First part.
How the three men arrived in Sodom and were taken in by Lot.
V. 1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in Sodom under the gate. And when he saw them, he stood up to meet them, and bowed himself with his face to the ground.
In this chapter the punishment of the sins is described, which Moses thought of in the previous chapter, that the cry of Sodom had come up to heaven. Now I do not like to deal with this terrible history, like the one above (Chapter 7) about the Flood, because it is terrible to feel and experience God's wrath, which he lets go over the poor human race without any measure. That is why it goes through my whole heart when I read or act about it. For even though I myself am often angry at the wickedness and impenitence of the people, such a great misery, which happened here with Sodom, is very close to me, and I also feel Abraham's challenge, which he had, since he took the greatest pains to avert such a great wrath of God from the impenitent sinners through his intercession.
(2) Our new prophets, the antinomians, pretend to be gentle and soft with people and not to hurt them with examples of divine wrath; yet
Paul speaks much differently in 2 Tim. 3, 16. 17. when he says that the Scriptures are also useful for punishment and chastening, so that a man may be perfect in the sight of God, and may be qualified for all good works. We also know how he commands in 2 Tim. 2, 15 that one should rightly divide the word of God; and 1 Cor. 10, 6. after many testimonies and examples of the wrath of God against sinners, he says that all these things were written for our sake, so that we would not, like them, be tempted to sin.
3 Therefore such examples of divine wrath as this are to be acted upon, that they may serve us for doctrine and instruction; as the Lord commanded Abraham, who was far holier than we, that he should preach of them unto his children. For in the world you will always find two kinds of people: one is proud, stiff-necked, despises God's word and all good admonitions, and is sure beyond all measure; now if you wanted to deal gently with such people and preach much of God's grace and mercy, you would only make them worse. Such correction is caused by the Antinomian error, against which I warn you to beware of them, for they are not satisfied with the loss of body and soul, but also want to take us with them and burden us with their sins, so that we may be condemned with them, because they want their sin to go unpunished like the Sodomites.
4. but now God has established the ministry of preaching in
The preachers of the world are not ordained to be silent, but to punish, teach, comfort, frighten, and thus win and save whom they can. Such preaching ministry the antinomians completely abolish, because they do not want to suffer any punishment at all, and call us consenting to their sins against St. Paul's doctrine, which Rom. 2, 1. ff. not only condemns those who commit sin, but which they also put up with and consent to. But now they consent to sins which they do not punish; as if I would keep silent about the sins of the pope, cardinals and bishops, blasphemy and tyranny. But the Lord says in the prophet Ezekiel Cap. 3, 19: "You will save your soul from death when you punish the sin of your people.
(5) We ought to be merciful to the worst of men, and to suffer them with us; but if they would take us away to their destruction, then mercy must cease; neither should our parents and children be so dear to us, that we should be condemned with them. For then shall all mercy be forgotten; as Lot did, when he left his wife, because she went contrary to the commandment of the Lord. Therefore let such men go, because they are hardened and obstinate, and will not suffer admonition.
(6) But God wants us to show mercy to those who are not so stubborn, but allow themselves to be guided, as the parable of the Lost Sheep teaches, Luc. 15:4 ff; for such are not unrepentant Sodomites, on whom belongs the hammer of God that crushes the rocks. God's judgments are not to be hidden from these; otherwise we will stain ourselves with their sins if we consent to them. For this reason we Christians are all placed in this world with one another, to serve our neighbor, not only as far as the other table is concerned, but much more as far as the first is concerned; so that all men may learn to fear God and trust in His goodness and mercy.
7) But the Audern, who are already humiliated and fainthearted (as Christ calls them for this reason Luc. 12, 32), are called a small herd, and are called not to be afraid.
(The first is the "God of the people"), though they are weak and sinful in many ways, yet they are not crude or hardened; against them a preacher should be wise and faithful, that he may rightly divide the word to them, and not include anything foreign and contrary to the pure doctrine; and because they are terrified beforehand by God's wrath and judgments, he should not terrify them further, but comfort and straighten them out. This is great wisdom and especially necessary in the ministry of preaching, namely, that one may properly distinguish between the two kinds of hearers, so that each one may hear the word that belongs to him: the stiff-necked and hardened, terrible examples of God's wrath, but the weak and stupid, friendly and sweet comfort. For Christ is set apart for the resurrection of some and the fall of others, Luc. 2:34.
8 Therefore the miserable and afflicted should be lifted up with comfort, but those who are puffed up and exalted in security should be humbled and brought low, as Mary sings in her hymn, Luc. 1:51. This is the right division. For there can be no lack of it; among the secure there must also be the stupid and the fearful, and vice versa. Therefore, a right measure is necessary, so that the hard-hearted and the secure may understand that when one speaks of horrible examples of God's wrath, this applies to them; but the frightened and the stupid accept the words of comfort and promises for themselves.
(9) And this is the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit, that he may judge the hearts by word and confession, so that the stupid may take comfort, but the crude and secure may be either converted or even condemned by the voice of the law. For all men are not to be condemned without distinction, but just as the flood and the destruction of Sodom are like thunderclaps, so that the hearts are frightened: so also with such temples of wrath is the comfort that Noah and Lot were preserved in such common great distress. When these things are preached together, so much is accomplished that the foolish and fearful do not despair.
This is the reason why I write such terrible histories, though very unwillingly,
read. For I am frightened by the great wrath of God that one sees in such sad stories, and yet I see that this teaching is useful and helpful: not only so that the proud and secure are frightened, but also so that the pious keep their fear of God and do not sin and perish like the wicked. In addition, God's wrath is presented to us in such examples, so that God's goodness shines out in it, because He graciously saves and preserves His faithful.
11 Christ says in Isaiah 61:1 ff: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore the Lord hath anointed me. He has sent me to preach to the miserable, to bind up the brokenhearted; to preach a release to the captives, an opening to the bound; to preach a gracious year of the Lord, and a day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn. "etc. Behold, here to the wretched, and to them that are brokenhearted, to the captives, to them that are shut up, to them that are sad, is promised a redemption, an opening, and a year or time, wherein God shall be reconciled. Those who are not therefore miserable and brokenhearted will have a day of vengeance preached to them, that is, God's wrath.
(12) Therefore, if Christ himself teaches and preaches the doctrine of God's wrath in addition to God's mercy, why would we not follow his example? Therefore, it is the highest wisdom that these two pieces may be properly joined and blended together, namely, the mercy of God, which He demonstrated in preserving Lot, and His wrath in bringing the Sodomites to ruin. What frightened and fearful hearts are, no doubt, pleases God well; for He promises that He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoldering wick, Isa. 42:3.
(13) Although such temples of wrath serve to frighten and humiliate people, they are not to be practiced after the hearts have been made stupid and broken, but to relieve the pain and heal the wounds. It is called
The Scriptures call the fear of God a sacrifice and a service of God, Psalm 51:19. Since the Holy Spirit has described such histories for the purpose of awakening the Gentiles to the fear of God, to guard against sin, and to do what is right and good, it is well to hold them up to the people in the church. For just as the church has two kinds of people, so it also has two kinds of words, namely, histories and examples of divine wrath and threats against the hard of heart, the secure and impenitent, and promises for the troubled consciences and humbled Gentiles. Now it is the greatest wisdom to handle and distribute them properly.
14 The pope has the power to banish, but against whom does he use the ban more than against us, who are not safe, but brokenhearted and humiliated? But he praises people who are of his kind, epicureans, sure bullfighters, cardinals, bishops and tyrants, as holy people and lifts them up to heaven. Thus he does justice to his title, that he protects and strengthens the poor in the church and condemns the rebellious and disobedient.
(15) But this is not new with him. See the 13th chapter of Ezekiel: "You have profaned me," says God v. 19, "among my people for the sake of a handful of barley," that is, for the sake of temporal goods you have falsified my teachings, you have condemned the pious and strengthened the wicked in their presumption. For this is what he means by what follows: "For the sake of a morsel of bread ye have condemned to death souls that ought not to die, and condemned to life those that ought not to live, by your lies among my people, who love to hear lies": and in another place (v. 22.), "Ye have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not grieved." So the whole papacy does not have the wisdom to rightly divide God's word; therefore it cannot build, but tears down and destroys everything with its teaching.
16. but the Holy Spirit also presents such histories of God's wrath and judgment to us in such a way that He also gives us strong and powerful consolation, namely that God
wants to save and preserve those who fear him in times of need, as he proves here to Lot. Therefore, not only do the Sodomites perish, but Lot is also saved and gives thanks to God. If you are stupid and humiliated, look at Lot, whom God has rescued, and hope that he will do the same for you. But you, who whore in safety, that is, you gather money and goods, take care of yourself and live well, you are an Epicurian sow, you should look at the Sodomites, how such a terrible punishment has followed their shameful behavior and desolate life: Remember that five cities were suddenly consumed with fire from heaven; that the earth was submerged, and became an abominable pool, wherein no man can dwell, but the ungodly sinners all perished in a moment, and are lost for ever.
(17) Therefore, if you diligently consider all these things, it will awaken you to also consider your harm and danger, to stop sinning, and to ask for forgiveness. Our foolish and blind antinomians, Grikel and Jekel, do not know this; therefore, they suspend this preaching of God's wrath in the church, to its great harm and danger. Therefore I warn you to beware of them, for they are mad spirits and inexperienced in spiritual matters, but they puff themselves up and pretend to be learned and wise, which they are not. But now from the history further.
18 In the previous chapter (v. 2, 16) Moses calls the angels "men. These are the same names and are to be understood that the Lord appeared in them. But why Moses put the same names differently in two places, I do not know, unless I think that the Holy Spirit wanted to indicate that they were not natural men.
19 But that Moses says about the evening, I think that he means the afternoon time first before the evening, because at noon before the angels had eaten with Abraham. Because Mamre and Sodom are situated a little further from each other than a man could travel the same way in so few hours, the text also says here that there are angels.
so that no one would want to take such history for a poem or a fable.
(20) But this is where you should draw what I said above about the freedom of hospitality. For just as you heard about Abraham above, so you will also hear about Lot here, that he waited for the guests, ran to meet them, received them with both hands, and almost forced and coerced them into staying with him. So I also said that the hospitality is not praised more highly in any place of Scripture than Match. 25:35, where Christ says, "I was hungry, and ye fed me."
021 That Lot sitteth under the gate of Sodom is spoken otherwise than as the scripture calleth, Sitting at the gate of the city. For "the gate of the city" is the name of the place where men go to council and sit in judgment. For the Orientals had their council houses at the gates of the city, where they had their fortresses, and came together when they wanted to deliberate about regimental matters; but Lot sits in front at the entrance of the city.
22 But this is a praise of his hospitality. For it is easy to see why he does not stay at home but sits there. He waits for the guests, sees that the people in the city are foolish, angry and wanton, therefore he wants those who come from foreign places to stay with him in his house, because they can spend the night safely from the evil and wickedness of the people. And perhaps at the same time there was a great persecution in Ur in Chaldea; that is why pious God-fearing people followed Abraham around in his misery, as they would much rather have been with him in misery than at home among the wicked. Abraham and Lot considered the distress and situation of their brothers and sat at the doors of their houses or at the gates of the city, so that strangers might find a prepared place to stay.
23 When Lot saw the angels, he bowed down with his face to the earth as if he were worshipping them. This is not written about Abraham, but he only bows down or bends a knee; Lot, however, falls on his face to the ground. He shows such reverence to these guests. And from this
to see what the holy fathers kept for discipline in their homes and how they accustomed their descendants, because they received strangers, when they came, with such reverence as if God Himself were coming, whom they honored in them.
(24) In our time, when the world has come to its end, we experience such wickedness, cunning, deceit and mischievousness that it is almost impossible to know whom we should serve or do good. However, we should do so much that we at least honor and serve those who are known to us. Now listen to Lot talking to these unknown guests.
(v. 2, 3) And said, Behold, Lord, come into the house of your servant, and tarry overnight, and wash your feet, and rise early in the morning, and go your way. But they said: Nay, but we will tarry in the street overnight. So he almost urged them, and they came in to him, and entered into his house. And he made them a feast, and baked unleavened cakes; and they did eat.
25 The word "HErr" stands here in the Hebrew text, as it is given to God alone, adonai, and not adonim or adone, which otherwise means "Lord". How this is to be understood, I have dealt extensively enough above. And this history shows that also Lot was rightly instructed in the article of the Trinity, whether by Abraham himself or by another patriarch. Since there are two guests, he does not call them lords, but "Lord", and thus honors in them the right Lord, namely God Himself. Such examples of hospitality are not found in the books of the Gentiles; therefore, we shall diligently examine and consider them here.
26 First, he offers them his lodging very willingly, calling himself their servant, but he calls them masters, as they should have power to do everything with him and be masters in the house. He also offers them water for their feet, which was a common service for the strangers at that time, not only to wash away the dust and filth they had from their journey, but also to refresh and restore their tired feet.
Christ also performed foot washing, John 13:5, but in a much different way than monks, bishops, popes, kings and princes do today, who only keep the same outward splendor and appearance. But Christ teaches us that we should humble ourselves toward others, serve others, and counsel and help them in their need. Monks and priests, popes and bishops despise this and leave it aside, thinking that they are following Christ when they make a mere spectacle and show. But we all know what kind of example he has given us with this and how far the same gypsies are from it.
028 But here the angels do a thing which they did not do to Abraham. For when Lot offered them his house, and asked them to lodge with him, they refused it, and would lodge in the gaff: but when Abraham offered them his lodging, they were soon satisfied, and accepted it. "Do," they said, "as you have said." Wherefore Lot also doeth a thing which Abraham did not do, and opposeth them, when they refused him: for he feared for them of the citizens.
(29) The Hebrews say that the angels' refusal to enter Lot's house was only so that Lot's good will and service, which could not be satisfied with such a refusal, would be all the more evident. But what is the use or necessity of our diligently considering why this was done by the angels? In the world, it is common to be hospitable and mild to all with words, and such words of honor are called when one asks someone to come as a guest, since one does not want him to come. These are false pretenses, but the hearts and mouths of the pious fathers and patriarchs were one thing. Therefore I will not believe that the angels did this to tempt Lot.
30 Solomon sternly warns, Proverbs 23:6, 7: "Eat not bread with an envious man: for he saith, Eat and drink; and his heart is not in thee. Many such are found who offer themselves up to be respected, as if they were mild and hospitable, when they are the very poorest, and for the sake of a helper, they are the very worst.
I will see you thirsty for three days because of them. And such vice is most prevalent among the rich and powerful. But whoever wants to do something good for someone should have a righteous heart and be without deceit, and whoever lets himself be served and benefited should be reasonable and modest.
(31) And this, methinks, was the cause why the angels rejected Lot's good deed. For so they refuse, not wishing to afflict the pious Lot, as reasonable men are wont to do, not in pretense, but with earnestness of mind and spirit. But as they sensibly and demurely refuse, Lot again offers them his lodging with all his will and righteous heart, and is not one of those who first ask when they want to give something, and try whether one may also accept it. And it is said in a common verse: "Whoever wants to give to another should not ask much: "Do you want it? For it is very impolite and unreasonable to ask much and to force people to beg, as it were.
32) Modest people, even if they are already needy, have to be forced to accept service and charity. On the other hand, one finds others all the more impudent, who do not wait until they are told to take something, but go themselves, sit down at the table, and demand that one should give them this and that. Such impudent people are a cheap enemy.
(33) That this text, then, belongs primarily to the effect that those who wish to do good to others should learn to give what they give with a sincere mind, and those who allow themselves to be given should be chaste and reasonable. Such an outward teaching can be taken from this text, but one should not leave it at that; for the Holy Spirit also indicates something else in this.
34 We see that the holy scripture agrees with him and agrees with each other. For Abraham, when he enters as a mediator on behalf of the Sodomites and pleads on their behalf, he hears a terrible answer that he would never have imagined, namely, that there are not ten righteous people in all the five cities.
Proof of such an answer belongs to what is written here about the angels. For they come as wretched and driven out men, who know nothing of this people's ways and condition (for that is how they present themselves), and think that it is safe to sleep out of the street, as in other cities where discipline and respectability prevail: but Lot, who knows all about how things are in the city, urges them all the more diligently, and they want to be with him. For he knew for certain that if they stayed in the street overnight, they would not get away unharmed. For he knew that the Sodomites were not only not hospitable, but also used to persecute strangers and to exercise all courage and shame on them.
35 Moses recently wanted to point to this. As also Ezekiel Cap. 16, V. 49. 50. says: "Behold, this was thy sister Sodom's iniquity: Hope, and all things full, and good peace, which she and her daughters had: but they helped not the poor and needy, but were proud, and did abominations before me." These are very harsh words. Proud despisers of the word, that is, of God and man, he calls them, because they had no fear of God, nor love of man; but had forgotten the good that had been done them by Abraham, and thought that they alone were those whom God loved, and whom God could not anger, because he so blessed them.
How the world still allows itself to be deceived by this delusion. For because it finds that it is well, becomes rich, is fresh and healthy, it concludes that it has a gracious God, and cries out: Here dwelleth God. As the Jews say, Zech. 11, 5: "Praise be to the Lord, we are now rich." Such a thing rhymes like a fist on the eye. For this is why God does not give you riches, so that you should conclude that he is gracious to you, but he has shown you another benefit that is greater, from which you should assume and conclude this. He will try you whether you will remain in his fear, humble yourself before him and obey him. For very few people do this, but when they are well off, they exalt themselves and become proud. Therefore, in German
says: Good makes courage; item: It must be strong legs, which shall endure good days.
37 For where hearts are not enlightened and governed by the Holy Spirit, as David, Abraham and others were, it is impossible for them not to be overthrown by fortune and prosperity; as it is also said: "If fortune is too good for you, it makes you a fool. And David warns Ps. 62:11: "If riches come to you, do not set your heart on them." The world, however, does not believe this, but makes a certain conclusion with the sodomites: "Behold, we sit in a good, rich land, have a strong and mighty city, are abundant with gifts and fortune; how could God be hostile to us, or how could anything unpleasant happen to us?
38 Moreover the Sodomites had bread enough, that they lay in eating and drinking day and night; as we Germans also use. But what follows eating and drinking, we also know: and perhaps the Sodomites, during the day, when they wanted to practice such a deed on these guests, the angels, until the evening, had a common good life and vessels, in which they drank themselves full of wine.
(39) To this Ezekiel also adds peace or good rest, that they had all things in good peace and quiet, and felt neither hunger, nor pestilence, nor other diseases, but, as Moses Deut. 32:15 says of his people, grew fat and fat as swine. This is followed by this, which refers to the fact that they did not reach out to the poor and were not hospitable. Just as many poor priests and church servants are dying of hunger in Germany today, and the poor Christ is suffering from hunger, and is almost being tormented and martyred to death. There is no mercy in people everywhere.
040 And when there was no such thing in Sodom, and in the other cities, such a rumor came from them into the other cities and places round about. For a city is brought into an uproar and a rumor because of its life and doings; as at this time some cities in Germany are infamous and disreputable because of great usury; which also is a sodomite.
This is a real sin, and not only is it not practiced secretly, but it is even boasted of. In addition, they are also disreputable because of eating and drinking. If these sins are done publicly and are excused by people out of habit, so that they are not only considered no disgrace and sin, but also cause laughter and merriment (as we see that our nobles and burghers still boast of their fornication and shameful lives), then they are true sodomitic sins.
(41) As Isaiah complains of his people, Cap. 3:9, that they glory in their sins, as they did in Sodom, and hide them not. For where one is ashamed of sin and anxious that it will come to pass, sin is still easy; but if one still boasts of it, and the wicked rejoice in their wickedness, and rejoice in their wickedness, as Solomon says, Proverbs 2:14, there is nothing more certain to be expected than hellish fire.
(42) The fact that the angels want to stay overnight on the gaff and cut off Lot's lodging, but Lot almost forces them, belongs especially to the fact that the Scriptures bear witness to themselves that the Sodomites were the very worst and most perverse people, and that in such a large nation there were not ten righteous people to be found. Therefore, Lot wants to protect them from evil and violence, and forces them by force to go into his house. But what happens? What he wants to avoid and prevent with diligence, happens to him. For just by taking these guests into his house and protecting them there, he arouses the Sodomites to commit a very horrible act.
(43) And all the circumstances show how unreasonable the Sodomites have proved themselves here. Therefore the angels go as strangers wandering with bare heads and feet, as they have traveled wearily: but there is no one among so many rich citizens who offers them a drink of water, yes, they still go to them and seek their lives, and to prove them the highest disgrace and scorn. But the pious Lot not only gives them lodging, but also prepares a meal for them. He asked some of his daughters' husbands for the meal,
The scripture does not remember this. However, it seems from the circumstances that he was not alone with them, but also required others for such a good life, which helped him to make his guests happy. After other meals, he also gives them unleavened bread or cakes, so that nothing is lacking that belongs to the guests' need or to show his good will.
44 But because the text remembers the unleavened bread, here is the question: whether there was already something of Moses' laws at that time? And the Jews say that Sodom was turned back on Easter Day, which is the most joyous festival of the year, in which the Sodomites overloaded themselves with eating and drinking. Against such opinion Lyra strongly contests, but not with any particular benefit. For what good or evil can come of it? However, this is not without benefit, that one learns to distinguish the law of Moses from all other laws. But whether it was Easter or Pentecost at the same time, I can neither say yes nor no to that.
(45) But I think it is true to say that Moses added many things to his laws that had been kept before by the fathers. When he commanded sacrifice, he no doubt took from Abel's and Cain's sacrifices, who long before him had sacrificed to the Lord from the cattle and fruits of the land. So Noah had made a distinction between the clean and unclean animals. And who would doubt that such other things were still more, which Moses brought afterwards by God's command into his laws, since it had been already observed before by the pious. For he had to establish a new people and a new government, which he could not have done without a law and order, well and diligently written.
46 And while the church was in this people and kingdom, it had to have worship and ceremonies. Because the patriarchs had kept some of these in their time, Moses also kept them by divine command, as circumcision. Now he also decreed judicial laws to punish the transgressors. 2c,
which he undoubtedly also took in part from the custom of former times and the order of the fathers: but as a pious lawgiver he did something about it with regard to his time, after God commanded him.
47 But whether he took from the statutes and ordinances of the fathers, or from the custom and usage of other nations round about, and established it among his people, all this is called the law of Moses. And does this text here testify that the custom of eating unleavened bread was before the Law, and that it was used at certain times, as it was afterwards ordained in the Law, or at other feasts and festive meals.
48 Because of this, the Jews still praise their laws so highly today and consider them necessary. For they were bound, as the tribe of Levi and Judah, to a certain place and time, even until Christ. The place was the land of Canaan, where twelve tribes dwelt; this was the whole boundary and goal of the Mosaic reign and kingdom. But because the Jews have lost the same place and their land, they are obliged to keep the law. For the time is past, and the place is changed; so the persons, that is, the royal and priestly tribes, are also mixed together.
(49) Now before the law, the custom of eating unleavened bread was also common in the countries of the east, where it was served at meals, weddings and festive celebrations. But Moses, by God's command, restricted such a common custom and ordered it to the Paschal feast alone. Therefore, the Law of Moses must be distinguished from other laws. In the law the custom was commanded that one should eat unleavened bread on certain times: before the law however it was free to eat, which time one wanted; as Moses also meant to sacrifice a lamb on Easter, since one could sacrifice it before Moses, at which time one wanted. Therefore, the custom of eating unleavened bread is not Moses' business, although he may have set it aside for a special time afterwards.
has directed and ordered. By chance, for the sake of the Lyra quarrel, I wanted to indicate such above this text. Now let us look at the history further.
Second part.
About the shameful enterprise of the Sodomites, how Lot admonishes them in vain and how they are struck blind about it.
V. 4. 5. But before they lay down, the people of the city of Sodom came and surrounded the house, young and old, all the people from every quarter; and they demanded of Lot, saying unto him, Where are the men that came unto thee this night? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.
50 Moses continues in the description of this abominable sin. And I do not like to handle this text, because the ears of the Germans are still innocent and pure from such abominable and terrible sin. For although this disgrace, like other sins, was brought to these lands by godless soldiers and lewd merchants, it must have been done secretly, so that others do not know much about it: and the Carthusian monks are the first (whom one should therefore be hostile to) who brought such horrible disgrace from the Italian monasteries to Germany. So well and praiseworthily did they study in Rome and were they instructed.
51 There is a necessary and useful lesson in this text. For we see that as soon as the world makes a habit of sins and people are sure to indulge in them, God's punishment follows. Therefore we should learn to fear God and prepare ourselves against our flesh and the devil, so that we do not fall into such disgrace and sins, which God cannot let go unpunished.
52. it describes Moses the wretchedness and misery of the human race roughly and clearly enough. After the angels ate,
He will say, and no doubt keep talking to the Estonians about many things, about the fear of God, about righteousness, about the corrupt customs of the people and the destruction of all discipline and respectability (for about all these things St. Lot might have complained to them; as Peter 2 Epist. 2, 8. It is not in vain that the righteous man's soul was tormented day and night, because he had to hear and see many shameful things; therefore his mouth overflowed, his heart was full, and he could not refrain from it out of great sorrow and heartache, after such convenient and holy guests had come to him,)
53. When the meal is done and it is bedtime, the people of the city, the people of Sodom (for this repetition is set to make the sin great), are so cruel and foolish that they not only do not show friendship or service to the same foreign guests, but also do not let them rest for an hour in another man's house, no matter how tired they are; they attack them with iniquity before they go to bed and will not give them their rest. Is not this inhuman and outrageous cruelty? But even so it is more atrocious and shameful, so that it is almost impossible to say that they want to commit fornication with them. And it is the men of the city who do this, not some careless boys or common day laborers, servants or housemates, but the noblest citizens, who should have protected others and punished such misdeeds against others.
54 Therefore it is also necessary to understand that there were not ten righteous men in the city. For these were the noblest of the citizens, having wives, children and servants to govern them and keep them in discipline and honor. But see what they do and what they presume to do in a free and public place against innocent strangers!
55 And Moses says clearly, "The people" or men "of Sodom" have done this, which was the capital of the whole country and therefore should be a good example to the other cities around. For such-
t is common that small cities like to arrange their regiment and order after the big ones. But what good can have been in the other four small cities, since so much disgrace and vice was seen in the noblest, which was to rule the others? For hear what Moses goes on to say:
(56) "They surrounded the house," they did not send their city servants before Lot's house to find out what guests were there and where they had come from; so they come themselves, not to find out, but they surround the house and threaten it like enemies. The Hebrew word here is a passive, and its meaning is also known from Jer. 31:22: "The woman shall surround the man"; for it means to surround or to seize, as the hoop seizes and surrounds a vessel. So they also surrounded Lot's house and came running to it from every corner and alley.
I am moved by such circumstances that I almost have to believe that they have held a holiday and a good time through the whole city, because the whole city has been so nonsensical. For even if they did not all want to commit such a deed, they all helped to do it and took pleasure and joy in such nonsense of the citizens against these strangers. But it makes no difference whether they do the deed themselves or, if others do it, consent to it.
58) Of all the circumstances described here, the most horrible is the one that follows, "young and old": and the Hebrews commonly use the word naar, young, when they speak of young servants, menservants and maidservants. For Moses indicates here that all those who had reached their twentieth, twenty-fourth and twenty-sixth years, and were now able to serve at their age and felt the heat of the flesh, joined the citizens, the king, his rulers, councilors and nobles of the city. There are also the old people, who should have lost the pleasure of old age, or at least could have quenched the raging and fury of others with their gray heads and their prestige. And so that you understand this trade more clearly, you should not do otherwise.
The people came running from every nook and cranny of the city. Not all of them were able to perform such a deed, but nevertheless they enjoyed it and consented to it.
(59) What do we think, then, that the pious Lot, whose house alone was the most important, would have thought of the whole city in the midst of such senseless raging and fussing? For he alone was the one who feared God, and in his house kept discipline and chastity most diligently, as much as was always possible for him: while the others lay free and without all shame in adultery, impurity, incest, etc., so that it was no longer considered sins, but vain amusement. As it is now among the nobility and the lesser people, fornicating is not considered a sin, but a pastime, a joke, and a disgrace; therefore there is no punishment for it.
(60) And it has been argued in Germany, first by the Italians, then also by some canons, that fornication among persons who were free, and neither was bound to the other, could not be sin, but it was a necessity of nature, which must have its end. Innocent hearts may give me credit for this, for I do not like to speak of it, and yet we should see to it that by such angry speeches the careless youth, who without this are inclined to sin, are not seduced and corrupted. For where one teaches and lives in this way, and vices and sins become a daily habit, there, as Seneca says, there is neither advice nor help. But look at St. Paul's Proverbs and judge from them about such things, which says Heb. 13:4: "God will judge fornicators and adulterers"; item 1 Cor. 6:9: "Do not be deceived: neither fornicators nor adulterers will inherit the kingdom of God"; and Heb. 11:6: "Without chastity no one can please God."
In Rome I have seen some cardinals who were honored as saints, because they were content to associate with women. For there they commit abominable shame, not secretly nor in a corner, but publicly, and in such a game the chiefs and nobles go first.
along with the entire city. What advice or help could be found there against such sin? Who would dare to punish those who consider sin and disgrace to be a commendable habit and practice? If you were to compare others with them, who, even if they sin, do it secretly and are ashamed of it, you would have to say that they are sinners who should suffer; as the German proverb says of "no one": "No one, even if he sins, does it painfully; for he fears and is ashamed, and would not like his sin to become known. But the Sodomites were not of this mind; therefore no improvement could be hoped for with them, everything had come to a head with them and no counsel or help could take place, but God had to come down from heaven and punish such sinners.
(62) Although it is frightening to have to experience and see how great a power Satan has over man when he has once turned away from the fear of God and obedience; for he does not rest, but always drives from one sin to another, it is nevertheless useful and good to consider this and to let it provoke us to prayer. Yes, it also teaches us that God takes care of us and cares for us by warning us and, as it were, restraining us and making us right through his fatherly guidance, which then becomes sweet and lovely when we realize what a man is wont to do who is left to himself and continues freely and safely in sin.
The sin of the Sodomites is a very peculiar monstrosity, in that they depart from the natural desire and lust, which is planted in nature by God, such as that the man burns against the woman, and desire completely unnatural things. Where can such a perverse nature come from? Undoubtedly from the devil, who, once one has departed from the fear of God, presses and weighs down human nature so powerfully that he also dries up natural lust and desire, and awakens another that is contrary to nature.
64. and Moses makes this sin very great
He also puts these horrible words, which no sensible man can stand in his ears: "Bring these men out to us, that we may know them. Such words do not drive one or two in the heap, but the whole city, the young with the old, also the authorities themselves. Therefore learn what Isaiah the prophet means by this, that he says of his people Cap. 3, 9. He says, "They glory in their sin, as Sodom." They do not let such shameful words be heard inside the house, but stand outside in the street and publicly demand in the name and by force of the authorities that the two angels be brought out to them. That it was not such a sin, which they would have kept secret, but it seems that it was a common and public habit, of which no one was ashamed.
(65) And this sin makes it more abominable and grievous, that they do such things against strangers and sojourners. But what will the other four lesser cities have done, which were, as it were, disciples of Sodom, if their capital city, according to which they have judged themselves, has committed such a sin?
Therefore, if the Lord had not come with the well-deserved punishment, the worldly regime would have gradually fallen and could not have continued to exist. For where marital duty and discipline are abolished, and fornication and dishonor are given place, all order, law and respectability fall. But when such things are gone, there remains no police, but all disorder follows, and a beastly and wild life. For this reason, God has had to punish on account of necessity, and to prevent such wild and senseless life as an example to others.
(v. 6, 7, 8) Lot went out to them at the door, and shut the door behind him, and said, Oh, brethren, do not be so wicked. Behold, I have two daughters, which have not yet known a man; and I will put them out among you, and do unto them as ye please: but do nothing unto these men; for therefore are they entered under the shadow of my roof.
All this belongs to the description of this horrible and senseless sin, which could neither be defended nor advised. The pious Lot may have taken the liberty of countering this foolish behavior of his citizens with good doctrine and Christian admonition and warning, but he did nothing about it, because the longer he did so, the more foolish they became. He calls them brothers and not, as they were worthy of, tyrants or knaves, and asks them most kindly to desist from their arrogance and not to commit sacrilege against his guests. But they are much more embittered by this; what would they have done if he had punished them so publicly and called them servants of Satan, as they were, and enemies of God?
68 "A gentle answer," says Solomon, Proverbs 15:1, "quenches anger": but these are so enraged that they are more embittered than quenched by good words. So Lot does not leave it at that, that he tries the matter in kind words and ways, but he tries the utmost and offers them his two daughters only for the reason that he saves his guests from disgrace and injustice. He does not consider the certain danger in which he puts his daughters, who have already been entrusted with men.
(69) Now you see what a great and abominable sin the Sodomites have, who had no way to counsel. They have utterly despised the word; so these two supreme means by which Lot tries it in such danger, namely the very kindest words, and that he offers his own daughters to such boys who are mad and senseless with fornication, so that they abuse them as they wish, not only help nothing with them, but also increase and strengthen their senselessness. For they answer him nothing to the request of his daughters, but as mad people do, they despise the female sex; as if they wanted to say, "Violating virgins is our daily pastime. Therefore they turn to Lot and answer him from his sermon.
V. 9. But they said: Come hither.
70 Jerome has interpreted it: recede, soften, as if they had called him the
Clear the city. But it seems more convenient and in accordance with the truth that they have told him to go into the house and bring out the guests.
Then they said: Thou art the only stranger here, and wilt thou reign? Well, we will plague you, that one. And they pressed hard upon the man Lot.
They want to be unmastered and unpunished. They rely on their power and quantity, that there are so many of them, but they despise Lot as a stranger and do not want to be judged or admonished by him. As now the pope does with his own. Because he sits on high, he thinks he has the power to do what he pleases, and he does not want to suffer any punishment or contradiction, called the heretics and rebels who go against his will, just as the Sodomites do here. So where neither counsel nor help can take place, it must inevitably follow that one will perish. Moses has so far described the sin that went on in Sodom; now he continues with the description of the punishment. But first we want to deal with the questions that one is accustomed to ask about this text.
(72) For the first question is, Whether all the people of these five cities were perverse and wicked; and, What should be thought of women and virgins? What should be thought of women and virgins, item, of the little children who had not yet come to their senses? But we will leave such questions until we come to the end of this chapter, and now consider those which Lyra and Augustine before him also dealt with.
(73) Namely, whether Lot was well pleased, because for the sake of these guests he gave up his daughters, which were his brides, and caused them to be dishonored and defiled? For this is an evil thing for a father to do, that he should give up his daughters, who were already betrothed, not only to disgrace them, but to commit adultery with them, even to slay them: and yet we see that Lot, who does this, is such a man as is worthy to entertain angels; which is a glorious testimony of his holiness and godliness.
(74) As such faithfulness to his guests is to be praised and commended in him, so is such the highest and most abominable unfaithfulness that he shows to his daughters, whose honor and discipline he should have protected and saved as a father even at the risk of his life.
This is what drives Augustine to doubt, so that he neither concludes nor answers anything certain. This seems to be true, that among two evils and accidents that cannot be avoided, one should let the least of them pass over him. This, he says, makes up for the misdeed. Because either the guests or his daughters were exposed to shame, the sin against the daughters seemed to be the lesser. For to commit sin against men was against nature. But St. Paul overturns such an opinion by saying in Romans 3:8 that one should not do evil so that good may come from it, and Augustine himself directs his interpretation and answer to the effect that Lot did this out of a particular consternation of his mind; such consternation, however, is not always for the best, but generally for the worse, therefore one should not follow it. So Augustine gets rid of such a question and leaves the reader in doubt.
Lyra, however, speaks a little more freely: although he does not consider St. Augustine's opinion of the universal equation of evil to be good (as it is neither to be praised nor to be approved), he nevertheless brings two examples that go along with Augustine's opinion and almost approve of it. First, he says, the Jews were allowed to divorce in order to avoid a greater sin. Secondly, in large and populated cities, it is permitted that lewd houses be free, so that the less defilement and adultery are committed in them. Therefore, in this case, Lot was allowed to avoid a greater sin by letting go of the one he considered lesser.
(77) But Lyra rightly replies that this is acceptable and permissible in bodily matters. For he who lets go ten guilders so that he may keep a hundred does right; just as he who for salvation
of his whole body has a finger or hand cut off. And such teaching, that to avoid greater harm and evil one should choose the lesser, is true in outward and bodily things; but in spiritual things it is different, in which one should not do evil, so that good may result. To kill a woman is a sin; but if it should happen that she could be saved from death by adultery, it should certainly not be done; just as Augustine is of the opinion that one should not consider lying in order to prevent death.
78 As far as Jewish divorce is concerned, Lyra is right in the opinion of those who say that Moses, as a lawgiver, did not have the power to permit it, but did it by God's command; for God could keep marriage together or separate it at his pleasure. As the Jews of Egypt took goods with them and robbed them by God's command, and did no sin in doing so.
79 The other example of the lewd houses that are tolerated in large cities is not worthy of much discussion. For it is obviously contrary to God's law, and those who publicly tolerate such disgrace and allow it to happen are to be considered heathens. For this is a loose command, that they pretend that the less dishonor and adultery is done. For a young journeyman who deals with whores, and has once abandoned his honor and discipline, will, if he has reason and opportunity, abstain neither from wives nor virgins. So that in this way fornication is given more cause than it is prevented, and as a result those often fall into sin who, if this opportunity and cause were against them, would well abstain. For God has shown and commanded us many other and better ways and means to prevent such sin, namely, the marriage state. Therefore, such authorities who tolerate lewd free houses in cities should be considered pagan. For a God-fearing authority should not permit fornication and whoredom in any way, nor give public license to it; because even against the authority
The fact that such a disgraceful being nevertheless has its course, nor can it be completely abolished, is a matter of will and prohibition.
80 But I come again to the most important point in this question, namely, whether Lot is to be excused for what he does here? Lyra says that Lot has committed a mortal sin, but because this happened to him out of the consternation of his mind, he is not guilty of such a great sin, even though it is a sin.
But how much better we shall do if we discuss such cases more rationally! For what cause have we to trouble ourselves so carefully how to excuse the saints' sins? There have been men, because of which they have fallen and erred at times when they have been hurried and entered with an emergency: and yet, as far as this history is concerned, I hold Lot excused, and hold it that he made such a charge without sin. For he did not think that he would put his daughters in danger and disgrace, knowing full well that they were not to be cared for by the foolish and raging people, nor did they desire them, but thought that their anger and foolishness could be appeased and reconciled by such a way and means. Therefore, this speech is to be regarded as a hyperbole.
(82) But be it so, let this rule be observed, that the works of the saints are not to be taken as examples to be followed. For this does not follow: Abraham, Augustine, St. Peter etc. did such things, therefore I must also do them. But this follows: God says it and says it, therefore one should do it; for God's word is the certain rule that cannot deceive. Just as the jurists also say that a work is not so soon a right, just as a right is not so soon a deed. And therefore we cannot easily judge of such works of the saints, because we only see the mere work as it is to be seen, but we do not see and understand their heart.
It is certain that Lot was a holy man and dear to God, otherwise he would have perished with the Sodomites. Now he offers his daughters in hope,
to defend his guests with them against iniquity and wantonness; but with what intention he offered them, thou seest not. How if he, as a man full of faith in God, had thought it certain that God would stand by him for all danger, and that neither the daughters nor his guests would suffer any scorn, disgrace, or wantonness? Such a heart, which looks to God's goodness and omnipotence in the most certain distress and danger, can truly not be condemned so easily. And who would doubt that he did not also call diligently to God and sigh for the protection of his own? And yet he was urged to such a means by the present danger, which came upon him so suddenly and so quickly.
(84) Although I do not excuse Lot because of this (for he was a man, and something human could have happened to him, and we could see the mere deed, but not his heart), the circumstances force me to conclude that his work is not to be blamed. And yet it does not follow that one should accept such a work as an example, or follow it, as if it were permissible that one might commit a small sin in order to avoid a greater one. For what is done apart from law and order is not to be accepted as a law, but is to be regarded as a miracle, from which no one is to make any rule or law.
(85) And let the teachers of the church take special care that they teach a certain thing; therefore let them teach your people not such individual examples, but rules. You are not Lot, you are not Abraham; therefore do not imitate what Lot and Abraham did.
The rebellious spirit of Thomas Muenzer held up to his peasants the example of David, when he fought against the Syrians, and he ordered them to fight against the nobility according to the same example. This means transforming an example into a legal principle and making a rule out of a deed. This can never be done without danger, because if one deviates from the common rule prescribed in God's Word and builds on a mere work, one tempts God by it. He who is the-
hen anyone is not called by a special command of God apart from the rule of God's word, that he should be a miracle man, that I thus speak, who remains by the rule in God's word, he will not fail nor err. But Lot, Abraham and such special saints are miracle-men, whose spirit is moved outside the rule, and walks along outside all examples and consequences. For they have a special profession and high instruction, which you do not have.
Therefore, we should learn that when such histories are presented to us, we should not focus on the examples or special works, but on the order and rule of God's Word. What Lot did is none of your business. For "who are you to judge a strange servant?" Rom. 14, 4. But God's commandment concerns you, that you should bring up your wife and children in the fear of God, and be careful not to give them cause to sin. If danger befalls you and you can keep them in discipline and honor, you must not put them in danger yourself and make them dishonorable, nor excuse yourself with Lot's example. For you are not Lot, and because you depart from the rule of God's commandment, you tempt God. For you are not commanded to depart from the rule and to follow the examples and miraculous works of others.
Abraham kills the four kings of Egypt and twice puts his wife in danger of her honor and discipline. Lot gives up his daughters to ravish them. But why they both do this is none of your business; for God has thus displayed His wisdom and power through them.
89 Therefore I may be amazed at such works, but I cannot and should not do them. Just as we marvel at Peter walking on the sea (Matth. 14, 29), Christ (Matth. 4, 2) and Moses fasting for forty days (Ex. 24, 18), we do not follow them. For the works of the saints that go against God's commandment and order are miraculous deeds that we cannot imitate. But if they are such deeds that they cannot be condoned or excused, as when Lot put his daughters to sleep, then they are sins that cannot be forgiven by God.
should not happen to us. Now this is not new, nor strange, that the saints fall and stumble. "Seven times a day," says the Scripture, Prov. 24:16, "the righteous may fall." For since they have a sinful flesh as well as we, it is no wonder that they fall at times: but where they can be excused, we are to praise God by it. So I consider Lot to be a miracle man, in whom God wanted to reveal His wisdom and power.
(90) For this reason, since the Scriptures present to us a variety of works, rights, examples, rules, miracles, and divine commandments or laws, among all of these one should observe, teach, and practice the right, rule, and law. When the grammarian sets this rule: All nouns ending in a in the Latin language are feminine gender, the word poema is as it were a miracle, if it is held against this rule; for it is neuter gender. If one is to look for a mitigation or alleviation in the laws, this is like a miracle of the jurists; for it deviates from the string and rule of law: and yet it remains true that where the law is most severe, there it is also no law, but the highest injustice. So physicians also have their rules and canons; but how often does it happen by chance in illnesses that they have to abandon them and cure an illness in another way, which is contrary to their rules and right? Therefore, these are clumsy lawyers and physicians who simply insist on their rule without any consideration of accidental circumstances: just as in theology, the saints of works, who put the whole world into such a strict and rigid regiment, to the great detriment of the body, the good and the souls' bliss.
(91) One should indeed teach such rules and keep them; but God, to show His power and wisdom, does much against the rule through specially gifted people, whom He specially appoints, although there are very few of them. The others, who are not highly and specially gifted, must keep the order and rule in God's word; for if they do not keep it to high persons who are from the
If they wanted to imitate this rule, they would shamefully run into it and hit each other. That is why such works are praised, because they are done by high and wonderful people, but no one can imitate them happily, but one has to be like a weak and clumsy jumper, who, if he wants to jump over a ditch or a stream, has to use an advantage and take a stick to help him, since everyone who is strong and agile crosses over easily and completely, without any advantage and help. But now let us look at Moses further.
(v. 9, 10, 11) And when they were come running, and would have broken out the door, the men took hold, and drew Lot in unto them into the house, and shut the door. And the men that were at the door of the house were smitten with blindness, both small and great, until they were weary, and could not find the door.
After the frenzied and foolish Sodomites had taken the trouble to break down the door, it was time for the guests to protect themselves and to show their help and loyalty to their so willing and faithful host, who had tried everything that could have served for their salvation. For Lot did not know that they were angels, but otherwise took them for holy men who visited the churches around and preached God's word from time to time. Therefore he worshipped God in them and honored them in all holiness and served them as if they were sent by God. That is why he and his whole house are rewarded very richly for such honor and service. For first of all he is protected by them against the senseless people by the fact that the angels strike them with such blindness, as Lyra also remarks that they cannot see at all, or since they do see, they still cannot recognize what they see; like a drunkard who has his eyes open and sees, but what he sees he cannot recognize nor comprehend.
This is what the Hebrews actually call sanverim. The Sodomites saw the door, but were mistaken in their reasoning, and
thought it was the wall. Again, they grabbed the wall and thought it was the door. This is not natural, but unnatural and unusual blindness and uselessness of heart, like a miracle. Just as it was a miracle that the Syrians did not see the prophet Elisha with his servant, 2 Kings 6:18 ff, and the Jews did not see Christ in the temple, John 8:59. God often uses such miracles to visibly save His own, whom He wants to protect, so that even the enemies have to see it. This is called being blind with seeing eyes; as it is written in the Gospel Luc. 24, 16: "Their eyes were kept from seeing Him. So Mary Magdalene saw Christ as a gardener on Easter Day, John 20:15, and the Syrians did not see that they were led to Samaria, 2 Kings 6:19, although they saw all other things. In the same way, the Sodomites, when they dared to break down the door, were struck with blindness by the angels, so that the door and the window disappeared before their eyes. Thus in all lines many pious men were miraculously delivered and saved, that they escaped from their danger, and mocked their enemies as it were.
94 But here we must also see the difference. When the Syrians are struck blind by the prophet and feel the hand of the Lord, they are corrected and turn to the Lord. But here, when the Sodomites feel the hand of the Lord, they are not corrected, for they are blind all night long and do not stop searching for the door until they are tired of groping and grasping. How do you think Lot will have felt here, sitting up all night, waiting for such foolish people to come in? Undoubtedly, the angels would have comforted him, saying that all their efforts would be in vain. Therefore, no doubt, they spent the whole night watching, worrying, weeping and crying, especially Lot's wife and daughters. Although the Sodomites feel that they are struck with blindness, they do not take this as a punishment from God, but rather as a punishment from God.
think they are thus charmed and blinded by the devil.
(95) For it is always the case that the wicked are the most obdurate and believe that God has them in His fold. The godly, however, tremble and fear God's wrath, and do not think as if their punishment comes from the devil, but from God, who is angry with them; therefore they are frightened by a rustling leaf, and are afraid, since they are also safe and without any danger; and cannot have such thoughts as the wicked, namely, that their misfortune and accident comes from the devil, as it truly comes from him. For God does not afflict and punish His own, but rather reproaches the devil for doing it; as we have an example of this in Job: his children are killed by fire, his livestock is killed by thunderstorms, not because God was angry with him, but because Satan was an enemy to him, Job 1:12 ff.
(96) So also, when pestilence and other calamities come, we should say that they are the works of Satan, and that Satan is fierce and wicked, but God is gracious and merciful and favorable to us, because we believe in His Son.
(97) For in this way the holy martyrs overcame death and all their hardships, believing that God was merciful to them, but that their torment and torture came from sorcery and the devil, whom God prevented from trying and testing their faith: therefore, even in the midst of their hardships, they were joyful and mocked Satan. We should do the same, but we are usually too weak to do so, as the examples of great saints testify. For Paul also feels fear and melancholy; but when he sees the brethren, he regains heart and confidence, Acts 28:15. 28, 15. The wicked do not feel such trepidation and terror, for they are sure and believe that God is favorable to them. Even if an accident happens to them, they blame it on Satan and remain safe.
98 So, since the Sodomites are struck with blindness, they feel well what they have suffered, but they do not take it as a punishment.
They do not believe in God, but think that they have been bewitched by Lot. But if we could do this and in that case follow the wicked, we would be fine; as we are tempted and urged to do so by countless and very certain promises of God.
(99) Therefore, we are to remember and reprove these things diligently, both to ourselves and to others, lest in temptations we give too much credit to our flesh or to our reason, and despise the word. For it is not God who afflicts you, if you believe in Christ, but the devil; he is your enemy, and seeks cause and opportunity to challenge and afflict you. But you might say: Yes, I recognize that I am a sinner, that is why I am not a Christian, and that is why my misfortunes and accidents are sent to me by God, who is angry with me. But such things are called evil concluded, and do not follow; for Christians are they which believe a remission of sins. If you therefore believe in Christ, gladly hear his word and accept it with faith, you are a true Christian, and your sins do not hinder you at all. Therefore, if you often encounter something unpleasant, conclude boldly that it comes from the devil and that God is not angry with you for it, because as far as he allows it to happen, your faith will be challenged and tempted for your good.
Learn this from your and God's adversaries and enemies. For while all threats are aimed at them, they do not recognize them, but catch the promises and comfort themselves with them. Do the same. For it is a great shame for you if you do not understand the true doctrine that you profess. You fear God and believe in God, therefore not the law but the gospel belongs to you. But now you abandon the gospel and take up the law, which does not concern you, but the stubborn and the secure.
101 Therefore this is the spiritual weakness of which all the saints complain. But it is useful for us to ward off the hope in us by not relying on ourselves, but by humbling ourselves and learning to trust and rely only on the grace that God offers us in His Son. For this is
It is certainly true that God is not angry with us, nor is he hostile to us; otherwise he would not give us such a rich knowledge of his Son. He would also not give us the Holy Spirit, which first fruits we have received, Rom. 8, 23. Therefore we also confess the Son of God and do not blaspheme Him, as the papists do; we also resist sin to some extent, so that we would wish to be like the sodomites in this case, and would laugh at and mock Satan's fury and wrath according to their example, but we constantly think that God loves us who believe in Christ and keeps us under His protection and protection.
102) What our translation has: "So that they could not find the door," in Hebrew means: "They have grown weary, and yet have not found the door. Leu is a familiar word, and comes from leah, a weak, weary one who seemed unable to live because of weakness. These words therefore indicate their obstinate stubbornness, that even then, when they were struck with blindness, they did not stop racing and raging, but continued searching and groping for the door until they had to let it go out of fatigue and, like the tired, their eyes fell shut.
Third part.
Of Lot's Children, Servants and Oath Keepers.
V.12. 13. And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any more a husband, and sons, and daughters, and whosoever thou hast in the city, bring him out of this place. For we will destroy this place, because their cry is great before the Lord, which hath sent us to destroy it.
103) Here it is first discussed whether Lot had more sons and daughters, because the angels said to him that if he had more of his own in the city, he should bring them out with him; but afterwards Moses had no more than two daughters.
remembered. And in this I follow Lyra's opinion, namely that here the angels speak according to human manner and habit, and act as if they do not know whether Lot has others who belong to his house and family. For above (Cap. 13, 5. ff.) the text reported that he had cattle and many shepherds, so that he could not have lived with Abraham.
104 From this another question arises, namely: Where have such his cattle and shepherds remained? For the history that follows shows nothing of this. And I myself cannot get involved in such a strange story, unless it seems that the shepherds with the cattle may have lain outside the city in a safe place in the field. For the fact that some consider it as if Lot's need and poverty forced him to sell his cattle and leave his servants behind is not only unbelievable, but also shameful to him. But as it was in the city at that time, it is especially terrible that also his servants and his servants, who were in his house, were against their master, and got into such security, in which the whole city lived. But we want to leave this undecided, since the scripture does not even think of this, but afterwards clearly says that only four souls were preserved. Although his wife finally perishes on the way, the father alone remains alive with his two daughters.
Now this is a strange example of a special wickedness, that the pious and God-fearing householder could not keep some shepherd nor some maidservant in obedience. This so great annoyance, that their lord alone would have the whole city against him, deceived everyone, so that they thought: Our lord is a simple and pious man, takes in for lodging whoever comes, and yet, as is the way of the world, he often receives little thanks for it: just as he has now, out of his simplicity, brought such misfortune upon himself by keeping these guests with him against their will etc. For such is the common and constant course in the world, that the
Saints will be considered foolish, and for those who do foolish things. Since he therefore preached about future punishment and wanted to preserve his house, they will have ridiculed and despised him as a foolish and ridiculously superstitious old man. This opinion pleases me better; and many examples prove that the servants are in the habit of doing so, especially when there is need and danger, which alone proves which are true or false friends.
106 But here we should also note the word that means to bring forth or to bring forth. For it is precisely this word that Moses uses in the history of Abraham (Cap. 14, 18) of Melchizedek, that he brought forth bread and wine. Which text the papists falsify and want to base their sacrifice on, when this word means nothing else than that Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine, and with such a gift and worship received Abraham as a conqueror. So that the stiff-necked and godless sacrificers and patrons of the sacrifice are not only relegated and driven in by a theologian who deals with the trades in the divine Scriptures, but also by grammar; since it is so foolish and inconsistent that one wants to interpret the word for sacrifice in the history of Melchizedek, as if one wanted to make a big fuss about this text, that the angels had told Lot that he should sacrifice all his goods.
V. 14 Then Lot went out, and spake unto his oaths, which should take his daughters: Arise, and go out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But it was ridiculous to them.
107) After the Sodomites had tired themselves and had fallen asleep, Lot, at the command of the angels, went out to his wives, to whom he wanted to give his daughters, and warned them to be careful and to avoid the danger. But even these do not seem to have overcome the consequences of the indulgence of the previous day, because they have the good old
Man also laughed at. How did they think the Lord would spoil this place so suddenly? What a great fool are you to believe these, your guests or rather land cheats? For if such a thing should happen, there would be other signs of the impending fall; but now everyone is happy, and all is well, and you still come here, dreaming how this city will fall.
This is how it always goes. The nearer the world is to its misfortune and destruction, the more certain it is, and not only laughs at all threats, but also considers it quite impossible that it should perish so suddenly. So Noah warns of the future flood and exhorts his fellow citizens to repentance; but he is laughed at and taken for an old fool. Just as we preach of the Son of God that he will come to judgment and cast the wicked into eternal hellish fire: but when the popes and cardinals read or hear such things, they laugh as at an impossible thing. What harm, they say, if heaven falls?
The story is told of Pope Leo, who once invited two philosophers to the table, one of whom argued that the soul was immortal, and the other that it was mortal. And when they had argued and disputed vehemently against each other for a long time, and the pope was to conclude which of them had spoken best of the matter, it is said that he said to the one who had argued that the soul was immortal: "It seems that you speak rightly and truthfully; but your opponent's opinion and speech makes a cheerful face. For this is what the Epicureans are wont to do: what is good for the flesh and according to reason, they accept contrary to revealed truth.
(110) But we should neither despise such threats nor throw them to the wind. For Lyra rightly says that Lot's oaths mean those who, when they hear that God's judgment is threatened, laugh at it and say that it is all deceit.
(111) But here one would say, If Lot's son-in-law was such a man,
Why then did the pious old man marry his daughters to them? Because a father should see and take care that he and his children make friends with pious people, and not give his children to godless boys etc. Answer: Lot had a church, which he instructed and taught, and in which he planted the true knowledge of God, and in which, without a doubt, his son-in-laws had also been. Therefore he considered them to be pious and holy people, because he could not see into their hearts: but they were hypocrites who pretended to be pious for a while. But now they are pretending, because they laugh at the word and are drowning in such mockery and laughter; for they do not believe that old Lot is in earnest with such words, but laugh and mock him as a fool.
This is indeed a strange history, which should be preached often in the church, so that we may always be just, lest we fall into the antinomian frenzy, which annuls the law in the church; as if those who are in the church were all holy, and as if there were no need of such examples of divine wrath. The world likes such teachers, as they say in Jeremiah the prophet, "Speak what we like." St. Paul, however, does not want the church to be seduced with sweet words; for sin should be punished and God's wrath held against the people for the sake of the unbelievers who are in the church, yes, also for the sake of the believers, so that they do not cling to or give room to the sin that clings to them by nature and the innate weakness. This is what Christ Himself does: although He draws sinners to Himself with very kind words, He constantly complains about the impenitent Pharisees and cries woe to them, Matth. 23:13 ff.
But here I must also say, which I had almost forgotten, about the angels, who boast, as it were, that they are sent to destroy this place. "We will," they say, "destroy this place"; item: "The Lord has sent lins to destroy it." Such is as much as if they boasted that they were executioners and God's destroyers and desolators.
But this belongs to the description of the ministry and power of the angels. For Elijah, Elisha and others, as it says in Hebrews 11:35, also perform great miracles, but not by their own power or ability, but prayer and faith must be added as the cause, without which miracles do not follow. Thus Peter prays and calls the lame man to stand up in faith in Christ, Acts Hist. 3:6, but the angels are powerful of themselves, so that they can perform miracles by their own power, which is created for them.
For this is indeed true, that God rules this visible world not only through men, but also through angels. He could indeed kill a thief without the help of the executioner and without the judgment of the worldly authorities; as he does at times, especially with death-row thugs. In the same way he could create men without the help and union of man and woman, as he created Adam and Eve: but it pleased his divine majesty to use the service and help of men for all these things, that he might thereby show his marvelous and divine power in his creatures, of whom he would not have them to be idle. Therefore St. Paul, 1 Cor. 3, 9, calls us all God's co-workers and helpers. For He uses our service for various works, just as He uses the service of the angels, whom He created and equipped with such strength and power that they can destroy the land and the people out of their own acquired wealth, if God is with them.
Now this is the great glory and honor of the angels, that they are armed with such strength and power; as we know from the history of Isa. 37:36, that under King Hezekiah the angel of the Lord slew a hundred and five and eighty thousand Assyrians in one night and in one go. And Christ himself boasts of the strength and power of the angels, when he tells Petro about the twelve legions of angels, since one angel alone would have been strong enough to chase away and kill the enemies of the Lord Christ. Yes, the history of Job shows that even the evil angels are armed with great strength and power, Job 1:13 ff.
(117) And it is very profitable to know this, that the pious may have comfort, and the wicked be troubled. For we who believe in Christ may be sure that the princes of heaven are with us, and not one or two of them, but a great multitude; as Lucas Cap. 2, 13, that with the shepherds were the multitude of the heavenly host. And if we were without this guard and protection of the dear angels, and God did not thereby ward off Satan's fury and rage, we could not live for a moment.
For what Satan's power and authority is, and what he most desires and seeks, we have sufficient instruction and testimony from the history of Job. For he stirs up storms, makes thunder and lightning, or, as the Scripture Job 1:13 ff. says, he throws down fire from heaven, drives up enemies, offends and attacks the body and makes it full of swarms. Therefore the good angels always have to do with it and prevent that such a cruel enemy does us no harm; and neither medicine nor anything else would help against it, if the good angels were not there. And that at times, when new diseases occur, new remedies and advice are found against them, is not the skill of man, but the help and service of the angels, who rule and guide the hearts of the physicians; just as Satan also rules and drives his own, as Paul says Eph. 2:2.
(119) What Moses says here about the good angels destroying and devastating the sodomite land belongs to this: First, that we learn to fear God, because we have such a powerful enemy in Satan. Secondly, that we trust in God's goodness, who has ordained for us such excellent high princes and patrons, through whom He protects His own so mightily. For everyone knows what the devil does through the Turk, through the Pope of Rome, and through the spirits of the swarm, in that he is not only hostile to the body, but also seizes the soul and holds it captive, 2 Tim. 2:26. But we are comforted by the hat of the dear angels, whom God has made stronger and more powerful than Satan.
So this is a marvelous government of God, which He has appointed with His creatures, that the whole human race, which stands free and naked before the lions, wolves, dragons and all the terrible princes of Satan (who are trained to do harm not only with the sword, pestilence and other innumerable diseases, but also with all kinds of heresies), is nevertheless protected by the dear angels who fight for the pious. And so it pleases God to prove His glory through the creatures, but not in the same way. For Elijah caused fire to fall from heaven, 2 Kings 1:10, the same following his word and faith; so he caused the heavens to rain, 1 Kings 18:41, but not from such power as the angels perform such miracles, namely, from their own power or gift, so that they are created. But when the saints do such things, they obtain them by faith and prayer.
(121) The question whether Lot also sinned by worshipping the angels was dealt with above, and the answer to this question is that the angels say that they were sent by the Lord. Therefore Lot does not speak as with angels, but as with the Lord. Just as the works done at God's command are rightly called God's works. For this reason Christ also says Luc. 10, 16: "He who hears you hears me"; item Matth. 25, 40: "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. For this is a common rule, and it is absolutely true, namely, that if something good is done either by men or by angels, it should be considered as if it had been done by the Lord, and he alone should be thanked for it.
(122) And this rule is necessary, lest we make Moses a heretic and Lot an idolater, because he speaks of the creature as of its Creator. "The Lord," he says to his sons in oath, "will destroy this place," when the angels had said they would destroy the same place. So Lot does not look at the person of the angels, but at God, who had commanded this.
123. such is that Christ says in the gospel Matth. 19, 4. 5.: "Have you not read that he who made man in the beginning made man to be male and female, saying, 'For this reason shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife? etc. Now how are we to unite Moses with Christ here? For Moses shows in very clear words that Adam spoke such words, and yet Christ says that God spoke them.
124 Answer: What Adam says, he says by divine command, therefore it is not his word but God's. And this is our great honor, so that the divine majesty may adorn us, in that she performs her works through us in such a way that she calls our word her word and our work her work; so that one might rightly say that the mouth of a pious Christian teacher is God's mouth, and the hand that you stretch out to serve a poor brother with it is God's hand. Thus, when Adam says to Cain, Genesis 4:6, "Why does your heart hide?" this is rightly called God's word, even though it was spoken through Adam's mouth.
(125) And the heretics err greatly in this, and join together what does not follow one another, when they discourse about the oral word and the sacraments, so that they completely deny God His preaching office; for he who cancels the word, and does not accept it as if it were spoken by God, cancels everything. For take away the word of baptism, of absolution, of the Lord's supper, and all these things will be nothing.
Therefore, the sacramentarian argument is not only foolish but also ungodly, because they say that such outward signs do not help to salvation, and then draw many examples and sayings from Scripture, such as John 6:63: "The flesh is of no use" etc. For one must make a distinction between external things and not reject all external things in general. But then they are rightly rejected as being of no use for salvation if they are done out of human discretion, or rather, if they are done without God's word. Otherwise, God will work through the service of His creatures. Therefore, before all
Consider these things, whether such external things are done according to the appointment and will of God or not. And if it is found that God's word or appointment is not involved, then you are right in saying that the external things do nothing for salvation, but also harm it; as Christ says Matth. 15, 9: "They serve me in vain, because they teach such doctrines, which are nothing but the commandment of men.
But if you see that such external things are based on God's word and are done by divine command, then bow your knees and worship such external things secretly with yourself, saying, "Such things are not called me by my pastor, not by St. Peter or Paul, but by my Father in heaven; therefore I will be obedient to him in all humility, and believe that such obedience will serve me to my salvation.
This distinction is very necessary, and because the heretics either do not know it or despise it, they fall into terrible errors. For Schwenkfeldt's conclusion that no external thing helps to salvation, therefore baptism, the preaching of the gospel, and the Lord's supper as external things are of no use, is not absolutely true, and indeed it is true, because external things must be distinguished. For some of these are only human things and invented by men, of which it is rightly said that they do nothing for salvation. But of those that are ordained and commanded by God, it cannot rightly be said that they do nothing for salvation, because they are instituted and ordained for our salvation, as Christ says of baptism: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved"; and Paul Rom. 10:10: "With the mouth one confesses to salvation."
Thus, although the verbal word of a man is a word, it is ordained by divine command and authority for our salvation. For God wills to rule this world through the angels and men, which are his creatures, as through their service; as he gives day and light by the sun, by the moon, even by fire and candles. Therefore, one could also say here: It
no external thing is useful, therefore also the sun, as it is an external thing, is not useful, that is, it shines, it does not warm etc. But who would be satisfied with such a loose and foolish talker?
130) So that the rule of which I have spoken above remains, namely, that God no longer wants to act and work without means, or out of order, and, as the sophists speak, simply according to His mere power and omnipotence, but through His creatures, of whom He does not want them to be idle. Thus he gives us food and drink, not as he gave it to the Jews when he rained down bread from heaven, Ex 16:14, but through work, when we diligently perform the works of our profession: neither will he make men of clay any more, as he made Adam, Ex 2:7, but uses for this purpose the union of man and woman, and gives them his blessing. This is called God's ordinary power and omnipotence, namely, when He uses the ministry of angels or men; as in the prophet Amos in 3 Cap. V. 7, there is a clear saying that God does nothing that He does not first declare to His prophets.
But if something happens at times apart from the service of angels or men, it may be rightly said: What is above us is none of our business. For it behooves us to look to the ordained power of God, and to judge and conclude from it. God can indeed save without baptism; just as we believe that little children who at times do not receive baptism by mistake of their parents or by some other chance are not condemned because of it. But in the church we are to judge and teach according to the ordained power of God, namely, that without the same outward baptism no one will be saved etc. So it is according to the ordained power of God that water makes wet and fire makes burn. But at Babylon Daniel's companions remained unharmed in the midst of the fire, Dan. 3, 25. Such was God's almighty and direct power, according to which He worked at that time; but according to the same He does not command us to do anything, but wants us to judge and do according to His orderly power.
132. in the schools was before lines ge
my this saying of Dionysius: God works through his omnipotent being, but we work through "derived quality". But who wants to understand what is meant by this? But he who rightly understands the rule that we have set, can at the same time judge the pope and the world in all their wisdom, namely, that God directs everything properly through the service of men. Therefore, no one will attain salvation by spiritual speculations, as they are called, without the external means, but one should pay attention to the Word, take baptism, go to the Sacrament and seek absolution. These are all external things, but they are included in the Word. Therefore, without them the Holy Spirit works nothing.
Before that time, before God Almighty gave us the light of the dear Gospel, much was written and taught about the speculative and active life, that is, how one should lead one's life in high thoughts and speculations, or how one should deal with works. Therefore it followed that some of them have described all their dreams. They all waited for special revelations and enlightenments without external means. But what is this but that one wants to climb heaven without ladders? That is why they have often been deceived and deceived by the devil's deception and illusion.
Therefore, at one time an old father in the desert did right, when he saw that his monks were indulging in such secret speculations, and warned them to refrain from them, saying: "If you think you are going up to heaven, and already have one foot in heaven's door and on the threshold, withdraw it again soon and do not follow with the other foot. This man has quite rejected the secret high thoughts or the speculative life, which the unlearned and inexperienced people after him have exalted.
have praised and extolled. For he who wants to make right speculations, looks at his baptism, reads his Bible, listens to the sermon and God's word, honors his father and mother, helps and lends a hand to his brother who is poor and in need, and does not hide himself, not hide himself in a corner, as the unruly monks and nuns do, and kittele himself there with his devotion, and let himself think that he is thus sitting with God in his lap, and can deal with him and act without Christ, without the Word, without the Sacraments etc.
Such people speak very contemptuously of the common life in everyone's profession and works; and I myself became very angry before God helped me out of this error. For such thoughts are pleasing to reason, and it considers them angelic spirituality; as Paul says Col. 2, 18. Georg Wetzel, the hypocrite and apostate blasphemer, once reproached me that we teach too many external things, that one should also keep the spiritual ones etc.; as reason always wants to float in miraculous works that are above it.
But beware of such snares of Satan, and learn to speak of the speculative life differently than it was spoken of in monasteries, namely, that the right speculative life is to hear the oral word and believe it, and to desire to know nothing else but Christ crucified, 1 Cor. 2:2. He alone is the one from whom one can speculate usefully and salutarily; do not depart from him; For those who reject or despise the humanity or flesh of the Lord Christ, and thus speculate about God, as the monks of old and now Schwenkfeldt and others also do, are either driven to despair when the search for God's majesty becomes too difficult for them, or they allow themselves to be deceived by Satan with his deception, so that they foolishly rejoice and let themselves dream as if they were sitting up in heaven. And for those who despair over this, they can still be counselled; but for those who are drunk with joy, as it were, and think that they are sitting with God in his lap, there is no help.
137. gerson has also written from the spe
The word of God, which is the life of a culprit, also adorns it and praises it very highly; and inexperienced and simple-minded people, when they read it, take it as if it had been spoken by God Himself: but in truth, as the saying goes, they take dirt for gold. Therefore, if such useless speculators call you an external or worldly person, do not accept it, but thank God for His word and such His external signs, and let others have their great and splendid speculations.
I have read such books with all diligence, and I also urge you to read them carefully. And I have no small reason why I urge and impress upon you that you should look to the ordered power of God, or that which is revealed in the Word, and to His services. For we do not want to deal with the mere God, whose ways are unsearchable and judgments are hidden, as Paul says Rom. 11:33.
139. but to the ordered power of God, that is, His Son who became man, we will adhere, in whom are hidden all the treasures of the Godhead, Col. 2, 3. to the child who lies in His mother Mary's womb, and to the sacrifice that hangs on the cross, we will adhere: there we will look right at God, yes, look into His heart, that He is gracious and merciful, Ps. 103, 8. 103, 8, that He does not want the sinner to die, but to turn and live, Ezk. 33, 11. From such looking or speculating comes true peace and joy into the heart. Therefore Paul says in 1 Cor. 2, 2: He knows nothing but Christ. We can make use of such speculation with fruit and benefit. But the thoughts of the union of soul and body, of which Gerson pretends to be great, are often done with great danger, and are Satan's pure mockery, which causes such devotion in the heart.
One reads a story of a nun who amused herself with her speculations and diligently refrained from others, so that her thoughts would not be prevented. At a time when she sits in her devotion and thoughts, and lets herself think.
she has a golden skirt on and a golden crown on her head, and there she sits in joy like a bride at the wedding, the other nuns become aware of Satan's mockery and see that she has a cow dung on her head, which she took for a golden crown. This may or may not have happened, but it shows that people have often been shamefully deceived with their speculations. Whoever therefore wants to be safe from this, let him flee such speculations, and hold in honor the ministry of preaching, through which God deals with us and in which He gives Himself to us to look at, as it were. But now back to history.
Fourth Part.
Of Lot's exit from Sodom, of the fourfold command given to him, and of the request he makes.
V. 15 When the morning dawned, the angels hurried Lot and said: Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters which are found, lest thou also perish in the iniquity of this city.
This is an example of a good love, which Lot proves here in that he reluctantly leaves the city, not only for his own sake, but also for the sake of the citizens. For he desired that at least the punishment be postponed, if he could not avert and abolish it. And is this the cause of his delaying and delaying; follow therein the example of Abraham, who also tried all means, whether he might be able to keep his neighbors alive. For love is of such a nature that even in the danger and distress of the enemy it is melancholy and sorrowful.
142 As for Lot himself, he does not doubt the angels' word, but it is already before his eyes, how the fire will fall from heaven and set the city on fire. For his faith takes hold of the word and believes it. After faith comes love, so that he also thinks about how he can help and save his neighbor,
and forgets all the evil and violence that had befallen him. But since he is unable to avert the misfortune, he seeks counsel by delaying for a long time; as an example to us, that we should also care for the salvation of our adversaries, take care of them, and strive not only for our own benefit, but also for the benefit of others.
At the present time we see that a great and certain calamity is coming upon Germany: and the more we cry out and the more diligently we exhort to repentance, the angrier our adversaries become. When we punish and rebuke them, as we should, they blaspheme us, exercise all tyranny against those who are members of our church, and strangle whom they can, allowing themselves neither to be advised nor to be defended, and hurry and press themselves by force to their own destruction and that of all Germany. Faith now does what is due to it, for we believe that it is impossible for God to suffer such blasphemy and desecration of His divine Word any longer, and yet, because the accident and the punishment cannot be averted, we pray that God will forgive them, whether there are perhaps still some to be converted.
144 Thus Hezekiah, when he hears the prophecy of the Babylonians ravaging Judea, asks that only peace remain because he lived, 2 Kings 20:19; and in his epistle Jude teaches vv. 22-23 that we should have mercy on some and come out of the fire. Therefore, let us also call upon God at this time, so that He will not lead us into temptation, and so that we may, if not keep His wrath at bay, nevertheless endure it, so that at least some may be helped out of the future fire, which all of Germany will certainly have to provide for our sins.
145) One asks of Lot's daughters, "Were they manned? But there is nothing in it. That they were engaged, they think it almost all. But we should rather consider that these holy virgins did not resent the fall and anger of the men to whom they were betrothed, but rather followed their father, for they were trusted by him, and they surely despised and laughed at their old father's kind-hearted warning and care for them.
146. But here one should also notice the special way of speaking, which Moses uses here. By divine command and judgment, the angels command Lot to go out of the city, and make a serious threat, saying, "Lest thou also perish in iniquity," or for the iniquity of "this city. So he explicitly says about the iniquity of this city, not of some people, but of the whole place. Now these are very harsh words, so that he presents the sin as so common and widespread that he does not call it the sin or iniquity of the young people, or of men or women, or of the common people or of the authorities, but of the whole city. Therefore it must have been such a sin, which was committed with the consent of the authorities and all classes of men in the same city, and everyone was free: and not only the perpetrators of it, but also those who consented to it, were dragged into it.
147) The Benjamites also had the same sin, who had defiled a Levite's wife to death, and not only did they not punish those who had committed such defilement and violence, but they also forced the whole tribe to defend such sin, Judges 20:13 ff. 20:13 ff. Such sins, which are defended by the authorities who are to punish, bring punishment quickly; as the Benjamites were so completely slain and destroyed that only six hundred men of the whole tribe remained.
For God has ordained three estates, to which He has given orders to punish sin. The first is the parents, who are responsible for discipline in the home, and who are to govern children and servants. The second is the secular authorities, who bear the sword, that they may compel the disobedient and negligent by discipline and force. The third is the church or preaching authority, which rules with the word. And with this threefold rule and power God has kept the human race against the devil, against our own flesh and against the world, so that offenses should not get the upper hand, but be cut off. The
Parents are like disciplinarians over the young people: but those who are grown up and tardy in their duties are punished and chastised by the authorities through the executioner. In the church, the wanton, secure and impenitent sinners are banished.
Thus the divine majesty shines and explains itself everywhere, that it uses the service of men according to its manifold and immeasurable wisdom. If they despise their profession, and either look through their fingers and let trouble happen, or do not punish seriously, they bring foreign sin upon themselves.
(150) For if a father does not punish his children's sins, they become his own sins. Adultery, capital murder, usury etc. are also sins of those who commit them; but if the authorities do not punish them, as is almost the case nowadays, such individual sins become common sins and sins of the whole city, which is always followed by a common accident. For this rule is right, that the perpetrator and the one who consents to the deed deserve equal punishment. Thus, if a bishop sees in the church error, heresy, evil customs, etc., and does not punish and banish the impenitent, he makes himself guilty of such sins. How then Lot must hear such a terrible judgment that if he does not go out to the city, he must be guilty of the same sin and perish with the unbelieving citizens.
151: So when Gen 16:24 God wanted to punish the rebels, Dathan, Abiram and Korah, Moses cries out to all the others, "Depart from the tents of these wicked men, lest you also perish. And since Ex. 32, 28. the people of Israel sacrificed to the calf, three thousand men were slain by the Levites; and if this had not happened, the whole nation would have been slain and such sin would have been imputed to them. And when the Reubenites had built an altar, all the congregation, fearing the punishment, sent their messengers unto them into the land of Gilead, saying, Whether it had been too little for them in the iniquity of Balaam, from which they were not yet cleansed, to bring a new sin upon them. For they see and
find that Ezekiel's saying Cap. 3:18 is true: "If I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou warn him not, nor tell him, that the wicked may beware of his wickedness, that he may live: then shall the wicked die for his sin; but his blood will I require at thine hand."
Now this commandment to punish sins belongs not only to the teachers in the church and the authorities in the world government, but to every citizen and householder in particular. Since Joseph's brothers had sinned, he brought it before his father and accused them, Gen 37:2. In the same way, among citizens, one should not help the other hide his sin, and in the church, one brother should punish the other, as Christ commanded, Matt 18:15, so that one does not share in the other's sin. And in the secular government there are not a few temples that show that common misery and terrible accidents have followed where the authorities have either tolerated or defended public sin. Therefore, where this is the case, one must get away from it, where one does not want to become a party to someone else's sin and bring the punishment of someone else's sin upon oneself. Thus we are warned in Revelation 18:4 to depart from Babylon, that is, to separate ourselves completely from the priest's church, if we do not want to perish with it.
153) As far as Lot himself is concerned, he is a holy, innocent and blameless man, and yet he must hear this threat: "Lest thou also be taken away," not because of thy sin; for therefore are we sent unto thee, to save thee: but because of the iniquity of the city. Therefore, in whatever state we are, authorities or commoners, we must unanimously resist sin, lest God's wrath come upon us and we all be swallowed up at the same time.
In the Greek histories we read an example of a Sibarite named Amiris: "When he saw a servant who owed his master a great debt, and entered a temple behind the altar, where the
The evil-doer used to be safe, had fled, was torn out there, and on the same citizen's father's grave had fled again and his master spared him there: He thought it unfair that a tomb was held more sacred than the temple and altar, so he sold everything he had and left the Sibarite city, which was then rich and prosperous, for Peloponnesus, thinking that some punishment would follow if things went so wrong. The other citizens laughed at him and thought him foolish, but at last he found great benefit in his foolishness, for the city of Sibaris was destroyed not long afterward.
Therefore, remember this rule, that at all times when sins abound, God's wrath must come. Therefore, whoever is a ruler and has an office, let him see to it that he does his part and does not look through the fingers of any offense, no matter how small it may be. But if sin and wickedness gain the upper hand, let him flee from it, lest he become a party to another's sin.
Therefore we are justly against the antinomians, because they pretend that the threats of the law do not concern the church, when God has certainly commanded that sins should be punished. For this reason, no one should consider making an enemy of the truth. He who is an authority and wields the sword, use his office with seriousness, and punish those from whom trouble comes, and do not ask whether other people are angry or not.
157 Let a preacher or teacher in the church do likewise, and freely and unhesitatingly punish what is offensive, and forbid the sacrament and other Christian works to the impenitent. For the gospel is not to be preached to such ungodly despisers, but to the afflicted and miserable; as it is written in Isaiah Cap. 61, 1: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon us only; he hath sent me to preach to the miserable, to bind up the brokenhearted," etc. not to comfort the proud and stiff-necked despisers, who always lead the greatest multitude; as Christ Luc. 8, 5. ff. indicates in the parable of the
Seeds. And here we hear a rule that one should not share in the sins of others. For though Lot was not an authority, but a commoner, and without vice, yet if he had not fled, the sin of the city would have become his sin, and he would have perished with others.
V. 16 And when he was gone, the men took him by the hand, and his wife, and his two daughters, because the Lord spared him; and they brought him out, and left him without the city.
Lot was commanded by God to leave that city and go out: he should have obeyed the same command. For when God speaks, he speaks earnestly, and does not play or joke, as we humans are wont to do, who often speak differently than we think. But the good old man suffers the temptation, which also troubles us all. For just as Satan in Paradise misled and disturbed Eve with the question of why or for what purpose God had forbidden her to eat from the tree, so our reason also hinders and deceives us, so that we are not content to know that God has commanded us something, but fall into foolish anxiety, and still want to know the reason why God has commanded us this or that. God is hostile to such presumption, and does not want us to ask many questions, but wants us to obey His commandment straightforwardly, and to be satisfied by this cause alone, that He has commanded us.
That is why Lot suffers a human and common challenge here, that he hesitates a little too long out of a good thought, as he thought. For perhaps he thought that the Lord would not act with such severity and would spare the innocent children: but God did not want such thoughts, but wanted him to obey His command and get out of the city. That is why Moses uses the word mahmah here, which I believe to mean to refrain or to forgive, so that those who are about to go into a city may be spared.
The first thing you have to do is to get the right answer.
But God cannot suffer such forgiveness; for he who is commanded to go away and still consults with himself and forgives, considers God either a liar or a joking God. If he now says to you, Go and immerse yourself in the Elbe, you shall do so without delay and soon: as Abraham, when God commands him in Gen. 17:10 to be circumcised with his own, soon goes and carries out God's command; likewise, when he hears in Gen. 22:2 that he should sacrifice his son, he does not argue with himself about what God has commanded him to do or why, but soon goes to the place that was shown to him. This is also what Lot should have done: however, he is distracted, and secretly wishes in his heart that God would be of a different mind, and waits for his oath-makers and friends, whether they might still come.
Therefore follows a serious text, that he and his family were taken by the hand and led out of the house outside the city by force. For God could not suffer such forgiveness and misgivings, and if His mercy had not been so great over His saints, as it says in Psalm 103, v. 8, Lot would have perished with the others over such forgiveness.
162. whoever has the air to joke, joke with men, with women, with children, with money etc.; for God allows us to be happy: but when you hear God's word, see to it that you are obedient without all hesitation and counsel, and whether you lack the ability, or other obstacles fall in your way, let at least your will be inclined and ready for it. For God does not want any delay when He commands something, but wants you to say with dear David Psalm 108:2: "God, my heart is ready, and is my right earnest." This was David's mind, therefore he was fortunate and prospered; but Saul, who had much questioning and deliberation in himself, since he was commanded to destroy and cut off Amalek, was cast out of the kingdom with his family; and helped him his good
He did not intend to give the best part of the spoils to the service of God, but God wanted obedience to His word, 1 Sam. 15:2 ff. Therefore, if you are not able to obey Him with your work, let your heart be inclined and willing to do so, otherwise you will greatly anger God.
In the Song of Solomon, Cap. 5, 2. 5, the bride complains that when she heard the voice of her boyfriend knocking, she got up to open the door for him. But her hands were filled with myrrh, and myrrh had run over her fingers, that is, the cross had made her weary; therefore, when she had opened the door to her friend, he had gone away and gone elsewhere. Therefore St. Paul admonishes his Corinthians 2 Epist. 6, 2. not to miss the pleasant time, and draws on such admonition the saying of Isaiah Cap. 49, 8: "I have heard you in the acceptable time"; and Jn. 12, 36. Christ says: "Believe in the light, because you have it"; as we say in German: One should buy, because the market is there, so that we do not think much about it or default, unless we lack the ability.
164 Therefore Lot sinned here, that he delayed and did not go out to the city immediately: and the heathen also punished such delay in outward things. As Salust rightly says, when one has needed counsel, one should set to work promptly. For wise men have seen that in delay and default there is danger and harm, and have painted the opportunity bare behind, since once one has let it pass, it cannot be withdrawn again. But how much more reasonable it is that one should not delay where one has God's clear and obvious commandment, but be inclined and ready to be obedient to God without any hesitation.
It is good and very praiseworthy that Lot should be prevented from doing so, for he cares for his sons and their family, and it grieves him that they should perish; but be that as it may, no cause or concern should be preferred to the word of God. Abraham also had causes that were important enough for him to slaughter and sacrifice his son.
But he prefers his thoughts to God's word: and such obedience to God is the most pleasing service of all, and brings with it rich blessings, as the examples before us show.
Before the gospel came to light, it was considered the most holy state to become a monk, but we, unfortunately, have spent our lives very badly, as much as we have lived in monasteries. Now, when the blessed light of the holy gospel shines, we spend an hour better and do more good than we did before in monasteries all our lives. For it is the Word of God alone that makes learned, skilful and valiant people who can do many things rightly and praiseworthily without much effort and work, whereas the wicked spend a long time deliberating and still accomplish nothing rightly.
For this reason, young people should be taught and accustomed to be obedient to their parents and schoolmasters, and such obedience should be swift and not slow. For God is hostile to slow or tardy obedience, but He loves the willing and ready. As we can see, even among ourselves such service and good deeds are pleasant, which are done out of a willing will, and according to the old saying, "A willing and a diligent gift is a twofold gift.
For this reason Lot sinned, because he disobeyed God's command and did not obey soon; and he would have been punished for such disobedience if the angels had not forcibly snatched him out of the city. For God spared him, otherwise he would have been worthy of perishing with other sinners for the sake of someone else's sin. Therefore, this example of mercy is to be remembered.
Zacharias, the father of St. John the Baptist, must fall silent because he does not believe the angel, Luc. 1, 20. A man of God is strangled by a lion because of his disobedience, as it is written in 1 Kings 13, 24. Thus, 3 Mos. 10, 1. 2. Aaron's sons, after they bring a strange fire before the Lord, which was not commanded to them, are consumed with fire by the Lord, so that they die. But God does not use such seriousness against Lot, but spares him.
and forgives his sin, and keeps him almost against his will. And even though such disobedience angers him, he is pleased with his simplicity, for Lot had enough reason for his delay and mourning: he hoped that God would still relieve the punishment and the great misfortune, and at least would have gladly saved his household, his shepherds and others.
V.17. And when they had brought him forth, he said, Deliver thy soul, and look not behind thee; neither stand thou in all this region. Out of the mountain deliver thee, that thou perish not.
Here the angel gives four commands to Lot and his wife and daughters: First, that he should save his soul. As if to say, "If others do not want to be saved, why do you want to perish with them? Secondly, that he does not look behind him. Third, that he should not stop in any place of the same region. Fourth, that he should stay on the nearby mountain. All these commands of the angel show sufficiently how Lot's heart was and what his thoughts were. Reluctantly he goes out of the city. But when he came out, he did not want to go far, because the city, which was to perish and be destroyed, made him very sorry; but the angels commanded him, "Save your soul," as if to say, "The Sodomites are unrepentant people who could neither be helped nor advised, and now their hour has come: Therefore let them go, because they so miserably despise their souls or lives, and save your soul, lest you also come into trouble; for God has surely determined with Himself that He would destroy this city, therefore get thee away, the farther the better.
Again, this is a necessary lesson. For if thou seest men who have the word, and despise the same like the Sodomites, and ask neither for threatenings nor for promises, remember that thou must save thy soul, that thou perish not with such despisers. For because such are like unto them, of whom Solomon saith, Prov. 23:35.
says that they say, "They strike me, but I do not feel it," then disaster and destruction cannot be far from them. Thus the stubborn Pharaoh perishes in the Red Sea, Ex 14:28, and Samuel weeps in vain over Saul the king, 1 Sam 16:1. Those who are given to a wrong mind should beware of them, lest we become partakers of their sins and perish with them. Therefore, in John's Revelation Cap. 18, 4, the church is commanded to go out from Babylon, that is, it is commanded to separate itself from the pope's ungodly church; and St. Paul commands 2 Cor. 6, 17."Come out from among them and separate yourselves," so that he undoubtedly looks here at this command of the angel: "Save your soul," as if he wanted to say: "Remember how you may be saved and blessed; for that you should be concerned about others, how they may be saved, is in vain. For there is emphasis in the word "thou."
Thus Paul says Titus 3:10, 11: "Avoid a heretical man, when he has been admonished once and again, and know that such a one is false"; and Romans 12:19: "Pray space for wrath," as if to say: If the unbelievers want to be damned and perish, let them perish. Our adversaries, the papists, have nevertheless been brought to the point where they must confess that our teaching is righteous and true, so that they no longer sin out of weakness or ignorance, but out of hardened minds and malice. Therefore let us separate ourselves from them and go out from them, for they have known the truth and yet persecute it. Who would therefore doubt their future fall?
The other command, that Lot should not look behind him, also shows how concerned he was for the salvation of the city. For when good friends part from one another, they are wont to do so, often looking around for their own. Therefore, the angel commands him to separate himself so completely from this city that he should not even dare to look around for it, and that he should not let its salvation and salvation come to his mind at all, nor let himself lament its downfall. That this is therefore a
This is a hard and severe command, which is why Lot's wife could not keep him. For think, if one were to hear a great storm behind him and the cries of those who would perish in it, especially those who were dear to him, how he could refrain from looking after them at least once. But with it the angel points at the same time to Lot's disobedience. As if he wanted to say: You have sinned enough up to now, that you have delayed with obedience; therefore learn to be obedient to God afterwards, and be careful that you do not look behind you.
The third command, "Do not stand in this whole area," means that it tells Lot to hurry and go straight to the place where he will be safe and not to tarry or look around. And this also belongs to the description of how Lot's thoughts, who thus seeks all kinds of evasion, were. As Moses in Exodus 2:3, 10 ff. also thinks of and uses various reasons to refuse his calling, which God demands of him; but finally he is forced to the point that he is unable to refuse it. For since the word and commandment of the Lord is there, we must be obedient to it.
175 Seneca says finely that one should not look at who is speaking, but at what is being spoken. This rule is used with people and in worldly matters, but it is not valid in the church. For there one should only look at who is the one who speaks. And since Eve did not do this in paradise, and wanted to see what was said, and forgot who was speaking, she fell. For this may well happen with men, that they pretend to be fools, and say what is not to be said: But God is not such, but is good and wise, therefore he cannot err. Therefore, in the church, as I have said, one should primarily consider and look not at what is said, but at who is the one who says it.
The fourth command, "Go up to the mountain," reminds us of the location of the same place. For Sodom and the outer cities of it were situated in a valley on the mountain Abarim toward the east; and the same valley is highly praised, that it is an excellent
fertile region. Just as a land that lies in a flat field is naturally more fertile than one that lies on a mountain. So Lot is referred from the same place to a wild and barren one.
V. 18. 19. 20. But Lot said to them: Oh no, O Lord! Behold, because thy servant hath found mercy in thine eyes, let thy mercy be magnified, which thou hast done unto me, in preserving my soul alive. I cannot save myself on the mountain: an accident may befall me, that I may die. Behold, there is a city near, whither I may flee, and it is small; there will I save myself; yet it is small, that my soul may live.
177 This is a very good example of what prayer can do and accomplish, because Lot refuses the last command to flee to the mountain, using his need that he does not dare to save himself on it. For he could have fallen into a temptation and looked down from the same height into the valley and thus perished. But this short prayer, as it is to be seen, has everything in it that is customary in a true prayer. God gives everything for free, out of pure grace and mercy, but still wants to be asked for it. For that we should pray, we have a clear command; after that, with such a command, there is also the promise that God will hear us; finally, we have to pray in the form and manner that the Son of God Himself has prescribed for us.
Therefore, let us learn that we need prayer most of all, and not let ourselves be seduced and deceived by this harmful and evil temptation, thinking that God will give us everything we need even without our prayer, which is not necessary because He knows beforehand what is good and useful for us. For Augustine rightly said: "He who created you without you will not help you or save you without you. Therefore we are ordained to various offices, of which we are to wait, so that we may be like him.
sam are God's fellow workers, as Paul calls it 1 Cor. 3, 9. And I have said above that God could well create a man from the ground, but it pleases Him in another way, namely, that you should become a husband and take a wife in a conjugal and proper way. So he might well teach and enlighten our hearts without the oral ministry, but he will not do it: therefore he has ordained the outward ministry and instituted the sacraments. He could also forgive sin without baptism, but he does not do so, but wants us to participate in his actions. Therefore, it would be the highest ingratitude to despise this. The same may be inferred from prayer, for this is the ordained will of God, that he will be asked, and give to those who ask him the Holy Spirit and all that they need.
Now let us consider what parts belong to a prayer. The first kind and virtue of a good prayer is that one gives thanks to God and praises His good deeds in the heart and in words. Thus, in the Lord's Prayer, we pray for daily bread, but because we call God our Father in the beginning of the prayer, we confess that we have been nourished and protected by Him until now, and that we have received all paternal benefits from Him. This part is called in oratory captatio benevolentiae, or the application for benevolence, which is best done by praise and thanksgiving.
The other part of Lot's prayer is the lamentation or narration of distress: "I," he says, "will be in great danger if I go to the mountain according to your will and command. Before, I have sinned by delaying, and now such a case, that I delay too long, may also befall me; therefore I beseech thee for mercy's sake, that thou mayest have preserved me, that thou wouldest favor me with this, which I ask of thee.
In the third piece, he expresses what he desires permission for, namely, that he may flee to the next town, where he can save himself: and he finely emphasizes this request with circumstances. "It is small," says
he, "also close to it," and there I could be safe from all danger.
This, then, is Lot's prayer, according to which God changes His counsel and decree, which should be diligently remembered. And it is not necessary here to discuss the secret and hidden change of the divine will, but rather to learn that of which the 145th Psalm v. 19 also says: "The Lord does what the godly desire. So this was the orderly power of God, that the sun kept its course and its usual course. But when Joshua called to the Lord in his distress and commanded the sun to stop and stand still, it stood still at Joshua's word, Josh. 10:12, 13. Now what great miracle this is, ask the astronomers. But what is the cause? No other, but that God does the will of those who fear him, and brings his will into our will, only that we always keep ourselves in his fear. Now the text here says clearly enough that this was God's will, that Lot should not stand in any other place in the same whole boundary, except on the mountain alone; but God changes his will like this, because Lot fears him and prays. Such is God's ordained and not secret power and authority; for God will not govern us according to secret counsel and will, but according to the ordained will revealed in His Word.
183] So that this history belongs to the fact that we are to be awakened and stimulated by praying to God in all our needs, because He will do what we want, if only we fall down before Him in humility and pray. This is how the Ninivites were preserved, to whom the prophet had announced and determined the day on which they would perish, Jon. 3, 4. 10. And we have more such testimonies in Scripture, which prove that God allows Himself to be guided and submits His will to ours. Why are we so sluggish and lazy to pray? Why are we so devoid of all faith and fainthearted, as if our prayers were nothing? Let the monks doubt their prayer, who do not know God and are completely without all faith, and whose prayer is not a
heartfelt longing and desire, but a hard work, and actually nothing else but a futile sounding.
When we, who have the knowledge of the Word, come together and fall on our knees in true humility, we know and are informed, not only from God's gracious promise, but also from examples, that God will not do His will and will do ours. And this should be diligently impressed upon the people and upon ourselves, so that we will not be sluggish or cold in prayer. God does everything, but we should also do that which our profession entails. He gives bread that feeds and sustains the body, but not before you work, sow, reap etc. And thou shalt not think that when thou sowest the land nothing shall follow thy labor, because it is God's commandment that thou shouldest do thy work and labor, and that he should work through thee.
Therefore, you shall continue to work in your profession with all your ability and all the diligence that you can demonstrate, and command the rest to God. Thus, if you are to fight against the Turk, God's commandment that you protect your subjects drives you away first. Therefore, you should prepare for war with weapons and other necessary things, saying, "I have done all I can, but what is lacking in me and in my ability, you, O Lord, will supply and fulfill for me, so that your will may be done. For this reason Paul also admonishes us, Rom. 13:11, that we should not be sluggish in what we ought to do, or become discouraged. For those who are slothful and, like that servant in the Gospel, do not carry out their ministry diligently, will have to hear that the same servant had to hear, "From your words I judge you," Luc. 19:22. But those who are diligent and godly in their ministry, God will make rich. For he does the will of those who fear him. No doubt David wrote many psalms from such examples first and then from his own experience.
V. 21. 22. Then said he unto him, Behold, I have looked upon thee also in this piece, that I turn not back the city which thou hast spoken of.
Make haste and save yourself there, for I can do nothing until you enter. That is why this city is called Zoar.
How wonderful this is, and a history that is well worth keeping. God's will and opinion had been that the city of Zoar should also perish with the others; but because Lot intervened, God withdrew His will and did what Lot wanted. Thus, for the sake of Paul, as many of them as are in the ship with him are preserved in the shipwreck, Acts Hist. 27. 22. ff. But that follows: "I can do nothing until you come in," so that you may be sure that someone may ask and say, "Therefore can he resist God, so that he does not do what he wants so soon? Moses answered, "Lot's prayer does this; it forces God not to do his angry will, but to break it, and to do the will of those who fear him.
187 These things are said very much and are almost unbelievable: but we should remember them diligently for our learning and comfort, that we may pray gladly and "without murmuring and without doubting," as Paul says in Philippians 2:14. But this is called "murmuring" when we let the cross anger us and want to know from God why he does this or that? But as I said, we should not always ask God, "Why do you do this?" but we should submit to His will and be obedient, and if something in His works annoys us, we should pray. But the wavering that Paul calls "doubt" is to be completely excluded from prayer. For it is by this alone that prayer is falsified and corrupted.
That is why St. Bernard exhorts his brothers not to despise their prayer, but to know that it is already written in heaven above before they have uttered it. The holy man saw how fainthearted we all are when it comes to praying. For because there is great weakness in us, and we see that St. Paul, Peter and others have greater gifts than we do, we step back when we should pray, and let
our unworthiness frightens us, that we do not consider ourselves worthy to ask anything from God. From such thoughts, faith not only becomes weak, and the earnest and ardent desire to pray diminishes, but also completely dies away, and in its place is found the shameful and harmful doubting and vexatious murmuring. Why do we not rather think that Lot was also unworthy? For who is worthy to speak with God? Therefore, let us be satisfied with the fact that we are called to faith through the Word and are instructed in God's Word, and therefore are members of the Church, which has a certain and clear command to pray. Therefore you shall not consider your unworthiness, but God's commandment, nor dispute whether you are worthy or not; but keep the promise that the Lord will do the will of those who fear Him.
So we should make ourselves bold and courageous for prayer, of which people who have been experienced in spiritual things have said that it is a work above all work. But why? Because he who prays must fight with force against the doubts and murmurs which our pusillanimity and unworthiness, which we feel about ourselves, arouse. Therefore we are to learn against such deceitfulness of the devil, and look to the promise and example that is written here about Lot, which is not written for Lot's sake, but for ours, that we should learn how to hinder God's angry will and, when he gives us the rod from afar, meet him and fall into his hands; as in the prophet Ezekiel Cap. 32:30, the Lord himself says, "I sought among them if any man would make himself a wall, and stand against the breach against me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." So he also attacks harshly and scolds the prophets and priests who preached to the people. "They tread not," saith he Ezek. 13:5, "before the breaches, neither make themselves a stumblingblock for the house of Israel, neither stand in the controversy in the day of the Lord."
190. Thus God is provoked to anger if only prayer is omitted, for in so doing His commandment is despised. Therefore we should pray
pray joyfully and confidently. For if what we ask for is not given to us, something better will follow in return; since prayer cannot be in vain and without fruit, as Jacobus Cap. 5, 16. also says: "The righteous prayer is able to do much, if it is earnest." For God cannot despise the righteous and all his works, but even though the world persecutes him, God honors all his words and works, even his suffering and affliction. Yes, "the death of His saints is also held worthy before the Lord," Ps. 116:15.
191] The fact that Moses finally reports that the name of the same city, which was previously called Bela, was changed and called Zoar, is because God wanted to give the descendants a new name as an example, so that they would also learn to fear God, who brings and exercises such judgment on the wicked, hope in His mercy and ask for help. For history understands both of these things. The destruction of Sodom serves to frighten the wicked, but the fact that Lot is so graciously and abundantly heard and saved is part of the consolation of the pious, so that they may pray in times of need and seek such salvation and help from God.
Fifth part.
Of Sodom's downfall, and of Lot's wife's disobedience and punishment.
V.23-25. And the sun had risen on the earth when Lot entered Zoar. Then the Lord rained down brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah. And he turned back the cities, and all the country, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and all that grew in the country.
19'2 That Moses says here that the sun has risen on earth is a peculiar way of speaking, which he never used before. But he indicates with it that Lot and the his got up, since the dawn has come out and driven to go.
and that they wandered there with their goods, bread, drink and other necessities, and came to Zoar, which was perhaps not a quarter of a mile away from Sodom. That therefore Moses said that the sun had risen, he may have wanted to indicate the redemption of the human race through the Son of God. But we want to save talking about this until we have the secret interpretation.
The following, how fire rained down from heaven and burned the cities, is briefly spoken, but it contains such great things that cannot be described in any human words. For who would not be frightened by such a horrible spectacle, that five very rich cities in their best condition with all their inhabitants, animals, cattle, gardens, fields, etc., go up in a heap in a thunderstorm? What will have been the weeping and wailing, the miserable screaming of men and animals, all devoured at the same time? Therefore, this is quite a gruesome and terrifying example that surpasses all histories of all pagans. Troy was devastated with war; but all this is nothing compared to the fact that so many cities were devoured by the earth in one moment, in which so many thousands of people had been, who for half an age did not know what was good or evil: all of them perished and not one remained; at the same time all the cattle and all the fruits and plants of the earth perished, so that not even a grain remained standing.
19'4 These are terrifying things, and yet they do not go to the heart of the wicked. For when St. Peter speaks of the last evil of the world through the Holy Spirit, 2 Epist. 2, 5. ff, he sets this example against the papists. "God," he says, "did not spare the five cities that were in Paradise and in the best place of the whole world, which could have been God's resting place; neither did he spare the former world, and both parts perished by the flood and water, and the latter by fire that came down from heaven.
and are corrupt. But why did God do it? Because he wanted to present a terrible example to all the wicked. And all these things are described by the Holy Spirit, not for the sake of those who have thus perished, but for the sake of the world to come, even for the sake of the Papists, who will be a plague on the world in the last days, as Peter says.
But it always happens that those who are to be frightened are the most secure, but those who need comfort are frightened and despair. As the pope and his cardinals do not ask about such a horrible example, they do not think that it concerns them. For they do not believe that there is a God, nor are they afraid of His wrath until they feel it. Therefore we should separate ourselves from them and flee from them, so that we do not fall into the same punishment with them. Christ also refers to this history several times, tells us in Luc. 17:32 that we should remember Lot's wife, and says in Matth. 10:15 that at the last judgment the land of the Sodomites and Gomorites will suffer more than such cities that have heard the gospel without fruit. If then they that despise the word shall be punished more severely than Sodom, what shall we conclude of them that persecute the word? Therefore let the word of the Lord Christ be well considered. If he does not want the word to be despised, he much less wants it to be trampled underfoot and people to be strangled because of it. And yet the pope does nothing else with his own, except to make the world full of murder and strangulation.
Therefore, we, like Lot and Abraham, must be spectators of such misery, which cannot be sufficiently said, and by which the hearts of the pious are grievously tormented and distressed; as St. Peter also says of Lot, 2 Epist. 2:8, that his eyes and ears were tormented daily. But let us wait in patience until God overthrows these sodomites of ours, and make every effort to ensure that we are not found in the sins and vices of the papal church.
197 For though we also have sins and vices, and that I say nothing greater,
If we are lazy and sleepy to the word, greater suffering and misfortune could not happen to us than if the word were suppressed and taken from us. But the world considers it a small sin to fall away from the word, and also considers the lack of it a small harm: but we want to keep it with Saint Peter's and the Lord Christ's terrible judgment, which pronounces the Sodomites holy and righteous against the Roman church, which not only despises the gospel, but also persecutes it and strangles the devout Christians. Therefore Peter says right 2 Epist. 2, 6: God has set this as an example to the wicked who would come after; and Christ says Matth. 10, 15: There will be a deceptive judgment on the Sodomites in that day, because on such despisers.
198 Let us therefore hold fast to this comfort. For this history shows us both these things, namely, that the enemies of the church will receive their punishment, and the pious will be preserved for eternity, if we alone are like Lot and Abraham, that is, if we hold fast to the word and faith. The Lord knows, says St. Peter 2 Epist. 2, 9, both these things, to redeem the pious and godly, and to keep the ungodly to torment them in the day of judgment. Although the wicked do not believe this, and when they hear that such examples are pointed out to them, they pityingly laugh at such a thing, which is not at all ridiculous, but cannot be sufficiently mourned and grieved, nor can it be explained in words.
For think for yourself what a terrible and terrifying sorrow this must have been, when five cities were destroyed and devoured in one storm, with all the men, women, children, servants, maids, cattle and animals at the same time, so that not even a straw of the whole land remained. And what clearer example could be given that God is seriously angry with the wicked? And yet Christ and St. Peter say that it is still a small punishment, if one compares it with that which is still to befall our papists, who are not only unrepentant, but also obdurate, and retain and defend public errors.
The reason Moses uses the word "rain" is to indicate that such weather was caused by the ministry of angels. But what is commonly found in a weather and tempest, as, great storm winds, thunder, lightning, weather rays, earthquakes etc., reason knows well. So he also remembers the sulfur. For the fire that is aroused in a weather is always sulphurous; whatever is touched by such weather fire smells of sulphur: therefore the fire that fell from heaven with a great crash and thunder consumed these cities. But note that this is the work of angels and does not happen by chance, as the pagans think.
And from the beginning of the world there have always been many examples of the wrath of God, which are not described, but which are described are very strange, so that we should learn from them to flee sin, because God punishes sinners so horribly and terribly. As this year in the Neapolitan field near Puteole a large piece of land was submerged by an earthquake and water, not by chance, as the papists think, but for the sake of the people's sin, which has no end nor cessation.
202 Christ very kindly and graciously says: "Whoever speaks against the Son of Man will be forgiven"; but to sin against the Holy Spirit, as the papists do, who sin unrepentantly, knowingly, and with willful malice, when they could by natural gift and without grace refrain and abstain from such sins, that is a sin that cannot be forgiven. For who compels them to kill our people? Who forces them to be so bitterly hostile to the known truth and to dispute it? Are they not forced by their own will, which the devil also promotes and drives.
David also sinned, and very grossly, in breaking marriage and instigating unrighteous murder: but this was a sin of weakness, which, when he knew it and asked pardon in faith, was forgiven him. But to persecute the gospel and persist in public idolatry against so much
Warnings of the Holy Spirit as a mockery (because that is what I may call it) of the divine majesty are sins against the first tablet, followed by certain condemnation.
Therefore, I have no doubt that by this light of the good gospel, God will take His elect out of Sodom, and gather the devourers into His barn, Matt. 13:30, and if the blasphemers, the papists, do not cease their raging, the end will follow, that is, either the last day will come, or else a noticeable destruction of the entire papacy will take place. For Peter, when he calls Sodom an example of the wicked in 2 Epist. 2, 6, is not lying: and is by nature so wrought for sin that God cannot always be silent about it. Therefore let us give thanks to God that He has redeemed us from the wrath to come through His Son, and has protected us through His angels so that we do not perish with the present Sodomites.
But we must not overlook the way Moses speaks: "The Lord made it rain from the Lord," which way of speaking particularly annoys the Jews, and which they interpret from time to time and grind in various ways. But these are clear words, that the Lord sendeth rain, and sendeth rain from the Lord. For here both names of God are put, which they call Tetragrammaton, and in Hebrew the article is added very emphatically. Because he puts the name "HErr" twice, he indicates two persons in the Godhead, as one is wont to speak, and One HErrn. And St. Hilarius insists on this text rightly and masterfully, that there is One God, God the Father, who begets, God the Son, who is begotten, and God the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
The Jews, being bold and bold men, interpret it thus: The Lord let rain from him, the Lord himself. But who told them to practice such boldness in God's book? If it were possible to joke with the holy Scriptures and interpret them wherever one wanted, no article of faith could remain pure and unadulterated. Therefore, it is only the unbelieving Jews and godless papists who are to blame.
Work, be the master of the Holy Spirit, and teach him what or how he should write. But let us be and remain disciples, and let us not change God's word, but become different ourselves through it.
But the Jews invented this gloss out of their usual iniquity and pride, so that they might circumvent the three persons in the Godhead. But we know from the Gospel that Christ holds this way of speaking everywhere, for he points to the Father with all his works and words. "My doctrine," says John 7:16, "is not mine, but the Father's;" John 14:9: "Philip, he that seeth me seeth the Father;" v. 10: "The Father abideth in me, and I in him;" John 5:19: "Whatsoever the Father doeth, that doeth the Son also." But what is this other than what Moses says? Christ teaches, Christ works, but from or out of the Father. John took special delight in this kind of speaking, so that he could show that everything the Scriptures say Christ does and says is to be understood as if it were done and said by the true God, namely, by God the Father, who is not begotten, but begets His Son.
Therefore, we must not allow ourselves to be challenged by the false beliefs of the Jews, who have nothing more for themselves than this reason, which they do not understand correctly, that there is only one God, and who therefore falsify the Scriptures in the places where they speak of more than one person in the Godhead. But you answer them thus: There is indeed only One God, but the Holy Spirit has revealed Him through the Word in such a way that in one Divine Being there are three Persons. This we hold and teach, and not only do we stand on the fact that it is thus revealed in Scripture, but we also have testimony to it in the New Testament. For this is the most real way of speaking in the gospel: Christ does all things, speaks all things, but of the Father. Item Matth. 28, 18: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me," that is, I am the true God, and there is no difference between me and the Father without this, that I am begotten of the Father, but the Father is not begotten. Therefore, Hilarius and Augustine of this text
and testimony to protect the article of our faith in the divinity of the Lord Christ.
V. 26 And his wife looked behind him and became a pillar of salt.
209) Lot's wife, who goes out of the city with him, was undoubtedly a faithful and holy woman. Otherwise she would not have followed her husband in such misfortune, nor would she have been seized by the angels themselves and brought out of the city. Therefore we leave aside the fables of the Jews, which lie as if she had been an inhospitable and unworthy woman, and had denied the angels the salt to salt their food with: therefore she had become a pillar of salt as punishment for such sin. All the books of the Jews are full of such silly and childish fables. Why do they not rather look at the history itself and diligently summarize the circumstances, from which one can clearly prove that she was not inhospitable, but a pious and holy woman full of fine faith; because she follows her husband without delay, and yet suffers this human weakness and temptation, that she looks behind her and thus changes her mind.
And it seems from the text that she came with Lot into the city of Zoar: because she either forgot (as women are weak by nature) the command of the angels, or thought there was no more danger after she had come from the country into a city: but disobedience has its punishment and she must become a pillar of salt.
But why God sent it in this way, no cause can be shown; and perhaps from this pillar the Dead Sea or Salted Sea got its name. But this pillar did not remain standing for long, but was smashed and crushed by thunder at the same time as the city. So it can also be that Moses calls it a pillar of salt, not that it was salt in itself, but that it looked like salt, because salt is white. Augustine, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Gregory
rius all pass by this text in silence: some Lyra, who follows the rabbis, rabbis here with them in a foolish way, as he often does; and perhaps this is done out of God's special providence, so that we should read the Scriptures always and diligently, and not rely on men's interpretations and commentaries, which often investigate things too forwardly and thus sin.
212) Therefore, we should let go of the other things that do not serve the purpose and be satisfied with the fact that Lot's wife is set as an example for us, as Christ indicates, since he points to her in Luc. 9, 62: "He who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God"; item, since he says in the powerful sermon of the last day Luc. 17, 32: "Remember Lot's wife. From this we can easily understand what it means to look behind, that is, to renounce God's commandment and to concern oneself with other things besides one's profession, as the one did who, when Christ told him to follow Him, first wanted to bury his dead, Luc. 9, 59.
Therefore this is prescribed for us as a sign, a lesson or a warning, that we do not let ourselves be hindered in our profession; as Peter, John 21:21, looked around for John with his thoughts, but was punished by the Lord because of it. For let every man keep his profession, and not look about, nor inquire what others do.
At the present time, the papists are harassing us with the example of the previous time, when everything was in darkness. Your doctrine, they say, is new, and our forefathers knew nothing of it; therefore, if it should be right, all our forefathers should be damned. These also look behind them, and thus despise and neglect the word that is now going forth. For what is it to us what judgment God holds over those who have long since departed from this life. God's word is preached to us now, which we should hear and accept without any doubts or disputes; we should not question much why God has given the pure teaching at this time and not before this time.
(215) That therefore this history is for us to learn from, and to persevere in. For he that would be a Christian must not change his purpose, must not look to any other way, or to any other gospel. In this one way alone is salvation: but if thou goest out another way, thou art already lost, and art as Lot's wife.
But as far as she is concerned, this example is rather our doctrine than her damnation, of which I certainly think that she was a holy woman and became blessed. For one should not judge otherwise of God's grace and mercy, especially since her past life gives her glorious testimony that she is led out of the city by the angels themselves and willingly follows her husband.
Why then, someone might say, did she perish? Answer: She was affected by human weakness and temptation, so that when she heard such a terrible crash and storm behind her, she looked around against the angels' command. She must bear a temporal punishment for this disobedience, but her soul will be saved, as Paul says in 1 Cor. 5:5 about the man who slept with his stepmother. Therefore this teaching should be kept, for the sake of which, that it may be passed on to all descendants, this holy woman must bear such punishment; as Christ says Luc. 17, 32: "Remember Lot's wife."
218. But it is to be held completely that she is not condemned for this reason. For there are many such examples in holy scripture, that God sends temporal punishment to His saints, so that they will not be condemned with this world; as Paul says 1 Cor. 11, 32: "When we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, so that we will not be condemned with the world. Therefore Lot's wife was chastened, not condemned: just as Aaron's sons, Deut. 10:1 ff, because they sacrificed with strange fire, were punished as a sign to others, but not condemned. In the same way I think of the prophet who was killed by the lion, 1 Kings 13:24, namely, that the body was a punishment for disobedience to the lion.
But nothing has happened to the soul, so that we may be admonished to fear God and keep God's commandment with earnestness.
So that this pillar is a proper seasoning and salt for prudence, by which we are admonished not to look around, but to wait for the calling, and as Paul says in Phil. 3:13, to look for that which is before us. And this is truly a necessary commandment for the sake of the cruel enemy we have, who pursues and persecutes us day and night. For this reason the evangelist John 1 Epist. 2, 27. so diligently admonishes us that we should remain with this teaching that we first received; and tells us Jude, Epist. V. 3, that we should fight for the faith that was once given to the saints. For this is the church's greatest challenge and greatest ruin, when we seek new doctrine and turn aside from the way which the Word points out to us. Therefore Paul warns the Galatians to beware of such teachers who cause trouble and lead them astray, Gal. 1, 6.
But there is no other way to do such harm than by becoming tired of the word, which Satan is a master at doing. Thus, in our time, Thomas Muenzer stepped away from the word and caused indignation and turmoil. And after this was hardly quieted, Carlstadt and the Sacramentarians made the church restless. Since they also almost perished, the Anabaptists rose up, so that the church is never without challenge.
For the world does not remain right and steadfast in its calling, but looks behind it like Lot's wife, who was punished temporally for this reason, so that the wicked, who were to come afterward, might have an example of her, that where they did not hold fast to the word, they would fall into eternal punishment. But the fact that she looked behind her may have been because she heard the terrible crash of the thunder and the cities that were overrun and was frightened by it. Therefore it is not at all a joke or a small challenge to let oneself be led away from the word by new and strange thoughts. At the time when Arius
he was accepted with great joy, because he brought something new that had not been heard in the world before. As it has happened with almost all errors and heresies, the world has accepted them with both hands and kept so much of them, as if the previous teachers had never been pure.
Now Lot's wife teaches us with her own example that we should beware of such poison and remain steadfast in the faith that was once given to us. But the world does not obey this teaching, but some go after the new teaching according to their vanity, some seek its fame and benefit, as Paul says 1 Tim 6:5, 20, and thus almost all men let themselves be kept from the right course.
How difficult it must have been for the holy man Lot to lose his most beloved wife, with whom he had lived for so many years and who had followed him so willingly in such a long misery, for such a cause and for such a sin, may everyone assume and judge from his own heart if such a thing happened to him. Since he therefore let himself think that he would not be safe in Zoar either, for this horrible fall with his dearest wife did not frighten him unreasonably, he fled to the next mountain and hid there with his daughters in a cleft, so that he would not perish with them in the same accident.
V. 27, 28: And Abraham rose up early in the morning unto the place where he stood before the Lord, and turned his face toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and all the country round about, and looked, and, behold, there went up a smoke out of the country, as a smoke out of a furnace.
In order that everyone may see how great the severity of God's wrath was, it is reported here to the horror of the wicked, how the holy patriarch Abraham, the father of the promise, also regarded this terrible punishment, by which five cities perished. For this same most holy man had taken on the role of mediator and intercessor for this land, saying that God would spare his land and
not spoil. But here he must not only weep for the sin of others and eat it up, but also see with his eyes that so many thousands of people perish at once. And what a great challenge this was, Moses recently wanted to indicate with this text. No doubt he will have thought, as it is written in the 89th Psalm v. 48: "Why will you, God, have created all men in vain?" Shall I then believe that I alone am the one of the children of God who is preserved, since God consumes such a multitude of people with fire from heaven at the same time?
(225) And such a thought and discussion of the incomprehensible judgments of God actually causes a grumbling and impatience against God in the hearts, and gives rise to terrible challenges and doubts. For think, if you were in a city besieged by enemies, and knew from God's word or a special revelation that all the citizens and inhabitants of that city were to be slain, but you were to remain alone, and then had to see for yourself how the enemy murdered and killed everything that came before him: how long would you retain such confidence in such danger and distress that you would be preserved. Abraham also felt this kind of challenge, but he held fast to his faith, and rejected all such obstacles and cases that could have weakened his faith.
226 And his heartache also made it greater to him, that he remembered how God had so wonderfully delivered the whole country from the hand and power of the enemy about six or seven years ago. Therefore, not only did it grieve him that those who had been preserved by him from the enemy should perish so miserably, but he also took to heart the danger and need of the entire human race and thought, "If the people in whom God has performed miraculous signs and whom he has saved by my hand have been struck down in such a short time and have fallen so horribly, what shall we do with the entire human race?
227 Therefore, as it says in the following chapter, when he goes to Gerar, he is very much afraid, because he doubts whether there are people who fear God in that place; as he answers the king who confronts him, "I thought that perhaps there is no fear of God in those places, and they will kill me for the sake of my wife. But whence thinkest thou that such thoughts came? Is it not true that they came from such a heart that thought thus? If the fear of God was not with the very first man in Paradise, how will it be here in this land?
And this was the first challenge of Abraham, which is described in great detail by Moses, and in such words that carnal men do not understand. As soon as the morning dawned," he says, "Abraham set out with great anxiety, not only for the five cities in general, but also for his cousin Lot, his wife and daughters, whom he knew were living in Sodom, but did not know whether they had perished with the Sodomites. Therefore he must weep in trembling and fear for the sins of others, and fear all manner of calamities. For this we are to believe, that Abraham was not a block or stone without all human sense and compassion, but was as godly and compassionate a man as any: therefore he was concerned for the salvation of the five cities and especially for his kinsmen. Therefore, he could not stay in bed, but got up before daylight, hoping that God would perhaps take a more lenient approach.
229 In such hope, worry, fear and trembling, he immediately turns his eyes to the known region to see if it is still standing. For we are well acquainted with the worry about absent friends, as Mitio in Terence is worried about his son, who has stayed a little long; as I am now especially worried about my pious lord Philip outside Frankfurt and have various thoughts about him. And is it actually true that such hearts, which are thus
feel nothing but crosses and sorrows. Oh! what will they think, my dear friend, my dear grandson, my dear children, my citizens etc. For it was the same with Abraham at that time, who felt nothing but sighing and longing. All this is described in short words by Moses, but we must not look at it with carnal eyes, but rather think about it as if it were happening to us, and then ask our heart what it would think or do if it had come there with us.
But what happens? As the holy man anxiously contemplates this, behold, "he sees," says Moses, "a smoke rising, like smoke from the furnace. At first he mourned and was afraid, because until now he had hoped that God would deal more mercifully with these poor people: but here he finds the contradiction, sees that a luminous smoke rises without fire. For a thick smoke appears at night, as if it were a vain fire; but this smoke has been thin and bright, as it is wont to be when a fire is now almost extinguished, or yet does not burn so strongly. For when we see a thick smoke rising from afar, we can soon think that there is a fire there, but have this hope that it can be extinguished. But when we see such a light and thin smoke, we no longer think that a fire or conflagration is present, but conclude that everything has already been consumed and devastated by the fire. Therefore, when Abraham saw such a thin smoke, he soon understood that the whole region had been devastated by fire.
But what shall we think now, what sighing, weeping and crying will have followed such a sad spectacle? Oh, where is my Lot now! he will have thought. Alas! how will he fare! Alas! is he still alive! Will his wife and daughters still be alive! Therefore, there is no doubt that he will have wept and wailed, and with fear and terror he will have lamented such great misery.
232. But all these things are written for the sake of the wicked, that they may see how great is the wrath of God against sin, whether some may be converted, repent, and cease from sin. The Jews, however, joke about such serious things, but the papists usually look at them with carnal eyes; for they see that Abraham, Lot and other saints have their wives, and are burdened with housekeeping and toil, which they consider all worldly things, so that holy people should not worry. They allow themselves to be annoyed by such outward appearances, but they do not see and understand that God exercises and terrifies His saints daily with the fear of death and hell, since the Scriptures make this clear enough to them, if they were not so blinded in their airs, and without all mercy and compassion; as St. Peter prophesied of them in 2 Ep. 3, 3: indeed, they laugh at it. But the Sodomites also laughed, and yet such a terrible sorrow came upon them. Let us also beware of our adversaries, though we shall mourn for them when the punishment shall come upon them, and we shall be grieved at their calamity and destruction. And I have no doubt that those who come after us will often wish for their own deaths, for in such great misery one is frozen and cannot weep, as we are wont to do in lesser distresses.
Sixth part.
How Lot left Zoar, fled to the mountains and was taken by his daughters to the heavy
Fall is brought.
V.29. For when God destroyed the cities of the region, He remembered Abraham and led Lot out of the cities, which He turned back, where Lot dwelt.
All that Moses introduces here from Abraham belongs to it, so that the prayer is praised and glorified. For he clearly says that God did not raise up Lot for his righteousness alone (for Lot was not the only one).
had already come into danger because of his disobedience and delay, therefore the angels admonish him severely and say, "lest you also perish"; but his wife had sinned even more dangerously, therefore she had also been punished more severely): but because of the believing Abraham's prayer. As if Moses wanted to say: God so loved Abraham that he preserved Lot for his sake. For he did not want the holy man's heart to be grieved beyond measure and without end, but left him this comfort, so that he would not always have one sorrow after another.
234. Thus, in all the histories of the saints, one sees that God always takes such turns with them, sending them the cross now and helping them away from it soon after: sending them temptation and consolation, sadness and joy: And in truth they resemble Atlas; for it is they who carry the whole heavenly edifice on their backs, that is, they endure and bear the heavy wrath of God, and yet in such great sorrow hold fast to the trust in God's grace and mercy, although they see before their eyes the contradiction, and thus first experience what power is of a believing prayer.
Now follows the text of Lot and his daughters, which is full of confusion and questions, both of the Jews and of ours. Our fathers and church teachers almost all pass by it, perhaps because they have been burdened and prevented with other thoughts and business, or God has so provided and sent it, so that the church would not be overloaded with too many books. For I myself am hostile to my books for this reason, and often wish that they would perish, so that I worry that they would hinder and prevent the reader from reading the Scriptures themselves, which alone are the fountain and source of all wisdom. And I am often frightened by the example of former times under the papacy; for after those who have studied the holy Scriptures have fallen into men's books and commentaries, they have not only spent a lot of good time reading
The first two theologians were Aristotle, Averrhoes, and others, who later became strange and monstrous theologians, like Thomas, Scotus, and others.
236 Therefore let there be a measure of books, among which only those are to be read and praised which give the reader guidance to rightly understand the Scriptures themselves, and let us not accept in the fathers themselves anything that does not agree with the holy Scriptures. For that alone shall remain judge and master among all books. It is indeed good and useful to hear the confessors of the right doctrine, whether they are dead and teach in the Scriptures, or whether they are alive and preach the word orally; but all this must be measured out, and the rule must be kept for and against, namely, that we read those who interpret the Scriptures for us. We want to act on this text as faithfully and correctly as we can, because we have no teaching or instruction from the fathers.
V.30. And Lot went out of Zoar, and abode in the mount with his two daughters; for he feared to tarry in Zoar: so he abode in a cave with his two daughters.
237 Lot was not afraid to stay in Zoar without a reason, because four cities had already been devoured and destroyed by fire from heaven. He lost much more in the city where he thought he would be safe than he had lost in the city where he should have perished; for in Sodom only his house, household, cattle and servants had perished and perished; here he lost half his life, that is, his holy, chaste and honorable wife. Therefore he thought, "If my wife could not be preserved in the safe city, perhaps tomorrow I and my daughters will also have to face the same danger; therefore let us, you dear daughters, escape to a safe place, where we may be safe from this temptation in which your dear mother perished. So he departs from Zoar, which soon after is devoured and consumed by fire like the other cities. For the text
clearly says that God wants to destroy the whole region. That is why Zoar perished and was the fifth among these cities.
238 So it has now gone out with these cities. It is, alas, a terrible lament, and it is necessary that the godless despisers, mockers and persecutors of the Word are often reproached and inculcated with it to frighten them. Otherwise we would have enough and all too many of the other sins in which we are all born and live, if the majority, as unfortunately happens, did not add to this devilish wickedness by ridiculing, blaspheming and persecuting the Word. Therefore the contempt of the word is such a sin, which is surely followed by brimstone and fire, which destroys everything, so that the pious can hardly see and bear such a terrible judgment.
For this reason Lot flees, because his wife's accident had frightened him severely; and if such misfortune could not have touched him more closely, he would have attacked his own body. But still he is not through all the misfortune; but when he thought he was safe, he falls into a much greater danger and distress; as they say in the common proverb: It is not misfortune alone. He hid himself in a cave, so that he would not be able to look at the land, which had already been destroyed by fire, but also at the people, cattle and the earth itself, so that he would have no reason to sin. How do we therefore think that he would have been afraid? No doubt he was in the greatest anxiety and fear. But look how a new accident hastened him, for this is what follows.
V.31-33. Then the eldest said to the youngest, "Our father is old, and there is no longer a man on earth to make us sleep after all the world's fashion; so come, let us give our father wine to drink and sleep with him, that we may receive seed from our father. So they gave their father wine to drink that night. And the first went in, and lay with her father; and he knew it not when she lay, nor when she arose.
(240) It is true that this conduct of Lot's daughters was unwise and foolish, therefore carnal people, who look at the holy scriptures superficially when they read this, think of their own lusts and consider that these virgins were mad and foolish with fornication, but they do not see the terrible seriousness of God's wrath, and how here these people almost fell into despair because of mourning and heartache. Just as presumptuous are the Jews, who argue that this, as Moses describes here, is an impossible thing, namely, that Lot did not feel the sexual intercourse with his daughters, nor did he become aware of it.
241 Therefore we must defend Moses above all things, lest he be suspected of having written lies. First of all, then, we say that this is certain and undoubted, that Lot and his daughters were in the greatest fear, trembling and anxiety, not only because of this sad spectacle, that they saw so many thousands of people perish so suddenly, but also because of their own sorrow, that their father Lot had lost his dearest wife and his daughters their dearest mother. If such an accident could not go to someone's heart, he would have to be harder than a diamond.
242 This is also true, that people, who are most distressed and upset, become of a strange mind and spirit, and at the same time do and speak such things, which they afterwards forget. For a heart that is so utterly dismayed, and is precipitated with so great an accident, knows not of itself. That Lot therefore slept with his daughters, he undoubtedly felt; for such sleeping moves the whole body, and encourages body and soul. Why then does Moses say that Lot was not aware of it?
243 Answer: Because he wanted to indicate with this, in how great sadness and consternation Lot had been, which had taken him so completely that he did not know what he was doing. For we experience such things in much lesser dealings with melancholic, melancholy people and lovers, whose senses and thoughts are violent, so that they say and do much that they soon forget. For
People in love are foolish, and as the poet says, they soon let themselves dream this or that. Therefore this is not new, that one, who is in great consternation and knows almost nothing about himself, does something, which he does not remember afterwards. This is why the Jews are evil dialecticians; for the Scripture does not say that Lot did not feel such sleeping, but it says that he got up and did not know that he had slept with his daughters. For Moses describes the great and high affliction of Lot, and not, as the insolent swine, the Jews, speak of it, the lust and stimulation of the flesh.
244 And this also belongs to the excuse of this holy man, that he was not only in the greatest distress, but was also made drunk by his daughters: that thus two inconvenient things come together, namely the very highest consternation in the greatest distress, and the drunkenness, which can easily harm a distressed and distressed person. What wonder is it, then, if in the morning he did not know what he had done during the night? Often a drunkard speaks something, and knows quite well that he is speaking, and yet when he has slept it off he does not remember what he spoke.
These are my thoughts from this text. For I cannot stand that those dogs pretend that Moses writes impossible things. After all, even in minor emotions and movements of the mind, such as in melancholy and melancholy or in love, it is not always possible to remember what one has done; and it is not at all impossible, but is very common and happens every day, that a person gets so deeply into love, hatred, sadness, happiness, etc., that he does not know from anger or joy what he is saying or doing, even though he feels that he is saying or doing something.
246 But whether Lot is therefore to be completely excused, I do not say, and this belongs to another disputation. This alone I say, that this is not an impossible thing, which the text says here about Lot. For he has two kinds of drunkenness: his body is full of wine and his heart is full of sorrow.
knows what he has committed while drunk. And it is also necessary that we learn how to look at the histories of the Holy Scriptures, and not fall upon them like swine inflamed with hatred or evil desire.
Lyra does not understand the text well, that he accuses the holy father Lot of such a great sin, because he was sitting in his monastery and did not see how Sodom perished by fire; which spectacle did not give Lot cause to think of fornication, but sunk his heart into the most intense grief and sorrow. And because Lyra does not see this, he thinks that Lot was drunk and had danced around in the cave and thus followed this. But he does not really understand it and does not look at the history as it should be, so that he thinks about all the circumstances.
If a young boy sets fire to a house out of foolishness, he is not considered a murderer as soon as he does so, and in your case the law also spares him. So, when a quarrel arises and people fall into each other's hair out of anger, some things that have happened are politely excused, that they were sinned against out of ignorance and not out of intent or with will. So Lot was in such anguish that he did not know what he was doing. The pious have very soft and tender hearts and are, as the Scripture says of them, the most tender woodworms; but the secure, stiff-necked and proud despise everything. Now one should judge not by the inexperienced and secure hearts, but by the stupid and timid ones that feel God's wrath, especially at the time of such a great affliction as Lot felt.
Therefore Moses writes not of impossible, but natural things and which agree with the experience. And this circumstance also belongs here, that he writes that Lot went up the mountain and hid himself there in a cave. For if his heart had not been so troubled and distressed, he would rather have gone to Hebron to Abraham than to the mountain; but he is so troubled and distressed that he cannot do a thing with deliberation.
250. in the same way, one shall be
tern also hold. We know how weak the female race all is, but the danger they had been in and the sudden accident to their mother, which they had seen with their eyes, had saddened and distressed their hearts very much: therefore, not out of fornication, but out of compassion for the whole human race, they undertake this with their father. For only think their words a little more diligently: "There is," they say, "no man left on earth"; item: "That we may have seed from our father. These are words that come from despair, and not from fornication or pleasure, and yet they stand on a very apparent foundation. For this is how they thought: God does not want to destroy the human race, but to preserve it; but now there is no one left who could beget children and preserve the human race, except our Father; therefore we must lie down with him. The virgins, then, were concerned about nothing else, and were troubled by nothing else but worrying about how the human race would be preserved: this concern that there was no longer a man on earth troubled them greatly; therefore their heart, which had been so distraught, advised them to sleep with the Father, and not lust or fornication.
251 But I do not tell you this to excuse them, but to show how their deed was actually caused; for if one thinks about this properly, then the annoyance that must follow if one does not recognize these causes will be less. The father Lot is a holy man and his daughters holy virgins, but nevertheless they both sin: however, they do not sin out of evil intent or fornication, but out of great distress and consternation; therefore no one should try to cover up and protect his lust by their example. For if they had been without such distress and with themselves, they would have refrained from such shame and consoled themselves, as Abraham does afterwards, with God's omnipotence, as he could also make men out of stones or raise the dead to life again. But from their consternation they conclude, as they see before their eyes
and feel: If there is no man left but our father alone, we will have seed from him: but now he is old and will be ashamed of such work, therefore we must make him drunk, that he may forget the present woe, and that his old body may be warmed by wine; for sober he would never do this etc.
252 And Moses describes this shameful deed not without cause with so many words. For the fact that such a multitude of godless people had perished is in itself abominable; but that Lot had looked upon such punishment, and yet he and his daughters had fallen into so great a sin, is still more abominable. But these things are written to terrify all the wicked, even the saints themselves, so that they may not become secure, but may recognize their weakness after such terrible examples have been given, and may persevere and watch all the more diligently with prayer.
253 And as it is, it behooves us at the same time to excuse the father and his daughters and not to accuse them too harshly, for they do not sin out of fornication, idleness, security or malice like the wicked, but out of great sorrow. Now such a fall, which happens out of sorrow and dismay, is not at all to be compared to that which is done with intent and deliberation: indeed, Lot would not have become drunk so easily, if he had not been so highly distressed in his heart beforehand. That is why he sinned, but God forgave him the same sin out of mercy. For if he had been sober and in his right mind and spirit, he would certainly never have done this.
But you might say, "Why does God let His own fall like this? We are not supposed to be so forward in our search for what God is doing, and yet it is easy to answer. God wants us to recognize our weakness so that we do not fall into security; that is why Lot and his holy servants saw the sins of the Sodomites and cursed them. But what happens to them now? The so holy people stain themselves with an abominable shame, which is probably the case with the Sodomites.
domiten may not have happened or, if it did happen, may not have been mean.
The reason is clear: God wants us all to be humbled and to boast of His grace and mercy alone. For as much as we are all concerned, none of us is better or holier than the other, and if none of us sins so grievously, you too can fall into such grievous sins when God removes His hand. Therefore, this terrible case teaches us both of these things, namely, that you humble yourself before God and pray to God for and for that He may govern you with His Holy Spirit.
The lies of the Jews, that the daughters of Lot prepared the wine in such a way that he became drunk on it as soon as it ignited his lust against them, are to be rejected: for it was a natural wine, as it grew in the same country, without doubt of a very delicious and lovely taste. For Moses praised the fertility of the land by calling it a paradise of God. This is why Lot became drunk, not because he drank the wine so intemperately and irrationally, but because his distressed and upset mind could not tolerate such a noble and delicious wine.
How long Lot stayed on the mountain, Moses does not tell, but it is believable, if one thinks about the circumstances, that he was searched for by Abraham, brought into his house and was fed there with his daughters. For how could he have left his cousin, who was so wonderfully preserved in such great misery, and not receive him most kindly, after he had been stripped of all his goods, which he had had before, and had also been robbed of his wife, and finally had been stained with such a blood disgrace? Abraham, as was right, no doubt was very sorry about this, for he was a very kind man.
258. all this is enforced by the circumstances, which the rabbis, or, as I call them, the asses of the Jews, do not consider, but judge and judge the Scriptures solely from their impure thoughts and affects: and let those who are thus minded
For this, read Ovid, Martial and such shameful and impudent poets. For here only the greatest temptations of the most holy people are dealt with, and the most fierce disputes and struggles of faith. For behold, how Abraham is always beset by one temptation and hardship after another, and how one wave on your waters drives another. For the fact that he could not save the five cities with his prayer was a great sorrow and grief to him. After that, he is troubled and distressed that he must take care of his cousin Lot, and now that he has learned that he is still alive, he also learns what sin and disgrace he and his daughters have fallen into, which are all severe blows.
Now what thoughts would have tormented Lot's heart when he found that his daughters had become pregnant by him? Without a doubt, he would have died of grief and heartache if he had not received daily and constant comfort from Abraham. For what such a tremendous affliction can do is proven by the examples that people often die quickly in such severe distresses. This is all more credible than what Lyra brings from the Jews' thoughts: that Lot was sitting under a fig tree in Abraham's house and was in good spirits with his daughters. Yes, that they all died at the same time from sorrow is more believable.
(260) Likewise, this also is an unskillful thing that Lyra pretends from the name Moab, saying that the eldest daughter of Lot was insolent; for she had added a mark to her son by that name, that he was begotten of such incest. For moab means out of or from the father. The youngest daughter, he says, was more chaste, giving her son a common and not infamous name, calling him ammi, that is, a son of my people.
261 Now, let these names be as it may, history testifies that these two peoples have been blessed gloriously before others, without it being forbidden that they should not be brought into the public domain.
offices. But how much more glorious and praiseworthy is it that the grandmother of the Lord Christ, Ruth, was a Moabitess. God also rejected the rebellious Korah, but the many great gifts with which his sons were adorned are shown by the most beautiful psalms in David's Psalter. That such is a comfort for the descendants and children's children, so that they do not despair of the blessing, even though their ancestors incurred God's wrath and curse because of sin.
Why then, someone might ask, did the eldest daughter call her son Moab? Answer: She did this not at all in the opinion that she wanted to disgrace her son with it, but that she would avert the annoyance and indicate that this was not done out of pleasure or fornication, but out of great sorrow and dismay that she had slept with her father. Therefore, she excuses and saves her discipline, and indicates that she would have completely abstained from such disgrace, if she had been in her right mind and reason; but out of great sorrow and on no evil intent, she dared such a deed, because she thought that the preservation of the human race could not be advised in any other way.
V.34-38. In the morning the eldest said to the youngest, Behold, I lay with my father yesterday. Let us also give him wine to drink this night, that thou mayest go in, and lie with him, that we may receive seed of our father. So they also gave their father wine to drink that night. And the youngest also arose, and lay with him; and he knew it not when she lay, nor when she arose. So Lot's two daughters conceived by their father. And the eldest bare a son, and called his name Moab. From him came the Moabites to this day. And the youngest also bare a son, and called his name the child Ammi. From him come the children of Ammon unto this day.
263 The youngest daughter also gives her son a name out of special concern. For just as the eldest has named her sin
The youngest also confesses with the name of her son, and nevertheless rejects the reproach that she has sinned not out of fornication, but out of great heartache and sorrow: thus the youngest consoles herself with this name the ammi, that even though he was conceived and born of incest, God will not cast him out altogether, as he also belongs to His people.
But it seems to me much more believable that they have put such names on their sons and have taken them from the sermons of comfort, so that Abraham has raised them up and comforted them. For we do not doubt that they will have needed comfort daily, and that Abraham, as a supreme bishop, will have done his part diligently and faithfully. Dear daughters, he will have said, you have indeed sinned greatly, but nevertheless you should not despair: God sees and knows your heart that you have not sinned out of fornication or lust, but that in such great distress and fear you did not know what you were doing and were not in your right mind. And this is one part of the consolation, which the eldest daughter with the name Moab indicated. In addition Abra
Then they also gave this other consolation, namely: You must not be afraid that God will repay your sin to your sons or will impute it to them, but He will bestow on them rich blessings as members and members of His people; He will not cast them out. etc.
And this is also the interpretation of this chapter, but not as evenly and diligently as it should be. For what can I do diligently and thoughtfully enough among so much business? However, it is the right and simple interpretation, from which you should especially learn that in public sermons these histories should often be inculcated in the people for the sake of the ungodly and the secure, which group is always the largest; so that we do not become like the antinomians, who indeed remove the law from the church, and keep and strengthen their listeners for security, which condemnation is quite right. Now Moses buries the patriarch Lot, that is, he no longer remembers him, and it is to be believed that his sorrow and grief will have so distressed and tormented him that he will not have lived long after this time.