Notice, beloved, the accuracy of the Divine Scripture – how it says nothing unnecessarily. Why does it mean to us the years of Isaac's life, and says, "Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife"? Not without reason, and not without purpose. But since the Scriptures will tell you further about the barrenness of Rebekah, and that it was only through the prayer of the righteous man that she began to bear children, so it wants to depict to you all the strength of Isaac's patience, and to indicate exactly the time during which he was childless, so that we, imitating the righteous man, may also be persistent in prayers to God, when we ask him for something. This righteous man, so virtuous and enjoying such favor from God, showed such great diligence and firmness of spirit, constantly beseeching God to resolve Rebecca's barrenness. What shall we say, burdened with a multitude of sins, and not discovering in ourselves the slightest portion (virtues) of the righteous? And when we have a certain zeal for a short time, then we are confused and retreat from the podvig, if we are not heard immediately. Therefore, I urge you: learning from the events in the life of this righteous man, we will never cease to beseech God for mercy on our sins; let us show fiery zeal and let us not be impatient, let us not be lazy, if we are not immediately heard. Perhaps the Lord is delaying, thereby teaching us unflagging diligence (in prayer) and wants us to receive a reward for patience as well. He also knows the time when it is useful for us to get what we want. And we ourselves do not know so much what is useful for us as He knows, Who leads the most secret thoughts of everyone. Therefore, we should not experience much, reason a lot about what comes from God; but for everything to express our gratitude to Him and marvel at the virtues of the righteous. So; The Divine Scripture, having said how old Isaac was, goes on to say of Rebekah, his wife, that she was barren. Pay attention to the piety of the righteous man. As soon as he saw the defect of nature, he resorted to the Creator of nature and tried to loosen its bonds by the power of prayer. "And Isaac prayed," it is said, "to the Lord for Rebekah his wife, because she was barren" (Gen. 25:21). First of all, it is worth examining one thing here: why was she barren, while both she and her husband were men of wonderful life, and both maintained great chastity? We cannot suspect their lives, and say that their barrenness was the result of sins. And what is surprising, not only was Rebekah barren, but also the mother of the righteous man, Sarah; and not only his mother, but also his daughter-in-law, I mean Rachel, Jacob's wife. What is the meaning of such an assembly of the barren? All of them are righteous, all are virtuous, all have received a testimony (of their righteousness) from God. For God said of them: "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exodus 3:6). And Blessed Paul says: "Therefore God is not ashamed of them, calling Himself their God" (Hebrews 11:16). They are praised much in the New Testament, and they are glorified much in the Old. In all respects they are illustrious and eminent: and yet they all had barren wives, and for a long time were childless.

2. Therefore, when you see a husband and wife living virtuously, and yet childless, when you see that they fear God and care for a godly life, but do not have children, do not think that this is a consequence of sins. Many intentions of the divine economy are unknown to us, but for everything we must thank (God), and only those who spend their lives in vices are considered unhappy, and not those who have not begotten children. God often arranges many things in our favor, but we do not know the cause of events. Therefore, in any case, we should marvel at His wisdom, and glorify His ineffable love for mankind. All this is said to you for your benefit, so that you may always show gratitude to God's providence, and not test His destinies. It is necessary, however, to reveal the reason why those wives were barren. What is this reason? So that you do not fall into unbelief, when you hear that the "Virgin" gives birth to our common Lord. Accustom your mind, as the Scriptures would say, by the example of the barren, and seeing how the obsolete and barren womb is opened by the grace of God for childbearing, do not be surprised when you hear afterwards that the Virgin gave birth. Or, better yet, be surprised, amazed, but believe in a miracle. Wherefore, when the Jew saith unto thee, How did the Virgin give birth, thou shalt also say unto him, And how did the barren and old woman give birth? In the latter case, there were two obstacles to birth: the untimely age and the inability of nature; and for the Virgin there was only one obstacle – that she was not involved in marriage. Thus, the barren woman prepares the way for the Virgin. And in order to convince yourself that the barren appeared in the past, that we might believe in the virgin birth, listen to the words of Gabriel to the Virgin. When he came to her and said, "Thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bear a son, and shalt call his name Jesus," she was amazed, and in perplexity asked, "How shall this be, since I know no man?" What about the angel? "The Holy Spirit will come upon you," he says, "and the power of the Most High will overshadow you" (Luke 1:31, 34-35). Do not demand, he says, the order of nature, when this matter is above nature. Do not assume the sorrows of marriage, when the manner of birth will be higher than marriage. "How will it be," she says, "when I don't know my husband"? Therefore this will come to pass, because you do not know your husband. If you knew a man, you would not be worthy to serve this secret. So believe for the very reason you don't believe. Not because, however, marriage is bad in itself, but because virginity is better than it. The image of the coming to earth of the Lord common to all had to be higher than ours, since it was a royal coming. In His birth, He had to have something in common with our birth, but also something different from ours. Both have been accomplished; Listen. The fact that he was born of his mother's womb is what he has in common with us; and that He was born without wedlock is beyond our nature. To have in the womb is inherent in human nature; but conception without copulation is above human nature. So understand from this both His likeness and superiority over you. Note also wisdom in that neither His superiority has destroyed His likeness and affinity with us, nor His affinity with us has darkened His superiority. But both were revealed in His works: some of them were completely common with us, and others were different from ours. For this reason, as I have said, those women were barren, that we should believe in the birth of a virgin, that she herself might be led (by their examples) to believe in the gospel and promise given to her. Listen to what the angel says to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." In this way, he says, you will give birth, and all things will be accomplished by the work of the Holy Spirit; do not look at the ground; this power will come from heaven; this is the work of the grace of the Holy Spirit; do not look here for the order of nature and the laws of marriage. But since these words were beyond her understanding, he wants to present her with another proof.

3. See, beloved, how the barren wife leads the Virgin to believe in this birth. Since the first proof was beyond the understanding of the Virgin, listen to how (the angel) reduces his word to the simplest things, admonishing her with tangible examples. "Behold," he says, "Elizabeth, thy kinswoman, who is called barren, and she conceived a son in her old age; and she is now six months old" (Luke 1:36). Without a doubt, in order to confirm the Virgin, he also pointed to the barren woman. Otherwise, why would he have given her the example of the birth of her relative, and why would he have added, "called barren"? All this he directs her so that she believes in the gospel; for this he mentioned both the age (of Elizabeth) and the exhaustion of nature; for this he also indicated the very time of conception. The angel did not preach the good news to the Virgin immediately, from the very beginning (of Elizabeth's conception), but after six months, so that the clear evidence of pregnancy would clearly confirm the reality of the conception. And note the wisdom of Gabriel: he did not mention to her Sarah, or Rebekah, or Rachel. Why and for what? After all, they were barren and old, and a great miracle was performed on them? But they all belong to ancient history, and therefore the angel points out to her the nearest event in order to confirm (in faith) her thoughts.

4. But let us return to the word we began earlier, and show the virtue of the righteous Isaac, how he resolved the barrenness of Rebekah by prayer, and overcame the bonds of nature. "And Isaac prayed," says the Scriptures, "to the Lord for Rebekah his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord heard him" (Gen. 25:21). Do not think that as soon as it is written here, so soon he received what he asked for. For twenty years he did not cease to ask and beseech God – only then did he receive what he wanted. How do we know this? We will find out if we carefully follow the legends contained in the Divine Scriptures. It did not hide this time from us, but signified it, albeit covertly, in order to excite our attention and encourage us to investigate. As it has shown us how old Isaac was when he took Rebekah, so clearly does this circumstance show us. "There was," it said, "Isaac forty years old, when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian, to wife" (Gen. 25:20). Notice this time carefully. Then the Scriptures, having said: "And Isaac prayed to the Lord for Rebekah his wife, because she was barren" (Gen. 25:21), so that we may know the number of years that have passed during all this time, also means how old Isaac was when his children were born to him by Rebekah. "Isaac was," it says, "sixty years old, when Rebekah gave birth" (Gen. 25:26). If, therefore, he was forty years old when he took her, and sixty years old when his wife gave birth, it is evident that for twenty years he prayed to God, and thus aroused the barren womb of Rebekah to bear children. Do you see the power of prayer – how could it conquer nature itself? Let us all imitate Isaac: let us also be constant in prayer, with a vigilant soul, with a broken heart. Let us listen to Paul, who exhorts us with the words: "Lifting up clean hands without anger or doubt" (1 Timothy 2:8). Let us always try to be alien to the indignation of the soul, and to keep the mind in peace, especially during prayer, when we are in need of special love for mankind from God. If He sees that we pray according to the laws established by Himself, He will soon give us an abundance of His gifts, which may we all be vouchsafed to receive, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, dominion, honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

DISCOURSE 50

"And Rebekah conceived, and the sons in her womb began to beat" (Gen. 25:21-22)

1. Do you want us to offer your love the remnants of our conversation of yesterday? We could not (yesterday) finish the whole story of Isaac, but stopped at the fact that Isaac, by his own unremitting prayer, stirred up Rebecca's womb to childbearing, and, so to speak, opened the damaged nature. All this yesterday we sufficiently explained to you, showing the number of years that this blessed man spent in prayer and supplication to God for this. Then, having passed on to the word of the barren and having explained to you the reason why the spouses of those righteous men were barren, we thus concluded our discourse yesterday. And today it is necessary to study the pious soul of Rebekah, so that we may benefit not only from the virtue of the righteous Isaac, but also so that by the narration of Rebekah we may stir up those who hear it to compete with her. After God heard the prayer of the righteous man, and Rebekah conceived in her womb, "the sons in her womb began to beat," says the Scriptures, and for this reason she endured grievous pains. She said: "If it will be so, then why do I need it"? Not one (child) was born, but two together she carried in her womb, and therefore the constriction in the womb caused her much sorrow. But note on this occasion the piety of this woman. She did not have recourse to any human help, as many of today's wives do, who live carelessly; nor did she turn to those who would judge such events with their own minds, from some conjectures and observations; she did not trust in the deception of deceivers and those who promise things that are above human nature; no, she "went to inquire of the Lord." Notice also her prudence. She knew that the Lord of nature himself had opened her womb and suddenly made her barren womb so fruitful; she also saw, according to the size of her womb, that something great was being prepared for her, and therefore she "went to inquire of the Lord." What does it mean, "I went to ask the Lord"? It means that she had recourse to true knowledge – to the priest, the servant of God, wishing to secretly acquire information through him, and having told everything about herself, she learned everything exactly, because the humane God through the mouth of the priest revealed everything clearly and thereby made her even more zealous. And so that you may know how high the priestly dignity was then, the Scripture nowhere says that the "priest" answered her, but having said: "She went to inquire of the Lord," the Scripture adds: "And the Lord said to her," that is, through the priest, "You bear two tongues in your womb." And in another place the divine Scripture calls the priest an angel, showing that the priest proclaims that which the grace of the Holy Spirit will inspire him with. So, the Lord said to her through the priest: "Two families in your womb, and two different nations will come out of your womb, one nation will become stronger than the other, and the greater will serve the smaller" (Gen. 25:23). Babies, with their strong movements in the womb, already foretold everything with accuracy. And now the woman herself knew not only that she would bear two children, but also that they would grow into nations, and that the younger would rule over the greater. And when, says the Scripture, the time of birth came, "the first came out red, all as skin, shaggy, and they called his name Esau; then his brother went forth, holding his hand on the heel of Esau, and his name was called Jacob" (Gen. 24-26). At the very beginning, God already seemed to foreshadow that, according to His prophecy, the lesser would rule over the greater. Jacob, it is said, held Esau's heel with his hand; and this was a sign that he was overcoming the one who seemed strong. And note how the divine Scripture already foreshadows the events that will take place afterwards, when it shows you the occupation of each of the brothers from the very beginning: one was engaged in catching beasts, and the other was a farmer, a simple man, constantly living in the house. For this reason Rebekah loved Jacob, and Isaac loved Esau: "for his game," says the Scriptures, "was to his taste" (Gen. 25:28). Look at how the parents themselves divided the children. His mother, seeing in Jacob a simple-hearted child who always stayed at home, showed him greater affection. And the father loved Esau more, both because he was his firstborn, and because of his prey (on the hunt). However, they did so, following natural love. But the prophecy that "the greater shall serve the lesser" (Gen. 25:23) gradually came to fruition. Look now. "Jacob cooked," says the Scriptures, "a meal, and Esau came from the field weary. And Esau said to Jacob, Give me to eat this red, this red, for I am tired. That is why he was given the nickname Edom. But Jacob said, Sell me the birthright" (Gen. 25:29-31). To this Esau answered, "What shall it profit me of the birthright, when death threatens me, if I do not take food?" But James also requires an oath, through which the surrender of the birthright to him would receive its firmness. "Esau swore," it is said, "Esau" (Gen. 25:33).

2. From this time on, the order (between the brothers) changed, and the dignity of the birthright passed to him who shone with the virtue of the soul. "And Esau sold," says the Scriptures, "the birthright," i.e., he sold for food the dignity given to him by nature itself. That is why the Scripture adds: "And Esau despised the birthright" (Gen. 25:34): so he became insensible to the advantage granted to him by nature itself. And all this was done in such a way that his foolishness would be revealed and God's prediction would actually be fulfilled.

Hearing this, we will learn never to despise the gifts of God, and not to lose great things for small and insignificant things.

And you often see that he who has thousands of talents of gold considers happy the worker who earns his living by the labor of his hands. What pleasure, what profit, is it when we do not enjoy these goods either, but through addiction to them we are deprived of the highest goods? And what do I say, "of the highest blessings," when, in addition to the calamities that befall us here, and the deprivation of the blessings prepared there, we are also sent to hell itself? Not to mention the thousands of sins engendered by wealth – deceit, malice, predation, covetousness. And even if someone is free from all such sins, which is nevertheless difficult, but if he, having much wealth, accumulates money and uses it only for his own enjoyment, and does not give generosity to the needy, the fire of hell will overtake him too. This is clearly taught to us by the parable in the Gospel, when he presents some at the right hand, and others at the right hand, and says that the kingdom of heaven is prepared for the first, for the care of the needy: "Come," it is said there, "ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt. 25:34). Why and for what? "For I hungered, and ye gave Me to eat" (Matt. 25:35). And the last are prepared for eternal fire. "Depart," it is said, "from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt. 25:41). Great is the importance of this saying! The Lord and Creator says: "For I hungered, and ye gave Me not to eat" (Matthew 25:42). What soul will not be moved by this, even if it is a soul of stone? Your Lord walks hungering, but you live in luxury! And this is not the only thing that is terrible, but also that, living in luxury yourself, you dare to despise Him, moreover, when He does not ask for much of anything, but only bread to satisfy hunger. He walks, numb from the cold; but you, dressed in silk cloth, do not pay attention to Him, do not show any compassion, but pass by without any mercy. What kind of apology can this deserve? "Let us not be anxious to gather, in any way, the riches above all; but let us pay attention to the fact that what we have is well disposed of. Let us alleviate the misery of the needy, so as not to be deprived of those blessings which are always present and are not subject to any change. For this reason the Lord hid from us the day of our death, in order to dispose us to constant sobriety and vigilance, and thus to encourage us even more to care for virtue, "Watch," He says, "for you know neither the day nor the hour" (Matt. 25:13). But we do the opposite, and constantly sleep more soundly than natural sleep. Those who sleep naturally become incapable of doing either evil or good; but we sleep in another sleep, we sleep for deeds of virtue, and we are awake for evil deeds; we do evil deeds foolishly, but in good deeds we show great negligence and drowsiness. And so we do, seeing every day that some are departing from here, while others are undergoing many changes in the present life. However, even this inconstancy of life does not sufficiently enlighten us, does not sufficiently arouse in us the desire for virtue, disposes us to the contempt of present goods and to the desire of future ones, so that we prefer truth to shadows and dreams. After all, real goods are no different from shadows and dreams. Therefore, let us not deceive ourselves, and chase after shadows; but, at least someday, let us take care of our salvation, and let us spend our wealth on the needy, so that for this we may be worthy of recompense from the loving God, which may we all receive, through the grace and love of mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom be glory to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

CONVERSATION 51

"There was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham" (Gen. 26:1).

1. Again I want to offer you a lesson, from what follows from what we said last time. And for greater clarity, it is necessary to remember your love, where we ended our sermon last time, and from where we must begin it today. You yourselves, amused by many worries, may have forgotten this. But it is my duty to bring it to your remembrance, so that through such a reminder the word that will be said today will become clearer to you. You know that last time, when we spoke of the piety of Rebecca, and then came to Esau and Jacob, we stopped at how Esau gave the birthright to Jacob, wishing to use his cooking, and, out of passion for a certain food, deprived himself of the primacy. And this was not done simply, but in order that the divine prophecy might actually be justified: "He loved Jacob, but hated Esau" (Mal. 1:2). Since God had already foreseen future events, He also foretold both the virtue of Jacob and the baseness of spirit in Esau. What does the right of primogeniture mean? Formerly time did not permit me to speak of this to your love; But today it is necessary to explain it to you. In antiquity, the birthright was revered as the greatest honor; and the reason for such respect for him was the following circumstance. When God wanted to deliver the people of Israel from Egypt and deliver them from the torment of Pharaoh according to the promise given to the forefather (Abraham) - and the king of Egypt resisted this and wanted to keep the people - then the Lord, after various plagues, having brought the last plague (on Egypt), forced the Egyptians, so to speak, to lead the people of Israel out with their own hands. Precisely, God determined to destroy all the firstborn of Egypt suddenly, so that tears and sobs were visible in every house. The Egyptians thought that the execution would not be limited to this; and they expected that death, continuing to go, would befall everyone. Thus, when death suddenly overtook all the firstborn of Egypt, and the Israelites, enjoying the protection from above, remained unharmed, then God, showing His favor to them in this event, commanded that for the destruction of the firstborn of Egypt, henceforth the firstborn of the Jews should be dedicated to Him. For this reason the tribe of Levi was set apart for the priesthood, and not only the firstborn of men were consecrated to God, but also the firstborn of the dumb, and in general of all things. It was also a command to bring a price, both for people and for clean animals. It is true that this law of the firstborn was established later; but even before and at the very beginning the advantage of Those who were the first to open the mother's bed was recognized. And so, this very honor which Esau received from nature, he, through his intemperance, passed on to his brother. In this way, one lost what was given to him by nature itself; and the other acquired for himself what he did not have by nature. And since this was predestined for him from above, Rebekah also, when she gave him a name, called him Jacob, which means stumbling, just as Esau, after the blessings given to Jacob by his father, wept and said: "Is it not because he has been given the name Jacob, because he has already stumbled me twice? He took my birthright, and behold, now he has taken my blessing. And he said, "Have you not left me a blessing?" (Gen. 27:36). Notice how shrewd the ancients were, or, better, how great was the wisdom of God, which so arranged that women did not simply, not as it happens, give names to those born of them, but contained in the name of the child an omen of what was to happen to him. And it is rare to find that children are called by the same names as their parents, or, perhaps, you will not find this anywhere. But when the father intended to give the name of the child, he gave him some extraordinary, new name, so that through it he would foreshadow some future event. His mother did the same. Thus Lamech, naming his son, called him Noah and added: "This one shall comfort us" (Gen. 5:29). Thus, if you carefully examine each name, you will certainly find some omen in it, not as they do now, naming children without a purpose and as it happens, or only after the names of their parents. With the ancients, however, it was always the aim of enclosing in the name of children a constant reminder of something. But let us see further what, after the change in the birthright, the blessed Moses tells us about the father of Jacob and Esau, just as he, like Abraham, at the onset of famine, is vouchsafed great care from above, as much for his own virtue, as well as for the promise that was given to the forefather. "There was," says the Scripture, "a famine in the land, besides the former famine which was in the days of Abraham" (Gen. 26:1). Lest you think that the Scriptures speak of the former famine, it explains: "In addition to the former famine which was in the days" of the forefather, that is, now, in the time of Isaac, another such famine has come upon the earth as it was in the time of his father. The scarcity of necessities exposed everyone to the greatest danger, forced them to move from their countries to those places where an abundance of vital needs could be found. Thus, this righteous man, seeing the famine, "went," says the Scriptures, "... to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, to Gerar." Abraham also came here another time, on his return from Egypt. Probably, Isaac also came here to go to Egypt from here. And that this is so, listen to what the Scripture says: "The Lord appeared to him, and said, Go not into Egypt" (v. 2). I do not want, says God, that you should go on such a long journey; but stay here. I will not suffer you to be in need, but I will fulfill the promise I made to your father; what was promised to him will be fulfilled in you; you will receive the fulfillment of the promises that came to him. "Thou shalt not go into Egypt; dwell in the land of which I will tell you, and wander in this land" (v. 2, 3).

2. But lest the righteous man think that God is giving him such a command, that He is not allowing him to go into Egypt, because He wants to put him to the test of hunger, God says to him, "Do not be troubled, do not be anxious, but remain here: "I will be with you." Having the Giver of all good things near you, do not worry about anything; I, the Lord of all, will be with you, and not only will I be, but I will also "and bless you," that is, I will make you glorious, and I will give you My blessing. Is it possible to be more blessed than this righteous man, who received from God such a promise: "I will be with you and bless you"? This is what will make you the happiest of all; this is what will help you to live in great abundance; for you is the greatest glory, the unspeakable triumph, the stronghold, the pinnacle of good things, namely, that I will be with you and bless you. And how shall I bless you? "To thee and to thy seed will I give all these lands." You consider yourself a stranger and a stranger within these limits; Know this, then, that all this land shall be given to thee and to thy seed. And that you may be convinced of this, know that the same oath that I swore to Abraham your father, I will make with you. Note the condescension of God. God did not simply say, "The covenant which I have made with thy father, or the promise which I have made unto him; But what? – "the oath by which I swore." With an oath I have assured him, says He, and I must fulfill My oath and fulfill it.