69 Thus we have now completed the story of the Flood, which Moses described sufficiently, as being a horrible example of an exuberant and almost infinite wrath of God, which cannot be sufficiently exhausted by any words. Now I must also say something about the secret interpretation; although I have often testified that I do not have much desire for allegories, which I loved so much when I was young that I thought everything had to be interpreted in allegories: Origen and Jerome, whom I admired as the highest theologians, gave me cause for this; although Augustine also often uses allegories.
(70) But though I followed their example, I found at last, to my great detriment, that I had followed a vain shadow and despised the sap and right core of Scripture. That is why I have subsequently become hostile to allegories. There is something pleasant and amusing about them, especially when they are based on something lovely; that is why I tend to compare them to fine paintings. But how much better the natural color of a living body is than a painting, even if, as the poet says, it is adorned with appellic colors and comes closest and most similar to natural colors: so much better and more powerful is history in itself than allegory.
In our time, the unlearned crowd of the Anabaptists hold fast to allegories beyond all measure, no less than the monks: that is why they are so fond of the dark books, as St. John's Revelation, and the useless gibberish and poetry in the last two books of Ezra. For there each one may invent what he wants. Thus we know that Muenzer, the rebellious spirit, has also turned everything into allegories. But in truth, he who without thought either writes allegories himself or follows those invented by others, is not only deceived, but also damaged to the highest degree, as the examples show.
Therefore, they should either be bypassed altogether, or they should be handled with the utmost understanding and concern, and they should be drawn from and guided by the rules used by the apostles, of which I will speak hereafter, lest we, like the theologians and canonists, or rather asimfles, fall into ugly and harmful absurdities, as the decrees of the most detestable Pope Benedict testify.
(73) But this is to be understood in such a way that we nevertheless do not reject all allegories in general. For we see that Christ himself and the apostles also used allegories at times. But they are such that they are according to faith; according to the rule of St. Paul, Rom. 12:7, where he exhorts and says that prophecy or doctrine should be according to faith.
Furthermore, when I condemn allegories, I am speaking of those that someone invents out of his own spirit and mind, without the foundation of sacred Scripture. For the others, which are drawn from the analogy and guide of faith, not only adorn and decorate the doctrine, but also comfort the conscience.
75 Peter uses this history of the Flood in the most beautiful allegory and interpretation when he says in 1 Epist. 3, 21. 22. that through the flood is meant the baptism that makes us blessed. For thereby is not washed away the filth of the flesh, but the conscience has a good covenant with God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, swallowing up death that we might be heirs of eternal life, and has ascended into heaven, and has subdued for himself the angels and the mighty men and the powers etc. This is actually a true theological allegory, that is, one that is consistent with faith and full of comfort.
76. such is also this one, so Christ leads Joh. 3, 14. of the lifted up serpent in the wilderness, of which were healed those who looked at it and were bitten by the serpents. Item, this St. Paul 1 Cor. 10, 4.: "Our fathers all drank of the spiritual rock" etc. These are such allegories, which not only come finely with the work, but also teach the hearts of faith and are useful to the consciences.
77 But consider Jerome's, Origen's, and Augustine's allegories, the more part: for these have no thoughts of faith when they make allegories, but seek philosophical sayings for them, which serve neither for good morals nor for faith; not to mention that they are foolish and clumsy enough.
We have heard above of Augustine's allegory of the creation of man and woman, which he directs to the upper and lower parts of man, that is, to reason and inner stimuli or affects. But, dear, tell me, what is the purpose of such a poem?
But the pope is praised as a godly and learned allegorical master, who thus goes up in all heights: God made two great lights, the sun and the moon. The sun is the papal majesty, from which the imperial majesty has its light, as the moon from the sun. O impudence above all impudence! O cursed ambition!
80 In this history, they also compare the ark of their church, in which the pope is with his cardinals, bishops and prelates; but the laity swim in the sea, that is, they are stuck in worldly business, and would not be blessed if these regents of the ark or church did not reach out to them or throw them boards and ropes so that they draw them into the church. The laymen, however, are swimming in the sea, that is, stuck in worldly business, and would not be blessed if these rulers of the ark or church did not hold out their hands to them or throw them boards and ropes to draw them into the church. For with such a painting the monks have painted the church everywhere.
Origen is even purer than the popes, who generally draws his allegories from external customs. But be that as it may, one should keep St. Paul's rule, which commands that one should make the interpretation according to faith; for this edifies and actually belongs to the church. The pagan philosophers can also teach us about morals, even though they know nothing about faith.
Thus St. Paul says in the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians Cap. 10, 2. that the Israelites under Moses were baptized with the cloud and with the sea. If you were to look at the manner and words alone, then also Pha
rao was baptized, but in such a way that he and all his people were drowned and corrupted in the sea, but Israel passed through without harm or injury; just as Noah and his sons were also preserved in this baptism of the flood, but the rest of the world, which had been outside the box, perished in this baptism of the flood. This is conveniently and skillfully said. For in the Scriptures baptism and death are compared and reversed with each other. Therefore Paul says Rom. 6, 3: "All who were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death." Item, Christ Luc. 12, 50.: "I must first be baptized with one baptism, and how anxious I am until it is completed!" And to His disciples He says Matth. 20, 23.: "With baptism, as I am baptized with, shall ye be baptized."
According to this meaning, the Red Sea is actually baptism, that is, the death and wrath of God, as can be seen in Pharaoh: and yet Israel, which is baptized with such baptism, passes through without harm. Thus the Flood is certainly the death and wrath of God, and yet in the midst of it the faithful are preserved. Thus death devours the whole human race, for God's wrath proceeds without distinction against the evil and the good, the pious and the wicked. As the flood that Noah suffered was not another thing, but the world suffered: so the Red Sea, in which Pharaoh and the children of Israel went, was not two things, but One Sea. Then the difference is found in that those who believe are preserved in this very death, in which they stand beside the wicked, but the wicked perish; as Noah is preserved because he has the box, that is, the promise and word of God, in which he lives; but the wicked, who do not believe the word, are left without help.
(84) This difference the Holy Spirit intended to show, so that the pious may believe from this example and hope for salvation and blessedness through God's mercy, even in the midst of death. For they have baptism, which is connected with the promise of life, just as Noah had the box. Now whether the death of a wise man and the death of a
"Fools; for Peter dies, Paul dies, not unlike the death of Nero and all the ungodly: yet they believe that in death they shall be preserved unto life eternal. And this hope is not in vain: for they have the Lord Christ, who receiveth their spirit, and at the last day shall raise up the bodies of them that believe unto everlasting life.
This allegory is of great use and comforts the heart, for it shows the difference of the end. If you want to follow the eyes of the flesh, Solomon's saying Ecclesiastes 2:16 is true, that as the wise die, so dieth the fool, and that the righteous dieth as though God loved him not. But here you must turn your mind's eye and notice the difference, that Israel enters the Red Sea and is preserved; but over Pharaoh, when he wants to go after Israel, the waters break and he perishes. Therefore it is the same death that the pious and the wicked die. And the death of the pious is indeed generally shameful, but the death of the wicked is glorious and splendid; but in the sight of God the death of sinners is the worst, but the death of the saints is precious and delicious; for it is sanctified by Christ, through whom is the entrance into eternal life.
86 For as the flood and the Red Sea are as it were ministers that Noah and Israel should be saved out of death, and be preserved in life: so also our death is nothing else, but a cause of life, if we will continue in the faith. For when the children of Israel are in their greatest distress, the sea suddenly divides itself from one another and stands there on the right and left side as a wall of brass, so that Israel can pass through without danger or harm. But why does this happen? Precisely because death had to serve life. For this is God's power and might, by which Satan's attacks fail, as they did in paradise. Because there the devil also dealt with it, that he would like to strangle the whole human race with his poison. But what happens? Through this blessed guilt, as the Church sings, it is arranged that God's Son comes down into our flesh and redeems us from such great misery.
Thus this allegory finely teaches, comforts and strengthens that we fear neither death nor sin, but despise all danger and give thanks to God, that we are thus called and God thus acts with us, that even death, which devours the whole world, must serve for our life; as the Flood, by which the previous world was corrupted, was a cause that Noah was preserved, and the Red Sea, which took away Pharaoh, must serve for the preservation of the children of Israel.
This comfort should also be applied to other trials, so that we may despise the danger and have hope, even if it seems as if there is no hope left. So when death or other adversity befalls us, we should encourage ourselves and say, "Behold, there is your red sea, your flood, your baptism, and your death; here is your life (as a philosopher said of shipmen) scarcely a span away from death: but fear not, for this peril is as a handful of water, whereas through the word you have a flood of grace; therefore death will not choke you, but will be a help and encouragement to life. etc. For how can death harm a Christian, since one cannot escape death by any other means than death? For the death of the body is next to the redemption of the spirit and the resurrection of the flesh; just as Noah in the flood was not carried by the earth, nor by trees, nor by mountains, but by the flood, which killed all the other men.
That is why the prophets praise these miraculous works of God so often, such as the passage through the Red Sea, the exit from Egypt and the like. For the sea, which by nature cannot do anything else but dampen and destroy man, must stand still and protect man so that the waves of water do not sweep over him. What therefore is by nature nothing else but wrath becomes grace to the faithful, and what is nothing else but death becomes life. What then is misery, of which this life is innumerable, and thereby is inimical to our body and good, all this, if you are in the box, must be given to you.
If you believe and take hold of the promise of God made in Christ, you will prosper to blessedness and joy,' so that death, which takes you away, must become your life, and hell, which devours you, must become the way to heaven.
90 Therefore Peter says 1 Epist. 3, 21, that the water in baptism, which is signified by the flood, also makes us blessed. For the water that we are sprinkled with, or baptism, is death. And yet from this death or baptism comes life for the sake of the box in which we will be saved, that is, for the sake of the word of promise to which we are attached. This allegory is shown to us by the canonical Scriptures, and is not only safe and without danger, but also in every way useful that we diligently consider it: for it shows us a glorious consolation even in the last distresses.
(91) The fathers also devised another allegory for this one, based on the shape and proportion of the chest. For a man's body is six times longer from the crown to the soles than it is wide. The width of the box was fifty cubits, but the height was six times greater, namely, three hundred cubits. Therefore they say that the box means the Lord Christ, on whom all promises hang. Whoever therefore believes in him will be saved, John 3:16, and will remain alive even in the flood, that is, in death.
These are not clumsy or unpleasant thoughts, and what I like best in them is that they are in accordance with faith. Therefore, even though something may be wrong in the application, the reason is certain and firm. And there is no doubt that the Holy Spirit has painted the promises, which are to be fulfilled through Christ, in various ways, and has presented a wonderful way to make the whole human race blessed through faith in Christ. Therefore, such allegories, even if they are not so accurate and true, are neither ungodly nor annoying.
(93) Therefore, if one who said that the sun is Christ, and the moon is the church, which is enlightened by the grace of Christ, should err, it would be such a one.
Error, which would stand on no erroneous, but certain and solid ground. But if the pope says that the sun signifies his papal highness, but the moon signifies the emperor, then not only is the application foolish and ludicrous, but the reason is also harmful and ungodly. Therefore, such allegories are not thought up and invented by the Holy Spirit, but by the lying spirit, the devil.
For this reason, allegories should be drawn to the promises of God and the doctrine of faith, so that they comfort and strengthen the heart, as St. Peter's example teaches us. Because he sees that Noah is saved in the midst of death, and that the ark is a testimony and help to life, it is rightly pointed to Christ. For it must be a divine power that sustains in the midst of death and leads to life; just as the Scriptures call God a Lord "who saves from death," Psalm 68:21, and creates that death is a cause or help and encouragement to life.
95 From such a change has come this way of speaking in Scripture, in which suffering, distress and danger are compared to a cup that makes one drunk; which is actually a subtle, attenuating comparison. Just as the suffering of the Lord Christ is called a drink from the brook, Psalm 110:7, as if someone wanted to say that it was a medicinal drink and wormwood, which, even though it was bitter, made one healthy with its bitterness and alive with its killing. But such mitigating comparisons serve to comfort us, so that we learn to despise death and other dangers and enter into them all the more joyfully.
Satan also has his cup, but it is sweet and makes one so drunk that he must drink it again. For those who are too fond of it and drink it up lose their life and die an eternal death. Such a cup was that which the king of Babylon drank; as it is written in the prophet Jeremiah, Cap. 25, 15-27. Therefore, let us also receive our cup of salvation with thanksgiving, as Paul says in Romans 5:3 that believers also glory in their tribulation.
97 After we have shown this picture of the box and meaning of the Flood from the Holy Scripture, we must
The other pieces of this story are: the raven that did not come back, and the doves, one of which came back because it had not yet found a place to perch, the other one came back and brought an olive branch, and the third one did not come back because the water on the ground had dried up.
Now we have said above, when we told the story, that all this happened to Noah and his sons for comfort, so that he would be sure that God's wrath would have an end and that God would now be reconciled. For the dove did not bring the olive branch by its own skill, but it was divine power and a miraculous work; just as the serpent in Paradise did not speak by its own skill, but by the inspiration of the devil, by whom it was possessed. Therefore, just as there the serpent, moved and prompted by the devil, spoke and man was led into sin, so here the dove did not bring the olive branch out of its own skill or nature, but out of God's prompting, so that Noah might draw some comfort from this most beautiful sight. For the fruit of the olive tree is not the dove's food, but she eats wheat, grain or peas.
Therefore, it is certain that this miraculous story must have a special meaning, especially because the prophets often refer to the doves in their prophecies of the kingdom of Christ, as Psalm 68:14 and Isaiah, Cap. 60:8. Thus, we also see that Solomon takes special delight in the name of the dove in his song. Therefore, one should not despise this painting, which the allegory shows us, but act diligently and righteously.
Now we know what kind of allegory the teachers of the raven wrote, namely, because the ravens have a desire to eat, they meant that this means the carnal people who have a desire for carnal pleasures and indulge in the same, like the Epicureans. This is a valid opinion, but it is not enough, for it is only a worldly and philosophical interpretation, as Erasmus, for example, is wont to proceed according to the example of Origen.
But we shall pursue the theological understanding. First of all, the same moralists do not pay attention to the fact that the Scriptures give this praise to the raven, that it did not fly out of the box by itself, but was sent out by Noah as a messenger to investigate whether the waters had ceased and God's wrath had come to an end. The raven, however, does not come again, nor does it bring back such a good message, for it remains outside the box; and even though it flies out and comes back, it does not let itself be taken by Noah, but remains outside the box.
102 All these things rhyme well with the office of the law. For even the blackness of the hub is a sign of sadness, and his voice is unpleasant. So all preachers of the law who teach righteousness are of works: for they are ministers of death and sin, as Paul calls the office of the law an "office of death," 2 Cpr. 3:6, "the law killeth," Rom. 7:10, "the law worketh wrath," Cap. 4, 15, "through the law sin becomes more powerful", Cap. 5, 20.
103. And yet Moses is sent by God with this teaching, just as Noah left out the raven. For God wants people to be taught good morals and holy living. He also wants the transgressors of the law to be told of God's wrath and certain punishment. And yet, such teachers are nothing more than ravens flying around the ark, bringing no certain sign that God has been reconciled.
(104) For the law is such a doctrine that it cannot reassure, uplift, or comfort the fearful conscience, but rather terrifies it, since it does nothing but teach what God requires of us and what He wants us to do. Our conscience, however, bears witness against us that we have not only not kept God's will as revealed in the law, but have also done what is contrary to it.
Therefore it may be said of such teachers of the law, as it is written in Psalm 5:10: "In their mouth is nothing certain" (our translation has: "In their mouth is no truth"). For when they teach in the most perfect manner, they say, "If thou
do this and that, and you will be saved. Therefore Christ answers the scribe, who praised the law highly, also mockingly and says Luc. 10, 28: "Do this, and you will live". For he shows him that it is a holy and good doctrine. But because we are infirm, the guilt is ours, which we neither keep nor are able to keep. Therefore we rightly say that we are not justified by the works of the law, not only by ceremonies, but also by the highest works, as the love of God and of our neighbor. The reason is that we cannot do them.
(106) And we justly punish the insolence of our adversaries who blame us, as if we forbid good works and condemn God's laws, when we teach that one is not justified nor saved by works. But we would do this if we did not know the raven that Noah let out of the box. But now we say that the raven was let out of the box by Noah. But this we deny, that either the raven is not, or since it is, it is nothing else but the dove. Because on this lie our adversaries want to force us with all their shouting, blaspheming and blaspheming, that we should make a dove out of the raven.
107. But now look at their books and diligently consider their doctrine, and you will find that it is a doctrine of works alone. For thus they say: This is fine, this is honest, do it; that is ugly and vile, avoid it. And when they teach these things, they think they are theologians and righteous teachers. But show where he is who either has done all these things or will do them, especially if he is diligently held up not only to the other table, as they do, but also to the first.
(108) He who therefore rests on this teaching of the law is really nothing but an audience, and learns nothing but that he knows what he should do. Therefore, it would be enough to give such people who do not want to learn anything else only Cato and Aesop, whom I consider to be better teachers of good manners and outward conduct, and the young boys are therefore presented with both of them in a useful way. The adults may learn the Cicero, and I wonder why in the teaching of good manners and honorable conduct they are not taught.
Some people prefer to read Aristotle rather than Cicero. That would be a sensible course of instruction. As far as the teaching and instruction of outward manners is concerned, the diligence and skill of the pagans cannot be blamed. But they are all under Moses, who teaches not only of good manners, but also of worship. And yet it is true that he who is based on Moses has nothing but the raven that flies about outside the box, but of the dove and the oil leaf he has nothing.
This is a picture not only of the law given by God, but also of all human reason and wisdom, all laws and all philosophy. For all of these say no more than what one should do, but advise nothing about where one should get it, so that one can do it. Therefore Christ's judgment Luc. 17:10 is right: "When you have done everything you were commanded to do, say, 'We are useless servants.
110 The raven is omitted, for God wants the law to be taught and reveals it from heaven; indeed, he writes it into the hearts of all men, as Paul proves in Romans 2:15. And from this natural knowledge all the books of the philosophers have their origin, which before others were somewhat purer and more reasonable than: Aesop, Aristotle, Plato, Xenophon, Cicero, Cato. Therefore, they should be presented to the unintelligent and the impudent, so that their erroneous stimuli and fragile nature may be regulated and improved to some extent by this discipline.
111. But if you ask of the conscience how it is to be satisfied, and of the hope of eternal life, they are in truth like the raven that flies here about the box, and finds not peace without, but seeks it not within the box; as Paul saith of the Jews Rom. 9:31: "Israel hath followed the law of righteousness, and hath not passed the law of righteousness." The cause is: the law is like the raven, is a ministry of death and sins, and makes hypocrites.
Now, whoever wants to, may emphasize such an allegory more extensively, and investigate what properties this bird has in itself.
It is an unclean animal, black and deadly in color, with a hard beak and an unpleasant and terrible voice. It smells carrion even from a distance, and that is why people shy away from its voice, as it means death and corpses; it eats carrion and likes to be in such places, where people kill evildoers.
And even though all this is not to be interpreted in terms of the law, everyone can see that it rhymes very well with the papists, priests, and monks, who not only fed on consciences that they killed through false teaching, but also drew dead bodies for their nourishment, because they used vigils, funerals, holy water at the graves, and even purgatory itself to gain money. And this order and work served and benefited them more with the dead than with the living. That is why they are real ravens, which feed on dead aesir and sit above them with horrible screaming and bawling. This rhymes very well with the papists and the ravens. The whole papacy, where it is best, does nothing but torture and kill consciences like an executioner. But it does not lead or bring anyone to true righteousness, but only makes hypocrites, just as the law does.
(114) In Ezekiel, chapter 13, v. 19, among other sins of false prophets, this one is listed, that for the sake of a handful of barley and a piece of bread, they choke the souls that do not die, and make alive the souls that do not live. Such things actually belong to the ravens or preachers of the law; for they make righteous those who live by the law, but such are actually souls that do not live. Again, they condemn those who do not want to keep the statutes of men; as the Pharisees condemned the disciples for plucking up ears of corn, not bathing, not fasting, Matth. 12, 1. 2. This is a terrible and deadly voice, which the ravens that sit on the dead ases should remind us of.
When the Greeks wanted to curse something bad, they said in their proverb: For the ravens; as also the Germans say in their proverb: That the ravens eat you.
If we want to draw this curse on the allegory, it is truly a very evil curse. For what can be more harmful than that one has such teachers who kill when they teach in the best way, and bring the consciences into such distress that they can never come out of it again? And if anyone should say that this allegory of the raven, which we have thus applied to the church office, is not really true, it is nevertheless true and agrees with the reason, and is not only very convenient but also very useful for teaching.
Now what Moses says about the dove is a very lovely picture of the gospel, especially if you diligently pursue the qualities of the dove, of which there are ten. The first is that it has no gall; the second, that it does not bite; the third, that it does not scratch; the fourth, that it eats nothing unclean; the fifth, that it feeds other birds' young; the sixth, that it does not sing, but sighs and whines; the seventh, that it sits by waters; the eighth, that it flies in heaps; the ninth, that it perches in places where it is safe; the tenth, that it flies quickly. Which ten qualities are put into these rhymes:
Peaceful and quiet is a dove, Without all anger and deceit.
Her foot does not scratch, her beak does not sore, The purest grain her mouth reads.
With her plumage she swings nimbly to fresh water.
Their little song and their best G'sang
Is sigh'n and Kirr'n her life long.
Another boy's child,
Not differently than with heaps fleugt. She makes her nest and hides there.
Since it is safe and untainted.
The New Testament Matth. 3, 16. testifies that the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove: therefore it is right that this allegory points to the ministry of grace.
(118) Now Moses indicates that the dove did not fly around the box like the raven, but flew out, and after it found no place to land, it came back to the box and was taken back into the box by Noah.
119) This dove is an image of the holy prophets, who are sent to guide the people.
But the Flood, that is, the time of the Law, had not yet passed. So David, Elijah, Isaiah were sent out to bring the message of the end of the Flood, even though they had not reached the time of grace or the New Testament, and the Flood had not yet ended. Therefore, after the message was delivered, they returned to the box, that is, they became righteous and saved without the law, through faith in the given seed, in whom they believed and for whom they waited.
120) After this dove another one is let out, which finds that the earth is dried up, and the waters are gone not only from the mountains, but also from the trees. But this one sits alone on an olive tree, breaks a branch of it and brings it to Noah.
This allegory also appears in the Scriptures and compares the oil in many places with the grace or mercy or forgiveness of sins. The same leads the dove in the mouth and is thereby signified the outward preaching office or oral word. For the Holy Spirit does not teach by means of new revelations and inpourings outside of the preaching ministry, as the enthusiasts and Anabaptists, the senseless and foolish teachers, would have us believe; but for this reason God makes it so that the dove leads a green olive branch in its mouth to Noah, so that we may understand from this that God in the New Testament, after the time of the Flood or the wrath has ceased, wanted to show His grace and mercy to the world through the oral word.
The servants of this word are doves, that is, simple, sincere people who are without gall and full of the Holy Spirit. So Isaiah Cap. 60, 8. also compares the ministers of the gospel or grace to doves flying to known windows. And although Christ commands his disciples to be simple-minded like doves, that is, to be sincere and without bitterness, he also admonishes them to be prudent like serpents, that is, to be careful of false and deceitful people, to be cautious; as
It is said that the snakes with special cunning and art perceive in the fight of their head and hide the same.
123) That the olive tree grows green rhymes with the word of the gospel, which endures forever and is never without fruit; just as Psalm 1:3 compares the people who diligently follow and handle the word to a tree whose leaves do not wither. We have not heard anything like this from the raven flying around the box. Therefore, this dove, which is omitted for another time, is a figure and image of the New Testament, in which forgiveness of sin and grace are clearly promised through the sacrifice of the Lord Christ. That is why the Holy Spirit wanted to appear in the New Testament in the form of a dove.
124. The third dove has not come again. For after the promise of the gospel, which is proclaimed to the world through the mouth of the dove, is fulfilled, there is nothing left to wait for, and no other new teaching is awaited, but only the revelation of the things which we have believed. Therefore, this also belongs to the fact that we have a certain testimony that this teaching will last until the end of the world.
125 Thus it is also clearly stated in the text about the time, that Noah, after he had let out the first dove, still waited seven days; which seven days are the time of the law, which had to go before the time of the New Testament.
The text also reports about the other dove that it came back to the box at vespers time and brought an olive branch in its mouth. For the last time of the world is appointed for the gospel. Therefore, one should not wait for any other teaching; as Christ compares the gospel to the Lord's Supper, Matth. 22, 2. and Luc. 14, 16.
The doctrine of the Gospel was soon from the fall of the first parents in the world, and God confirmed this promise to the fathers by many signs. Before that nothing was known about the rainbow, nothing about the circumcision, nor
of other things, which God has subsequently ordered. But of the Blessed Seed it has been known at all times. Now that it has been revealed, we have nothing else to look forward to, except that the things we believe will be shown and revealed, and we will fly away with the third dove into another life and never return to this wretched and miserable life.
These are my thoughts about this allegory, which I recently wanted to indicate. For one should not deal with such things according to length and as expansively as the histories and articles of faith.
Origen, Jerome, Augustine, and Bernard speak too much of allegories and have this error, that because they deal with them too long, they reject the hearts and chase them away from history and faith. Since allegories are to be acted upon and carried out in such a way that the faith to which the histories everywhere point is awakened, increased, explained and strengthened. But those who do not want to seek faith in the histories, it is not surprising that they have a desire for useless allegories and like to deal with them a lot.
And as we see that in the papacy the hymns are very sweet, but the words are commonly not only uncomfortable, but also ungodly and contrary to Scripture: so the teachers have often falsified a good understanding of Scripture, which serves faith, with clumsy allegories.
I have often said what theology was like when I first began to study theology. "The letter", they said, "kills", 2 Cor. 3, 6. That is why I was especially hostile to Lyra before all teachers, because he follows the text so diligently and likes to stick to it. But now, for this reason, I prefer him to all other interpreters of Scripture.
132 And I admonish everyone, in the most diligent way I can, that one should diligently observe history and think about it well. But since at times we also want to use allegories, we should do so in such a way that they remain in accordance with the faith, that is, that we draw and direct them to Christ, to the church, faith, and preaching ministry.
For so it shall come to pass, that though the allegories be not proper enough, yet they shall not fail nor err from the faith. For this foundation shall stand firm; but the stubble shall become void and perish. Now we come again to the history.
Fourth Part.
FromNoah and from his case.
V. 20, 21, 22: And Noah began, and became a husbandman, and planted vineyards. And when he had drunk the wine, he was drunken, and lay uncovered in the tabernacle. When Ham Canaan's father saw his father's shame, he told his two brothers outside.
What kind of man Noah was in the flood is sufficiently shown by the same history. But what kind of man he was before the flood, Moses indicated with few words, since he said that he was justified and of divine perfect conduct. Nothing else is said about such a great man, without his wonderful and almost unbelievable chastity being indicated and praised with dark words, with Moses writing that he had only begotten children in the five hundredth year. And this indicates that at that time the nature of man was much stronger and better, the Holy Spirit also much stronger and richer in the holy men of the first world, than it is now in us, who are the end of the world. And this is truly a great glory of Noah, that Moses says he was righteous and of a perfect life before God, that is, he was full of faith and the Holy Spirit, graced and adorned with chastity and all good works, pure worship and religion, who also suffered many temptations from the devil, from the world and from himself, all of which he overcame. Such a man was Noah before the flood.
134 Although Moses gives little indication of what he was after the Flood, it is easy to think that he lived three hundred and fifty years after the Flood.
that such a man could not be idle, but will have had to do with the regiment of the church, which he alone ordered and ruled.
135 Thus he first had the office of a bishop, and because he had tried many temptations, he was especially concerned that he should set himself against the devil, comfort the afflicted, restore the erring, reassure the doubtful, restore the despondent, expel the impenitent from his church, but receive the penitent again with a fatherly heart and joy. For this is almost the office which a bishop is to perform through the ministry of preaching.
After that, he also had his worldly business of appointing regiments and ordering laws, without which the will of the people cannot be controlled. In addition, there was also his household regiment and the Hanseatic League.
Now reason can recognize that Noah was burdened with so many and various businesses after the Flood: and yet nothing is thought of Moses, but Moses alone considered it necessary to show how he had begun to plant a vineyard and had lain naked in his hut in drunkenness. And this is a foolish and quite useless history, if you want to hold it against other works that he has done through so many years. For other things could have been more edifying and could have served to show how one should conduct and arrange one's life properly, if they were told. This history, however, has this appearance, as if it were a cause of trouble and an applause to drunkards and those who fall into sin through drunkenness.
We know from our teaching what the Holy Spirit's counsel and concern are. For with this account of the astonishment and fall of the most holy and perfect patriarchs, he wanted to comfort the pious who feel their weakness and therefore become fainthearted.
The Holy Spirit had the right and theological reason why other great and high works of Noah had to be left aside. This is the right and theological reason why the Holy Spirit left other great and lofty works of Noah undone and wanted to tell of this great fall of such a great man.
But Lyra excuses Noah as if he had not known the strength and power of the wine and had therefore been deceived after he had taken a little too much of it. But I believe that it was the wine before, or was first planted by Noah's skill through the infusion of the Holy Spirit, so Noah knew well the nature and properties of this juice and often used the wine before time with his own, both for his body and in sacrifices. But since he once wanted to use wine for his refreshment, I believe that he drank too much of it.
140 And this cannot excuse him at all. For he who wanted to do this could put forward much greater and more respectable causes than Lyra presents: namely, that Noah, as an old and well-aged man, and who had now worn out his body and strength through many and daily business and worries, would have let the wine, to which he was already accustomed, creep up on him and overcome him. For worn-out and old people are more easily overcome by wine than those who are still strong in body, young, without worries and of free spirit; for they can take more of it without any particular harm or weakening of their reason.
141 Those who therefore excuse the patriarch in this, willingly throw away this consolation, which the Holy Spirit has considered necessary for the church, namely, that even the highest saints stumble and fall at times.
For although this case may be considered minor, it has caused a great deal of trouble, which has angered not only Ham, but also his brothers and perhaps even their wives. But now we should not take Ham for a boy,
who was about seven years old; for he was born in the five hundredth year of Noah, so he was at least a hundred years old, and has now had several children of his own.
143 Therefore he did not laugh out of his father's childish frivolity, as children do when they gather around a drunken man from the street, stand around him, and make their play and amusement out of him. For he was utterly and horribly offended by his father's fall and infirmity and considered himself much holier, more righteous, more pious and more godly than his father. So that it does not only seem as if it were an annoyance, but it is here the right seriousness and righteous annoyance, because Hain is so annoyed at his father's drunkenness that he also judges him in it and has his pleasure and joy in such his sin.
For if we want to speak of this sin of Ham's rightly and actually, we must look at the original sin, that is, we must look at the naughtiness and wickedness of his heart. For he, as a son, would never have laughed at his drunken father, if he had not first left out of his heart the reverence, so that the children should behave towards their parents according to God's commandment.
Just as Noah before the Flood was considered a fool by most of the world, condemned as a heretic and despised as a foolish man, so here his son ridicules him as a fool and condemns him as a sinner. And because at the same time the church, worldly and household regiment had Noah alone on its neck and had to order with many worries, trouble and work, it is win doubt, he will have done much, at which his proud, splendid and presumptuous son will have been annoyed. The son, however, did not let himself notice such naughtiness of his heart, which now shows itself and breaks out over the father's public sin.
146) If one looks at this origin of all sins, namely the original sin, and judges Ham's misdeed from it, then it becomes clear what an abominable deed Ham did against his father.
has committed. For no one becomes an adulterer or a murderer unless he has first put the fear of God out of his heart; just as a student does not rebel against his teacher unless he has first put aside and thrown away all the reverence that a student owes his teacher. Thus the 14th Psalm, v.:2, says that God first looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if any were wise and asked after God. But since he saw no one, he goes on to say that there was no one who did good, but that they were inept and sinned with their mouths and with their fists, and there they were afraid, since there was no reason to fear etc.
(147) In the same way, Ham also considered himself wise and holy, and regarded many things that his father did as evil or foolish in his mind. This not only shows that Ham despised his father in his heart, but also that he forgot and despised God's commandment. That the wicked and ill-advised son lacks nothing more than that he should seek an opportunity to bear witness and thereby reveal his father's sin and foolishness. Therefore he does not laugh at his father as a child of a drunkard usually laughs, nor does he call his brothers to a ridiculous and entertaining spectacle, but rather deals with it so that everyone should take this case as a clear testimony that God has abandoned his father and accepted him instead. Therefore he carries out this sin of his father and brings it with pleasure among others. For as I said before, he was not a boy of seven years, but at least a hundred years old.
This naughtiness actually comes from original sin, which makes people presumptuous, proud and wise beyond measure; yet, as Paul admonishes in Romans 12:3, one should think of himself moderately, according to the measure that God has distributed to every believer. But original sin does not allow Ham to remain within this measure; therefore he misses and submits himself beyond his measure of judging his father. Just as we see this also in Absalom. For before he started a rebellion against his father.
If he is displeased with his father, he judges his father's government unreasonably. And this displeasure, that I call it, which he draws from his father's government, is followed by public contempt, public outrage and violence against his father, so that he intends to suppress him, 2 Sam. 15, 3. ff. Because Ham's heart is full of such poison, which he sucked, as it were, like a spider from his father, as from a beautiful rose, such fruit also follows from it.
These examples remind us of the battle that has been going on since the beginning of the world between the church and Satan and his members, namely the hypocrites and false brothers. Therefore, this action of Ham should not be interpreted as a child's play, but as the most bitter hatred and resentment of Satan, so that he may arm and provoke his members against the true church, and especially against those who are in the ministry of preaching, so that they pay close attention to every opportunity to see if there is anything to blaspheme about them and their ministry.
Thus we see that at the present time the papists have nothing else in mind than that they, out of diligence and intention to blaspheme us, take notice of our whole life and walk. Therefore, when at times we provide something out of human frailty (as we are truly weak and feel and suffer our distress and misery), they fall in with heaps like hungry swine and roll in our filth, taking pleasure and amusement from it, revealing our weakness according to the example of the accursed hammer. For they actually have a righteous serious hunger and thirst for our aggravations. And since they cannot accuse us of any adultery, nor death, nor error, because of God, without what they do with lies (as they, as an insolent bunch, do not shy away from any lie): so they pick up other things, which they blow into the ears of the common rabble and make a big fuss about.
151) It is known of David that he was surrounded on all sides with enemies and adversaries, who made a fuss against him on every occasion, because they
They did not begrudge him the rule to which he had been appointed by God. Therefore, when the terrible case of adultery happened to him, they rejoiced and rejoiced.
This, however, is part of the teaching. For since God at times causes even the pious and holy to err and to fall into such sins, which are either real offences in themselves or have the appearance of such, we should be careful not to follow the example of Ham and therefore judge them soon. For Ham had long ago despised his father, but here he raises his hand and does it publicly, taking it for granted that his father, the old fool, had been completely abandoned by the Holy Spirit, since he had not guarded himself against drunkenness: although he alone had the church's regiment, police and housekeeping on his neck. But, O poor Ham, how great a glory you have won here, who have now found what you were looking for, namely a poison in the most beautiful and lovely rose.
For this reason God is praised and blessed forever, who guides his saints wonderfully, Ps. 4, 4. For while he lets them be weak and fall, and lets them be full of displeasure and anger, so that the world judges them and condemns them, he forgives them such weakness and has mercy on them, but again he leaves those who think they are angels to the devil and rejects them completely. This, then, is the first benefit of this history that the pious should take from it, namely, a necessary comfort in their weakness and frailty, because they are afraid that even the most holy people at times have fallen grossly and horribly out of the same weakness and frailty.
Secondly, this history is also an example of divine terror and judgment, so that we let Ham's danger be a warning to us, and do not refrain from judging soon, if we see that a secular or spiritual authority, or even the parents err and fall. For who knows why God does such things? And although such cases are not to be defended or excused, we see that they serve greatly to comfort the pious, because they testify and teach that God has not abandoned His
Saints can credit their stumbling and falling, so that even if we are hurried with sins, we may hope in God's mercy and not despair.
But such comfort and medicine of the pious is pure poison to the wicked. For they do not seek and ask how God teaches and comforts; therefore they are not worthy to see God's glory in His saints. For they look at nothing else but this, by which they are vexed and entrapped, so that they fall away and finally perish by themselves.
Therefore, let us cherish our ancestors and forefathers, and if they should err and fall, let us not be offended by them, but let us remember that they are human beings, and let us consider it that God deals with His saints in a strange way, and wants the wicked to be offended by them and to be embittered against them; as Moses threatens the Jews, Deut. 32:21, that God will anger them against a foolish people. For because they would not listen to the prophets throughout the whole time of their kingdom, God caused them such trouble that He rejected them, who wanted to be a wise and holy people, who had the promises and were descendants of the fathers and patriarchs, and chose in their place the filth and the soup of the world, a foolish people and who were not God's people, that is, without God's knowledge, fear of God and religion, without worship, divine wisdom and word. This trouble made the Jews mad and senseless.
157 The papists will suffer the same fate: they will be afflicted with an affliction that can neither be advised nor helped, like Ham, who, having abandoned honor and obedience to God and his father, and thinking that he wants to be able to govern the church better, thereby also secretly either ridiculing or condemning his father, now reveals that he also shows and proves before others what disobedience, dishonor and contempt he carries in his heart toward his father.
158. this ungodly presumption and disobedience is followed by the other two brothers, Shem.
and Japheth, but remain in the honor and fear of God and their father. They do see the annoyance that the father is drunk and lies there on the ground without any shame, like a child; they also understand how such a vice is not at all appropriate and very bad for one who is commanded by the church and worldly rule; But they do not allow themselves to be deprived of the reverence that children owe a father, but overcome this annoyance, also cover up and, as it were, gloss over this weakness of their father by going backwards and covering the father's shame with a garment. They would not have shown such outward and truly lovely honor to their father if they had been inwardly rightly minded in their hearts toward God and had considered their father to have been set up as a high priest and king by divine power.
This is why Ham is held up to us as a terrible example, who was preserved with so few in the Flood and now so completely forgets all fear of God. And it is very good that one diligently thinks and considers how he got into such a case. For outward sins, which are committed with the body, must first take place in the heart; so that before the sin comes into the work, the heart falls away from the word and fear of God, does not know him or ask for him, as the 14th Psalm v. 2 says. If now the heart stands so that it does not respect the word, and despises the servants and prophets of God, then ambition, hopefulness, slander, hatred and resentment follow against those who hinder and endure such a heart's lust and desire, until finally, after scorn and shame, death and bloodshed follow.
160 Therefore, those who want to either govern the church or hold secular offices should pay attention to this with all diligence and therefore call upon God daily, so that they may remain in humility. For in order that we may diligently take care of this, such histories should cause and awaken us, 1 Cor. 10:6, 11, because we see by what cause and occasion Ham has fallen into such a terrible case.
And so, when we see the saints fall, we should not let anything bother us, much less strut and rejoice over the weakness of others, as if we were stronger, wiser, and holier; but rather help bear, cover, even adorn, palliate, and excuse such cases and sins as much as we can, and consider that if another suffers today, this may also befall us tomorrow. For we are one mass and all born of one flesh. Therefore we should rather learn the rule of St. Paul 1 Cor. 10, 12, that he who stands there should see that he does not fall. For thus the other two brethren looked upon their drunken father, and thought: Behold, our father has been overtaken by a fall and infirmity; but God is marvelous in His saints, whom He causes to fall at times for our consolation, that when we are compassed about and overtaken by such infirmity and weakness, we may not despair.
We should also follow this wisdom. For though others err and sin, we have no power to judge them; they stand or fall, and so they stand and fall before their Lord, Romans 14:4. But if someone's fall and error displeases us (as indeed many cases and sins often do, which should not and cannot be excused and defended), we should take all the more care that such things do not happen to us; but out of hopefulness, contempt and presumption we should not judge anyone. For this is actually a bad habit and an affliction of original sin, that one should be prudent beyond his measure and seek and obtain praise for righteousness out of other people's sin and error.
So we are poor and weak sinners, and we gladly confess, as we are human beings, that our life and walk is not always without trouble. But because we have such frailty in common with our adversaries, we do what our ministry demands of us. We plant and spread God's word, teach and instruct the church, punish and correct what is sinful, exhort to correction, comfort the weak, rebuke and punish the reprobate and the impenitent, and what is of the
and others are more, so our office, laid upon us and commanded by God, requires of us.
164) On the other hand, our adversaries do this: First, they seek nothing but hypocrisy, that they may be considered holy and respected; then they strengthen and weigh down their common weakness with the greatest sins in themselves, that they do not wait for their calling, but care for and seek nothing but honor and riches; but they do not care for the church, but let it fall apart miserably; they condemn the pure righteous doctrine and teach idolatry. In sum, apart from their office, they are wise; but as for their profession, they are the most incomprehensible, which vice does the greatest harm to the church.
This is the first part of this history, which Moses alone wanted to describe, although it is certain that Noah, as a just and pious man, was graced and adorned with many high and excellent virtues and did great things in the church and secular government at the same time. For a police or secular regiment and church cannot be ordered without the very highest skill, and in these two states (that I say nothing of the house regiment) they often bear themselves to causes of much and great danger. For the devil, who is a liar and a murderer, is a bitter enemy of these two regiments, the church and the police.
Moses passes by all such glorious works and does not even touch them with a word. This alone, how Noah became drunk and was mocked by his youngest son, he tells as a special example, from which the pious should learn to trust in the grace and mercy of God; but the hopeful, and those who pretend great and special devotion, holiness and wisdom, should learn from it to fear God and refrain from judging others. For God is wonderful in His saints and terrible, as Manasseh the king says (Prayer of Manasseh v. 5), "over the wicked and sinners. As this example of Ham indicates, who does not begin to despise the father only here over this deed, but has such
He carried enmity and resentment against his father in his heart for a long time, after which he also made the world full of idolatry.
(v.23-25) Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, and put it on both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered their father's shame; and their faces were turned away, that they might not see their father's shame. And when Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his young son had done unto him, he said, Cursed be Canaan, and be a servant of all the servants of his brethren.
Here Moses tells in truth an excellent and noticeable example of reverence for a father. For these two sons would not have sinned if they had not gone backward and covered their father. For what great sin would it be if one were to see a man lying naked and see what he did not want to see? But these two sons do not do this; but when they hear from the trustworthy brother, who laughs at his father, what has happened to his father, they both take a garment over their shoulders and go backward into the hut, letting the garment fall backward from them, and so cover their father.
Who would not see here that in both of them there is such a heart that looks to the will and word of God, and honors with all fear the fatherly majesty and majesty, which God does not want the children to despise or ridicule, but to honor? Therefore, God hereby indicates that He considers such honor to be the most pleasing sacrifice, as well as the highest service and obedience, but is furiously enraged against Ham and becomes hostile to him, who, without sin, could have seen what he saw, since he had come close to it, if only he had covered it up and concealed it, and would not have let it be known that he had pleasure and joy in it. But because he is a despiser of God, of His word, and of the order instituted by God, he not only does not cover his father's shame with his garment, but also makes a spectacle of him and leaves him exposed.
So Moses shows in this description,
The two brothers' actions toward their father indicate that there was great malice in Ham and that he bore a devilish and very bitter hatred and resentment toward his father. For who is there among us who would not at least cover with his garment an unknown and strange man who was drunk and lying naked, that disgrace might be prevented? But how much more and cheaper should this be done to a father? But now we see that Ham not only does not do such things, which human nature and reason would have us do to a stranger, to his father, who at that time was a lord and prince of the whole world, but also reveals such things with joy, mocks and mocks his drunken father, and brings his infirmity before his brothers as a happy newspaper.
For this reason, Moses presents this Ham as a terrible example to be diligently held up in the church to the youth and to be imagined, so that they may learn to honor the ancients, the authorities and parents. For this history to be written and Ham, the despiser of God and his father, to be painted in such hideous colors, was not done for the sake of Noah or Ham, but for the sake of all of us and our descendants.
And it is especially diligently indicated what the reward of such godless contempt was. For good old Noah, who was considered foolish and unfunny by his son and thought to be an old man worthy of ridicule, comes forth here in a true prophetic majesty and preaches to his sons about a divine revelation of how things will be in the future. So that what Paul says in 2 Cor. 12, 9 is true, that God's power is mighty in the weak. For the fact that Noah speaks so confidently of things to come is a strong indication that he was full of the Holy Spirit, when his son had laughed him to scorn and despised him, as if he had been completely abandoned by the Holy Spirit.
172 But I have recently shown how Noah's sons followed one another and which was the firstborn and the youngest, so I will leave it at that. For this is more useful and much more to note.
The Holy Spirit is so enraged against the disobedient son and despiser that He will not call him by his right name, but calls him by the name of his son Canaan. Some say that this is why it happened, because God wanted to keep Ham as a blessed one in the company of the others, so Noah did not want to curse him, but his son Canaan; but the curse of the son hits the father, who deserved it with his contempt. Therefore the name Ham perishes here, because the Holy Spirit becomes fiercely hostile to him, which is truly a severe enmity; as also in the 139th Psalm v. 22. it is said: "I hate them in right earnest." For when the Holy Spirit begins to be angry and hostile, eternal death follows.
Although the Son of Ham sinned much more against his father, this sin was evident and apparent before others, showing the fruit of original sin and devilish naughtiness and wickedness, in that the drunken father lay bare. And because with this sin the others, which he had done against his father before, are now as it were decided and fulfilled, the Holy Spirit curses and condemns him, and threatens him to the horror of the others, that he shall be a servant forever.
Fifth part.
Of the curse, pronounced on Ham, and of the blessing, pronounced on Shem and Japheth.
V. 26. And he said, Blessed be God, the Lord of Shem, and Canaan his servant.
These are two great and excellent prophecies, which should be considered well, because they also belong to our time, although they are masterfully falsified by the Jews. Because they see that Ham will be cursed three times, they draw and interpret this to their people's glory and make a promise of a bodily rule and worldly kingdom out of it; although much is another cause, that
the curse is so often repeated, namely that God cannot forget such disobedience and contempt of parents, nor let them go unpunished; for He wants one to honor parents and authorities; He also wants one to show due honor to the elderly; as He commands 3 Mos. 19, 32. that one should stand up before a gray head, and of the servants of the church He says: "Whoever despises you despises Me", Matth. 10, 40. Luc. 10, 16.
(175) Therefore, when children disobey their parents, it is a sure sign that the curse and calamity are not far off; just as the contempt of the ministry and the authorities is a sign and harbinger. For when in the first world the patriarchs began to be laughed at and their reputation despised, the flood followed; and when in the nation of Judah the younger began to set himself against the old and to be proud, as Isaiah 3:5 says, Jerusalem fell, and Judah lay in heaps. Wherever such corrupt customs are rampant, you may certainly conclude and boldly say that misfortune and disaster are not far away. That is why I am very worried and afraid that Germany will be in a very bad way, because all discipline and respectability is so corrupt and evil in it.
Here we should also note the rule that experience itself and the Holy Scriptures indicate, namely, that because God pauses in punishment and forgives it, he is ridiculed by the world and punished with lies. This is the rule we are to put to all prophecies and attach to them as a seal. So Ham hears that he will be cursed, but because he does not feel the curse so soon, he despises it and is sure to be ridiculed.
Thus the first world laughed at Noah when he preached of the flood. For if they could have believed that such a punishment existed and was near, do you not think that they would certainly not have continued, but rather would have reformed their lives and repented? And if Ham had believed this to be true when he heard it from his father, he would have taken recourse to mercy and asked for mercy and forgiveness for the sin he had committed. But he does none of these, but rather divorces many things.
He preferred to leave his father out of great pride and pride of place, and went to Babylon and built a city and a tower there with his family, and rose to be lord over all Greater Asia.
But what is the cause of such certainty? None other than that the divine prophecies alone can be believed and not so soon felt and experienced. And this happens in both parts, namely in the promises that the prophecies have in themselves, as well as in the threats. That is why the flesh and reason always look at the contradiction; they consider it to be true.
Thus Ham is cursed by his father, but nevertheless has under himself the greatest part of the world and sets up great kingdoms Again Shem and Japheth are blessed; but if you compare them with Ham, then they are actually beggars compared to him with their lineage. How then can this prophecy be true? Answer: These and other prophecies, all of them promising or threatening, cannot be understood by reason, nor can they be felt so soon, but are understood by faith alone. For God postpones both the punishments and the rewards, therefore it is a matter of waiting; for "he who perseveres to the end will be saved", as Christ says Matth. 24, 13.
Without this, the whole life of the pious rests on faith and hope alone. For if you want to conclude according to your own understanding, or according to the works themselves and the examples of the world, you will find the contradiction in all of them. For Ham is cursed and yet remains lord alone; but Shem and Japheth are blessed and yet must bear the curse alone and be afflicted in many ways. Because therefore God promises and threatens at the same time according to the length, one must wait in faith. For "although the prophecy", as Habakkuk Cap. 2, 3, "will be forgiven, yet it will surely come and not be forgiven."
181 Therefore, a great wrath of the Holy Spirit is held against us here, since he says of Ham, "He is a servant of all.
Servants", that is, among all, the most despised and least servant. But if you look at history, you will find that he is a lord in the land of Canaan; but Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the other descendants who have the blessing dwell among the Canaanites like servants; and because Ham's descendants are the Egyptians, see how a miserable servitude Israel must bear among them.
How is it true that Ham is cursed and Shem is blessed? So it is true that one had to wait for the divine promise and threat. But this delay is so that first the wicked may fulfill their measure, and God cannot be punished or blamed for not allowing time and space for repentance and conversion. But because the pious suffer among the ungodly, and must serve as servants to those who are the true servants themselves, they are thereby tempted and exercised to strengthen and increase their faith and love toward God; so that they may be instructed through much suffering and persecution, and when they are thus prepared and instructed, they may finally obtain the promise. For when the time was fulfilled, Ham's family could not have been so strong and mighty that they would not have had to give way to Shem's descendants. Since this curse, which Ham himself and his whole family had so bravely despised and disbelieved for such a long time, has been fulfilled.
183 We are in a similar situation at the present time. We have the right doctrine and the right worship, therefore we can also boast that we are the right church and have the promise of spiritual blessing in Christ. But because the pope's church condemns our doctrine, we know that the same church is not Christ's, but the devil's, and he is truly a servant of all servants, like Ham. And yet the work proves in itself that the pope is mighty and a lord, but we are servants and swept offerings, as Paul calls it 1 Cor. 4:13.
What shall we poor and afflicted people do? In our hearts we should take comfort in the spiritual rule, that is, in knowing that we have forgiveness.
of sins and have a gracious and reconciled God through Christ, until the bodily blessing also comes on the last day. Even though we feel a little bit of bodily redemption in this life, because the tyrants are stubbornly opposed to the gospel, they will be completely eradicated from the earth.
Thus, after all the kingdoms of the world, the Roman Empire has finally fallen and perished, but the word of the Lord and the church remain forever. Thus Christ's power breaks off a little and weakens it always a little; but that he may be lifted up altogether and become a servant of all servants, like the godless Ham, requires faith and perseverance. However, Ham is excluded from the kingdom of God and has the kingdom of the world under him for a time: just as the pope is excluded from the church of God and leads a worldly rule for a time, but in such a way that he cannot remain a lord for long.
The divine law leads to such a trial, namely, that the pious and godly have a kingdom, but not otherwise than in faith, in which they are satisfied with the spiritual blessing, that they have a gracious God and certain hope of the kingdom of heaven. In the meantime, they must let the ungodly possess the kingdoms of the world until God also disperses them in the flesh, but makes us heirs over all goods through Christ.
187 This prophecy also shows that Noah was abundantly and wonderfully enlightened with the Holy Spirit, because he saw that his generation would remain forever; and that Ham and his generation would finally perish and be especially deprived of spiritual blessings, although he would have power and dominion over his generation for a time.
Now this is to be understood as I said above about Cain's descendants. For I do not hold that Ham's whole lineage is absolutely damned, but that those who have converted to the faith have been saved, not because of a certain promise made to them,
but by accidental grace (that I speak thus); as the Gibeonites and others were preserved when the people of Israel took the land of Canaan. Thus by such accidental grace, and not by special promises, Job, Naaman, the Ninevites, the widow of Sarepta, and others of the Gentiles were saved.
(189) Why does he not say, "Praise be to Shem," but says, "Praise be to God, the Lord of Shem"? Answer: This is done for the sake of the great and mighty blessing. For he does not speak here of a bodily or temporal blessing, but of the blessing through the future promised seed, which he sees and understands to be so great and rich that it cannot be reached with words, nor can it be spoken of. Therefore he goes to and gives thanks to God. And it can be seen that Zacharias had just looked at this example and followed it, since he says about such a trade Luc. 1, 68: "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel.
190. Therefore Noah directs the blessing to a thanksgiving to God Himself. "Praise be to God," he says, "who is the God of Shem. As if he wanted to say: It is not necessary that I extend my blessing over Shem, because he is already blessed with the spiritual blessing, he is already God's son, and from him the church will come and be planted, just as it was begotten and planted from Seth before the flood. And this is especially noticeable and clear, that he binds God and his Son Shem so closely together, trusting one to the other, as it were.
Therefore there must have been an excellent light and high knowledge in Noah's heart, that he makes such a distinction among his sons. He discards Ham with his lineage, but places Shem in the line and order of the saints and the church, as the one on whom the spiritual blessing promised in Paradise through the seed should rest. For this reason the holy man praises God and gives thanks to Him.
V. 27. God will speak kindly to Japheth, and he will dwell in the tents of Shem, but Canaan will be her servant.
This is a wonderful prophecy, because it has such peculiar and proper words. Noah does not bless Shem, but the God of Shem, and thanks Him for having so kindly received Shem and graced and adorned him with the spiritual blessing or promise of the woman's seed. But when he comes to Japheth, he does not use the words he said about Shem. So that he actually shows the mystery, of which Paul deals with Rom. 11, 11. ff. and Christ Joh. 4, 22. that salvation comes from the Jews, and yet the Gentiles are also made partakers of it. For although She alone is the right root and trunk, the Gentiles are also grafted onto this trunk as a foreign branch, and enjoy the fat and the sap that is in the chosen tree.
Noah sees this light through the Holy Spirit, and though he speaks dark words, he prophesies very truly that the kingdom of the Lord Christ is to be built and planted in the world from the tribe of Shem, not Japheth.
194 The Jews here make idle talk and say that Japheth means the peoples who first dwelt around Jerusalem, who were admitted to the temple and worship. Noah, however, did not ask much about the temple at Jerusalem or Moses' tabernacle, but rather about greater things, namely, about the three patriarchs who were to fill the whole world; and he says especially about Japheth that although he is not from the root of God's people, nor does he have the promise of Christ, he will nevertheless be called through the gospel to this community and society of the same people who have God and the promises.
So that in this prophecy of the Gentiles and Jews church is pictured. For Ham is reprobate and is not admitted to the spiritual blessing of the seed, without something by chance grace.
could have happened. Japheth, however, although he does not have the promise of the seed, like Shem, nevertheless receives comfort and hope that he will be incorporated into the fellowship of the church. Just as we Gentiles, who are the children of Japheth, do not have a promise that has been made to us, but are nevertheless included in the promise made to the Jews. For we are included in the company of the saints, the people of God. And this is not written for Shem and Japheth, but for their descendants.
Here we see what is the cause of the Jews' pride and glory. For they see that their father Shem has the promise of eternal blessing through Christ alone. But after this they are lacking in that they think that the promise is inherited and obtained according to the flesh, because they are the children of the fathers, and not rather through faith; as Paul treats this text masterfully in the epistle to the Romans Cap. 9, 6, namely, that those are not Abraham's children who come from Abraham according to the flesh, but those who believe as Abraham believed, Gal. 3, 7.
197 This is also what Moses indicates secretly, because he clearly says: "Praise be to God, the Lord of Shem. For in this way he shows that the promise is nowhere else, except the Lord of Shem. Therefore a Jew will not partake of this promise, unless he has the Lord of Shem, that is, unless he believes. So also Japheth is not made partaker of the promise, except he dwell in the tabernacles of Shem, that is, except he be in the fellowship and company of the very same faith which Shem hath.
198 Therefore this is a high and excellent promise, which belongs to and endures to the end of the world. But as we have said that it belongs only to those who have the God of Shem, or who believe, so also the curse belongs only to those who remain and persevere in the ungodly nature of Ham. For since this Noah was not as a man of his own understanding and
When he speaks from the mind of God, he does not speak only of the temporal curse, but of the spiritual and eternal curse, so that the curse is not understood to be a curse before the world alone, but rather before God.
As I also said above about Cain's curse. For if you will look at the work and the experience, you will find that Cain had the bodily blessing greater than Seth. For God wants His church to have such a form in the world that everyone will regard it as if the curse of the wicked had fallen on it alone; but the wicked will be regarded as those on whom the blessing has fallen. That is why Cain first builds the city of Hanoch, while Seth has to live in the tents and make do.
Thus Ham built the city of Babylon and the tower, and had dominion far and wide, while Shem and Japheth were poor and had to make do miserably in the tents. So that the work and the experience itself show that the divine promises and curses must not be understood in a physical way from this temporal life, but spiritually. For although the pious are oppressed and must suffer in the world, they are nevertheless the most certain heirs and children of God. And although the wicked, on the other hand, have happiness and prosperity, power and honor for a time, they will finally be cut down and wither away like grass, as the Psalms teach in many places.
But Ham's and Cain's work and status are almost the same. Cain strangles his brother, which work and deed sufficiently shows that in his heart there was neither discipline nor reverence for his father. That is why he is also expelled from his father, leaves the church that had the right God and the right worship, builds the city of Hanoch and allows himself to be completely taken in by western worries and trades. In the same way Ham sinned against his father, because he showed him neither honor nor respect, but despised and laughed at him. But when he then hears the sentence of cursing upon him, by which he is cursed by the curse of his father, he sins.
If he is excluded from the seed and the church because he is not cursed in his own person but in his son, he will surely leave God and the church and go to Babylon and build a royal city there.
These are very apparent examples and necessary to the church. Now, in our time, the Turk and the Pope make us boast of the heavenly and eternal blessing that we have the teaching of the gospel and are the church. For this they also know what we hold them for, namely, that we hold both the pope and the Turk to be the right antichrist and condemn them. But see how they rely on their wealth and power, and certainly despise what we think of them! After that they are also strengthened, because they see that ours are so little, and in addition weak and small. We see the same thing in Cain and Ham, who were cursed and cast out or banished.
(203) And such examples instruct us that we should learn that we do not have to look for a certain nor lasting place in this temporal life, but that in so many cases, to which this life is subject, we should look to the hope of eternal life, which is promised to us through Christ. This is the only ford, to which we, like careful and diligent mariners, should always steer earnestly and diligently in such violence of storms and tempests.
For what does the Turk gain by bringing the whole world under his rule? he will never do so, for Michael will help and support the holy people or the church, as Daniel prophesies in Cap. 10:13. And what does it help the pope if he takes treasures and goods from the whole world, as he has done diligently for several hundred years? Will they therefore also escape death, or will they establish and obtain an eternal and permanent seat for themselves in this life? Why should we care so much about their bodily blessings, or about our own sorrow and danger, because they are rejected from the fellowship of the saints? but we will enjoy eternal goods through the Son of God.
If Cain and Grove, as the ancestors and grandparents, and the Pope and the Turk, as the descendants of the same, can despise the judgment of the true church for the sake of a short and small welfare of this life, why can we not also, who already have the eternal goods in certain possession, again despise their power and judgment? For Ham does not turn to this curse of his father, but is still angry against him and despises him as an old fool: but he goes and equips himself with the power of the world, of which he thinks more, and would rather let it be, than if he had received the blessing from his father, like Shem.
For this reason, this history belongs to comfort and strengthen us when we have to experience such things today, as the popes and bishops now bravely despise us. What should the mendicant heretics do, they say, for their goods and power give them courage and inflate them. But we should patiently suffer such insolence from godless people, as Noah suffered from his son at that time, and comfort ourselves with the hope and faith of eternal blessing, which we know they do not have.
I have just said that Ham's sin moved and angered the Holy Spirit to such an extent that he could not call him by his name in the curse. And it is true, as also the punishment proves, that Ham has sinned grossly. However, as I said above, this cause is not inconvenient, because Noah saw that Ham had been taken into the box according to God's word and command and had been preserved with the others, he wanted to spare him after God had spared him in the Flood. Therefore, he places the curse that Ham deserved with his sin on his son Canaan, whom Ham undoubtedly wanted to keep with him.
The Jews say of another cause, namely, that his son Canaan first saw that his grandfather lay uncovered, and told his father, who also saw it afterwards; that therefore the son Canaan caused his father to commit this sin. But how much of this cause to
Anyone who reads it will be able to judge whether it is true or false.
But here one must also say of the grammatical question. Because over it the grammarians fight, why the Latin interpreters have all: Dilatet Deus Ja- phet, "God spreads out Japheth", when the Hebrew language here cannot be given in this way. Although not only the Hebrew, but also the Chaldean interpreters understand the word so that it means to spread out. Now at times such and such grammatical disputations are of great use and show the real mind of the opinion.
For this reason, some use the word japheth, which means to be beautiful, as Psalm 45:3 says: japhjaphitha mi bene adam,
Child, if the bad boys tempt you." But it is not necessary to give more examples of this. For this word occurs everywhere, and I do not doubt that it is made from the Greek word xxxxx, I persuade; for so much it means entirely.
But now to the question: Why did the Latin interpreters all give it thus: "The Lord spread Japheth", since it is not pathach, which means to spread or open, but pathah, which means to persuade? Answer: I do not doubt that the interpreters will have been annoyed and offended by this, that because this is a promise, it seems to be an inconvenient and hard thing to take for it, as if Noah said: God persuades or deceives Japheth. For such would be considered as words of a curse and not of a blessing. Therefore, they have inclined to a more lenient opinion, even though it is contrary to grammar,
and because there is only a small difference between pathach and pathah, they have taken one for the other, as it has pleased them, from causes and necessity of circumstances, because it is a promise.
But it is not necessary to reverse and falsify the text in this way and to do violence to grammar, especially because the word pathah indicates a very convenient opinion. For it is a xxxxx (double-meaning), like the word suadere, to counsel, and can be understood at the same time as good and evil counsel. Therefore it does not disgrace God to say such a word about Him, as is clearly exemplified in Hos. 2:14, where God says: "I will entice her and lead her into a wilderness, and speak kindly to her"; or persuade her with good words and entice her and lead her around with words, so that she, the church, will believe and submit to Me etc. In this way this word is also rightly understood here, as that it means to entice, to persuade, to move with friendly and good words. God thus entices, persuades and catches Japheth with his persuasions, so that he is persuaded according to his name, kindly enticed, moved.
But here someone might say: What kind of opinion is this, and why should Japheth be moved or persuaded, and that by God? Answer: In this prophecy, Noah takes cause and occasion from the name and thanks God that he has placed Shem so that he stands like a strong root from which Christ shall be born. For the word sum means to lay, to set, to establish.
But for Japheth he prayed that he might be a true Japheth. Because he was the eldest son, to whom the right of the firstborn properly belonged, he asked that the Lord would kindly persuade him: Firstly, so that he would not grant the honor to his brother or become impatient for this privilege to be taken away from him and given to his brother; secondly, because this request concerns Japheth's person alone, he at the same time wraps up and includes his entire family in it, so that although the promise was made to Shem alone, God would not exclude it.
He does not want to persuade the generation of Japheth, but wants to speak kindly to it through the gospel, so that it may be persuaded also and through the word of the gospel. This is a divine persuasion by the Holy Spirit, not of the flesh, the world, or the devil, but a holy and life-giving persuasion. And Paul also uses this kind when he says Gal. 1, 10: "Do I preach to men or to God?" And in chapter 3, v. 1: "Who has bewitched you not to obey the truth," or not to be persuaded of what is true?
215: So that Japheth is called one whom we call foolish or simple-minded in the proverb, who soon believes, is soon and easily persuaded, is not quarrelsome, not stubborn, but gives his mind captive to the Lord and rests on His word, remains a disciple and does not want to be master in God's words or works. Therefore, a very sweet wish and request is held out to us here, that God would persuade Japheth, that is, speak kindly to him; or even if He does not speak to him out of promise, as He does to Shem, yet He would speak to him out of grace and divine kindness.
216 And this desire of Noah's is that the gospel may be spread throughout the whole world. For Shem is like the tribe from which lineage Christ was born. For he is the church of the Jews, which has had patriarchs, prophets and kings. And yet here God indicates to your Noah that the poor Gentiles also shall dwell in the tents of Shem, that is, shall come to the fellowship of the goods which the Son of God brought into the world, namely, forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit and eternal life. For he clearly prophesies that Japheth also, according to his name, should hear the kind words of the gospel, so that though he does not have the name, like Shem, who is ordained and appointed to be the tribe from which Christ is to be born, he nevertheless has the kind persuasion, that is, the gospel.
Therefore it was Paul through whom this prophecy was fulfilled. For it was he, almost alone, who brought about the
Japheth with the doctrine of the gospel; as he says Rom. 15, 19: "I have filled all things with the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem and around to Illyricum. For to Japheth's lineage and descendants belongs almost all of Asten, except the Orientals, and Europe. Therefore, the Gentiles have not, like the Jews, received from God a kingdom and priesthood and neither law nor promise, but only from God's mercy have they received the friendly voice of the gospel or eloquence, which the name Japheth brings with it.
The interpreters, whom God thus let err, did not see this actual mind and opinion, and yet they were not so far from the right opinion. For the word hirchib, which means to spread out, also means, according to the manner of the Hebrew language, to comfort; as, on the other hand, in Latin angustiae mean fear, affliction, danger, misery; as Psalm 4, 2: bazar hirchabtha: In angustia fecisti mihi dilatationem: "In fear you comfort me." Now the some true dilatation or spreading and consolation is the word of the gospel.
219 Thus both opinions agree, if they are rightly presented. The first, however, is the right and proper one, and brings with it this bright light, that although the promise has not been made to us Gentiles, we are nevertheless called to the gospel by divine providence. For the promise belongs to the Shem alone; but Japheth has the persuading word, and, as Paul says Rom. 11:17, "like a wild olive tree he is grafted into the right olive tree, and becomes partaker of the natural sap and fatness of the olive tree." For in the Holy Scriptures the former is consistent with the latter, and what God promised in Noah's day He now accomplishes and proves by deed.
220 Ham is the name of one who is warm and hot. Which name, I believe, was given to him by the father because of the great and strong hope he had drawn from his youngest son, so that the other two would be compared to him,
They would be cold, as it were; just as Eve is resplendent when Cain is born, Gen. 4:1, because she considers him to be the man who would make up for all the misery and set everything right, when he is the first to cause harm in a new way, because he strangles his brother.
Thus, God, through His incomprehensible counsel, changes the minds and thoughts even of the holy people. For Ham, who, when he was born, his father assumed would have a special zeal and fervor to help the church before the other brothers, is hot and warm after he grows up, but in a different way and manner than his father had intended. For he is inflamed against the Father and God Himself, as his deed shows. Therefore his name bears on it what it should have, even though his father, when he gave him this name, did not understand it in this way.
This is the prophecy of Noah about his sons who filled the world. That therefore, out of God's mercy, the light of the dear Gospel has also gone out over Germany, flows too well from this prophecy of Japheth. So that what Noah prophesied at the same time is now being fulfilled. For though we are not of Abraham's seed, yet we dwell in the tabernacles of Shem, and enjoy the promises fulfilled by Christ.
V. 28. 29. Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years, and all his days were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.
From history it is found that Noah died in the eighth and fiftieth year after Abraham was born. Because Abraham had such a good and excellent schoolmaster until the fiftieth year, he was able to grow considerably in teaching and religion. And there is no doubt that Noah, who was full of the Holy Spirit, would have loved this grandson of his especially, as the only heir of the promises made to Shem.
At the same time the family of Ham was powerful and had happiness and prosperity; from whom idolatry was planted and brought to the Orient. Abraham saw this lineage, but not without trouble. But it was preserved by Noah, with whom Abraham held almost alone and worshipped him, when he was still present from the first world. But the others, so
The people who had forgotten the great wrath in the Flood still laughed at the pious old man, especially the family of Ham, which puffed up and exalted their property and power. This has also practiced his courage and contempt at the father Noah, and after it has been heard by luck and welfare, it has laughed at and despised his curse of servitude as a dream and fable of an old fool.