28.

208 Later teachers have their knowledge from the Apostles.

JOB 36, when they speak at greater length in exposition. For they ought constantly to remember through whom they have received the discoveries of this very wisdom. Whence it is also fitly subjoined,

ix.

Ver. 28. Which flow from the clouds.

15. For these whirlpools do indeed flow from the clouds; because, if the power of understanding did not begin with the holy Apostles, it would not flow more fully through the mouths of teachers. For by clouds' in Holy Scripture, sometimes fickle men, sometimes Prophets, sometimes Apostles, are designated. By clouds the fickleness of the Eccles. human mind is expressed; as Solomon says, He that observeth 11, 4. the wind, doth not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds, doth never reap. He doubtless calls the unclean spirit,

11.

wind,' but men who are subjected to him,' clouds;' whom he impels backwards and forward, hither and thither, as often as his temptations alternate in their hearts from the blasts of suggestions. He, therefore, who observes the wind, does not sow; since he who dreads coming temptations, does not direct his heart to good works. And he who regards the clouds, does not reap, since he who trembles from the dread of human fickleness, deprives himself of the recompense of an eternal reward. By clouds' are Prophets Ps. 18, set forth, as is said by the Psalmist; Dark water in the clouds of the air; that is, hidden wisdom in the Prophets. By clouds' also Apostles are designated, as is said by Is. 5, 6. Isaiah, I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. They are stars' then, because they shine with the merits of their life; they are clouds,' because they water the parched ground of our heart with the streams of heavenly knowledge. For if they were not clouds,' the Prophet Is. 60,8. would not have said, when looking on them, Who are these that fly as clouds? The whirlpools of showers pour then from the clouds, because the profound instructions of those that follow derived the origin of their wisdom from the holy Apostles. Of which clouds it is still further fitly subjoined,

X.

Which cover all things above.

16. When the clouds cover the air above, if we lift up our eyes to the heaven, we behold not the heaven, but them;

Examples of Saints, like clouds, between us and the Sun. 209

XXVII.

nor does our sight penetrate the ethereal regions, because its Book own infirmity conceals them from it. And when the sun shines forth from the heaven, it first feeds itself on the air which is poured between, that so it may afterwards contemplate the rays of the sun in the sky. Because, therefore, we are carnal men, when we endeavour to attain to heavenly things, we raise, as it were, our eyes to heaven, and direct our gaze thither; for oppressed by our connection with bodily things, we wish to teach it spiritual things. But because our intellect is not permitted to pass over to Divine objects, unless it be first fashioned by the examples of preceding Saints, our eye, as it were, now looks up to heaven, but beholds clouds; because it seeks to comprehend those things which are of God, but is barely able to admire those things which have been given to men. Whence it is said in another place, 'Thou enlightenest wonderfully from the 'owrius eternal mountains. For he, who cannot behold the rising s sun, looks at the mountains tinged with his rays, and giv discovers that the sun has risen. God enlightens us, there- Vers. fore, from the eternal mountains, because He illuminates us LXX. Ps. 76,4. with the ray of His brightness, by our admiring the doings of former fathers. Behold we are kindled with zeal of devotion and love for the Lord; but we are the better moulded in this devotion and love by our contemplation of these clouds. For what was more devoted than Peter? What more full of love than John? The one through his devotion feared not Mat.14, to tread the watery ridges of the sea. The other rested John13, through love on the very breast of our Maker: and he who 23-25. had come to the refreshment of a bodily feast, derived spiritual food from the bosom of the Redeemer.

σὺ θαυ

αἰωνίων.

28. 29.

17. But because we have said, that Prophets also are signified by clouds,' it is necessary for us still to bring forward the examples of the ancient fathers. Behold when we are wishing to submit, through obedience, to heavenly precepts, we are assisted by considering the footsteps of the old fathers. For what was more obedient than Abraham, who at one word from the Lord, forsakes his kindred, and Gen. 12, his country; and for the sake of obtaining his eternal inheritance, fears not to smite him, whom he had received as his ib. ch. 22, 10. heir, when now old and almost ready to die? When we are

1-4.

28.

6.9.

210

Virtues of Esau, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua.

JOB 36, endeavouring to gain hold of the virtue of patience, we look at the examples of those who precede us. For what is more Gen. 22, patient than Isaac, who carries the wood, asks about the burnt offering, and is, shortly afterwards, bound, and speaks not is placed upon the altar, and resists not? What then can be spoken of, more patient than this man? who is led, as if for consolation, and makes an enquiry; who is bound ready for the blow, and is silent; who speaks when about to offer a burnt offering, but when about to be offered as a burnt offering speaks not? When we are endeavouring to gird ourselves for endurance of toils, we are supported by preceding examples. For what is more laborious than Gen. 29, Jacob, who though near to Laban by the rights of kindred, 15-30. discharged for so long a time servile offices in his family,

7.8.

and obeyed him in the place of a servant, that he might enjoy the rewards of the heir? When we are striving to ascend the citadel of continence and chastity, we are supported by the examples of those who precede us.

For what Gen. 39, is more chaste than Joseph, who could not, even though a captive, be brought under the yoke of lust at the desire of his wanton mistress? And he was indeed a slave to men, but was, even in slavery, free from the power of dominant wickedness. When we are wishing to be filled with gentleness, we are assisted with the examples of those who preNumb. cede us. For what was more gentle than Moses, who bears 16,20- with the sedition of the people committed to his care, and

22.

yet entreats the Lord when angry, in behalf of these his persecutors, and exposes himself in their stead to the Divine wrath; because love glows in his holy breast even from persecution? When we are endeavouring to fashion the constancy of our mind against the adversities of the world, we are supported by the consideration of those who precede us. Numb. For what is more constant than Joshua, who, when sent to 14,6-9 search out the nature of the nations, feared not either the

hugeness of their height, nor the multitude of their numbers? Whence he subdued in battle those very same nations which he feared not in searching them out. When we are endeavouring to reach the height of kindness, we are instructed by the examples of those who go before us. For what is more kind than Samuel, who when deposed from his office of

David's forbearance.

Fertilizing rain from Saints. 211

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governing the people, humbly seeks for his successor; and BooK anoints him when found to be king, and soon endures him when anointed as his persecutor? He is afraid of dying by his hands, and yet entreats the Lord not to be angry with him. For he himself says when he was sent, Saul will hear, 1 Sam. and will kill me. And the Truth says to him by Itself; 16, 2. How long dost thou mourn for Saul, since I have rejected ib. 1. him. What then can be mentioned more kind than that man, who wishes not that even he should be smitten by God, by whom he is afraid of being killed? When we are advancing to the height of mercifulness and humility, we are supported by the examples of those who go before us. For what can be mentioned more merciful than David, what more humble, who received from the reprobate king insults for his victories, who by his strength rescued the nation of the Israelites from the hand of their enemies, and yet fled away himself lest he should die, as one of no strength? He knows that he himself was elected by the Divine sentence, and that his persecutor was rejected; and yet he submits himself to this very same persecutor of his, with the humility of frequent satisfaction, who takes away the spear of! Sam. 24, 4. his persecutor, cuts off the border of his cloak, and hastens ib. 26, at once to the top of the mountain, and at one and the same 12-16. time shews that he has had the power of slaying, and prays that he might not be slain.

18. Because then we are instructed by preceding examples, in all things which we spiritually desire, it is well said of these clouds, Which cover all things above. For we are covered by the life of the fathers spread over us, like clouds, in order that we may be watered, to bear the produce of a fruitful growth. And we behold, as it were, the clouds first, when looking up to heaven; because we first behold, with admiration, the doings of the good, and we afterwards penetrate, by our experience, those things which are heavenly. But because the life and the virtue of these clouds, that is, of these ancient fathers, would not be open to us, unless other clouds, that is the Apostles, disclosed it with the light of their preaching, let our discourse turn back to those clouds, which go about the world with their preaching; and let it

212 God mores and dwells in Saints as His Tents.

JOB 36, shew what the Lord has done by their means in the world. It follows,

29. 30.

xl.

Ver. 29, 30. If He will spread out clouds as His tent, and lighten with His light from above, He will cover also the ends of the sea.

19. The Lord' spreads out the clouds,' when, opening the way of preaching to His ministers, He disperses them in every direction, through the breadth of the world. But it is well said, As His tent. For a tent is wont to be pitched, on a journey. And, when holy preachers are sent into the world, they make a way for God. Whence it is written, Mal. 3, Behold, I send My Messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee. And hence also it is said by Ps.68,4. the Psalmist, Make a way for Him Who ascendeth over the ib. 7. west. And again, O God, when Thou wentest forth before

1.

12.

Thy people, when Thou passedst through the desert, the earth was moved. For God, Who of Himself is, not locally, in every place, walks locally into the regions of the world, by means of His preachers. Whence also it is said by the Lev. 26, Prophet, And I will walk in them. For He does in truth walk through them, whilst He pours Himself into the hearts of men by their teaching. And in this journey the tents of God are these self-same hearts of the Saints, by which He is covered, as it were, in resting on the way. Whilst coming through them to the minds of men, He effects what He has ordained, and is not beheld. Hence it is that all the synagogue together is called a 'tent,' when the Lord complains by Jeremiah that the priests had ceased from preaching, saying, Jer. 10, There is none to stretch forth My tent any more, and to set up My curtains. Hence again it is said of its extermination, Lam. 2, He hath destroyed His tent, as a garden, He hath thrown down His tabernacle. For since the Lord at that time dwelt secretly among men in the worship of a single people, He called that self-same people His tent. Whence also these clouds are now rightly called His tent, because God, when coming to us by His grace, is concealed within the hearts of His preachers. Was not Paul His tent, when Rom.15, coming to the hearts of men, from Jerusalem round about into Illyricum, the Lord was resting in his mind? For he

20.

6.

19.