord has kindled it, and it will not be quenched. Symmachus translated this from what is under the sun again: “from noon.” God announces that from the land of the Chaldeans to Jerusalem he will use the fire of war and destroy the nations living in the midst, so that from this disaster everyone will know that God rules over the universe. Ezek.20:49. And he said: “No, Lord, Lord, these are speaking to me, is this not a parable?” When this was said to me, says the Prophet, I pointed out to the Lord the unbelief of the people, saying that they take these words for a parable and not for the truth, finally the Lord Himself commanded me to state what was said more clearly. And the Prophet says the following: Ὅ δρυμος means: oak grove in general, and especially oak grove.