First part.
How Abraham is tempted by God and ordered to sacrifice his son Isaac.
Luther began this chapter on the 27th day of October 1539, since the day before the respectable and renowned D. Sebaldus Münster of Nuremberg was buried in the ground and shortly before him two fine young fellows called Geuders, families of Nuremberg. He has therefore made the entrance of the lection thus: Their
Do not think that I am reading that I want to keep you all together here in this time, when there is concern about pestilence and death; but advise you that if there is pestilence, everyone who wishes to do so should leave, especially those who are otherwise cowardly and fearful; for the Holy Scriptures also tell such to leave the camp, so that they do not make the hearts of the brethren cowardly and timid. I do not think that one has to worry about a death and a real pestilence at this time, but I think that if something of this kind happens, it is only because of great fear. Now follows the interpretation.
After these stories God tempted Abraham and said to him, "Abraham! And he answered, Here am I. And he said, Take Isaac thy only son, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon a mountain which I will tell thee.
(2) In the previous chapter, we heard about the greatest trials that Abraham faced when he had to cast out his son Ishmael; when he was cast out, he had good peace under King Abimelech. Soon after that, however, another temptation came, which was very great, while the previous temptations were nothing. So the holy scripture agrees with itself everywhere, and describes the right, true children of God in this way, that they have been well exercised and tempted for and for, so that they have both done much hard work and also suffered much, but without all appearance and splendor of the ceremonies. This shows what the good fruits of a good tree are, for they walk in right obedience to God and in right love toward men, and yet they are always assailed with various temptations and dangers.
3 Because Abraham is the noblest and greatest of the holy patriarchs, he must also suffer true patriarchal affliction, which his descendants could not have suffered nor endured. He is now quite happy and of good courage, and is also carefree; for Isaac, the son of the promise, is now grown and tall, and is now about one and twenty years old, and so strong in body that he was able to carry a load of wood that was needed for the burnt offering.
004 For this cause both his parents loved him dearly, because he was born to them in their old age, and had the divine promise of the future blessing of the whole world; and for this cause both of them were very merry, and were at peace with one another in the house, after Ishmael was cast out, and were at peace without the house, and were reconciled to the king, and sought to do as they had done unto the king.
See, these beautiful suggestions and "most lovely" thoughts, how they would like to make a husband out of their son, are overturned and prevented with a single word, because the Lord commands that Abraham himself should take his son and sacrifice him.
Therefore Abraham's heart was wounded much more severely than it was above (Cap. 21, v. 14) when he had to cast out Ishmael. But we cannot reach nor understand how great and severe this challenge was. The reason is that Isaac had the promise of the future blessing, which is why this commandment to Abraham to kill him was so much more difficult and so much more grievous to him.
6 But in this text the word "try" is to be considered particularly. For it is not placed in the text for nothing. One should not treat it as coldly as St. James does in his epistle Cap. 1, 13, where he says that no one is tempted by God. For the Scripture clearly says here that Abraham was tempted by God Himself, not because of a woman, gold or money, nor because of death or life, but because of the contradiction of the Scriptures. For God is obviously speaking against Himself here. For how does it rhyme that he says to him Gen. 21, 12: "In Isaac shall be called thy seed", and: "Take thy son and sacrifice him" etc. He does not say that a highwayman will come and take his son away secretly, for Abraham could still have hoped that his son would still be alive and that he would finally receive him again, but now he is commanded to kill him himself, so that he should not doubt that he has truly been killed.
Should he not have grumbled and thought against God here? This will not be God's commandment, but is a deception of the wicked devil; for God's promise is certain and clear, that in it he cannot doubt, since he says: "You shall take seed from Isaac.
have." How is it then that God now commands that he be killed? No doubt he will be sorry that he has made such a promise to me, for otherwise he would not speak against himself: or else I must have committed some great sin, so that I have greatly angered God, that he must now revoke his promise.
(8) For this is what we all do by nature: if we are oppressed by a physical need, our conscience is soon there, which the devil always urges and drives to read all kinds of circumstances together. Therefore, such an anxious and distressed heart looks around and thinks where it might have angered God the most. Hence it comes that one grumbles against God, and from this also comes the highest temptation, namely, that one becomes hostile to God in his heart.
(9) So Abraham also thought, "Behold, God has promised me a son and has also given him to me, therefore I have rejoiced over this with all my heart and have been born again, as it were; but perhaps I have become too proud and hopeful because of these gifts, and have not been as grateful to God for them as I should have been; for this reason he now regrets his promise.
(10) This challenge cannot be overcome, and is also much greater than that we could comprehend and understand it. For it is a contradiction that God contradicts Himself, which is impossible for the flesh to understand; for it must necessarily think: Either God is lying, which thought is blasphemy; or God is hostile to me, which gives cause for despair. Therefore, one cannot sufficiently explain this text according to the nature of such a great and important matter.
(11) We are also often challenged with heavy thoughts of despair. For what man is there who can refrain from these thoughts, so that he thinks, "How if God did not want you to be saved? But we should learn from this that in such a struggle of our thoughts and conscience we should take hold of the promise made to us in Holy Baptism, which is certain and clear. But when this happens, we hear
But because of this, Satan does not give up as soon as he has left you, but contradicts you in your heart, saying that you are not worthy of the same promise.
(12) For this an earnest and fervent prayer is necessary, that God may give us his Spirit, that the promise may not be wrested from us and taken away. I cannot resolve this contradiction, but this is our only consolation, that in our distress and affliction we have recourse to the promise; this alone is our rod and staff, to which we must hold fast. If Satan takes it from our hands, we have nowhere to go. But we must hold fast to the promise, and take it for certain that we shall be tempted of the Lord, as the text says of Abraham; not that he would have it so in truth, but that he would try us, whether we also love him above all things, and can bear his wrath, as we gladly bear it, when he doeth us good, and giveth us his promise.
13. Thus Abraham could not believe that he would not be tempted; otherwise he would have remained certain of the promise and would have thought that God would do as parents sometimes do when they tempt their children, and take the apple or something else that is dear to them from their hands and give it back to them immediately: But since God commands Abraham to take his son and kill him, he leaves him no hope that the son will be restored to him, but rather simply leads Abraham to such thoughts and doubts that he must think that God is against himself, and he who before showed himself to be Abraham's highest friend now shows himself to be his enemy and a tyrant.
(14) Therefore, Abraham is tried even more severely than the virgin Mary, because she lost her beloved son in Jerusalem; for even though she thought that she would thus be punished, because she had not preserved her son diligently enough, she nevertheless had the hope that he would still be alive. Here, however, God, who had given Abraham a son, commands that the father himself should kill the son and sacrifice him.
What hope could the poor father have? He truly could not understand that he would only be tempted with this, and that God would not have spoken such things from his heart; as we raise ourselves up and comfort ourselves with the thought, namely, that even though God may be seen to be angry with us, he is not hostile to us, nor does he want to reject us, but at times, as Isaiah Cap. 28, 21, and pretends to be angry with us, so that he may kill the mind and spirit of the flesh, which is against God; as Job says, "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him," for he is sure that God thinks otherwise and is not angry in truth.
(15) Therefore all these things are written for our comfort, that we may learn to hold fast the promises which we have. I have been baptized, so I must surely believe that I have been transferred from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God. Another has entered the married state, where he is confronted with all kinds of unpleasantness and difficulties, as he is wont to do: therefore he should look at the fourth commandment and consider that this state is pleasing to God, for he has commanded that one should honor one's parents, and thus indicates that this state is pleasant and pleasing to him.
(16) We should do the same in all other temptations. For if we find out that things are different from the promise, we should consider it certain that if God shows Himself to be different from what He promised in the promise, it is only a temptation; therefore, we should not let this rod of promise be taken out of our hands.
(17) Nearly all men are afflicted with despair, and the more pious they are, the more often they are shot with this arrow by Satan. What else should you do here but say: I know that I have been baptized and that God has promised me grace for the sake of His Son. The promise will not become a lie to me, even if I am thrown into utter darkness. Therefore, this is not God's will, which Satan holds against me.
But God is tempting me so that it may be revealed what is hidden in my heart; not that God does not know it without this, but that I myself do not know it, and that through this cause He may crush the head of the serpent in me; for the heart of man is unsearchable, Jer. 17, 9.And man with such a carnal mind does not understand this, because only through the word of the law the head of the serpent is killed, so that we are made alive; as the Scripture says: "God leads into hell and out again", 1 Sam. 2, 6.
(18) Now I have said what Abraham's temptation was, namely, that the promise was against himself; therefore his faith shines forth most gloriously in that he so willingly obeys God, who commands him to sacrifice his son to him. And even though it is for Isaac and he is to be killed, Abraham does not doubt the fulfillment of the promise, even though he does not know in what way it will be fulfilled. Although he is frightened and fearful (for how could a father do otherwise in such a case?), he nevertheless clings firmly to the promise, namely, that Isaac will still have seed.
Human reason would simply conclude: Either the promise must lie, or this must not be God's commandment, but the devil's; for it is obvious that there is a contradiction here. For where Isaac is to be killed, the promise is in vain and in vain; but where the promise is certain and is to stand, it is impossible that this should be God's command. Otherwise, I say, reason cannot conclude; as the examples show even in minor matters.
(20) The sacramentarians also say that this is contrary to one another, that Christ says, "Take this is my body," and that we say in our faith, "He is seated at the right hand of God"; therefore they conclude and say that only bread and wine are distributed in the Lord's Supper, and not the true body and blood of Christ.
Because Christ distributes his flesh in the Lord's Supper, his flesh is not in the Lord's Supper. This is called falling into the holy scriptures with unwashed feet and following the blind judgment of reason.
(21) Abraham does not depart from the promise, although there is an obvious contradiction, for there is no middle ground between death and life, but believes that even if his son dies, he will still have seed. We are also to learn this. Yesterday we buried our very dear friend D. Sebaldus, for which reason it seems as if he were dead: but we know that he lives; for since he is different in the right faith and confession of the Son of God, and God, as Matth. 22, 32. says, is a God of the living and not of the dead, he certainly lives. In this way Abraham holds fast to the promise, and ascribes this power to the divine majesty, that he would raise his dead son again. Just as he had seen before how he was born of a dead body and of a barren mother, so he believed that he would be raised again, even if he had already been buried and turned to ashes, that he might still have seed from him; as the epistle to the Hebrews says Cap. 11, 19: "God is able to raise even the dead and make them alive."
(22) Therefore Abraham well understood the article of the resurrection of the dead, and by this alone he resolved this contradiction, which otherwise cannot be resolved: for which cause his faith is justly praised by the prophets and apostles. For he thought thus: Today I have a son, but tomorrow I shall have nothing but ashes; and how long the same shall lie scattered, I know not; but this I know, that it shall live again, whether in my lifetime, or a thousand years after my death: for the word saith, I shall have seed of this Isaac, which shall be ashes.
23. however, I have said that we should not
We cannot reach or understand it, but only see it from a distance and think about it a little. But you can see that nothing is being said here about any work, as Jacobus says in his epistle Cap. 2, 21; for it has not yet come to works, but it is faith of which we justly marvel and glory in Abraham.
(24) For this reason, one should keep this comfort, namely, that God does not change what He has once said. Therefore, since you have been baptized and since the kingdom of God is promised to you in baptism, you should know that it is such a word of God that cannot be changed, and you should not let yourself be led away from it; for it may well happen that he presents himself, as with those who went to Emmaus, Luc. 24:28.For though it may happen that he appears, as in the case of those who went to Emmaus, Luc. 24:28, as if he were going on his way, and lets himself be seen to act and deal with us, as if he had forgotten his promise, yet one should hold fast to the word with faith and always insist on the promise, namely, that it is true and cannot fail, even though we do not know the manner, time, occasion, place, and other circumstances; for this is certain in all things and is not lacking, that God cannot lie.
(25) When I am killed, I see the manner and circumstances in which my life perishes, but I do not see the circumstances by which my life is to return, nor do I see the time or place; why then do I believe that I see nowhere? Because I have the promise and the word of God, I will not suffer myself to lose hope, or to doubt the inheritance that is Christ, through whom we are adopted as children of God.
026 Abraham had hitherto thought that his son Isaac would take a wife, and beget children in the place where he was at that time: but all this is lost; for it is the commandment of God that he should kill his son. Even though the circumstances of the place and time have fallen away, Abraham did not doubt the matter; he knows that his son will have seed even after a thousand years.
(27) And are such trials or temptations of the holy patriarch held against us, that we may learn courage in our temptations, and say with Abraham, Though my son Isaac die, yet, because he believeth in God, the sepulchre wherein his ashes shall lie shall not be a sepulchre, but a bed of rest and a chamber of sleep. Nevertheless, reason says, we see the contradiction: the flesh passes away and becomes dust, and the worms consume it. But still God's word can neither hinder nor cancel this; for the two things are connected, that God says to Adam Gen. 3, 19: "You are earth, and shall become earth," and that he also says v. 15: "The seed shall bruise the serpent's head."
(28) The Jews say here of four revelations, which did not happen at the same time, as Lyra says, to indicate the great obedience and the great power of faith. But there is no need for such subtlety here, for I believe that all these things happened at the same time and at once. God the Lord does not say: your servant or maidservant, not: Ishmael, but: "this your own son Isaac, whom you love." With this he makes the commandment harder and heavier. As if to say, "You will not be the father of such a son from now on, nor will you have such a son whom you love; for I will have you sacrifice him to me, not as you used to sacrifice the other firstborns you kept, but you will slaughter him.
29 Therefore Abraham has nothing more of the promise than before Isaac was born; and yet he is willing to leave for God's sake not only his son, his wife, his inheritance, his house and the church, but also his own life. For all this includes Isaac's death, since the promise hung on him.
30 The text does not say whether Sarah knew anything about this commandment or not. Abraham may have concealed such a thing from her because she was a little weak and could not have endured such a harsh storm. For it is a hard and difficult thing
The thing that the text says, "You shall offer your son to me," not for an offering or thanksgiving, as the firstborn was used to be offered in the people of Israel, but for a burnt offering, that he might be turned to ashes, and that the father might stain and defile his hands with his son's blood.
(31) But what do you think Abraham would have felt here in his heart? For he had flesh and blood and, as I have often said, was not an unkind man who had no natural inclination, compassion and soft heart. However, it must have increased his pain that he was not allowed to reveal this deed to anyone, otherwise everyone would have told him against it, and the large number of people who would have told him against it might also have moved him somewhat. Therefore, he sets out alone with some servants and his son. It is truly a high, difficult commandment, and much harder than we can imagine; and yet it is nevertheless full of consolation that the text clearly says that God does this only as a trial. If Abraham had known this, he would have been the less worried: but now he is completely engulfed in the thought that his son must truly be sacrificed and strangled, and that the promise will be fulfilled when and in what form it will be fulfilled.
032 The Lord appointed and appointed him a certain place for it, without his house, in the land of Moriah. The land is about ten German miles from Bersaba, where geographers do not lie: that is almost three days' journey. For he went with a donkey, which had to carry the wood and provisions; therefore they also went a little slower.
33 Now Moriah, as it is written in the other book of Chronicles, Cap. 3, v. 1. V. 1, is the mountain that was near Mount Zion, where Solomon built the temple, in the midst of the city of Jerusalem, toward the north, as the city descends. This mountain gave the name to the whole land, and it was called the land of Moriah. And even today the Turks call the mountain by the same name and hold it in great honor. As it is
still often comes that a mountain or place gives the name to a whole country; as the whole Saxony has the name of the castle Sachsenburg. So also at the time of the mountain Moriah the same whole country was called Moriah, in it Jerusalem was situated, which at that time Salem, item, also Zebus was called, and the patriarch Sem ruled over it.
34 But the word moriah is written with a double i. And the Hebrews dispute very precisely about the origin of this word. Jerome has not taken it here as a proper name: Vade, in terram visionis (Go to the land of seeing). But this etymology is rejected by all teachers, as it does not agree with the grammar. Others say that this word takes its name from the word myrrha, and that moriah means: myrrha mea dominus, the Lord is my myrrh, that there he should have myrrh, that is, his worship; for there grew myrrh and frankincense, from which they made the incense. And this is true; for the word mor is as much as myrrha; i is the enclitic pronoun mea, my; but jah is the words one, so that God is called.
(35) Though I do not dispute this etymology and characteristic of the word Moriah, I do not follow it, especially for the reason that the Jews, according to their ways, have accepted only the outward worship of the incense, but the right and inward worship they do not understand, nor do they keep.
(36) Therefore it seems to me that it is better for those who say that moriah comes from the word jarah, which means to teach; therefore the law is also called thorah, which may also be called an instruction or teaching. So that the meaning of this word is: moriah, that is, the Lord who teaches, because on the mountain God teaches and is heard there; as the prophets say: "From Zion the law will go out, and the Lord's word from Jerusalem", Is. 2, 3. This etymology seems to me to be finer and more convenient to the understanding and grammar; however, I do not subject myself to any mastery in this language, fall in this also
no judgment. And Burgensis is here also one with me; for he has given it in Latin thus: Doctor, seu docens me Dominus, the Lord who teaches me.
37 The third etymology pleases me the most, but I do not reject the others. For they say that morijah comes from the word jare, which means to fear. For there are testimonies throughout the Scriptures that to fear God means as much as to serve God. For fearing God and serving God coincide and point one to the other. For God does not respect the myrrh or the smoke if there is no fear of God with it. This is what the Holy Scripture urges most everywhere, namely, that we be obedient to the word of God; as it says in the prophet Jeremiah in the 7th Cap. V. 22, 23: "I did not tell your fathers the day I brought them out of Egypt, nor command them burnt offerings and sacrifices; but this I commanded them, saying, Obey my word, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk in all the ways that I command you, that it may go well with you.
38 Therefore, the honor and fear of God is the right true worship that is pleasing to Him. For if Abraham had killed his son out of his own foolish zeal and contempt for the word of God, as King Ahaz did, it would have been myrrh, that is, a hard and bitter sacrifice that hurts the heart; but God does not look at the outward work, but at the heart: if it is righteous and fears God, then everything that man does pleases God.
39 Therefore I believe that this word moriah actually means the honor and fear of God. Therefore also Isa. 29, 13, where according to the Hebrew text it says: "They fear in the commandments of men", the seventy interpreters, as Christ also states Matth. 15, 9, gave: "In vain do they serve me, because they teach such doctrines, which are nothing but the commandments of men. In the same prophet Isaiah Cap. 11, v. 2. the service of God is also called "the spirit of fear", that is, of the service of God. So both the land and also the mountain
had the name of the right true worship, which is nowhere but where God Himself teaches.
(40) And it may be considered true that the Jews say that Adam, Abel and Noah also sacrificed in the same place. Certainly Shem had his seat or dwelling place there, from which the true service of God was spread throughout the world. With it also that is correct, which we have said, that before the Flood the paradise was around this country, and since Adam was pushed out of the paradise, he lived with the mountain Morija. For this reason this place was famous before the Flood for the worship of God, and has remained famous until Christ. For after the sending of the Holy Spirit, the gospel was spread from the same place into the whole world, and neither the service of God nor the church itself has been established in the same narrow corner of the Jewish land.
41. Therefore I gladly follow those who think that Mount Moriah has its name from the Hebrew word that means to fear God, to serve and honor God: as if one wanted to say in German, Heiligstadt, a holy place, the house of the Lord, because this place has been a temple and house of God from the beginning of the world and was thus honored by Adam and Noah themselves, and also the highest patriarch Shem dwelled there: As today is Moriah, as far as the world is, as also Jerusalem, that is, God is now worshipped and honored not only in a certain and appointed place, but over the whole world, where there is only a gathering of God-fearing people.
(42) How God revealed the commandment that Abraham should kill and sacrifice his son is the subject of many opinions. Most say that it was done in the night by a vision. The others think, as it was usual at that time, that this revelation happened to the patriarch Shem; because he had commanded Abraham this by God's command. But be it as it may, it is to be understood from Moses that this was God's will.
The commandment that Abraham was to be tempted with.
But as far as Jerome is concerned, who in his Latin interpretation has made a generic word out of the proper name, one must give him credit for this. For this is the way of the Hebrew language, that it looks completely at the origin of the words, also in the proper names. As he has therefore left the proper name of the same place in the other passage of the Chronicles, so it should have been left here as well. But the following text deceived him, because it is written: "And Abraham called the place, The Lord looketh. So he also gave it here: Go to the land of beholding, or, where the Lord beholds.
44 But those who want to follow the allegory and secret interpretation, may interpret the word Moriah, that it is God's word and the faith in the word. For these two things always coincide; for where there is no word of God, there can be no true faith or worship; again, where there is the word, there must also be some who believe the word. Where these two things are, the third soon follows, namely, the cross and the death. The Christian life consists of these three things. But we will say more about this at another time.
45 Now we are to pay particular attention to these words in this text: "There you shall offer your son to me as a burnt offering. For it was not permitted to sacrifice or worship in all places according to each one's pleasure, but only in the place which God had chosen. Therefore, the prophets severely punish the Jews for sacrificing in other places more than they were commanded to do by God. And not only is the place expressly mentioned here, but also the person, item, who is to be the priest. "You" Abraham, says God, "sacrifice to me" not an unreasonable animal, but "your son", Isaac, and not Ishmael. Which words are thus set, that one may see and understand from them what God wants to have and not to have.
46. for god does not want us to have
To serve him with the works we have chosen for ourselves: for this reason he has determined everything so precisely in his word and commandment, which is so certain and serious that if there were another person, or another place, or another time than he has prescribed and commanded you, you would err and not only do him no service, but you would also anger him and cause him to be angry with you and hostile to you.
(47) So the Jews were not Abraham, that is, they had no commandment like Abraham, that they should sacrifice their children; indeed, the fifth commandment forbade them in general all manner of death. And if Ahaz nevertheless thought that he would be doing God a great service by letting his children go through the fire and be burned, he would also be letting the word that was spoken to Abraham and not to him, namely, as if he also had to kill a son for the sake of God like Abraham: therefore, he says, I will also kill my son. But this does not follow, for there is an inequality. Abraham was commanded by a special and new commandment to sacrifice his son, which command Ahaz did not have; therefore he should not have done anything against the clearly expressed commandment of God: "You shall not kill.
Second part.
How Abraham is willing to follow God's command and sacrifice Isaac.
V. 3 Abraham got up early in the morning, girded up his donkey, and took two boys with him, and Isaac his son.
(48) This history is worthy of careful consideration and consideration of every word in it. The text says here that Abraham got up early in the morning. He did not tarry long, did not argue with himself, nor did he ask as Adam did in Paradise: Why does God command me to do this? He did not obey his own flesh, nor the old serpent, nor did he speak of this matter to his Sarah, nor did he say anything to her about it; but
When he heard the commandment, he did not doubt it at all, but hastened to fulfill it.
49 This is a perfect example of righteous and perfect obedience, that Abraham so soon and at once departs from the world and kills everything that was dear to him in this life, namely his house, his wife, his son, for whom he had waited a long time and had such a great rich promise. Therefore we wonder in vain at the saints in the New Testament, and read of their fasting and fasting without understanding. For they may have been as holy as they ever could have been, yet, if they are to be compared with Abraham, they will be lowly, and stink as it were, however high and holy they are to be regarded. For they do not know what it is to kill his only son, in whom he had received such a great promise from God, and in whom the old father had placed all his hope, and in whom alone his prosperity and well-being were attached, all of which will soon be gone in a moment, when his son is to lose his life; this is called denying oneself and leaving everything. We read elsewhere in history that others threw away gold and silver, money and goods: item,. Others have put their wife and child, even their own life and limb, in danger for the sake of the true confession of faith: but there has never been an apostle, patriarch or martyr who could have rendered this obedience with such constancy.
50 We are to remember that in this whole history we are to look primarily at the word and commandment of God, which makes all the works of the faithful glorious and great, however small they are in themselves, just as, on the other hand, the works that are done outside of and without the command of God, although they outwardly appear to be very holy works, are nevertheless vile filth, as are the works of the pope or other swarming spirits.
51) After that it is also described here how Abraham was so willing and joyful in his heart to obey God in His commandments.
Moses says, "Abraham arose early in the morning," did not delay, did not tarry long. For if we are sure of God's will, and believe that He has commanded what exists, then we should be undaunted, not tarry long, but cheerfully take up the cause early in the morning, even if we should put ourselves in many great dangers and even in death. For God's word cannot be in vain; but if we obey God when he commands us to do something, the end must surely follow, as he has determined and decreed, even if the gates of hell themselves were to oppose it. So David says in the 119th Psalm v. 50: "Thy word is my comfort in my affliction, and restoreth me," which means that while I had thy word, I was satisfied in my heart, and was glad to put myself in all manner of danger, and thy word restored me.
For this is certainly true, if one in his profession is certain in his heart that God wills that which he intends and does, and has commanded him the same in His word, then he will feel that such divine commandment has such great power as he will not find in any great orator's words, even if it were Demosthenes or Cicero himself. For God's commandment explains and indicates all circumstances, namely, what is useful and good in the matter, and enters into the heart of man that God sees innumerable benefits, which far surpass all our understanding and sense, which He wants to let follow from it. When the heart is prepared and equipped with such comfort, it continues joyfully and does not care whether it will be possible or impossible, easy or difficult to do; as St. Paul has described this comfort and joy of the godly in a wonderful way.
(53) If Gideon and Samson had not had God's word, they would never have accomplished such great things, but would have remained under the burden and such great, heavy things. But because they believed the word, they thought thus: I am called and commanded by God to attack the Philistines, Midianites and other nations, so I will go on confidently.
drive. For it is faith that does these great miraculous works; as Christ says John 14:12: "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and shall do greater works than these."
We do not see this in the pagan histories, nor do we Christians understand it enough, because we are lazy and lazy, and do not believe God when he commands, threatens, punishes or promises something, but are without sense and understanding. But these holy fathers and great heroes, Abraham, David etc., believed him, therefore they also accomplished such great things. It is also told above (Cap. 14, v. 14 ff.) how Abraham overcame four kings with a small people; he did not achieve the same victory with anything else but with faith, which kept to the commandment and divine calling.
55 In this story, he also overcomes the temptation by faith, which he undoubtedly had very strongly. He knows that God has commanded him to do this; therefore he hastens to do it and does not ask for it, if Sarah or the servants in the house or any other creature would think otherwise. For this is deep in his heart, which in the 119th Psalm v. 50. David says: "Thy word is my comfort, and restoreth me." Therefore, he who has a sure word from God, regardless of his status, should believe it alone and freely dare to do so, and God will undoubtedly give him a blessed outcome.
(56) We have no command about such special works, which are done outside the common order, and perhaps we would not believe it even if we already had it; as a similar example is described in Isa. 7:1 about the unbelieving king Ahaz. Two mighty kings fought against him, namely, the king of Syria and the king of Israel: but the Scripture says of this king in the same place, v. 2: "Then his heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind." Then God the Lord sent the prophet to Ahaz with a new command, telling him v. 4: "Beware, and be
Be still, fear not, and let your heart be undaunted before these two smoking fires" etc. As if the Lord wanted to say: These two kings are not kings before me, but smoking fires, yes, they are only leftover pieces of smoking extinguishing fires; you be calm and do not fear.
57 The Lord tells him to ask for a sign, so that his heart and his faith may be strengthened and assured. But what did Ahaz do? He said v. 12: "I will not require it, lest I tempt the Lord." We would also be such people and would not accept it if God would give us a new commandment.
58. Now, in this present danger of pestilence, we are as fearful and despondent as if we had no command to live and call upon God. We have a firm and certain word, which the Son of God Himself spoke with His mouth John 11:25, 26: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die": but who asks much about this? Who pays attention to such words? In the same way, everyone can be sure of the divine word in his profession, whether he has a profession in the secular office or in the church government. But we do, alas! nothing less, than that we wait diligently for our office, each in his profession. Everyone knows how lazy and negligent the authorities are; the bishops and parish priests keep quiet about it like dumb dogs, do not believe that they are such people as they are by God's will; they only seek great good and great honor in the world, but do not do the works that belong to such an office; meanwhile, they go along nicely and complain: "We have no cause to do good works.
59. we have a commandment that concerns us all in general, namely, that we should love god and fear no one, neither the devil, nor the Turk, nor the pestilence, where we walk in our ways according to god's command, even if we are already in danger of life and limb; according to the saying in the 27th Psalm, v. 14: "wait for god.
O Lord, be of good courage, and do not fear, and wait for the Lord. But who is the one who keeps this? Oh, no one keeps it, for no one believes that God has commanded trust and that He has condemned despair.
(60) Therefore, I say, this text is well worthy of careful consideration, that we may learn from it right obedience to God, and how much is at stake when one is so sure of God's commandment, as it brings great comfort to the pious in their hearts. We should seek such comfort at the end of the world, but we must not run far nor search anxiously for it. For our house, our body and our heart are full of God's commandment, and yet we do not believe it; therefore we do not rejoice in it, feel and find in ourselves nothing at all of the spiritual joy, courage and comfort that God's word and commandment bring with them.
(61) Therefore the examples of the fathers should be exalted and diligently remembered by us and others, because we see in them such great power of the word of God and of faith; as David boasts in Ps. 119:50: "Thy word is my consolation. He relied on this word, and slew the bear and the lion, and Goliath the Philistine, and did other great and valiant deeds: he kept the same comfort even after his son Absalom drove him out of the kingdom, thinking thus: I am a king by God and by divine command set in the kingdom, not for my own pleasure, but only for God's glory. Because I am sure of this, I will not let myself be challenged, I will not be frightened. And with such confidence he calls upon God, and says in the 7th Psalm v. 7: "Arise, O Lord, and restore me to the office which thou hast commanded me," as if to say: "If thou wilt reject me, it is well; but if thou wilt have me to be and remain a king, then I will have the rule, though the gates of hell be set against it. With the same words he overcame and killed both his son Absalom and his wicked unfaithful counselor Ahithophel.
(62) So this was Abraham's only consolation in this great and severe trial, that he knew he had a command from God, and would certainly not have fled from any pestilence, not even from many thousands of Turks; for his heart had kept this confidence firm: I believe in the almighty GOtt. But what are ten thousand Turks against the Almighty God? Therefore, he did not delay, but accepted the commandment immediately and was ready to perform the sacrifice.
We are to learn to understand this power of the Word of God, which the Holy Spirit so highly exalts that he makes it greater than all creatures are, hell, death, the good and evil angels; yes, he also compares it to God. As it is also equal to Him in truth, as St. Paul Rom. 1, 16 calls the gospel a power of God. Which then is to be understood from the oral word. Abraham understood it very well, which is why he did not doubt that even if Isaac died, he would be raised again and still keep his seed, so that God would not let his commandment and promise be in vain.
64 Thus it is written in the 91st Psalm, v. 7, 11: "Though a thousand fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, it shall not fall upon thee. For he hath commanded his angels concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." Whoever holds fast to this promise and does what is due to him in his office, waiting for his calling, knowing that God has called him, and yet there is danger and hindrance, nevertheless does not doubt that what he does will progress well and turn out well. For he is certain in his heart that all the angels from heaven would have to come to help and protect him before what a God-fearing man undertakes according to God's word should be in vain. Summa, it must go through, what you start on his word, and no angel should remain in heaven. For this reason, the histories of the holy Scriptures surpass the stories of the pagans, for here everything happens out of God.
Command, but there everything goes about and according to the advice of the people.
65 And now this is the meaning of the words, that Abraham rose early in the morning. He did not dispute long how it would go out, but thought thus: I am sure that something better will come of this than I now see or understand, not by my power or mine, but by the power of God's command. Therefore I will follow the Lord, who commanded me to do this and called me to it; as Joab says to his brother Abishai in the 2nd Book of Samuel, 10th Cap. V. 12: "Be of good cheer, and let us be strong for our people, and for the cities of our God; but let the Lord do what pleases him." Such people are ready and skillful for all good works, the others are all good for nothing and are rejected; for even slow obedience is no obedience.
And girded his donkey.
(66) All this is described so diligently that it may be seen that even because of the delay his faith was somewhat exercised. He, the father himself, had to search for and cut the wood, and for this purpose he loaded it onto the donkey to burn his son with it. In the meantime, he will no doubt have felt great anguish and temptation of his flesh, for he did not have an iron heart, but was of a tender nature. The thought of the burnt offering was always in his heart, and that his only begotten Son, who was promised to him as a hope of the future seed and many descendants, should be slain and burned with the very wood that he, the Father himself, had gathered.
(67) Should he not have thought longer about such a sad and frightening business, someone might say? Should he not have consulted with his Sarah, the child's mother, about it? All this is shown in these useless words, as they can be seen, otherwise it could have been explained in very short words. But Moses wants to show what Abraham felt in his heart every moment for great shocks: to this without doubt also
The unspeakable groaning and the bitter tears came, so that he, as a father, would have shed them. But he himself girded up the donkey and did not command the servants to do so: he was so distraught that he wanted to give God his honor, to fear him and to serve him properly, that he hardly felt and understood what he was doing.
And took with him two boys.
(68) The Jews dispute here who the two boys might have been. Ishmael, as we have heard, was expelled from the house, and yet they say that Ishmael was one of them, and the other Eliezer, his steward, who was also mentioned above. Whoever they may have been, they have truly been very faithful, for they follow their lord and honor him without contradiction. But the Saracens have invented terrible lies from this text, namely, that Ishmael was sacrificed instead of Isaac, but Isaac ran away and disobeyed his father. And therefore they say and boast that they are children of Sarah; for Isaac was not sacrificed, but Ishmael instead of his brother.
(69) This is what all heretics do, for and on behalf of all, to draw to themselves the honor that belongs to the church and to God's people, because everyone wants to be next to God. And this challenge among men has always been granted from the beginning of the world; as today the heretics and the pope also want to be the church. The Turks also want to be God's people; thus the true Christians are deprived of their right name and honor, which is due to them. And this is the course of the world from the beginning to the end. Cain started such a game first, and it will last and remain for all times. The false church always wants to arrogate to itself the title and name of the church. The idols steal God's name and honor by force; therefore they sin more against the first table than against the other. For this reason it is also said of Isaac that he became disobedient and a fugitive.
And his son Isaac.
(70) After he received the command from God, he saw nothing else but that alone: but he forgave himself and forgot everything, Sarah, the servants, the house and Isaac also. That is to say, he is killed, and sits in the ashes and in the sack. Therefore always away with Antonius, Hilarion and other such hermits, who may have done great and heavy works. But the same works have not been all the killing of the serpent's head, namely, of the reason and the will of man. Which snake's head the monks and such other hypocrites rather make alive and multiply, because they are so puffed up and proud on account of their own righteousness, merit and other works.
(71) This is a great and very sorrowful heartache, that Abraham should lose the son whom he had obtained from God with so many supplications and tears, and in whom all hope and glory was that through him he would become a father of the seed that would be given. In such heartache, he nevertheless straightens up and still believes that he will have the seed, if not during his life, then at his death; just as in the 16th chapter Sarah straightens up and thinks: I will not be the mother of this seed, I was not worthy of it, so now let it be another, namely, my maid Hagar, that only the Lord gives a seed. This is the right killing, which does not happen in the wilderness, where one has no fellowship with any people, but in the house and world regiment. From this, then, the great obedience of Abraham, which he also performed out of his marrow and legs, can be seen.
And he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose, and went to the place whereof God had told him.
(72) This is all to show Abraham's delay. He may have three hundred and eighteen servants, but he himself is the servant of all servants, which is said to show and praise his great and remarkable obedience. He commands no one, judges everything himself
and this in haste; for the commandment of God, which rules and lives in him, urges him on.
On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.
Seventy-three: I consider that the place where the sacrifice was to be made was not farther than a quarter of a mile from the place where he called the boys. For although Jerusalem or Mount Moriah was somewhat high, it could not be seen very far, for there were mountains all around. I am very surprised that the poor father did not die from such a great and long heartache, for he had to travel for three whole days. But if this fight had lasted an hour or two, he could have overcome it all the more easily. Therefore, this delay makes his obedience greater and greater. He also thought, "Behold, I am coming with my son, who is a boy, for whom I have great hope; he must now die. He endured and suffered such death of the flesh for these three days, along with other arrows of Satan, and yet he had to eat it into himself and keep quiet about it for the sake of the commandment on which he relied, and was thus strengthened and preserved.
V. 5 And said to his boys: Stay ye here with the ass; I and the lad will go thither; and when we have worshipped, we will come again to you.
If the servants had been at hand, they would not have allowed what the father intended to do to happen, or they would have thought he was not in his right mind. In the event, however, since they could not have prevented it, they would have cried out, closed their eyes and run away from such a terrible deed.
V. 6. And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son.
(75) This is another endurance and delay, and the heartache is ever new and greater, because he put the wood on his son.
load. O my dear son, he would have thought, if you knew what wood you were carrying, or if your mother should know! You think you are carrying it for sacrifice, but you do not know that you yourself are to be the burnt offering.
But he took the fire and knife in his hand.
There was no sword, and the picture of Abraham about to sacrifice his son is not usually painted properly. It was a knife that the butchers and priests used to use. Isaac lay on his back on the woodpile and raised his face to heaven. So Abraham wanted to strike him in the throat, just as the butchers used to strangle the calves. Before that, the donkey carried the wood and the servants carried the fire. He took it from them and loaded the wood onto his son, who was not a little boy but a youth of about five and twenty years old. He carried the fire himself. But many thoughts must have occurred to the servants.
And went the two with each other.
These two have been alone and have gone about in the desert. The whole world does not know what is going on here, nor is there anyone who could speak a word of comfort to the sorrowful father. But the son does not know that he will be killed there. And such a passage as this is nowhere else described in Scripture. The text says, "they both went." Yes, which both? The dear Father and his most beloved Son. Dear, how did their hearts stand? Well, Isaac did not know about the deal, and yet he is willing and ready to obey his father: Abraham, however, certainly decided to sacrifice his son and burn him to ashes.
V. 7. 8. Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father! And Abraham answered, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, here is fire and wood; but where is the sheep?
for a burnt offering? Abraham answered, "My son, God will provide him with a sheep for a burnt offering. And the two of them went to each other.
These are very moving and violent words, which Moses did not want to omit. Isaac, who is the victim, addresses his father and reaches into his fatherly heart, as if he wanted to say: You are my father. And the father says to him again: You are my dear son. The words have undoubtedly gone through his fatherly heart. For the son says to him, "Behold, here is wood, but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?" From this it seems that he was concerned for the honor of God, for he knows that his father wants to make a burnt offering, which he wants to see: therefore he reminds him that he might not forget the offering because of his great devotion. "Where is," he says, "the sheep for the burnt offering?" Then the father should have answered: You will have to be the sacrifice. But he is silent about it and thus answers him, "God will provide it." In which word he also grasps the commandment of God.
79 He does not want to distress and torture his son for long, so he does not yet tell him that he must die. Nor does Moses say that his father reminded him during the three days they walked together, so that he could get used to the idea of dying; rather, it seems as if he kept silent and waited until he had to attack his son's throat.
80 And one must wonder how Isaac was able so soon to forget all thoughts of this life, and to forget his father and mother, the house and the promise he had, and finally his own life, into which he had hardly stepped. All this could not have been overcome without great heartache and mourning. For the saints are not lumps or without all feeling, but are human beings, and have all longings. They have all the compassion and inclinations that are implanted in human nature, more intense and more than others. Therefore, it is truly a
It was a good faith that enabled him to forgive life so soon and to go to death, for he thought of nothing else and saw nothing more certain before his bodily eyes than that he would have to die.
V. 9 And when they came to the place which God had told him, Abraham built there an altar, and laid the wood upon it.
So far, Moses has described the example of the obedience of these two, namely, the son and the father, and has always kept the reader waiting until he was fed up, where such a game would end. Since Abraham has now prepared the altar and it has now come to the meeting, he is silent, as he either does not dare to talk about such things (because they are much too big in themselves, so that they should be described with words), or else he could not write it because of weeping. So he leaves the great astonishment in the hearts of the listeners, and wants them to think about such things and to judge, since he cannot reach them with words.
For when the altar was prepared, the knife was prepared and the fire was lit, there must have been a talk between the father and the son, so that Isaac could be told about the will and commandments of God. The father will have said: You, my dear son, whom God has given me, are ordained for a burnt offering. Since the son was undoubtedly frightened and terrified, he would have reminded the father of the promise again, namely: "My dear father, remember that I am the seed who is promised kings and nations and a great lineage. etc. God has given me to my mother by a great miracle. How then will the promise be fulfilled if I am killed? Let us first talk and act with each other about it.
83 Moses should have described these things here, but why he omitted them I do not know, but I have no doubt that the father gave his son a good speech, which contains
and the main part will have been the commandment of God and the resurrection of the dead. He will have said: God has commanded this, therefore we must obey him; and because he is almighty, he can well keep his promise, even if you have already died and turned to ashes. And Isaac will undoubtedly have been instructed in this doctrine beforehand, and will have understood and believed as well as Abraham. For these are examples of faith: but faith understands in itself the promise which was told above in chapter 15, v. 5, 11 ff.
84 Therefore this was such a speech of the Father to his Son, in which these two pieces, which are straight against each other, were compared, namely, Isaac shall be the seed, and a father of many kings and nations; and: Isaac shall die, and shall not be a father of nations. These sayings, which are in direct conflict with each other, cannot be balanced by any human reason or philosophy: but the Word balances these two pieces, namely, that a dead man lives and a living man dies. So we also live, and yet die nevertheless. For if we live now, we are counted dead because of sin; and if we have died, we are counted alive. Such things have been spoken of here between the Father and the Son. And not only Abraham believed this, but also Isaac; for he dies believing in the promise that he will be a father. Therefore Isaac dies and yet lives: he becomes ashes and yet becomes a father of many nations.
The sophists and Jewish rabbis do not understand this text, for they do not see the true essence of the sacred Scriptures, which speak of the resurrection of the dead, of life, of the conquest of death, and of the destruction of sins, and not of things perishable and void. Here also it is to be seen whether faith can be without good works, and whether good works are rejected and condemned, where the righteousness of faith is taught. For behold, how much the
most beautiful" works and very holy obedience meet in this some example.
V. 9, 10: And he bound Isaac his son, and laid him upon the altar upon the top of the wood, and put forth his hand, and took hold of the knife, to slay his son.
This strange and astonishing story is understood by Moses in so few words. Now the father wants to cut off the throat of his son, and the son holds out the throat and lifts his eyes to heaven, and waits that he now becomes ashes. Thus, both of them are put into the utmost danger of life and limb by God. If there had been no faith, or if God had slumbered for a moment and not watched, Isaac's life would have been lost. For the knife was prepared, the son was bound and placed on the top of the wood, and now his neck is cut. These are the works of our Lord God, to show that he cares for us in our greatest need and danger, even in the midst of death.
(87) But the Jews dispute about this binding, what kind of binding it might have been. I think Isaac was bound as a butcher binds a sheep or goat with a rope, holding the sheep in one hand and the knife in the other. In this way Abraham also wanted to slaughter his son at the same moment.
(88) But why bindeth he him? Not because Isaac would have run away and disobeyed his father, but to keep the way of the burnt offering. For Abraham must have been of a mind to make such a offering, as a priest making an offering of a calf. That is why he made the same offering and did it in the same way. He lays Isaac on top of the wood like a calf that is to be slaughtered, and at the same time puts the knife to his neck. So this binding does not indicate compulsion or necessity, but only the way and manner that a priest or butcher uses.
89. I could not have watched there, will
Let alone that I should have been the death and butcher. It is a terrible thing that a dear father puts a knife to the neck of his dearest son. And I gladly confess that I cannot reach such thoughts, concerns and fear, which the father must have felt in his heart, neither with reflection nor with words. No one should have interpreted this text in any other way than St. Paul. We do not let such thoughts and concerns go to our hearts, because we do not desire to feel or experience the same or the like. So the son is obedient, like a sheep that is led to the slaughter, does not open his mouth, Isa. 53, 7. He has thought: The will of the Lord be done. For he was brought up in the discipline and obedience of his father. And we have no more such examples of obedience, except the example of the Lord Christ.
V. 11 Then the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, saying, "Abraham, Abraham!
How the divine majesty jokes and plays so surely and contemptuously in death and all the power that death can prove in us, you see here. God plays here with his patriarch and with his son, who stand here at the same time in the highest fear of death and in the highest victory over it. For not only Isaac was ready to die, but in truth the father Abraham also dies seven times in that he deals with the thought alone that he now wants to sacrifice and kill his son.
Natural death, which is nothing other than the soul separating from the body, is a simple death; but where one feels death, that is. But where one feels the terror and fear of death, there is the real true death. Where terror is not, death is not death, but sleep; as Christ Jn. 11:26. says, "He that believeth on me shall not see death." For where the terror is gone, there is also the death of the soul gone.
Therefore, let us describe death thus: Death has a soul and body. The body is the destruction of death for the soul; but the soul death is just the terror and fear of death. Where now the
If the soul died of death, the death of the body is only a sleep. In this case, Abraham's soul was dead, because he did not doubt it, but he certainly thought that his son Isaac would have to be sacrificed and killed at the same moment. But when a man is afflicted and distressed with the terror of death, and is now certain that he is to die, he truly feels such great violence of the right death that he cannot withstand it: and then he also truly dies, and then not when the soul separates from the body. Such two miraculous deaths are here placed side by side in the highest patience and obedience. For it would have been much more grievous to Abraham if he had also died seven times of natural death, than if he had had to watch the death of his son, even to slay him himself. So they are both killed because they see or feel nothing but death, and yet they have not died in the sight of God, as we will hear later; for they consider death to be a child's game and a joke, no different from the way we play with a ball or an apple.
The victory, so that Abraham and Isaac and all the saints overcame death, is faith. He who has it overcomes the terror of death, overcomes and triumphs forever; as St. Paul says in 2 Cor. 1:9: "We hope and put our trust in God, who raises the dead. Of faith we have scarcely a little spark. For as long as we believe, as long as we do not feel death; but if it peeps out a little and lets itself be seen, fear and terror immediately follow.
Therefore, this is a wonderful thing, and impossible for reason to believe that God can and will erase death and change it into life. But this is even more wonderful that Abraham and Isaac thought it was certain that this whole action was only a short time and not death. And that death is a joke in the eyes of God is easily believed by everyone: but that I should also believe the same for myself and in my body, that death is not death,
no doctor, no philosopher, no lawyer will ever persuade me.
95 For who will be able to rhyme and unite this, that it is said: Death is not death, but is life? Moses himself says the contradiction. For if you listen to the law, it will tell you what the old and Christian song says, when it is sung in church: "In the midst of life we are embraced by death. But this is only a law song: but the gospel and faith turn this song around, and sing thus: In the midst of death we are in life: we praise you, dear Lord God, who are our Redeemer, have raised us from death and made us blessed. For the Gospel teaches that in death there is life, which is unknown and impossible to law and reason. Hence it is that St. Paul is so triumphant, and says of Christ Col. 2:15: "He hath taken off principalities and mighty men, and hath made them to appear in public" etc.; item 2 Cor. 6:9: "As those that die, and, behold, we live." This is the power of faith, which thus mediates between death and life, and changes death into life and immortality, knowing that it is given to us through Christ.
God wanted to indicate this with this work as a special spectacle, namely, that death is nothing else before Him, but only a child's play and a vain horror of the human race, yes, only a test and temptation; as if some father plays with his son, takes an apple from him, and thinks how he wants to leave him the whole inheritance and hand it over. But this is hard to believe: therefore the Gentiles, who do not know this will of God, which he reveals in his word, have no hope at all; as St. Paul says 1 Thess. 4, 13.
97) Christians who have the word should hear and consider it with all diligence, so that their hearts may be awakened, that though they are weighed down with the burden of sin and hindered by Satan, they may nevertheless be encouraged and comforted by the glory and knowledge of divine life and immortality, so that they may believe that this saying is true and true.
It is constant to say that death is a child's play. Which Abraham believed and thought, and with such faith overcame death; for he thought in his heart thus: My son Isaac, whom I now strangle, is a father of promise, and such promise is true in itself; therefore my son shall live forever, and shall also be the heir: though he must therefore now die, yet shall he truly not die, but rise again.
So faith is able to unite things that are directly opposed to each other, and is not a bad, mere and cold delusion or thought, as the sophists say, but its power is that it strangles death, condemns hell, is a sin to sin and a devil to the devil, so also that death is not death, although all men's sense and feeling testify that death is present. Abraham is quite sure of this, and so he remembers: I will now reduce my son to ashes, but he will not die; indeed, these ashes will be the heir. Is this not a child's play in such a great and important matter, in which all men are otherwise doubly childish?
Now this is not written for the sake of Abraham, who died long ago, but for our comfort, assurance, strength and courage, that we may learn that death is nothing before God, and that we may sing: In the midst of death we are in life: whom shall we praise but thee, our God, alone? This is a Gospel song, but the other belongs to the Law. And the patriarchs and spiritual men understood such things gloriously and well. We teach these things daily and clearly, but how many are those who believe them and pay attention to them!
(100) And there is no difference between these and others who do not hear; indeed, with hearing they do not hear, for they are dead in their sins and in their covetousness. In the Old Testament, the scribes, priests and other wicked men who did not understand these things were like them: David, Isaiah, Samuel and Jeremiah have the understanding of the Holy One.
We have seen that Isaac and his father Abraham, even though they die, still live. Abraham is killed seven times and still remains alive in a bodily way: so that Abraham, the father, and Isaac, his son, are dead and alive in one moment.
We cannot achieve such things with our intellect, and we must be careful to understand as much as we can. I realize, however, that I am almost inert to do so; my donkey resists below and cannot climb the mountain. So they all remain asses, who are not instructed in the doctrine of faith, and cannot grasp the thought that death is life. So when Peter denied the Lord Christ in the danger of death, he was also a lazy ass, indeed, he was not yet like any ass; for he does not remain alone at the bottom of the mountain, but runs back and flees away.
Therefore, let us often think of this spectacle described by Moses and the play of divine majesty in death, so that we may learn to believe that death is life. For how many do you think there are who know this? See what we do when we look at those who are with those who are now struggling with death, or when we are in danger of our lives. If we were of the same mind there as Abraham and his son were, we would say, I will not die, but live. etc. The Lord chasteneth me, but giveth me not away to death: though I be buried, and though I be eaten of worms, yet shall I live. Yea, saith the flesh against it, thou shalt nevertheless die. Answer: No, I do not die, but such death is only a chastisement for me.
Abraham and Isaac saw and knew nothing else, and the thing itself and the whole action was not different from what their thoughts were: and yet they consider that there is no death, but only a child's play; as St. Paul defies death and rejoices against it, saying 1 Cor. 15:55: "Death, where is thy sting?"
104 Let us also learn this, that we may say in the midst of death: Goodbye leaves and grass, I will not die but live; as Isaac thought when it was his neck. But if we are still afraid and frightened when we think of death and see it coming, let us recognize our ignorance and not boast that we are theologians. All men can see death, and even the heathen and the ungodly understand that death itself is death: but the wisdom of Christians and the special doctrine of the church is this, which Abraham can do, namely, that he concludes thus: Even though I have already killed my son, I still have him alive; and just as Isaac also concludes: Though I die, yet will I not die, though thou cut off my neck, and make me ashes; though I be ashes, yet will I live, and beget heirs unto the whole world.
But Moses says rightly before: "And they both went with each other. For this thought of death was nowhere else in the whole world, but only in these two. He who is now to be strangled has thought: Dear God, "Into your hands I commend my spirit", Ps. 31, 6; "I will not die, but live", Ps. 118, 17, and will come again; for God will not lie: I am a son of promise, therefore I will have to beget children, even if the heavens should break. But see if this has not died a certain death and yet live in a still more certain life? Therefore the prophets in the holy scriptures everywhere praise the resurrection of the dead, and this text clearly shows the resurrection also into this temporal life, how much more into the life to come!
All this flows from the first commandment. For therein is understood the doctrine of faith and resurrection of the dead, since God says: I, the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth, am your God. This is said: You shall live in the life in which I also live. For if he had spoken this to oxen, they would live forever. But unto us, I say, is this said, and not that: Thou shalt eat chaff, corn, and wheat.
and eat grass, but this: I am your God. But to be a God means as much as to deliver from all evil and misfortune that oppresses us, as there is sin, hell and death etc. For this is how the prophets viewed and understood these words. The pagans know God no further than that He is a Creator. But as soon as you read the first commandment, you will also find Christ, life, victory over death and the resurrection of the dead to eternal life, and finally the entire Old and New Testament. Only those who have the Holy Spirit see these things and diligently pay attention to what God says and does; others, however, even though they always hear these things, do not pay any attention to them.
Therefore let these two, Abraham and Isaac, be examples of this article about the resurrection of the dead. For they both believe that God not only can, but will certainly raise the dead, and deal with men about how to kill death again, which is not death before Him, but sleep, which is as it were a brother and blood relative of death; for where a man is buried, he has not died to God, but sleeps.
(108) So it may be said of Isaac, when he is turned into dust, from which he was also taken, He is not dead ashes, but is a son of promise, who begets kings. In the same way we should think of our dead and of our bodies, namely, that even though they are crushed by worms, they will not always remain dust, but will live again. For we hear that the Scripture says that death is but child's play in the sight of God, as it is to all Christians who believe in the God who gives life to the dead and considers the dead to be alive.
This is the Christian teaching and wisdom of God, an art of the saints, and very high knowledge above all reason and understanding of this world: "Death, where is your sting? Hell, where is your victory?" 1 Cor. 15, 55. In the midst of death we are in life. "I will not die, but live," etc. as the 118th Psalm v. 17. says. Whoever can do this art, thank
God. But we should make an effort that we do not only have it in our mouths, speculate and speak about it, but that we have it in its power and effect and with all our heart, and that we may adhere to it. But when it is asked, "Where did the fathers get this wisdom?" St. Paul answers 1 Cor. 10:4: "They drank of the spiritual rock that followed with them," that is, they got it from the knowledge of Christ, the promised Redeemer.
But the law and the wisdom of the flesh do not understand this; just as at the same time this spectacle of these two persons was hidden from the whole world: But it was well known to God and the holy angels, very funny and pleasant, but horrible and frightening to men and devils. For where the devil sees that a man lives in faith, he is terrified, as St. Paul says 1 Cor. 4:9: "We have become a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men." Now if this is understood by the evil angels, it is a horrible spectacle; but if it is understood by the good angels, it is an airy spectacle, as St. Peter says 1 Epist. 1, 12: "Which also the angels desire to behold." For God and the holy angels love to behold these wonderful works, namely, the overcoming of death, destruction of sin, and how Isaac comes forth again, from the ashes, raised, and from nothingness, has become a father of many nations. For in this young man there was a great light of faith. He believed in God, the Creator, who calls that which is not to be, Rom. 4:17, and commands the ashes, which are not Isaac, to be Isaac. For he who believes that God is a Creator who makes everything out of that which is nothing. makes everything, must conclude from necessity and say: Therefore God can also raise the dead. "Why," says Paul in the Acts of the Apostles in 26 Cap. V. 9, "is this judged incredible among you, that God raises the dead?"
111 Therefore, in these examples, Scripture deals with the fact that we are to learn
Believe that life and death are the same for believers: if they live, they die; and if they die, they live. As it is taught throughout the New Testament, and is also shown and proven that all the works of Christians are miraculous; as the 4th Psalm, v. 4, says: "The Lord leads his saints in miracles"; item John 14, v. 12, Christ says: "He who believes in me will do greater works than these; for I go to the Father, that I may be omnipotent in you. These marvelous works terrify the devils, but delight the angels and comfort the pious. But always away with the wicked, that he see not such honor and glory of God. For "the world seeth not the Spirit of truth, neither knoweth he: but ye," saith Christ John 14:17, "behold him; for he is in you, and abideth in you." The Jews have seen that Christ raises Lazarus from the dead, John 11:45, and that St. Peter heals the sick with his shadow, Acts 5:15.Just as our adversaries see that we want to serve, counsel and help all people with the gospel, they also see our works of love, humility and patience, but they are blind with their eyes; although the Holy Spirit presents such works, which are seen and heard publicly, so that they could be grasped with their hands, they do not see them. Therefore they blaspheme us, and the Spirit that speaketh and worketh in us, and cry out that it is all the devil's work that we do.
Now the Holy Spirit is clearly before their eyes; His works and miracles are seen in the Word and Sacraments, so that even the stones, if they were not without senses and understanding, could see and witness it; yet they do not see it. But why is that? Because, as Christ says John 14:17, the world cannot know the Holy Spirit. But whoever can believe, according to the first commandment, that God is the Creator of heaven and earth, will not dispute or doubt about the resurrection of the dead: but again, whoever does not believe that God can and will raise the dead, will not believe that God is the Creator of heaven and earth.
believes nothing at all; just as the pope, his cardinals and bishops do not believe in the resurrection of the dead. Therefore, one can irrefutably conclude that they do not believe that there is a God, because they deny His works, do not believe anything about His majesty and power, which is seen in the resurrection of the dead.
Whoever can do so, should only take this history in great consideration and look at it with all his heart, so that he may have it as a masterly and beautiful example to strengthen the faith with; then also that he may refute with it the foolish thoughts that the papists pretend about obedience and monastic vows, which they praise highly, but scornfully despise this history, because Abraham was a householder, a common layman and a husband. For thus they say: These are vain and worldly works, but we do spiritual works, forsaking the world.
But if anyone should persuade the monks that Abraham was a priest and bishop, they would soon pronounce him a heretic. For they describe a priest as such a man who wears a long skirt, has a bristled head and reads or prays the seven times; outside of this form they know of no priest. As if God were pleased with such priests, who can't cry in church. Such are the devil's priests. Abraham, however, is a true priest, for he does not only sacrifice sheep and other animals, but also his own son; and it is described here in what way he sacrificed him, namely, that he bound him and wanted to slaughter him like an animal.
(115) But this they do not respect, nor do they take much notice of it, because Abraham has no plate on his head, has no chasuble or greased fingers, but grows a beard and is a husband. But if he had had a whore or whoredoms, they would rather praise him.
But we also curse and condemn them as idolaters and devil priests, and say that these are true priests who believe the word of God.
and offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and for God's sake bear the cross which He has laid upon them; not walking in long robes, but in the gifts and beautiful ornaments of the Holy Spirit, as in faith, in patience when death comes, and in hope, that they may wait for another and a better life. That is enough of this history, which is quite spiritual: which I, as a carnal and one of the asses' feet, who does not go with you to the mountain, cannot fully understand or interpret; but I have tried to teach and show as much as I could think of and understand according to my weakness and small understanding.
Third part.
How the angel appears to Abraham and stops him from offering Isaac, and how Abraham offers a ram in Isaac's place.
V. 11 Then the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, saying, "Abraham, Abraham! He answered, "Here I am.
How the saints are marvelous before the angels and are God's spectacle can be seen from this, for they themselves are God's work. At this work an angel from heaven was present and watched Abraham in this whole action, yes, God Himself in heaven and all His angels were watching. For the angel did not fly far from the end of the world, but stood over Abraham and over Isaac, and watched with his eyes as Abraham bound his son and put the knife to his neck, and as the son proved his obedience and willingly waited for the stroke. There is no doubt that tears flowed down Abraham's cheeks when his son lay on his back and raised his eyes to heaven, which the angel saw.
118 Because Abraham has already drawn the knife, he calls him, saying
him by his name. Thus, the holy angels stand close around us and look straight at us with their eyes when we are godly and pious. Such obedience has pleased God exceedingly; for of all sacrifices the most pleasing to Him is to kill sin, to live in righteousness, holiness, obedience and the killing of the flesh. This is painful and difficult for us, but we must learn and become accustomed to the good and pleasing will of God, as St. Paul says in Romans 12:2.
We speak only of these things, but Abraham and Isaac proved it by deed, and this God's will is perfect, but with us it has not even begun; it is pleasing and good to God, but to us it is evil and unpleasant. For there is nothing more sour and hard than the killing of the flesh and of sins. Therefore it seems to us to be horrible and impossible, we flee from it and are enemies of it; however, one must get used to it and raise oneself to it, as Abraham does here, who does not flee, but waits for it with the highest inclined will, and therefore is there that his son is slain and that life follows such death.
This is a work done in faith, which the angels are pleased to rejoice in, even among us, where we are in the Christian ministry and works. Now if the righteousness and obedience of the papists is contrasted with this, it is not only obscured, but seems quite shameful and abominable, because they are all works of their own choosing; just as many kings and nations have also wanted to follow Abraham's example, but have hardly sinned in doing so and have not understood the right killing.
In the book of the saints' lives, called Vitae Patrum, there is a story about a hermit who wanted to go into the desert with his only son and thus leave the world. When the boy cried there, he wanted to throw him into the nearest water and drown him. The monks praise such a work very much, almost exalt it, and compare it with the work that Abraham did; but it is actually equal to the work of the devil, which he did in paradise.
has done. And if the hermit had killed his son, he would have been a death-slayer, and all those who ever followed his example or put up with it. And this is the cause that without the word of God no obedience can please.
(122) But the papists, the Baal priests, do not accept this cause, but cry out stubbornly against it, saying that we condemn and reject good works. But we say that this is a good work, which is done in faith and godly obedience by such a man, who believes that God is a Creator and a Beatificator, and raises the dead. But tell me, whether a monk, a Ba as a priest, a Turk and a Jew also walk in divine obedience? Not at all, for he has no command from God for his status.
Thus Ahaz did a great work, but all against God and His word. Therefore in the prophet Micah in the 6th Cap. V. 7: "Shall I give my first son for my transgression, or the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? No, says the prophet, for you are not commanded or commanded. Abraham had a special commandment from God that the others did not have. For God does not say in general: Whoever will offer his son to God, in him he is pleased.
(124) We cannot all do the same kind of work; for in the body of man there are various members, each of which must have its own effect. The feet do not do manual labor, neither do the hands walk. But there is One obedience, and One Holy Spirit: but obedience is to be sure of faith, which is nothing and vain where there is no divine promise, neither do works please God where there is no commandment or commandment of God. The Papists or Turks are full of faith, but it is a fictitious and false faith. For they say: I will believe thus, therefore I will also please God thus. But this is a self-chosen and presumptuous thing, which is why it is such devotion and holiness that does not belong to God but to the devil.
Therefore, this special commandment that Abraham had should not be taken to mean that we want to follow him, but we should follow the obedience and faith of the resurrection, according to how sin was put to death in his son, and death was also seasoned and overcome; then let each one remain in his office and profession in one faith and be obedient to God in it, so that we will be companions of the holy angels and sojourners in the kingdom of God.
By the way, it can be asked at this place: Why did the holy angels appear more rarely and less everywhere in our country and in the New Testament than in the Old Testament? To this I answer that this is because the Son of God and heir over all has appeared and been sent. It is true that the servants and messengers were sent before. messengers were sent beforehand, as kings and princes in the world are wont to do, who are to remind the people of the future of the Lord; but now that the Lord himself is present, he has no need of servants and messengers.
For after God sent His Son, He revealed all things through Him. He revealed all things and filled the world with heavenly wisdom, to which the signs and wonders Christ performed testify; as St. Paul says 1 Tim. 3, 16: "God is manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, appeared to angels, preached to the Gentiles" etc. Therefore, one must not desire the appearance of angels.
After the future and the birth of Christ, the devil deceived the world by sending ghosts, poltergeists and evil angels many times, as the examples of the time before us testify. But this was a punishment for the ingratitude of men, because they despised the Lord even in his presence, and sought and desired new revelations out of vain conceit.
129 So it happened also in our time, in the beginning, when the gospel came to light again, when Thomas Muenzer, Carlstadt and the Sacrament enthusiasts appeared, who spread the gospel that came down from heaven through the Holy Spirit.
and waited for special enlightenment, of which also some have fallen into such nonsense that they have boasted that they had heard the voice of God, that he had spoken to them from heaven. Here, the truth of the light of the gospel should be held up against such enthusiasts, and against such red spirits, who think that one should investigate the will of God without a word, one should fight with seriousness; as such lying spirits were the enthusiasts, item, Manichaeus, and all heretics, who wanted to be like the patriarchs, to whom God's word and promise was revealed ever more brightly and clearly, until Christ, the true light, himself came into the world.
130 Thus the popes have also invented a new madness out of the promise of Christ, which they have not rightly understood, since he says John 16:12, 13: "I have yet many things to say unto you; but ye cannot bear them now. But when that one, the Spirit of truth, shall come, he shall guide you into all truth." From this they have invented and said that Christ and the apostles did not teach all that is necessary for our salvation, but to the bishops, and much divine report is still reserved for them, which they are always to hold up to the church more clearly and distinctly from one time to another. But all this foolishness should be contrasted with the words of Christ Luc. 16, 29: "They have Moses and the prophets" etc.; item, Is. 35, 4. Now the Lord Himself has come. Open wide the gates, that he may come in, Ps. 24:7, 8; for he is not a servant, as Moses was, or as the ministering spirits are, but he is the Lord himself.
This shall be taught, and it shall also be inherited by the descendants, that they may flee and condemn the revelation of new doctrine, and diligently keep before their eyes this command, when God the Father says of His Son, "Him you shall hear," Matt. 17:5, that is, the evangelists and apostles; for these shall be read and heard, and likewise also the Old Testament, which also faithfully testifies of all these.
Where something is further revealed about it, it must be similar to faith,
and must be a revelation according to the understanding of the Scriptures, otherwise it is a devilish revelation. It is true that the devil has often tempted me, as he did Augustine, who forbids God that no angel should appear to him, that I should desire a sign from God. But let this be far from me, that I should give room to such temptation and follow it. The holy martyrs were strengthened without the appearance of angels, only by the word that they went to their deaths for the sake of the name of Christ: why do we not also adhere to the same word and be satisfied with it? We have clear and beautiful bright appearances enough, as namely, the baptism, the Lord's supper, the keys, the preaching ministry, which is equal to, yes, far surpasses all appearances of all angels, whereas Abraham had only small drops and crumbs.
For this reason, I do not respect angels, and I pray to God daily that He will not send one to me, no matter what the matter may be. And even if one should occur to me, I would not hear it, but would turn away from it, unless it indicated to me something about some necessary matter in the world regime, as all merry and happy dreams in worldly matters tend to delight us from time to time: and yet I would not know whether I would obey and believe it even in such a case.
In spiritual matters, however, we should ask nothing of the angels. For the divine promise is now abundantly fulfilled and revealed in Christ; he has left me his word to instruct and strengthen me, and I must not worry that he is so inconstant or fickle that he sometimes brings this teaching and sometimes another; as Deut. 23:19 says: "God is not a man that he should lie, nor a child of man that he should repent. We have God's word, the Lord's Supper, baptism, the Ten Commandments, the marriage state, the secular authorities with their order and the house rule; we should be content with these and practice them until the end of the world.
135. Gregorius, as can be seen in his Dialo-
The people of Apulia, who might have seen it as a miracle, simply believed all the apparitions; as they, among others, told many lies about the feast of St. Michael, such as that St. Michael consecrated a church on Mount Gargarus and stabbed an ox that had been plowing on the same feast day. I would have said: What have you to do with Mount Gargarus, whose lord is the king of Apulia? You are not Michael, but the devil.
The papists' books are full of such lies. And this is our own fault, because we did not want to hear the Lord, but desired to hear the angels, wanted to have special revelations and appearances; therefore we also found with all our heaps what we were looking for, to our great harm. For thus St. Paul judges 2 Thess. 2, 10. 11.: "For not having received the love of the truth, that they might be saved; therefore God will send them strong errors, that they may believe the lie" etc. We have despised the doctor and teacher of whom it is said Matth. 17, 5: "You shall hear him"; item: "The spirit of the Lord is upon me" etc., Is. 61, 1. and Luc. 4, 18. Our ears have been pricked, have turned away from the truth, and have turned to fables and lies; therefore we have also found such teachers who have pricked our ears.
If I were a king and had sent my only son to someone, offering him the kingdom and all the goods therein, and he despised such a great good deed, I would have sent all the plagues and tortures upon him: then, since we have not accepted the gospel confirmed with signs from heaven, do we not also deserve to have a whole legion of devils appear to us for a good angel, whom Abraham saw?
V. 12. He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy, and do not harm him.
Now another question comes to mind: How could Abraham have obeyed the voice of the angel and abstained from slaughtering his son?
How if he had doubted and thought that it was not an angel, but a devil, because he had an explicit commandment of God, namely, since God had said to him: Slaughter your son and offer him as a burnt offering? Against the commandment he is now commanded by the angel to spare his son and not to harm him.
The first challenge was against the promise of the seed; but this was overcome, since he had now turned to obedience in his heart, and Isaac had also taken this comfort, even if he would become ashes, the promise would nevertheless remain, and God would again raise him from death. So the angel cries out against all this and says: "Do nothing to the boy. Such a command is immediately a challenge to him, because it is contrary to the previous commandment: just as he was challenged above (v. 2) with the commandment that was contrary to the promise.
But to this question I answer thus: The holy scripture clearly says that this was not a deceitful or lying, but a real true angel, who truly brought God's word. Abraham believed it, so that it must not have been spoken in vain; and since he certainly decided in himself that he wanted to slay his son, the Holy Spirit admonished him inwardly through the word of the angel as through an outward means and instrument, and compelled the faith and spirit in him. But if he had not had an outward word, he would not have believed the contradiction, and he would not have refrained from his presumption.
141] After this it is also plausible that Abraham, out of a strange and secret movement, kept his hand silent against the commandment he had received before; as in the Old Testament the prophets also did much against the word: as when Elijah built an altar on Mount Carmel and slew the priests of Baal 1 Kings 18:30 ff, contrary to what Moses had commanded, saying Deut. 12:5: "In the place which the Lord your God shall choose, there shall ye come and sacrifice" etc. Elijah and Elisha did not do this. Item, there are among the people of Israel
There have been many prophets who did not come to Jerusalem to teach or preach there.
All of these had a peculiar impulse with a peculiar freedom that they did this. Thus Samson had a peculiar spirit when he tore the lion to pieces and slew and strangled a thousand Philistines with the donkey's jaws. Such peculiar movements and a peculiar zealous spirit of the great valiant heroes are above the common rule and manner; just as we also see a difference between the rulers and princes in the temporal government. For some of them keep their regiment according to the common rights, order and laws, but some do not; as Alexander did not want to be bound by any law, but broke freely through it as with his peculiar courage and spirit, which could not happen to others in such a way.
And this we see in the examples of the Gentiles; but how much more has God reserved such heroes among His people! Gideon with three hundred soldiers defeated the whole army of the Midianites, Judges. 7, 7. ff. Abraham overcame four mighty kings with a small group, Genesis 14:15. These are not bad and mean examples, but miraculous works that God reserves for Himself. So it could well have happened that God secretly and specially instructed Abraham that he should not slaughter his son. So, methinks, one could answer this question simple-mindedly.
But the text also adds an external sign. For it clearly says that the angel came from heaven. But he did not come as Satan is wont to come. For God has made a strange distinction there, namely, that the good angels come with a fright, that is, with a peculiar majesty; as the 104th Psalm v. 4 calls the angels or servants flames of fire, so that the people to whom they come are frightened by them; as the Virgin Mary is frightened Luc. 1. v. 29. when she sees the angel and is terrified by him; item, Daniel on the
8. cap. V. 17. Therefore they appear with a special prestige and majesty.
So this one also came from heaven, and no doubt the heavens opened, a new brightness shone, lightning and fire were seen, and at the same time there must have been a multitude of the other angels: before which majesty Abraham was terrified, and both dropped the knife and the thought of slaughtering his son. This is what happened at Mount Sinai, where flames of fire were seen and thunder was heard, and the people were struck to the ground, Ex 19:16, Cap 20:18. 20, 18. But finally the good angels depart and go away again with joy, leaving the hearts peaceful and joyful. God keeps this way when He sends good angels: and by this sign Abraham was also reminded that a right angel was with them.
146. But an evil angel creeps and creeps along quietly and silently like a serpent, until he lures and tempts men, so that they become secure and fall into sin: then he departs again with horrible terror.
147 Secondly, Abraham has the right rule of faith to guide him. For the angel brings him no word contrary to the promise, but agreeing with that which was spoken to him, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called." For the spirits must be tested and discerned by the rule of faith, whether they also keep even with it. As when the devil commands through the pope that I should worship the Meissen idol Benno, I hold the same command to the rule and guideline of faith and see whether it also agrees with it.
But the right rule of faith is that which is written in the Acts of the Apostles in chapter 4, v. 12: "There is no other name given to men in which we may be saved. V. 12: "There is no other name given unto men, whereby we must be saved. Therefore, there is no similarity at all between Christ and St. James of Compostela; therefore, I reject the same James as an idol, even if an angel would preach another gospel, Gal. 1:8, or if this idol could raise the dead. For
The divine promises are such that they cannot be changed or reversed, but stand firm. That is why Abraham also kept what he had been commanded to do before, but he did it in such a way that he kept it against the promise of the future seed. Finally, one must also see why God primarily dealt with Abraham in this way, as follows in the text:
For now I know that you fear God, and have not spared your only Son for my sake.
This is what the angel wants, that one should fear God, which the devil does not prescribe to men; nor does the fear of God apply unless one first has God's word. And so those who have the right judgment of the spirit and faith can make an outward distinction between the appearances. For the evil spirit cannot refrain from it, it must seek its own honor, as the ungodly false teachers are always wont to do new and unheard-of things, so that the world may marvel at their great wisdom and think great of it, but not so that God may be feared and honored.
The other and most certain sign of the good angel is that he comes from heaven. Third, his preaching is also according to faith. By all these things Abraham was persuaded to obey the voice of the angel, so that the commandment that he should sacrifice his son was abolished. No doubt the Holy Spirit, who is always at the word, also came to this.
Such contentious sayings in Scripture, which seem to be contrary to one another, give rise to much strange disputing among ambitious minds; for the devil seeks such vile speech in Scripture with all diligence, and if he accomplishes nothing with it, he devises other falsifications to deceive and seduce men with it. Should God, he says, be against himself and lie? Before, he allowed Abraham to sacrifice his son hot, now he forbids him again. But we Christians
We should think and speak of such things with reverence and in the fear of God, and learn to recognize God as the one who sets one against the other. Although this government of the saints, in that it leads God so wonderfully, reminds us of many lovely things and is full of beautiful, rich consolation. And pious, God-fearing people, if it could be done without violating the divine majesty and truth, might well use such a way of speaking that they would say: God lies and thus pretends to us, pretends to be different from what He means, and thus plays with us; as one is wont to say in the German proverb: If it is to be true, then it is a great lie. For when it comes to dying, they can say to God: This is not death, but life; you play or joke with me, as a father jokes with his child; you say differently than you think. Such is a good and wholesome lie to us.
And how blessed we would be if we could learn this art from God. He tempts and sets before us a strange work, that he may thus do his own work; through our affliction he seeks his game and our blessedness. God said to Abraham: You shall kill your son etc. But how does this happen? Answer: With games, laughter, and that he pretends otherwise than he really means. This is truly a blessed and funny game.
153. So he poses to the lines, as if he wanted to step far away from us and kill us; but who can believe that he only poses like that and that he should not be serious? Now it is truly a joke with God, and if one wants to speak of it, it is a lie with him. It is indeed a real death that we will all have to take upon ourselves; but God is not serious about what he lets us see and find outwardly. It is only a temptation to lose the present goods of this world and life itself for the sake of God. Thus Genesis Deut. 13, 1. ff. says: "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams shall arise among you, and give you a sign or a wonder" etc.; "then you shall not obey the words of such a prophet or dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God tempts you, so that
He will know if you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.
These are not the words of an angry judge, but fatherly words. As if he wanted to say: I have given you my word, so that you accept it with a good, peaceful heart and adhere to it; etc. But I will send false apostles, and will try whether you will also mean and love me and my word seriously.
So the father takes an apple from the child and yet does not mean it, does not intend to take it from him, but only tries the child to see if he loves him and believes that the father will return the apple to him. If the son gladly gives the apple away, the father is pleased by his obedience and by the love the child bears him. Thus the temptation, where God tempts us, is also fatherly; for thus St. James says in his epistle in chapter 1, v. 13: "God is not a tempter to evil," which is so much to say: He does not tempt us so that we should shrink from Him and be hostile to Him as a tyrant, but only of the opinion that He may exercise us and awaken faith and love in us.
Satan tempts people to evil, that he may draw you away from God and make you distrust God and blaspheme Him; but God plays with the children whom He loves, showing Himself angry and terrifying against them, as it seems to the flesh. Hence the lamentations in the Psalms: "I am cast out from thy presence," Psalm 31:23; item in Psalm 27:9: "Hide not thy face from me," etc. But it is all a joke, and God will not deceive you; only hold fast to His promise, which cannot fail nor be changed. And even if you have to lose honor and goods, life and limb, you should not think that God is angry with you and has therefore rejected you, but you should expect other gifts from Him, which are much more glorious and better than eternal honor and a better life than this; as Job says in 13 Cap. V. 15. 16.: "Behold,
Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will reprove my ways before him, and he shall be my salvation."
157. Incidentally, the word: "Now I know" was interpreted by the Fathers in this place: Noscere te feci I have made thee know, that is, that thou mayest understand that thou fearest God; as St. Peter exhorts 2 Epist. 1, 10, that we should make our profession and election firm by good works. So when one has overcome a challenge, he is made more certain of God's help, and can now say, "This is a certain sign that God has helped me; for with my strength I could not have done such a thing. Thus, the fruits of the Spirit are called testimonies of faith, which make us certain of our calling and election.
158 Here one must also note the rule of the twofold knowledge of God, or of a twofold seeing of God. When it says in the Scriptures: "God saw," the teachers make two kinds of knowledge: one that is eternal and invisible, in that God saw all things before they were; the other, in that He sees the things that are present. God did not see the Virgin Mary before she was born, through this vision, so that He might behold the things that are already present, and yet He has seen them from eternity. Thus God saw all creatures before they were created; and since they are now created, it is also said of Him that He sees or recognizes them. In the same way God also speaks here: "Now I know", that is, now I experience it and see it in action, "that you fear God". Hence the difference that St. Augustine makes between the evening knowledge of the creatures in their nature and the morning knowledge from God's word and revelation.
For God's knowledge is in some respects similar to human knowledge and understanding: therefore I think that this way of speaking, "Now I have seen," is simple to understand, as in itself it is illogical; although I do not reject the interpretation of the Fathers, namely, that God speaks in a human way, as if He had only then seen and understood all such obedience.
recognized Abraham's piety and right fear.
- 160 For such descriptions, where the Scripture speaks of God as of a man, and assigns to him all that is human, are very sweet and comforting, namely, that he speaks kindly to us and of such things as men are wont to speak to one another, that he rejoices, deceives, and suffers as a man, for the sake of the mystery of the future humanity of Christ. For this cause we read and seek in the Old Testament, that we may see therein, as it was spoken of before, not only in word, but also with divers figures and works, that Christ should become man.
This is why we love this way of speaking, since in the Scriptures God is described in human form and gestures, as in the Psalms: "Lord, why are you sleeping? Ps. 44:24; item, Ps. 34:16: "The eyes of the Lord look upon the righteous"; item, Ps. 145:16: "You open Your hand," and what are more such pieces, which are transferred from men to God because of the weakness of our understanding. And we should gladly be satisfied with this image, by which God is, as it were, painted before us in Scripture, and let ourselves be satisfied with it, and beware of the forwardness of human reason and wisdom, which wants to search out the Majesty; for this is why it was proclaimed before that God should become man, so that we might have a certain way of recognizing and grasping God.
162 After this, one also tends to ask here: Whether Abraham became righteous through his works? as Jacobus discusses in his epistle Cap. 2, 21. 2, 21. Because the text says: "Now I know that you are righteous and fear God," St. Jacobus wants to conclude from this that he had not been righteous before. But it is easy to answer this, as the words themselves give and indicate the answer. For "to be righteous" is also, according to the grammar, something different than "to recognize one as righteous" or "to see that he is righteous.
163. Abraham was righteous by faith before he was declared righteous by God.
is. Therefore Jacob does not rightly conclude that he is now justified only after this obedience; for by works faith and righteousness are known as by the right fruits. But it does not follow, as Jacob foolishly concludes, that therefore the fruits make righteous; just as it does not follow: I know the tree by the fruits, therefore the tree is made good by the fruits.
For this reason, let the adversaries with their Jacobus, whom they so often reproach us with, leave us alone, and talk much useless rubbish about the righteousness of works; but they do not understand anything about it. Yes, the Sophists themselves also make a distinction between being in knowledge and being in reality. The righteous is not justified by being recognized for it, but when he has been justified by faith, as was said of Abraham in chapter 15, v. 6. V. 6, he is recognized as righteous by his fruits and works.
But in this place it must also be noted that this, which is praised of Abraham, that he feared, loved and honored God, is not said of faith alone, but of the whole service of God, of the tree with the fruit; for to fear God is called by the Hebrews as much as to honor God, or to serve God, to love and value God. Thus in the 14th Psalm, v. 5: "They fear, because there is no fear," since it does not speak of fear or terror, which the wicked do not feel, but of the worship of the wicked, and wants to say of their worship that they serve God, since one should not serve Him. "They have brand in their conscience," as St. Paul calls it 1 Tim. 4, v. 2. That is, they have a fictitious and false conscience, which is forced by force and is not natural nor righteous. As the pope does when he forbids marital status and meat eating. So the wicked always want to fear God, that is, to honor and serve Him, since there is no right worship.
166 Thus, when it is said Matth. 15, 9. from the prophet Isaiah Cap. 29, v. 13: "They serve me in vain, because they teach such doctrines, which are nothing but the commandment of men," is said as much as that they fear
me in vain. For the fear of God is the highest service of God in the holy scriptures. Therefore Jacob calls God the Lord fear and honor in Genesis 31, 42, and understands by it nothing else but the Godhead itself.
Thus the wicked want to be reverent and humble, walking quietly, hanging their heads and trembling with them like a reed; they want to be seen as being godly and pious above all others, but nevertheless fear and serve God in vain.
168. and this is a common plague and error throughout the whole world, that we fear God, serve Him and honor Him even to the devotion of angels, but all with a dense and burned conscience. As the priests of Baal suffered much that was hard and severe, for they stabbed themselves with knives and awls, so that the blood ran afterwards, 1 Kings 18:28; but they were self-chosen marks that they made for themselves, and not those of which St. Paul says Gal. 6:17: "I bear the marks of the Lord JEsu on my body" etc. Again, the wicked fear nothing, since one should fear God most of all; yes, they are quite insolent and bold to despise the right worship and to trample God's word under their feet.
Nowhere shall you fear God but in His word, as it is written in Exodus 20:3, 4: "Thou shalt not worship strange gods; thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or likeness. Where God reveals himself in his word, there serve him, there show him honor; then you will fear rightly, as one should fear.
For this reason, we trample underfoot the pope, cults and sects, and do not fear them, nor do they honor those who perform strange services outside of and against the Word of God, but on the other hand condemn the true religion and right doctrine, calling it heresy: therefore they fear when there is no fear, and when one should fear, they do not fear at all.
So Abraham performed the sacrifice with his son until now, although it was not completed, but was only a preparation for the sacrifice.
V.13 Then Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw a ram hanging behind him in the hedge with its horns; and he went and took the ram, and offered it for a burnt offering in his son's stead.
172. it is said above that we may think without sin, but with the fear of God, that the angel came with great majesty, with a wind and a flame of fire, and that Abraham was frightened and fell down on his face, or at least bowed his knees and inclined his ears, when the angel said, "Now I know that you fear God. But after he had forbidden him not to slay his son, the angel disappeared, leaving Abraham alone with his son. As they lift up their eyes and look around, they become aware of the ram behind them (it is the emphasis in the word "behind them"), which hangs with its horns on the tangled and jumbled hedge.
For the Hebrew word sebach actually means branches that weave in and out of one another and grow in disorder; the ram's horns were caught on such branches. Thus it is written in Ps. 74:5: "The axes are seen flashing above, as one hewing in a forest," etc. to indicate that the enemies raged and raged against the sanctuary in no other way than as a forest or bush is hewn down with axes, as if the temple and the sanctuary were a tangled and thick forest. Others have pretended that the hedge was a name of a special place, but it is not. The ram stood at the bottom of the mountain and was stopped in the hedge and bush.
But here one is used to ask: Where did this ram come from? The Jews say, he was created on the sixth day with other animals and was preserved by divine order up to the same time. We Christians know that with God creation and preservation is one thing. Who now knows l the power and authority of the Creator, will
Do not arrogantly argue about where the ram came from. Scotus disputes about where God will take the fire from at the last day, so that the world should be burned. But how can one pretend more foolish questions and thoughts? So those who want to be wise commit no small folly, but when they err, they err very grossly.
In order for us to say something about this question, we should know that the holy scriptures indicate that God, through the voice of an angel or servant, brings forth that which was not there before, or even increases that which is already there. Thus, at the word of Moses, who is a man, water flows out of the hard rock, Ex 17:6. Item, in the camp of the people of Israel quails are scattered from time to time, Ex 16:13. If God has one quail, He has a hundred thousand of them and countless. So he takes five loaves and feeds five thousand men with them, Joh. 6, 11.
If we believe that by God's power and authority all things are created from nothing, why should we not also believe that He can increase what is already there? Where does the snow and rain often come from so soon that now the sky is fine and clear, but soon in an instant, when it pleases God, He makes a rain or snow come down? In the 1st book of the kings at the 17th chapter V. 14. 22. Elia says to the widow of Sarepta: "The flour in the cad shall not be revered, and the oil jar shall not lack anything" etc. By this word the widow and her family are nourished during the whole time of the theurge; yes, also her son, who had died, is raised again.
177 Thus Elisha commanded his servant, saying to him, 2 Kings 4:43, "Give the people bread, that they may eat, and they shall be filled; and it shall be left according to the word of the Lord"; a hundred men were fed, and they were filled with twenty barley loaves; but how much more can angels do this? It is not impossible for God to bring forth a ram out of the hedge when an angel speaks, but by a proper power and authority; rather, how could he have done it if he had given his authority to the angels?
would have wanted to use without means? As when he does not let the fire in the furnace burn nor consume, but cools and refreshes.
178 Therefore I do not punish that one wanted to say that the angel brought the ram there, or else it was created by command of the angel at that time, which I rather want to believe. Nevertheless, it can be seen that the fathers must not have said this in vain, that the ram was prepared for this purpose from the beginning of the world; for they had the knowledge of the seed of the woman, namely of Christ, and understood that this ram was a figure of the same seed.
For the same was before creation, as St. Paul says to Titus Cap. 1, 2: "Which he that lieth not, God, promised before the times of the world. Christ was therefore ordained and appointed from eternity by divine providence to crush the head of the serpent, to become the sacrifice for the human race, to kill sin and make us alive again. But he waited until the appointed time of his revelation. This allegory and secret interpretation is good enough and I do not punish it.
180: When they saw the ram, however God had brought it, Abraham took it and offered it as a burnt offering in his son's place: Isaac was the servant and helped the father to perform the sacrifice, but the ram was a sign to assure Abraham that he should not offer his son Isaac, but this ram. So an outward sign is always given for the word. For he soon understood that the ram had been placed by God to be sacrificed, so that he would not have prepared and ordered the altar and other things he had prepared for sacrifice in vain.
V. 14: And Abraham called the place, The Lord seeth. Therefore it is still said today, "On the mountain where the Lord sees.
181 All those who have interpreted this text conclude that it should be read passively.
shall: In monte Dominus videbitur: On the mountain the Lord is seen. And I do not doubt that Jerome would have given it in Latin at the beginning, but that it was changed out of the error and lack of understanding of a clever person or a scribe, who thought that the following words had to agree with the previous one. But above it was said of the mountain or rather of the land of Moriah, which was a special place, appointed for the glory and service of God, where the fathers sacrificed.
182 However, I will now rather follow the opinion of Burgensis, who is experienced in the Hebrew language and skilled in interpreting the Scriptures. For he considers that one should read here: In monte Dominus videbit: On the mountain, where the Lord will look; and gives this reason for the fact that Abraham, when he asked his son where the sheep for the burnt offering was, answered: "God will provide it for him, my son," that is, he will provide it. As if to say, "We may not know, but he knows where we are to get the sheep for the burnt offering; let him see to it.
183) I cannot punish this understanding, because the Lord has seen, that is, he has provided that this word, which Abraham had said to his son, "The Lord will provide," would be fulfilled; therefore this name was given to the mountain, "The Lord will see," as if to say, "The Lord sees and has respect for this place. This interpretation refers to the mountain Moriah, on which the service was held. And at the same time the name "The Lord sees" points to those who are on the mountain and serve God there. For God also looks at them and hears them.
Therefore, this mountain, which was honored from ancient times by the fathers, who worshiped on it, as stated above, is now also sanctified by God Himself, who looked upon and respected this place and sanctified those who came there to worship and serve God.
185 So that this name of the mountain is full of
It contains and describes the relationship of those who fear God, call upon Him and give thanks to Him, to God, who accepts such and answers the prayers: the relationship of the worshippers to the worshipped. And even though this place had been ordained for worship before, Abraham is now fully assured that God is present there, directing His eyes and ears toward all those who serve and worship Him in this place.
Although it is better to read it this way, as the Hebrews would have it, "The Lord is seen," the word has been changed by usage from a passive to an active one, so that it would be indicated that God was present there and that He was watching over those who served Him there. Thus, in chapter 28, when Jacob went to Mesopotamia, he saw a ladder in a dream at night, and the angels of God ascending and descending on it, he said, v. 16 ff: "This must be a holy place, for surely God dwells here, and is the gate of heaven.
So this mountain, "the Lord will see," has been kept holy by all descendants, and the fathers, out of special devotion and reverence, made it a service, so that whoever wanted to see God should come there; for there God not only wanted to appear and be seen, but also wanted to see there Himself. As if they wanted to say: This mountain should now be called the Appearance of the Lord; for God sees there, appears, lets himself be seen and heard, shows himself in his word, so that he hears the prayer and otherwise shows himself there with all other rich benefits. And this is called drawing and directing the words to a foreign interpretation, but it is not done to harm, but rather to comfort.
188. but because he does not see alone, and look upon this place, of which we have not enough, but also lets himself be seen, and appears to us, it follows that the Lord is seen, since before alone it was said, "The
The Lord will see. And I hold that this mountain was the place where God reported through His servants; and did Rebekah afterwards ask counsel of this Lord, of whom it is said here that He sees, that is, she asked counsel of the patriarch Shem, who was a priest of the Lord, and who undoubtedly taught and preached in the same place.
B. 15. 16. And the angel of the Lord called Abraham again from heaven, saying.
This is now the last conversation that the Lord had with Abraham, and with it the history of Abraham will come to an end. But here I want to admonish again, as I have often done, that in the holy Scriptures and the histories described therein, one should pay attention primarily to the Word and God's sermons, which one does not hear in the silent legends of the saints, but the holy Scriptures alone have such appearances of the Lord.
190. But how great and glorious an honor is this to Abraham, that he converses so often with God! For we find that God spoke with him eight times. In our legends, as they are written of our churches, there is nothing of the kind: and this is a perverse way of all men, that they wonder more at works than at the word of God, which accomplishes all wonderful and difficult works. And yet we gape at the works alone, but we consider the word of God to be the word of men, since no difference is seen between the word of a man and the word of God spoken by men, and it is one voice, one sound and pronunciation, whether you speak divine or human words. Therefore we fall away from the majesty of the word, and pay no attention to what is written here: "The Lord is seen," and ask nothing about the appearance of God, but despise that God speaks to us, and meanwhile think much of the Carthusian and other strict orders' abominable works.
191. . Therefore, first and foremost, one should look at God's word and consider it: and although One performs all kinds of miracles, He does not do them.
If a false prophet or dreamer could do works, even raise the dead, he should be dismissed immediately if he comes without God's word; all the apostles and prophets have diligently admonished us to do this, and Genesis Deut. 13:9, 10 says that a false prophet or dreamer should be strangled, "for he has sought to deceive you," he says, "from the Lord your God.
We should also let ourselves be moved by our own danger and become wise through our own harm; for with such miraculous works, since there was no word of God, the pope has confirmed his tyranny, which he exercised in the church. As they have invented a lie about Pope Sixtus, that when he once came into danger on the sea, he commanded the sea and said: If I am the governor of Christ, let the stormy sea cease and be still; and immediately it became still.
193 With such a miraculous work they wanted to prove that the pope was a governor of Christ. As they have done with many other miracles, which either really happened or were false and fictitious: item, with special spirituality and devotion, with fasting, vigils and arduous work of the monks, they have made a pretense to the poor, ignorant people and have shamefully deceived them.
We should know and remember this, and should also diligently impress it upon our youth, so that they may learn to beware of such abominable works and to be enemies of them, and on the other hand to love and esteem God's Word; for it is above all things, and creates all things, as the dear beautiful sun, our body and soul, and all that the world has.
What is it, then, that we praise the works so highly, however exquisite they may seem? We should rather wonder about the creator and founder of the works, and first of all be sure whether the miraculous works that are praised in this way were done by God's word or not.
196. But then the papists say: How do you do that?
could these works be done if it were not God's will? It is true that God wills it and thus decrees that such works must be done as a punishment, so that people despise God's word and become weary of it; as St. Paul says in 2 Thess. 2:10, 11: "For not having received the love of the truth, that they might be saved; therefore God will send them strong errors, so that they will believe the lie."
197 Therefore, the pope should first of all prove from God's word that Pope Sixtus is a governor of Christ. Yes, they say, it is written in Matth. 16, 18: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. It is rightly said, but with the same words Christ wants Peter to confess and preach the word, and not to be a tyrant who weighs down the poor consciences with the statutes of men, not to extinguish the knowledge of Christ; for this is not to be a governor of Christ, but a true antichrist. If Sixtus, or whoever else it might be, raised the dead, I would spit in his face and say that he was not driven by the Holy One, but by the unclean spirit, so that he would not represent the word of God in his works.
Therefore we set the word against the works, as they, the papists, in turn set the works against the word. And they have the advantage that people are always more moved by the outward appearance and splendor of works than by God's word; but we act and speak of these histories so diligently, so that one may consider what is most noble in them. But they do not see this, but say that Abraham was a common layman, that he had his household, that he wandered about the country like a poor beggar, but they do not see that he was full of patience, humility and love; much less do they pay attention to the words that God speaks to him. But if it were said of him that he wore strange, unusual and peculiar clothes, that he fasted, and that he made special devotional gestures, then they would burst and praise him. But because he had a wife, children, and grandchildren, they would
and had cattle, they say that he is a carnal man. But we will always let them go with their tremendous works, and on the other hand we will certainly believe that God's word is all in all. And if you believe this, you will not lack great and wonderful works; but they will still be such works as have no standing before the wicked and will not be recognized or respected by the world.
We have accomplished many great things through the word and prayer, and with prayer we still maintain peace, and with it we prevent and ward off all evil intentions and cunning plots of our adversaries. Only Christians who have the Holy Spirit, and who highly and grea6tly esteem the proper spiritual and miraculous works, such as Holy Baptism, the Lord's Supper, absolution, and that each one be diligent in his profession, obedient to parents and authorities, all of which works the papists despise, because they are common, unsightly and daily works.
Fourth Part.
About the oath that God made to Abraham.
V. 16 I have sworn by myself, says the Lord.
God, the high majesty, does not promise everything, but also swears by himself, as the words show. If there were a greater and higher one than he is, he would gladly swear by him; but since he does not have him, he swears by himself. Our people have this way, that they swear by their loyalty and faith, yes, by their soul, which is not an easy oath; although, if you want to look at people, it seems to be a small thing, because they are loose and lying: but in truth it is nothing less than swearing by God himself.
201. as Christ interprets it Matth. 5, 34. 35. 36: "But I say to you that you should not swear to anything, neither by heaven nor by earth.
mel, for it is God's chair; nor by the earth" etc. "Nor shall you swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black"; much less shall you swear by your soul. Cause that the oath, which one makes by the hair, by heaven or earth etc., happens by the creature of God, that is, by that which is not ours or also not in our power. Therefore, such swearing involves God Himself, although the name of God is not expressed. So also, as often as it is said in the Holy Scriptures: "As my soul lives," it is an oath that has been taken by God, which creature is the soul.
Now there is a great and wonderful thing, which the master of the epistle to the Hebrews also saw and diligently considered in this place, namely, that God swears by Himself, Heb. 6:13; for it is a sign of such a lifting up, which burns altogether with great, inexpressible love and desire for our blessedness. As if God wanted to say: I desire so much and have such a great desire that one should believe my words, that I not only promise, but also put myself as a pledge: I have nothing greater that I want to put as a pledge, because there is nothing greater than I am myself. As truly as I am God, where I do not keep my promise, I will no longer be who I am.
This is truly a great thing, one would like to be astonished by it, and it is well worth paying attention to it diligently. For divine truth wants to indicate and say with it: You, man, are unstable, strange-minded and fickle, therefore I will take a constant and certain oath to my promise, and thus testify that I would rather not be God than to be lacking in you.
If only he had sworn with these words, saying, "I will destroy heaven and earth, the sun, the moon, and the beautiful, glorious buildings of the whole world, before I let my promise be in vain," then it would truly be a great thing, which would not be less astonishing. But he adds something even more important and sacred, and says thus:
I, who am God, who have power to break down or create heaven and earth, swear and pledge not a creature, not heaven and earth, but myself, who am the Creator of all things.
This oath, which is so holy, will condemn all unbelievers, just as it miraculously awakened and increased the faith of the holy fathers. For they thought: God promised us life, salvation from death and the devil, and swore by Himself that this is our light and right, Ex 28:32. If we do not believe Him because of this, we must be condemned.
Therefore let us also learn that God makes His promise so rich and abundant that it is also above all our thoughts and faith; for He increases and confirms them by His majesty, so that we have no cause for doubt or unbelief. That is to say, to let ourselves be brought down rightly, and to be wholly conformed to our weakness. We should have enough of him, if he would only lift a finger to show his fatherly kindness toward us: but now he holds out his word to us, and not only promises us, but also swears and curses himself, as it were, if we should speak so, that he may bring us his blessing.
Here, however, the disputation of the disposition and other such things, which are full of danger and ruin, should do to my eyes. For they inquire after God's will and His secret counsel outside the Word, and refrain from inquiring and pondering too forwardly why God has revealed Himself in this or that way; why, then, He carefully stops and pursues us, so that we may believe Him. For we know how Adam was so presumptuous as to seek God outside the Word in Paradise, just as Satan did in Heaven; and both found Him, but not without great ruinous harm.
Therefore let us learn that God is not to be grasped according to our reason, but as He has revealed Himself and humbled Himself to speak to us and to act with us in a human way. Yes,
We are to accept the divine majesty with joy, which so humbly lets itself down and shows itself towards us that it not only lures and brings us to itself with promise, but also compels us with the oath, which it does, to accept what God lets us offer in his word.
209 And this same doctrine is very finely interpreted in the epistle to the Hebrews in chapter 6, vv. 16, 17, 18. V. 16, 17, 18: "Men swear by a greater than they are, and the oath puts an end to all strife, so that it remains firm among them. But God, wishing to prove abundantly to the heirs of the promise that His counsel did not waver, made an oath to that effect, that by two pieces which do not waver (for it is impossible for God to lie) we might have strong consolation, who have refuge, and hold fast to the hope offered" etc. Now what could be said or thought more certain or more constant to increase and strengthen our faith? And what else do we do with our unbelief or doubt, except to prove God false in His promise and oath, which He has made to this end?
But how many are there who consider this atrocious blasphemy, which, alas, is far too common, and by nature is in the hearts of all men? For people either despise God's word and promise with great certainty, are enemies of it, or when they hear about it, they say that they still doubt it and cannot know whether God is merciful, whether he takes care of and hears those who call upon him, especially the unworthy and poor sinners.
Where a heart is thus in doubt, it can be moved and provoked to blasphemy and despair in an instant. This is why St. Paul so often exhorts us to learn to know God's gracious will toward us with certainty and firmness, so that our consciences may be assured and strengthened against all doubt and disbelief.
212 And for this reason the teaching of the pope is all the more abominable and cursed, because he not only despises all this, but also
blasphemous for it and teaches that one should doubt, that is, he publicly says that God is a liar, although he promises us his grace, swears, puts his majesty as a pledge and curses himself.
But how much evil there is in unchristian and blasphemous doctrine, is proven by the outward sins, such as avarice, fornication, and all kinds of other sins and disgraces, which come like evil fruit from an evil tree, and spring from a blasphemous heart, which does not consider God to be truthful in promising the same, or commanding, or threatening those who transgress His commandments.
Therefore, the epistle to the Hebrews reminds us diligently that God's counsel does not waver and His promise is certain, lest we think or think of God as unstable or lying. So also St. Paul says to Titus in 1 Cap. V. 2: "God who does not lie." Yes, you say, to what purpose is it that one so diligently exhorts about this thing? for who could say that God should lie?
Do not the pope, Turks and Jews also believe that God is true, just, wise and good? But since they say this most of all, they most of all consider God to be lying, unjust and unwise; for they have no other knowledge of God than only a philosophical or natural knowledge, namely, that God is such a being, separated from the creatures, as Aristotle says, which is true and inwardly observes the creatures within itself. But what does that matter to us? So the devil also recognizes God, and knows that he is true; but when theology and holy scripture teach about the knowledge of God, then God must be recognized and grasped not as he remains inwardly with himself, but as he comes to us from without, namely, that we take it for granted that he is our God.
The first Aristotelian or philosophical God is the God of the Jews, Turks and Papists; but he does not concern us, but the God whom the holy Scriptures show us is our God, because he gives us his appearance, light and right and speaks with us.
For this reason, it is to be pitied that we do not believe in this God, who has revealed Himself to us with word and sign. For this blasphemy is in our flesh and blood, so that we think and say: I do not know, I still doubt whether God will take such great care of me as he has taken in his word. But what is this other thing held or said, but that God is a liar?
If fornication, covetousness and other such sins were more prevalent in us alone, God would not be angry with us; but this root and origin of all unhappiness, unbelief, he is hostile to and punishes horribly. In the holy scriptures, many kings are praised because of all kinds of high gifts and virtues that they had in themselves, such as that they were able to abstain from being temperate, sedate, kind, benevolent, etc., in which, if need be, a well-bred man can prove himself; but yet the Scripture complains of them, that they have done evil in the sight of the Lord, that is, have despised that God who speaks and gives promise, and have worshipped calves and idols, as Jeroboam and others have done.
For the human heart is so wicked and perverse that it accepts foreign gods much more easily and with greater desire than it should consider this God, who has revealed Himself to us through promise and signs, to be true. For is this not an exuberant, abundant blessing of God, that he has redeemed us through his Son? But how difficult it is for us to believe this can be seen when there is danger with pestilence, drought, misery and other punishments, when we come into such fear and terror, completely without all confidence, as if we had no hope and promise at all.
But what is the cause? It is precisely this, that because of original sin we are naturally afflicted with this great affliction; because of this our heart always rebels against the divine promises and thus grumbles against them: God lies, and what he swears about is not true. But if we could firmly believe that God would keep His promise, and His oath, so that He would make His divinity known to us, would be true, then we would not be able to believe it.
If it were certain and certain that the God who pledged his life and gave his Son as a sign, we would consider death, poverty, shame and hell to be the same as life, riches, honor and heaven, as there is no difference between them in the sight of God. But since this does not happen, it is a certain sign of our unbelief and mistrust.
For this reason the papists, Turks and Jews believe nothing at all, nor do they understand what sin, mercy, justice, truth and grace are, but these things are all mysteries to them, and yet they want to be thought wise. And they are wise men too, but in their own way, namely in philosophy, but not in the kingdom of heaven; for they understand nothing at all of these spiritual things, but despise them. And how could they ask much about such things or have much desire to do so, if we, who want to be Christians, find this terrible misery in ourselves, that we do not rejoice in our spirit every moment of the unspeakable grace and mercy of God towards us, do not mock and despise death, the world and devils?
This is to praise and extol the wonderful patience and grace of God, who not only forgives our former sins, but also the sins we commit daily, and who can tolerate and endure this common contempt of His grace with such great, heartfelt longsuffering.
223. we have the commandment of Christ, with attached promise and threat at the same time, Matth. 10, 32: "Whoever confesses me before men, him will I confess before my heavenly Father", item v. 38: "Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me"; and Joh. 12, 25. 26: "Whoever hates his life in this world for my sake will receive eternal life. He that will serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also" etc. Those who are not moved by such words of Christ, but prefer the welfare of their bodies and the goods of this world to the confession of Christ, truly believe nothing else, except that God is not truthful with His promises and threats.
224 How often is it repeated in the Psalms: "Harp on the Lord, be confident and undaunted, and wait on the Lord," Psalm 27:14. Item in Psalm 31:24-25: "Love the Lord, all his saints. The Lord guards the faithful, and gives ample recompense to the proud. Be of good courage, all ye that wait for the Lord. We know all this and it is held up to us daily, and yet we do not believe it and do not follow God, who calls us to confess His word and promises us help and salvation. Now we must not think that God is pleased with such doubt and mistrust that is found in us. Yes, among all sins this is the most serious, which will condemn the world and unbelievers. For one can understand the greatness of such sin from the greatness of the promise, the divine oath, and that God Himself pledges and obligates Himself against us, yes, even curses Himself.
For this reason, whoever has even a small drop or spark of such spiritual confidence should know that it is a blessing from God and a special gift. For if we could sincerely and undoubtedly believe such promises, we would find much more courage and joyful spirit within us than to be afraid of the world, the devil, or even all the gates of hell.
For this reason, this teaching is so often used, that we should awaken our hearts and one day begin to learn, at least with the ABC children in school; for we will never become doctors and masters in this wisdom. Would to God that we were only disciples of Christ! After that, we also mean that the Holy Scriptures teach other and much higher things than the arts and books of the philosophers, who know nothing at all of the great grace and truth of God, nor do they understand how great the sin is, by which God is accused by all men of being deceitful; for they know nothing of the promises that we have of God's grace.
Therefore, when God swears an oath, these words should be considered with diligence. God admonishes us as a gracious father,
tempts and drives us as he only can, promises, swears, puts himself as a pledge, that he also curses himself, if one wants to say so, only for the reason that we should only believe him.
But all the saints have had much trouble and challenge over such doubt and unbelief, and St. Paul does not say in vain Titus 1:2: "God who does not lie. Perhaps he himself was also challenged with this, and was in a struggle with the doubt of divine grace and truth. As if he wanted to say: God has promised it, but the world does not want to believe it: yes, it is also difficult for me to overcome unbelief and mistrust. For he will undoubtedly have added this part, that he says: "God who does not lie," with great displeasure to himself.
229 So we should also recognize our sorrow and weakness. For since we are content with the first fruits we have received to some extent, and do not desire to accept and continue, we are quite lazy and sluggish in prayer, confession and thanksgiving, and do not believe that the oath God has sworn is true, but still doubt it in many parts, and also in many parts believe God to be lying to us and not wanting to keep what He has promised.
Therefore, we should not justify ourselves if God would enter into judgment with us, but should humble ourselves in faith and recognize our sin, be sorry that such old hags and other such terrible sins still cling to us, that we make God a liar in what we encounter, and cry out to Him: "God, be merciful to me according to Your great goodness" 2c, Ps. 51, 3. and as we say in the Our Father: "Forgive us our debts" etc., Matth. 6, 12.
But if we are proud and hopeful because of our righteousness, and despise our brethren who are still weak, it is certain that we understand nothing of this doctrine; as the Pharisee, Luc. 7:39, despises and condemns the poor woman who was a sinner; but Christ again reproaches him: Dear companion, recognize
yourself: you do not believe me, since I take an oath and pledge my majesty to you; this is the supreme sin, you do not consider me your God, but make an idol for yourself out of your own righteousness.
Then our faith will be perfect, when death and life, honor and dishonor, fortune and misfortune will be equal to us; which we will not attain by speculation and certain thought, but will have to learn in challenge and invocation. For one does not dispute here about the words, "God is the truth," but about things, as it is said, "God does not lie," since he swears and promises us the highest goods, namely, life, salvation, from sins and hell: says this to each one of us so firmly and surely, and says, "You man shall surely live, or I myself will not live; hell is conquered and destroyed for you, or I myself would rather go out, and cease to be a God. Yea, that thou mayest not doubt, thou hast also my Son, whom I have given thee.
Believing such great and rich promises and expecting these goods from God with firm trust is the right faith, and God wants our hearts to be awakened to such trust not only by the examples of Abraham and other holy fathers, nor by promise alone, but also by the fact that He gave His only Son for us, that He should be the gift and pledge of such heavenly goods.
234 If we now hold the doctrine of the Jews and the papists, we find in both of them abominable darkness and error, for they teach nothing at all about these things. What is faith for? say the papists; one must do good works. But the poor foolish people know nothing at all of the power and nature of faith, but as much as the paper understands of these five letters, "faith," so much do they understand of it. The paper holds these five letters before the eyes of those who read it; so they know nothing more about faith. They think it is a vain thought or only a realization, as the devils also think.
But they do not know that this is faith, where one believes God's promise, which He confirms with the oath, and considers it to be true. They understand that there is a God, as do the devils; but we do not have enough of that, indeed, it does not concern us in the first place, for it is outside of us.
But true faith concludes thus: God is a God to me, for He speaks to me, forgives my sin and is not angry with me; as He promises: "I am the Lord your God," Ex 20:2. Now search and ask your heart: Do you also believe that God is your God, your Father, Redeemer and Savior, who wants to save you from your sins and from death? And if you feel that you still waver or doubt, seek how you may be rid of such doubt through daily and diligent practice of the Word of God. Thus we should strengthen and equip ourselves against the doubts of the papists, and learn that this is the only and most pleasant service of God, if we believe and trust in our God, who swears so highly.
But nowhere else in the Scriptures does it say that God swore, except in this one place. From this then all this flowed, as is said in the 110th Psalm v. 4. and in the 132nd Psalm v. 11. about the oath that happened to David. For just as the promise of the seed of Abraham came from the seed of David, so the holy scripture transfers the oath given to Abraham to the person of David.
237 And David did not accept this oath other than as if it had been given to him himself, as he gloriously and highly praises in the 110th Psalm, where he speaks of his Lord. For he studied the Scriptures diligently, and when he found the promise of the seed and fruit of his body, he drew from this text many things masterly and godly, and appropriated them to himself. For he thus thought: God swore to Abraham in the promise of the seed; the same oath undoubtedly also concerns me. And that is why he repeated it so often and knows how to comfort himself with it so powerfully: as in the 89th Psalm v. 36 and the 132nd Psalm v. 11.
But why this? Because I am certain, through the promise made to me, that the seed of Abraham, which came through so many fathers, has also come into my tribe and lineage, into my person and body; what therefore was said or promised to Abraham must by all rights also come to me. This was truly a great honor and dignity, which undoubtedly inflated his heart a little. This is why humiliation follows, since he fell into the abominable and shameful sin, so that he would not exalt himself too much and become too proud.
239 And since the blessing is then placed on Abraham's seed, he further concluded that this blessing must be placed on him and his seed. The seed of Abraham, he said, is now my seed; the Messiah will be my son and my Lord, and I am the man to whom the promise adheres, as it adhered to the person of Abraham. And Matthew has seen this when he says Cap. 1, 1: "He is the son of David, the son of Abraham" etc. But the blessing belongs to the priests and not to the kings, as in Cap. 14, v. 19. V. 19 Melchizedek blesses Abraham. But my seed, says David, is a son of the king, and yet he is the one who gives the blessing; therefore he will be both king and priest.
(240) In this way David considered this oath, unfolded it and acted upon it by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, so that he did not doubt, even gloriously boasted, that the Messiah, his son, would be a king, as if he were also born of a king, and yet would also bless and therefore also be a priest.
241. but because David was not born of the priestly or Levitical tribe, he thought why God would not have taken the blessing from the seed of Levi, namely, for such counsel and concern that he thereby indicated that the Levitical priesthood should be abolished, but that this priest's, the Messiah's, priesthood should be an eternal and unchangeable priesthood; because
The blessing promised to Abraham is also eternal. From this he concluded that he was a priest after the order of Melchizedek, whose end and beginning no one knew.
242 Thus not only the master of the epistle, the Hebrews, but also the fathers and prophets saw and marveled at the great abundant grace and mercy of God, who poured Himself out completely through His promise, and the oath He took to that end. For this reason they considered this text with the greatest diligence, and therefore the beautiful psalms came to David, and this oath is also praised with great joy by the saints in the New Testament. For thus Zacharias sings Luc. 1, 72. 73.: "That he may remember the oath which he swore to our father Abraham to give us." So the Virgin Mary says Luc. 1, 55.: "As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever."
Fifth part.
The promise given above in the 12th and 15th chapters is repeated and explained here.
V. 16-18. Because thou hast done these things, and hast not spared thy only begotten Son, that I would bless thy seed, and multiply it as the stars of heaven, and as the sand upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies; and by thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed: because thou hast hearkened unto my voice.
From this text, as from a full well, sprang many prophecies and sermons of Isaiah, David and St. Paul. They agree with the previous promises, which are written in the 12th chapter above. V. 3: "In you shall all the families of the earth be blessed"; item Cap. 15, 5: "Look up to heaven and count the stars, can you count them? So shall thy seed be." But this promise here is somewhat clearer and more explicit.
244. above God said: "in you", Abraham, "shall all the families of the earth
be blessed." There the seed is also understood, but is not clearly expressed; but in this place it is clearly said: "in your seed. The same seed is explained by St. Paul in Gal. 3, 16, and interpreted by the Lord Christ against the insane dreams of the Jews.
245] After this, "all nations" are also mentioned here; therefore this promise also concerns us Gentiles and all those who will hear and accept it at all times, and not the Jews alone. The promise may not have been made to us, since the Jews have precedence over us, but we are nevertheless the persons of whom God speaks. The first person is God, who speaks; the second is Abraham; the third is we Gentiles: therefore we should hold this text in honor and love it dearly. For where the words would thus read: -In thy seed shall thy people be blessed, then we would be excluded there; but because the promise speaks of "all nations" and of us, we have truly to rejoice in this blessing most highly.
246 And truly these words are worthy to be painted and written with great letters of gold, and to be always before our eyes and in our hearts. For this is our glory from the blessing through the seed of Abraham, whom we praise and extol no less than the Jews.
God has not spoken to us, nor sworn to us, but he has spoken to us, and there is only a difference of persons, for the Jews are the other person, and we are the third. But the first person, who is God, who speaks, speaks to both persons, and wants that first the Jews and then also the Greeks (as St. Paul used to speak, Ap. Hist. 13, 46, and lets the Jews keep their preference and advantage) believe and make use of all the goods, which the Son of Abraham brings with him, namely Christ Jesus, who is the salvation and blessing of all nations.
248 Finally, it is certain that we will dwell in one place on earth and possess it, just as the Jews possessed their land.
because in the text it is added: "all nations on earth". For this reason, we must also partake of this blessing for the sake of such a cause.
The word "bless" is to be remembered diligently. For in Hebrew it is a different word than that which stands above in the 12th chapter. But the peculiar meaning of this word must be gathered from the conjugations of the Hebrews, which give different meanings to the time words. In the first conjugation we find the so-called verba neutralia or absoluta: as, I run; or when I say, I teach, I bless, without adding another word that is governed by this one, so that here the action does not pass to another object; for here I do not say, Deum benedicere hominem, God bless man, or the like. But these same verba are constructed in the other conjugation with the accusative, as: He teaches rhetoric; he has blessed man. Here the act of blessing passes to another. The third conjugation is the transitive one, which occurs very often in sacred scripture, as when I say in Latin: doctifico, amatifico, that is, I make you teach, I make you love. So also benedictifico, that is, I make thee blessed. And this meaning is peculiar to God alone; for He alone makes wise, that is, gives the same goods, although the same can also be attributed to men, as: Moses doctificat populum, that is, Moses makes Aaron teach the people, that the people may learn. The fourth order and conjugation is in verbs describing an action that does not pass to another, but refers back to the one who does something; as, benedico me ipsum, I bless myself; although the pronoun reciprocum is not added, but the property of the word already includes in itself this meaning, that the action comes to myself. The Germans and the Latins add the pronoun, the pronoun, because they do not have such words. The verba called inchoativa are somewhat similar to them, but not throughout, as, calesco, to become warm. So here belong the verba transitiva re-
ciproca, or reflexiva actionis, as the grammarians call it, as, in Domino Domino laudabit seipsam anima mea, that is, I rejoice and exalt myself, or my soul boasts, that is, it exalts itself very high, it esteems itself more worthy and higher than heaven and earth, but in the Lord. For it actually means when someone does by someone else's strength what he cannot do by his own strength. We give it passively: In Domino laudabitur anima mea: In the Lord my soul will be praised. Item: "The nations shall be blessed." It is God who blesses, but Christ is the seed through whom He blesses, through whom they are blessed or bless themselves, that is, the blessing of God will come upon the nations through Christ, who gives the blessing when they will appropriate it in faith, saying, I am blessed, not in myself, but in your seed. As when I say, I praise and glorify myself, but in the sour: I boast of a strange honor and power, as St. Paul says Gal. 2:20: "But I live; yet now not I, but Christ liveth in me"; I am proud and hopeful from my blessedness and forgiveness of sin, but by what? by a strange honor and hope, that is, of the Lord Christ.
And Moses also uses this word in Deut. 29, when he encounters the certainty and hypocrisy of the wicked after he has recounted the benefits and confirmation of the divine covenant, and v. 19 thus says: "Even though he hears the words of this curse, yet he blesses himself in his heart and says: It will not be so evil, I will walk as my heart thinks fit" etc. This much is said: The wicked will not be moved by promise or threat, but will say: It may be God or Moses cursing, what is it to me? I bless and comfort myself. So also Jeremiah 9:23, 24: "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, let not a strong man boast of his strength, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him that will boast, boast that he knoweth and knoweth me" etc. Here is a reciprocal meaning in all the pieces. He who praises himself that he is wise, strong, rich, let him praise himself that he knows me.
He does not praise himself in wisdom, strength and riches, but praises himself in the Lord. In German we add the pronoun: he feeds, bites, eats himself, which the Hebrew word includes in its kind. So one could say after the Hebrew language kind for this: "In you will be blessed" etc., also well: In your seed all nations will bless themselves.
For this reason I wanted to indicate that those who want to study the Holy Scriptures should learn the Hebrew language, so that they can also refute the lies of the rabbis from the grammar. For there is a great danger that they might suppress and falsify the holy Bible with their glosses. But I have said in another place that there is a double blessing: one with words, that one praises and glorifies; of this blessing the Jews understand this place, because they only look at such a blessing, which happens with words. The other blessing is done with deed, which is a right divine blessing. For where God speaks the blessing, the deed follows, or that which is spoken in the blessing; as Ps. 148, 5. says: "He gives, and it is created"; and above in 1. cap. V. 3.: "God said, let there be light, and there was light." He is such a God who blesses with deed, and His word is the true deed itself, and His blessing is nothing else, but that He does good abundantly and abundantly, both bodily and spiritual.
252 But actually blessing means a multiplication; as the angel says to Hagar Gen. 16, 10: "I will multiply your seed"; and of Ishmael Cap. 17, 20: "I have blessed him, I will make him fruitful and multiply him almost greatly" etc. And this is not a blessing in words alone, but is also the true deed; although it is bodily, namely, that Ishmael shall beget twelve princes. Hence it comes that often in the holy scripture it is read: "These are the children, so that God has blessed me", Gen. 48, 9.
253. the Jews understand this text only of the blessing with words, namely, that all the
The people will praise the Jewish people, marvel at them and praise their blessings. Which I therefore declare, that none of the rabbis' glosses may be disputed. For they interpret these words thus: The seed of Abraham shall be blessed, that is, it shall be abundantly multiplied with all things, so that all nations shall marvel at it, and bless it, and rejoice in it, that they also may be partakers of this blessing and fellows.
Thus they exalt themselves above the Gentiles and want to be above them only for the sake of bodily blessing. But if you look at the histories, you will find that the Gentiles, as the Assyrians and Persians, were much higher and mightier than the Jews, for they had the rule over the whole world.
Therefore, by this blessing the Gentiles are not subjected to the Jews as servants, and it would be more fitting to call this a curse than a blessing, if the Gentiles had no other glory or honor than that the Jews should rule over them with such pride. Yes, the Gentiles have been lords over the Jews, have burdened them with heavy servitude and have had power over them; therefore, through this blessing, other goods must be given, namely, heavenly and eternal goods, of which the Gentiles enjoy at the same time as the Jews, and thus the Gentiles are promised the right and divine blessing, not that they are subject to others and burdened with servitude, as the Jews dream.
(256) Burgensis also speaks of this well and Christianly, namely, that here it is not spoken of human blessings, or, as we said above, of blessings with words, but of divine blessings, that is, of divine benefits and of the riches of heavenly goods; for which goods the Gentiles will praise and glory in themselves, but in the seed that is forbidden to give. Such understanding is right and actually belongs to this, since St. Paul also interprets this in such a way that the Gentiles will praise themselves highly and declare themselves blessed, as they are lords over heaven and earth; as he says in Eph. 1:3: "Praised be the Lord of all things.
God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual goods through Christ" etc.
257 And such a mind will undoubtedly be accepted by the more reasonable Jews, who at least believe in a resurrection of the dead. For since their fathers did not receive the promise of bodily goods, they will have to admit to us of necessity that this promise is to be understood of some other blessing than this poor and miserable life, in which otherwise the wicked are richer and have more happiness than the pious.
258 Now that we have explained the power and quality of the word "bless," let this also be considered, that it is written, "in thy seed. All nations will bless themselves and hopefully boast that they are blessed, blessed and showered with all spiritual gifts. But how will they boast? Will they boast in themselves? No, but they will boast of the victory and conquest of death, that sin has been blotted out and done away with, and that eternal life has been given to them, not because of their merit and righteousness, but in your seed. And the poor sinners will not boast of it, or dwell on it, that they are praiseworthy and righteous in themselves, but will boast that they have been sanctified, redeemed, and washed in the blood of Christ, and transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.
The Jews, on the other hand, want to be proud and hopeful because of their wisdom, strength, power and great riches. This, however, does not entail the promise of this blessing, but teaches that one should boast in the Lord, as Jeremiah does in the 9th chapter. V. 24, against the inherent hope of the Jews, which has been felt in them for and for, also urges this very sharply.
We also reject and repudiate the false confidence of our saints of works, which they have in their monastic vows, Carthusian and Franciscan monks in their caps. For even the greatest saints, be it Paul or Peter, do not have to boast of their works when they
had already raised the dead: as St. Paul Phil. 3, 4. ff. does not exalt himself at all because of his Pharisaic righteousness and other gifts, so that he also counts it all as damage against the exuberant knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord.
Therefore, all glory is excluded by these words, which were given as a promise: "in your seed"; for the seed takes away all other blessings and glory of its own righteousness, that is, that which comes through faith in Christ, and is imputed by God to faith, Phil 3:9. Therefore, says God, all nations will bless themselves in none other than your seed, for in it are all the treasures of wisdom, righteousness and holiness, and whatever will be praiseworthy and glorious among them, they will have entirely through this seed. As St. Paul says 1 Cor. 1, 30. 31.: "Who is made unto us of God unto wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; so that, as it is written, He that boasteth, let him boast of the Lord"; who is our life, salvation and peace, Joh. 11, 25.: "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
Abraham was adorned with many beautiful and glorious virtues and gifts, which he should have recognized and praised. But he has no glory before God, for all his virtues have been stripped of their glory. How much more should we judge other saints in this way, no matter how much merit they have, be it the meritum congrui ober condigni (be it that God should reward them according to their due or according to equity). For God blesses Abraham in this seed alone, and wants us to be blessed and also to bless ourselves in this seed, that is, we should boast of it and consider it certain that this seed is ours and belongs to us with all its goods and heavenly treasures.
Burgensis, who was converted from Judaism to the Christian faith, also saw this, when he says: The word "bless" understands in itself the author of blessing,
that is, not the Gentiles, but the seed of Abraham, that he is the main cause of the blessing. Yes, he not only gives such blessing, but is the blessing itself; for from him and in him we are the blessed and the anointed, and each one can boast of it in particular and say: Christ is my true blessing, my anointing, life and salvation, because I cling to him through faith. And I am called blessed by such a Lord of blessing, and I also call myself so.
So let the Hebrew form of this word "bless" be diligently noted and considered: all nations shall bless themselves; for it is a certain and strong confidence and right kind of faith, that I may believe assuredly and undoubtedly that I am blessed, and I may say of myself that I am alive, righteous, blessed, and blessed; for otherwise I do violence and wrong to the seed of Abraham, to the Lord Christ, from whom I have life and salvation. For the promise does not depend on my merit or works, but on the seed of Abraham. I am blessed by it when I take hold of it with faith and accept it, and the blessing also clings to me and extends through the whole body and soul, so that the body also becomes alive and blessed through the same seed.
And this is begun in this life by faith, when the soul, lying in the anguish of death and sins, is raised up, and receives the consolation of life and blessedness. Soon after, in the resurrection of the dead, the body of the soul will also follow without all hindrance, and our vile body will be transfigured to be like the glorious and transfigured body of Christ, Phil. 3:21.
266 But this confidence and holy glory is prevented in us in many ways. For with us is born the terrible evil that arises from the guilt of original sin: hopefulness and presumption, by which men presume and exaggerate their own powers, wisdom, authority and wealth.
Therefore, nothing is easier for flesh and blood than to bless oneself and stand before God.
overruling his own righteousness and holiness. But such blessings of the flesh must be curbed and killed as a very harmful poison, and we must also, sooner than we take hold of these blessings, consider and realize the curse by which we are immersed in sins and horrible corruption of unbelief, blasphemy, security, and other innumerable pestilences and evil lusts.
For since God promises that the nations will be blessed, He indicates that they were previously cursed and maligned. For God does not say this in vain, but indicates that they lack the blessing and glory that they should have in God, Rom. 3, 23. And this must follow from it and no one can avoid it; as St. Paul also submits himself to this judgment, since he says 1 Cor. 4, 4: "I am aware of nothing, but in this I am not justified."
But the saints of works and hypocrites do not see and do not think of it at all, nor do they think that they are wicked; as the Pharisee Luc. 18:11 boasts with great pride, saying, "I am not like other people. Therefore the blessing does not concern them, although they always have it in their mouths and bless themselves, but in themselves and not in the seed. But this is a devilish and cursed blessing, and the prophets everywhere argue completely and harshly against such blessings, calling them lies, vanity, idolatry, sorcery, fortune-telling etc. Therefore St. Paul says Gal. 3, 10: "Those who deal with the works of the law are under the curse." From this it follows that all nations, because they lack blessing, are under the curse and under sin, so that all the world may be guilty of God. For "the Scripture has decreed all things under sin, that the promise might come through faith in Jesus Christ, given to those who believe," Gal. 3:22. All these things, and many more like them, sprang from this promise as from a very full well.
270 But these words of divine judgment are not at all pleasing to the flesh and to reason, for all men flee from the confession of sin, even those who are openly ungodly and wicked. But especially
The hypocrites can suffer great evil, that when they hear the teaching of the gospel, their sins and ungodly conduct will be punished. They can all suffer the blessing and boast of it, but that they are said to be cursed and damned for sin, they can never suffer, and what is more, they hate and persecute in a hostile way all those who teach and punish sin.
Therefore we should know that this text does not concern those who are full, stiff-necked, puffed up and proud because of their own righteousness, but those who are humbled and afflicted, who are troubled by sin and afraid of it, who feel the curse and wrath of God that passes over the cursed and poor sinners. Although they have righteousness, wisdom and other gifts, they have to confess that such gifts are nothing but outward larvae and shadows, and therefore complain that they are the poorest and most miserable of all the people who live on earth, and therefore call upon God to be gracious and merciful to them. So David was very powerful and rich; but because he knew that he would be subject to the wrath of God, to sin, to death and to the power of the devil, he thought: "What good is all the money and goods of the whole world to me, since they do not give me blessings, nor do they bring me life or eternal bliss?
272 Thus it is with all peoples who realize that they are damned, and have a troubled and broken heart, and have also killed their confidence in their gifts and their own powers. Even though they walk along in great splendor and glory of the beautiful gifts of the Holy Spirit, as David and others did, they still consider themselves poor, miserable and cursed people, because they feel the great power of sin, and feel the terror of hell and the wrath of God. For this reason, this promise should be held up to their sorrowful hearts, just as the prophets took all their comforting sermons from it.
In the New Testament, we have this promise explained very gloriously and clearly. For the holy apostle Paul Gal. 3, 16.
explains quite nicely who this seed is, and says it is Christ; no doubt through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, who taught him this. For the Jews, and in general, all the wisdom of the flesh, do not understand this at all, nor do they want to admit that this one seed is the Lord Christ.
274. According to this, the New Testament clearly states that this seed of Abraham is truly man and also truly God. He is man, for he became flesh and a son of the virgin. The Jews do not deny this, because he is Abraham's son. But that he is also God is proved by this blessing; for all nations are under the curse, as are all creatures. Therefore he is not a creature, nor did he come from the Gentiles, otherwise he would also be cursed. But he not only blesses others, but he is also blessed in himself, so that through this seed the whole world is blessed. This cannot be said of any pagan. For no man has ever rightly presumed that he could bless himself and others and deliver them from death.
For this reason, Burgensis insists that the blessing rests solely with the Creator and not with any creature; therefore, he who gives the blessing must be the true God. For to redeem all nations from the curse is a divine and not a human or angelic work. And so this seed is true God and man in one person. He is man, because he is from the acid of Abraham; but he is God because he gives the blessing.
Thirdly, he must also be such a man, born without sin. Now our faith is all the more miraculous. We believe that he is a true man and yet not born of human blood. For he was not conceived in original sin, and cannot have blessing and curse at the same time, which would have to happen if he were conceived in sin. Therefore, the Virgin Mary did not naturally conceive this seed, nor is she such a mother as all nations' mothers are. She had to be a mother and give birth to a new human being, but she was a pure mother and a virgin, who
received not from a man, nor from a good or evil angel, but from the Holy Spirit, Luc. 1:35.
In this way, St. Paul, Isaiah, and the other prophets diligently considered this text, and did not go over it so diligently as we do, but read the promise with diligence. For when God speaks, he speaks such great and lofty words that heaven and earth cannot comprehend. For he speaks of the greatest things, which surpass all understanding of the whole world, namely, that all nations are under sin, death and eternal damnation. And everyone can learn this for himself from daily experience. For we all feel and sense great danger, innumerable miseries and misery, harder and more severe than death itself; but we do not know the cause, much less can we see where salvation must come from.
278. The same is shown to us here in this promise, which testifies that all nations are under the curse and power of the devil, and yet offers them salvation if they recognize their misery and do not despair, but believe in the seed and bless themselves for its sake, boasting of life, and each one accept salvation for himself with right faith, saying: I am not now a sinner, but righteous; I am not cursed, but blessed through the seed of Abraham, who is true man, born of the seed of Abraham, and also true God.
This blessing is so powerful and strong that it can destroy and abolish both death and all the curse we received from original sin.
280. and this is a great immeasurable glory of the poor human race, that God nowhere takes the angels to Himself, as is said in the epistle to the Hebrews Cap. 2, 16, but takes to Himself the seed of Abraham. For it would not have been difficult or impossible for God to bring His Son into the world without a mother, but He wanted to use the female gender for this purpose.
281 He could also have suddenly created a body from the virgin, as he made Adam, the first man, out of the earthen lump and built Eve out of his ribbe.
But this pleased him not; but he kept the order which he himself had made: for a maid was so made, that she should conceive, and go in to be with child nine months, and bring forth children. Therefore he also wanted his son to be conceived, carried and born in the womb of a maid, and not to be made from an earthen womb or to be born from man's seed.
This is truly a great consolation, that it did not please God that His Son should become man in other matter than the human race, so that He might become our brother and adorn us with such great glory that we have a God born in our flesh and blood.
And these are such great and high things that they cannot be grasped and understood in any other way than by faith alone, which awakens in us such spiritual comfort and confidence that we can firmly believe that we have eternal peace in heaven and on earth, not on our part, but in the seed of Abraham.
But here we must put away and forsake all delusion and presumption of our own righteousness, and diligently separate this seed from all works. For the seed of Abraham, received by the Holy Spirit, is not my work, but our righteousness and the seed are distinct things. The works are also called a blessing, and they are; as it is written in John 14:12, "He that believeth on me shall do greater works than these"; but then they are not good until this blessing is first.
The blessing of this seed is not ours, but a foreign work. Therefore, neither the righteousness of the law nor the papal statutes are to be credited with justification, but in Christ Jesus our Savior I will bless myself, that whoever boasts may boast in the Lord, 1 Cor. 1:31, and as it says in the 105th Psalm, v. 3, "Boast in His holy name." So let us boast with everlasting comfort and joy.
So far we have dealt with the meaning of this text, as reported therein straightforwardly
is from faith in Christ, the seed of Abraham, so that there all worthiness and merit of works is excluded and rejected altogether, because the text clearly says that all nations, even though they are cursed in themselves and without all worthiness and righteousness, should nevertheless bless themselves with blessings from others.
Therefore all blessings outside of this blessing are condemned, as well as all wisdom, righteousness, power and everything that man has after his first origin and birth from Adam. For though we may be happy and well with all the world's good and honor, yet all such bodily blessings are condemned as long as the curse remains, and there is no man's honor, power or glory that he should be exempted here for this reason, for all nations mean all men.
288 All these things rhyme well with our doctrine of justification and faith, which the Papists condemn and persecute as erroneous and heretical, mocking us and calling us solarios, because we ascribe righteousness to faith alone.
Now this doctrine did not come from us at the beginning, but we drew it from this and other such promises by the illumination of the Spirit of Christ; for here all delusion and confidence in the righteousness of works is evidently rejected, and righteousness, life, and salvation are comprehended and included in this one blessing which comes through the seed of Abraham.
Because they so brazenly contradict the public truth, we must also tell them something about their doctrine, in which they deny what this promise brings with it, and introduce such a doctrine as is utterly contrary to ours, along with a new gloss, which they recently invented to cover up their error.
291 For they do not ascribe righteousness to works alone, but to works and faith together, seeing that they are seized with a manifest and shameful error, namely, that it depends on works alone, and this
They have taught human statutes without faith, that one can be justified by them. Therefore they now give in a little and demand the works and righteousness of the law instead of their human statutes for justification. But since this is not enough to avert the disgrace that lies upon them, they are now led to attach faith to works, saying that neither works alone, nor faith alone, but faith with works, makes one righteous; for faith without works is a dead thing.
292 Let us now consider a little this, that they say that faith alone does not make one righteous. We have said above that we are considered and recognized as righteous by faith alone, which is proven and confirmed in this text, where it is said that the nations will not be blessed in their wisdom and righteousness, nor in the law, but in the blessing of the seed, that is, in Christ Jesus, "who was made for us by God for wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption," 1 Cor. 1:30.
293 But they say that faith alone does not make one righteous, but faith with works. To this sentence they add a cunning explanation or restriction, and thus say: Although we demand good works as necessary for salvation, we do not teach that one should rely on these works. The devil is cunning enough, but does not accomplish anything with it, although he can make a pretense of it to the foolish and inexperienced and to reason and seduce them.
For where trust in works is rejected and condemned, the righteousness of works is of no value at all, since it is impossible for there to be true righteousness in men unless faith and trust are also added, even according to God's commandment, in which we are forbidden to lie, or to think that this is not righteousness, although in truth it is righteousness, for I should not say that it is sin. But if there is any righteousness of works, as they say that faith without works is nothing, then I am to believe from God's word and commandment.
Saying the commandment and believing it to be righteousness, and believing, if I will be saved, that this righteousness is enough to obtain salvation and eternal life.
For this reason it is a deception and a lie that they teach that one should not rely on works. And the contradiction must be held, namely, that the righteousness of works is necessarily followed by confidence. For all righteousness and truth bring with them trust, which is the inward power and essence, the beginning and end of righteousness.
Just as justice in worldly and domestic government cannot be without confidence and trust. How could it be denied to this righteousness, which is to be righteousness before God? In the domestic regime, I must be certain that this woman is my wife and this is my child. In the secular regime, I must also be certain of my authority, whether it is to whom I am subject, to whom my fellow citizens are subject, and to whom I am subject to the city law: there I must not doubt or waver. Yes, that is even more, it requires such a constancy and certainty that I may not doubt or refuse to give life and limb and all my goods to protect and save my house, wife, children, authorities and fellow citizens with it. But if I still doubt whether this is my wife, my father, my child, my prince or fellow citizen, then it is not my wife, nor my father or son, or prince etc., and so both domestic and worldly justice is annulled and taken away altogether. That therefore with all justice and truth at the same time in the worldly and domestic rule also a confidence and trust is and hangs on it, as the substance and right being.
297 When the papists say that they teach the righteousness of works, and yet say that works are not to be relied upon, they speak against themselves, and confess that the righteousness of works is nothing. As it is in the house government. If you still doubt the woman there, whether she is also your wife, she is not a wife, but a whore.
For there must be a certainty and assurance in every righteousness, not only of Christians, but also of Gentiles and Turks. A Turk is certain of his wife, house, servants and emperor. etc. So also a Christian must conclude and take it for granted that his works are pleasing and good to God, whether they are done in the church, in the household or in the world. And it is a real deception when the adversaries teach that one should do good works and yet not rely on them. For from where else do the sermons of the prophets come, in which they say of the saints of works, "They worship in the work of their hands," Jer. 1:16, and the like, except from the fact that all who want to be justified by their works are in truth idolatrous people? for they cannot guard themselves against not relying on works. Why did I do such great work in the monastery? Why did I so afflict and torture my body there with fasting, vigil and frost? Because I wanted to be sure and assured that I would have forgiveness of sins through such works.
Therefore you should answer a papist thus: You speak against yourself, and what you pretend in your doctrine is strictly against each other. You teach the righteousness of works, and yet you do not want anyone to rely on it, since every righteousness necessarily has a reliance on it, but distrust is a sign from which one can conclude that there is no righteousness. Now if you put your trust in works, you are an idolater.
299 Does this not mean that they teach such things, which are straight against each other and fight? For who would not see from this that they are hitting themselves in the cheek with a vengeance? They admit justification by faith once, and soon deny it again, not in word, but in deed, because they say that faith justifies by works, and yet they want to exclude trust in works.
(300) And whatever they have uselessly invented and pretended of the statutes of men and the works of the law, is also rejected by their own judgment and confession, and is of no account. After they
But when they have taken hold of the word "faith" and accepted it, so that they deny it and say that faith alone is not enough for salvation, and add the merit of works, they now also lose faith along with works.
(301) But they draw on the text of Luc. 17:10, where Christ says, "When ye have done all that is commanded you, then say, We are unprofitable servants. In this way they defend their doctrine that one should not rely on works, but in doing so they are once again acting shamefully. For this very thing, which they think serves to confirm their doctrine, weakens and completely overthrows it. For Christ there rejects and condemns not only confidence, but also all righteousness and merit of works. For if it is to be said that works are of no use, it necessarily follows that they are not righteousness, nor can they help to eternal life, but that they are utterly ineffectual and nothing.
302Therefore all confidence, righteousness, wisdom, and all things that pertain to works, are utterly rejected, and are false and untruthful, that we are justified by faith and works together; but the Blessed Seed alone redeems from death, and gives righteousness and eternal life, if it be grasped and accepted with faith.
(303) We do not say that one should not do good works, but this we punish, that the adversaries mix together the faith that justifies and the works of those who are justified by faith. Faith and good works belong together and are so interrelated that one cannot be distinguished from the other, but it is faith alone that brings blessing. Therefore we teach that faith alone justifies, for it alone is blessed: but works have no such glory as to bless, but are only the fruits of the person who is blessed.
304) And this is our righteousness, which cometh by faith, which is not to be doubted, neither is it to be said that it is vain, lest we hear that Isa. 5:20 saith, Woe is me!
To them that call good evil." Therefore I shall not say, I have the blessing, therefore I am unrighteous; but I shall say, I am truly holy, righteous, and blessed, not for my righteousness, but for the righteousness of others, and can hold the same against the wrath and judgment of God, and am sure that God cannot deny Himself or punish lies, nor reject His Son, the seed of Abraham. Therefore, I consider myself righteous and an heir of eternal life with complete confidence and without doubt.
305 And in this promise is comprehended almost the whole Christian doctrine, and the incarnation of Christ, and justification, except the sacraments, which were afterwards explained, when Christ came. In addition, one finds in it a refutation of the papist doctrine not only of human statutes and works, but also of faith and works together, so that they may come down hard against us, who thus teach of faith that it alone is righteousness. And this sentence remains firm, that faith alone makes righteous. For here all trust of all men is utterly rejected and condemned, and only trust in the seed is spoken of.
306 Therefore let us conclude against the adversaries, saying, Your justification, wherein ye teach that works and faith must come together, is a lie; for ye speak against yourselves. You set up a righteousness of works, and yet deny trust. Where this is abolished and taken away, righteousness itself must necessarily be abolished also. For assurance and confidence is the life and whole essence of righteousness.
307 But this is the right true justification, when I am sure by faith that the blessed seed dwells in me, by which I am blessed. And let no one doubt or think that this blessing is nothing and in vain. For the seed of Abraham does not cause me to be unfit, but makes me full of good fruit; as John 14:12 says, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also" etc.
308 But the adversaries also reproach us with the fact that in this place in the text it says: "Because you have done these things"; item: "Because you have obeyed me" etc., which can be seen as if it follows that Abraham deserved the blessing with his works. Therefore, they say, our works also deserve something. For it follows from these words that God says, "I will bless you because you have obeyed my voice." As if he wanted to say: I would not bless you and the others, where you would not have obeyed me. With this they defend themselves and hold it up like a steel wall against what we have said so far, and with it they can easily put a color and shine before the eyes of simple-minded and inexperienced people. Where now, say they, doth it remain, that thou sayest, All nations shall bless themselves in the seed of Abraham; item, That the righteousness of works should be condemned? Moses here says the contradiction, namely, "Because thou hast done these things"; "Because thou hast obeyed." From this it obviously follows that Abraham, because he obeyed and did what he was commanded, was given the blessing. Now "to obey" and "to do" are works, therefore we obtain the blessing through the works.
I answer that there are two questions in this disputation. The first is: Whether we are justified by works? The other is: Whether God performs great deeds and miracles for the sake of the elect, since they are already holy and righteous through faith. We are dealing with the first question here, namely, whether we earn justification by works, or receive it without merit by grace and mercy of God as a gift. But after this it is not asked, "Whether he who is justified earns it by grace and faith, or receives it from God, so that God performs miracles and great works of merit for his sake," just as he leads his saints in miracles and adorns them in various and strange ways.
These two questions are mixed and thrown together by diabolical malice, when they do not belong together, but must be far separated from each other. And if one is cheaply hostile to such teachers and rejects them
For they deceive the poor people with pure deceit, and make no distinction between the arguments and the affairs of which one disputes. For it behooves a righteous teacher and dialectician first of all to indicate rightly and clearly what he wants to say, and to know how to distinguish and divide it finely; and then to lead his arguments and conclude from them. The opponents do not do the first two things, but set up their propositions and draw conclusions from them, without any closer definition and distinction. With such confusion they teach nothing certain and reasonable, but confuse and deceive poor simple hearts.
But our question is this: Whether a poor sinner can earn righteousness by good works alone, or by good works and faith at the same time; or whether faith alone, without works, makes one righteous? From this question we must separate the other, namely, whether God performs miracles for the sake of those who are already justified, holy and made heirs of eternal life. Whereof the 17th Psalm v. 7. says: "Prove thy wondrous goodness, thou Savior of them that trust in thee" etc. For they themselves understand this saying of the miraculous deeds of God, which are done in those who already have righteousness and the Holy Spirit, who are children and heirs of God; and thus they mix together the works of those who are yet to be justified and those who are already justified.
(312) But why do they not rather answer, Whether Abraham was justified and obtained the inheritance of eternal life by sacrificing his son? For to this we say no, and this is our cause: he is already justified, Cap. 15, 6. And does the text here say: "God tempted Abraham", does not say: God justified Abraham; for he had received forgiveness of sins and righteousness through faith beforehand, since Moses says: "Abraham believed the Lord, and this he counted to him for righteousness", since it does not say: "Because you have done this", "because you have obeyed me" etc.
313 Therefore, the opponent's opinion and argument count for nothing; but this is the
right understanding of these words: You have done a wonderful work, because you are righteous; so will I also now again do a wonderful work with you: I will give blessing to all nations through your seed. Abraham is not justified by this, for what is the blessing of all nations to him, whom this concerns and concerns completely, that here it is said, "I have sworn by myself"?
314 So this promise was not made to Abraham to make him righteous, but is like a reward and a beautiful ornament that God adds to it, to show that he wants to give great rich gifts and benefits to the faithful and to those who call on him. For this is a great thing, that Abraham is a father of faith, of blessing, and also of the Lord Christ. These are great and unbelievable gifts, but they do not make him righteous, for he has already been blessed before the blessing of all nations is promised.
It is much different when God gives great miracles and gifts to His saints than when He justifies them and accepts them in grace. Christ promised His believers Joh. 16, 23: All things whatsoever they shall ask of the Father, that shall they receive. Item: "He who abides in me," says John 15:5, "will bear much fruit. But by such works as they obtain of the Father they shall not be justified; as it is not by fruit that the vine first becomes a vine, but is before.
For this reason we admit that God does good to those who have become righteous, gives them rewards and adorns them with great miraculous works. But these same gifts and works would not obtain for them forgiveness of sins and God's grace if it were not in the saints beforehand. And because the saints are also in God's grace and have the Holy Spirit, they are skilled in all good works. If Abraham had not been righteous and endowed with the noble gift of God's grace and mercy, and had not been full of righteousness and faith, he would never have sacrificed his son, nor would he have obtained the glory of which this text speaks.
317. So I pray daily that God will
I want to overthrow the pope and the Turks and trample them underfoot, but this prayer does not make me righteous; indeed, if I were not righteous, I would not pray. But I feel and experience that this prayer of mine and of the whole church drives back the Turk, the pope and his followers and stops them, and it is a great blessing of God that thereby the fierce anger of the adversary is driven away and prevented, so that day and night they exercise all their power and art and try how they only want to shed innocent blood.
However, this prayer does not make a church, but the church causes the prayer, by which it achieves this wonderful victory against the devil's cunning plots and drives away the cruel tyranny of the evil angels and achieves the protection of the good angels. These are the works and merits of the saints, of which Christ says John 14:12: "He that believeth on me shall do greater works than these."
In this way God also speaks to Abraham here. He will say that you have done this great work, that you have been obedient to me; therefore, behold, I will adorn you again with a great miracle and make you famous; not that you will be justified by it, but that you will know that God loves his saints, that he does not only want to make them famous and just, but also great and glorious.
So those who are righteous do great miracles, but they do not become righteous through such miracles. And so St. Paul has this honor and glory, that he is a doctor and teacher of the Gentiles, Rom. 11, 13. Thus we boast of the victory against the devil and his members, that they are not able to do anything against us; but through this glory we are not justified. For God loves His saints so much that He is pleased with everything they do, and rewards and honors them, not because of works in themselves, but because of faith in the seed of Abraham, which is active and strong to prove itself in all kinds of virtues.
321 If then the works of the righteous and faith could be divided and separated from each other, this would not be possible.
If the sins of the saints can happen, then they would be unfit in truth, and one would have to say: "We are useless servants", Luc. 17, 10, which the papists say about their righteousness. For the other sins that still cling to us make the works unclean. But faith must be wrapped up at the same time, as it clings to works and cannot be separated from them; and though deficiency and infirmity still remain, it is swallowed up and taken away entirely by the blessing of the seed.
322 Therefore I command this text to all pious Christians, as it is full of rich and manifold spiritual teaching and wisdom. And since not everything in the interpretation has been done by me according to its dignity, a Christian reader should attribute this to my poor understanding. But I think that these are the most important parts of all the things that are dealt with here.
323 First, that this text abundantly and fully confirms the doctrine of the righteousness of faith, that we are justified by faith alone; for no blessing can be hoped for without the seed of Abram alone. For it clearly says, "all nations." However righteous, however wise, and however adorned with excellent gifts they may be, they will not be blessed, dear Abraham, except through your seed alone, so that they bless themselves not in themselves but in your seed.
324 And at the same time the kind and nature of faith is described here, which is that we must certainly believe that we are blessed not through ourselves, but through Christ, who is our blessing. Therefore we bless ourselves and consider ourselves to be those to whom this blessing belongs, for it is faith that takes hold of the blessing.
325] To this assurance and confirmation of the doctrine of the righteousness of faith comes also the refutation of the opponents of the righteousness of works. For since works are not this blessing through the seed of Abraham, it is evident that all things must be idolatry and a curse, that one misses and presumes righteousness or blessing through works.
326 These, I say, are the main points of our doctrine, namely, that we say that righteousness comes by faith alone, and that, besides this, we punish the pope's idolatry and refute it to him. From this it follows that the papists themselves do not understand what they say about faith and works, and that they are to be punished primarily because they doubt what they teach and deprive righteousness of its true substance and essence, which is trust.
327 But we preach and teach so much of faith, that we may receive confidence and certain assurance, from which we should consider it certain that we are blessed through the seed of Abraham.
328 And let it be known, that the scripture hath wrapped up in this promise, not only the Godhead of Christ, but also the distinction of the persons. For the Father is he that maketh the promise; but the seed is the Son which is promised, and so is distinguished from him that maketh the promise. Therefore these are two distinct persons, namely, the eternal Father who promises, and the eternal Son who is promised. The prophets have finely worked this out from these words. For they did not read the Scriptures as coldly and diligently as we do, and especially the Jews, whose thoughts are directed to blessing with words. Thus says the prophet Isaiah in 65 Cap. V. 16: "He who will bless himself on earth will bless himself in the right God, amen," that is, where a blessing will be on earth, it will be in God, amen, that is, in the right true God. Therefore, by this he indicates that the seed of Abraham is true God, through whom the blessing should come, so that the Jews may not say, we worship a crucified man. For the prophet Isaiah clearly says: "It will be God and the God Amen", that is, the real true God, who will not fail with his promise. Many such sayings have flowed and sprung from this text, as from a living well from which living waters flow.
329 Now, however, let us again consider
see the words of the promise and compare them with the previous promises. The previous words are repeated here with an addition that is common in the Scriptures, namely, that the promises or previous sayings are repeated as often as something new is to be added; which also happens here. But the difference is not only in words, but also in the things themselves. The difference of words is that he says, "Your seed shall possess the gates of your enemies." For he also said above in 12 Cap. V. 3: "I will curse those who curse you," which is just as much. But the difference in the matter itself is that here he adds an oath, and in the word "bless," namely, that all nations will bless themselves and the same in the seed of Abraham. This makes the promise not only clearer and more explicit, but also much richer and more glorious.
The other parts of the promise can easily be balanced with each other. For what God says here: "I will bless you and multiply your seed", is written in the 12th chapter v. 3. with the same words: "I will make you a great nation, and I will bless those who bless you" etc. So also in the 13th chapter v. 16. it says: "I will make thy seed like the dust of the earth." Here such words are changed a little, thus: "I will bless and multiply your seed like the sand on the shore of the sea." I have just indicated that this refers to two kinds of Abraham's seed, one which is compared to the stars of heaven, which are the saints, and the other which is compared to the sand of the seashore and the dust of the earth, which are the wicked.
Whoever desires further interpretation would do well to compare all this with the sermons of the prophets, but especially with the Psalms of David, who diligently meditated on this text; as can be seen in the 110th Psalm, which he spun out of this promise as a very beautiful fabric. For first of all, he calls the seed of Abraham his Lord, yes, he sets him at the right hand of God, that is, he attributes to him equal authority with God Himself. For the-
Because all nations are to be blessed in him, he must be distinguished from the nations that were all born of Adam and are therefore also under the curse. For to take away sin and death, to bless men and to give them spiritual and eternal goods are divine works and benefits. Therefore David concludes that this seed, born without male seed, sits at the right hand of God, that is, is equal to God, because he does such works as are equal to divine works.
But because he is a seed of Abraham, he also had to take on human nature; otherwise God cannot be called Abraham's seed in his own nature and divine being. This is what David concludes from this. This seed is the Son of God, like God, and such a king who sits at the right hand of the Father.
The promise says that he will not only rule and reign, but also bless. Therefore he will also be a priest at the same time. For it is not only the kingdom that is spoken of here, but also the priesthood, and the priestly name and office comprehend in themselves the most distinguished benefits of Christ. And David, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, takes an oath not to the kingdom but to the priesthood, when he says in v. 4: "The Lord has sworn, and will not repent, that you are a priest forever. That is so much said: My Lord will sit at the right hand of God, but so that he shall not only rule, but also bless.
This was David's glorious knowledge of Christ, the future Seed, who was to come from his tribe of Lind flesh; and he will no doubt have known and rejoiced that he would be pardoned before other kings with such great honor and glory, since Nathan brought him the promise: "I will set on your throne the fruit of your womb," Psalm 132:11. 132, 11. For from this he concluded that this blessing would come upon his body and seed and that the Son of God would be born from his seed.
335. he accepted such a message with joy, since he heard that Abraham's
He had never thought of this honor and glory before, just as the virgin Mary could never have hoped for such an honor, that she would become the mother of Christ. He had never thought of this honor and glory before; just as the virgin Mary could never have hoped for such honor, that she should become the mother of the Lord Christ, but had thought that the seed of Abraham would be scattered now and then, and could not know with certainty to which person the promise would be directed. Therefore the prophet directed her to a certain tribe and person: "I will set thee," saith he, "upon thy throne the fruit of thy womb."
And this was certainly a great thing that he knew that the Son of God should be born of him as a man and that one should expect the blessing of all nations from his flesh. For this reason he rejoiced not only for his own sake, but also for the sake of the whole world, that the promise was now repeated and pointed to his body, so that henceforth the hearts of men would no longer waver from time to time or doubt from where they should await the redemption of Israel.
337 Therefore let us diligently and carefully consider this honor of David, that we may learn to distinguish between calling, justification, and glorification. Many are called who are not justified, and are justified again who are not glorified as Abraham or David were glorified and given great honor. And yet such honor and glory of David does not belong to his justification; for the Scripture itself has distinguished it, and teaches that God promises and gives to those who are justified great and glorious works, which are told in the 149th Psalm, where v. 8. 9. thus says: "To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron, to do them the judgment of which it is written. All his saints will have this honor," as we read that some saints raised the dead. These are all works of special pardon, by which they have not become righteous, although they were certainly assured that they were righteous and in God's grace.
For if they had not been justified beforehand, they would not have done such works.
338 I have reminded you of this in passing, for the sake of the clumsy pretence of which I have just said that the papists would thus introduce and conclude: Because it is said to Abraham, "Because you have obeyed my voice," etc. we are justified by works. For the works of justification and the works of glorification must not be mixed together.
339 But that in the promise it is further said, Thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies, David hath declared in these words, Till I make thine enemies thy footstool. From this it is to be understood that this seed shall have enemies and adversaries, and that many, mighty and fierce: but still the victory shall be with the sand of the sea shore, and with the stars of heaven, but most of all with the only begotten Son. For thus we see that it has been conquered and fallen, and that this people has had great and pernicious enemies, yet against such enemies also in temporal and bodily things many great victories. As it is shown in the books of Judges and Kings that even godless kings in Israel, such as Ahab and Joash, won great glorious victories against the Philistines, Syrians and Ammonites for the sake of this seed, for whom God makes the enemies the footstool of His feet.
340 And these have been the victories of the wicked, which are likened unto the sand of the sea shore, and to the dust of the earth: but the stars of heaven, that is, the pious and godly, have obtained the right blessing in spiritual victories. For they have possessed the spiritual gates, that is, they have converted to faith the bodies and souls of those who were subject to the power of the devil, and have destroyed the gates of hell, the kingdom of the devil, death and sin, as well as all kinds of afflictions of soul and body, and have obtained peace in heaven and on earth, so that they no longer fear hell and do not despair when sin and the law accuse and threaten the conscience.
These are much more glorious victories and battles than the Ammonites, Philistines and the like have been, and this rhymes very finely with the first promise made in Paradise: "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head" etc., Gen. 3, 15; as the others all are, only that one is clearer than the other.
342 And we, believing that this seed is our blessing, have also great cause to boast and to defy all the gates of hell, and the devil himself with all his scales and fellows. We must indeed suffer that the enemies hate us and practice cruel tyranny against us: but "in all this we overcome far because of Him who loved us", Rom. 8, 37.
If we are Christians and believe in the seed that is given, what is it to us if the devil and the world are angry? Let them take by force what we have and kill the body; will they therefore keep us in death? Oh no! For we are blessed, and are assured of life against death, and of the grace and gracious will of God against the hatred and enmity of the world.
344 So David was comforted by this promise and did not rejoice unreasonably that this seed was turned to his house, calls him adonai, his Lord, and concludes that he will be a king and priest. For he is a king, because he sits at the right hand of God, who has all things in his hand and power; as he says Matth. 11, 27: "All things are delivered unto me of my Father" etc. He is also a priest, for he gives the blessing.
345. All this follows very finely and conveniently from the foregoing: The blessing of the seed promised to Abraham belongs to my house; for I have heard from Nathan the prophet, "I will set upon thy throne the fruit of thy womb" etc.: therefore Christ, promised to Abraham, shall be born of my seed. And so the cord is passed from Abraham to David's womb.
346 Lastly, he also understood that the priesthood of Levi was not instituted for this reason,
that it should always last. For another man is promised here who is to give the blessing, and the office of giving the blessing, which previously belonged to the tribe of Levi, is now turned to the tribe of Judah. So the face of Moses has been uncovered, so that he could see that the priesthood of Levi alone was a shadow and a figure. This also shows that the promise that the blessing would come from his seed was made to Abraham before the time of Moses.
Therefore he saw that much higher and more excellent priesthood would follow the Levitical priesthood, which should bless both Abraham and the Levites, who themselves are under the curse and therefore need the blessing of this seed as well as the others. Therefore, he also applied the example of Melchizedek to this and concluded that it would be an eternal priesthood for the sake of the seed, which is eternal.
348 David was able to calculate and conclude this clearly and easily. For the prefixes are certain, as that he saith, I am of the tribe of Judah, which are not the Levites: and there is promised me such a king and priest, which shall be a blessing unto all nations. Therefore all that was ordained of Moses concerning the tribe of Levi is but a shadow of things to come; for the man that shall give the right blessing was promised long before such ordinance.
349. item, he has from that, that God speaks to Moses, 3 Mos. 25, 40.: "See to it that you make it in their image, which you have seen on your mountain," he recognized that God must not have reminded Moses of the parable or model in vain, and concluded from this that Moses actually had before his eyes and in his vision the future blessing that was to take place through Christ; For Moses is the shadow, figure, or model that preceded Christ who was to come, for which reason the right and true priesthood has been from the beginning of the world, and was at first somewhat obscure, but afterwards was clearly promised to Abraham.
350 So David and the others
The prophets diligently pondered this text. Therefore they were able to interpret Moses correctly and well, namely, that the righteousness of the law and works cannot redeem anyone from the curse, but only that one believes and accepts the priest with right perfect trust, as was promised to Abraham.
For this reason David says that another will come who will give the right blessing, namely, one who is eternal and has a kingdom without end. Yes, that is still more, Moses indicates secretly with all its arrangements that everything, so this promise has in itself, is to be turned on David's house.
This is why all the prophets and all the saints cry out so often and so fervently before Christ's coming: Oh Lord, come! as they have desired to behold and see the great glory and light of the seed of Abraham and David, which all the godly in the New Testament enjoy by the great grace of God.
354 But these words, "All nations shall be blessed," are to be well heeded; for such a manner of speaking is common in Scripture, namely, that none of the nations is blessed except through this Seed alone. As on such opinion St. John says at the 1. cap. V. 9: "This was the true light which lighteth all men" etc., and Paul 1 Tim. 3, 4: "God wills that all men should be saved": not that they should all be enlightened, but that all the blessings scattered among all nations should come from this seed. And St. John means by this saying: "This was the true light that enlightens all men", nothing else than that there is no light, life, salvation or blessedness anywhere except in this seed.
355 Therefore, our doctrine is clearly proven and the doctrine of the adversaries is proven against it.
is also sufficiently refuted. We are blessed in Christ and not in ourselves, that is, we should certainly believe that through this Christ alone comes the blessing. Those who argue against this, as the papists do, show sufficiently that they do not understand anything about Christian doctrine.
Sixth part.
How Abraham returns from Mount Moriah, and receives news of the lineage of his brother Nahor.
V. 19 So Abraham returned to his sons, and they arose, and went together to Babylon, and dwelt there.
It is astonishing that the holy patriarch again departs from such a holy place. If such a glorious revelation were to happen to one of us, that he should sacrifice his son, and such a beautiful and glorious promise were to be added to it: "Through your seed all nations shall be blessed"; item, the conversation and the presence not of one angel, but of the whole heavenly host: then truly human devotion would advise that one should not only honor such a place, but also dwell there. Why does not Abraham do the same?
357 In the books of the kings and in the prophets it is seen how foolish and furious the Jewish people are according to human religion; for they have chosen for themselves mountains, hills, groves and trees, having only a little evidence and proof of the things done by the fathers. Therefore they made special services and sacrifices at Gilgal, Bethel, Dan, and Tabor, because there the good things were done.
So Abraham had a very good reason to stay in that place and to honor the place, he did the highest sacrifice there in honor of God and his religion: but still he has no memorial there, of which the same place has a reputation after him.
As we shall hear hereafter from the patriarch Jacob, his son's son, who set up a stone in the place where he saw the ladder.
359. and if Abraham's descendants have visited and honored such a place, where the fathers practiced their devotion and holiness, therefore they are also so often reproved by Moses and the prophets: and Moses takes great care that he directs and directs all histories, miracles and the whole service of God only to the place, which God has chosen: "Beware," he says 5 Mos. 12, 13, 14, "that you do not offer your burnt offerings in all the places you see, but in the place where the Lord makes his name dwell."
(360) Therefore he appointed a certain place for them and called it the "tabernacle of Moses," that is, a certain place. God gave this same tabernacle to Moses as a certain sign of the place he would have chosen, and he also made the promise that he would dwell there, be found there, and hear the prayer of those who call upon him.
361 But the same people, who most of all had a certain and definite place of worship, nevertheless most of all ran and went astray now and then to uncertain places, which they chose for themselves out of their own and uncertain devotion.
For such deplorable perversity is in our nature that we do not keep, nor do we greatly respect, what God commands; but what the devil establishes and ordains, we accept with great diligence and devotion and keep much of it: we build altars, chapels, churches, run to Rome and to St. James; but we do not respect baptism, the Lord's Supper, absolution and our vocation at all.
363 And has the pope alone dealt with it, that he would abolish and abolish the appointed place or tabernacle, that is, the ministry of preaching. He does not ask for the Word, does not preach, nor does he administer the holy sacraments properly; but abolishes all this and plagues the poor people horribly, fills the whole world with his indulgences: where one chooses a place and a special corner, there
He gives out indulgences so that he may confirm all kinds of error and idolatry.
But God draws us back to the place where He makes His name dwell, that is, to our tabernacle, which is the preaching office, where the Word is taught and the holy sacraments are administered according to the institution of Christ, which is the right tabernacle of God.
If the pope had such a great testimony on his side that God had spoken to him in Rome as he spoke to Abraham on Mount Moriah, no one could resist him: but now he is so bold of himself and confirms such great idolatry without God's word, under the name of Peter, and fills the whole wide world with his insolent lies, so that he may bring goods to the whole world.
Therefore, this example of Abraham, who had a very good reason to do something new in this place, is well to remember. He was called by divine command from Beer-saba to Mount Moriah, and there he made a very great and wonderful sacrifice, being willing to sacrifice his own son, and had heard God's word from heaven in right fear and faith: yet he did not take upon himself anything, nor did he call the people together to praise and honor the place.
367. And Moses wrote this especially for an example and lesson to us, that we should not begin or boldly undertake anything in divine matters. For in other matters, which concern the temporal or domestic government, there is enough for you to do, in which you may practice and carry out your office boldly according to God's word. So it is permissible for you to be bold, strong and defiant against the Turk; but in matters of religion, all boldness and iniquity, all works that man can strive for and choose for himself, are completely forbidden; as such things are punished from time to time by all the prophets.
For Abraham did nothing more for religion above the profession, although this place was very holy and the most holy persons stayed there, as the angels, Abraham and Isaac; which he does not even consider, but turns away from all this and goes away. For so he thought:
I have done what I should have done, I have sacrificed my son as I was commanded: but now God does not command me to perform a service here, so I will not subject myself to anything. He thus abstains from all boldness and outrage, remains in the fear of God and awaits the calling of God, ready to obey and follow wherever God may call him.
This is the lesson of this text, that in matters of religion one should ask first of all who has said and commanded this or that. Seneca says: Do not look at who is the one who says something, but pay attention to what is said. Such teaching and warning has its place and use in the domestic and worldly regime; but in the church and matters of religion one must turn it around, and ask not what is said, but who is the one who says it. There is indeed understanding and wisdom in man, which comes from the light of reason implanted in us by God: but because it is the nature of man to err and fall short, and also to be afflicted, one must pay attention to what is said, and not who is the one who says something, and not trust the person. But in the church one should consider who and how great he is who says or commands something. If this is not done, the devil can very easily and quickly make people see not who and how great he is who commands, but what and how great he is who commands. King Ahaz thinks how he can do a great service to God, and sacrifices his son like Abraham, but hardly sins in doing so. For God did not command him to do so, but commanded him to sacrifice a calf. He despised such a commandment and took up another that was not from God.
This should be said often in the church and practiced diligently, so that we may be satisfied with the teaching that was once given to us. For if we had followed it before this time, we would never have accepted monasteries, pilgrimages, indulgences, the pope's sacrificial mass for the dead, etc. but every pastor would have taught God's word in his church, and the church would have been satisfied with the word, baptism, and the Lord's Supper of the Lord.
Lord, with absolution and consolation in death and life. . After that, everyone would have done in the worldly and domestic government what was due to him in his office, whether servants or masters, authorities or subjects. So that the abominable abominations of the papacy would never have entered the church.
For so Abraham keeps the devotion, the angels and God's appearance on Mount Moriah, when there was no holier place in the whole world than this mountain, because there the voice of God and the divine promise were heard. To all this he turns his back and turns away. That is how great and high he esteems the profession and the ministry of preaching. And since God did not command him to do anything there, he did not start anything new for himself, but returned to his household, governed his household, his wife and servants, in whom nothing spiritual or devotional was to be seen, because he left such things on Mount Moriah. He also does not endure the appearance of the angels, but returns to the boys and his donkey.
If a devout hermit or monk heard this, he would curse Abraham. For if he should think that this is a holy patriarch, who leaves such a holy place, where God dwells with his angels, and meanwhile goes to his donkey, doing housework, vile, filthy and stinking works; what kind of holiness is that? For no one can sufficiently say how the monks despise such common works so much, and consider this alone as devotion and holiness, that one leaves the world, that is, father and mother and worldly offices, and hides in a desolate corner.
In one place Jerome praises this holiness so highly that he says that if mother or father came running to a monk who wanted to enter the monastery and wanted to hold him back, they should be let go and rejected and trampled underfoot. Such is a godless, cursed speech. For this, dear Jerome, we will despise you and trample you underfoot with your Bethlehem, with your cap and desert; for I am called by the preaching ministry of the divine word.
not to Bethlehem, but to my parish and to the church, there to hear God's word: there God dwells, there the holy angels are our guardians; there I hear that I should honor my parents and wait for my profession in a Christian and diligent manner. If God wants me to go to another place, he will call me there, but without a profession the devil may follow you and others. Therefore, I will honor my parents for the sake of God's word and commandment, and will not despise them or trample them underfoot. For what kind of holiness or worship can that be, if I fall away from baptism, from the faith and obedience of God, which all monks have done?
Christ says Marc. 10, 29: "For my sake and for my Father's sake you shall leave your brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, child and field"; but you shall not, according to your own will and choice, forsake your parents when they are most in need of your help and assistance, Marc. 7, 10. 7, 10. Such an ungodly nature was also ingrained in the Jews, which Christ punishes them for in Matth. 15, 5. since they taught that sacrifice was much more holy than obedience to parents. For they said, Corban, that is, the gift and sacrifice which thou shalt offer in the temple shall be more profitable unto thee than the honor which thou shouldest have paid to thy parents. And so, under the appearance of sanctity and devotion, they raised the status and honor of the parents to fill their avarice with it.
375. Therefore, just as this doctrine has been treated at length and has been diligently interpreted, so it should always be repeated for the sake of the dear young people, so that the church may grow and be increased, so that it may learn to stand and remain where God speaks, and become accustomed to the works commanded by God; unless they are called to other places or driven out, as when tyrants drive pious God-fearing people out of the country and deprive them of their offices by force and drive them out.
376 Self-selected devotion in religion is pleasing to the flesh, and reason thinks much of it; but if you follow it,
You do just as those did who left the Lord's tabernacle and ran to the trees and groves, which is devilish and not divine. St. Paul also rejects and condemns self-chosen devotion and worship, where there is no word that calls one to such devotion, but only a man's own will that chooses and establishes such.
Therefore Moses recorded this very diligently, that Abraham did not want to remain in this holy place after he had performed his sacrifice, but returned to his common housework, so that common laymen and craftsmen also go about, and to his services, which at that time were still free and not bound to a certain place. For he was still wandering about in the wilderness and had no particular place of worship, but did his sacrifice at times when God commanded him. Therefore he comes back to the boys or servants and to his donkey, and will undoubtedly have prepared a meal there and eaten with his son and servants. For a sacrifice belongs first of all to a splendid and cheerful meal.
378 As it was kept in the law, that when an animal was sacrificed, the fat was burned, but the shoulder and the breast were given to the priest; the rest of the flesh belonged to those who had made the sacrifice, if it was not a burnt offering. Therefore they sat before the Lord, rejoiced, ate and drank, and gave thanks to God.
It was also the custom of the heathen, when they sacrificed, to eat with one another: and we have our custom from this heathen manner, that we eat and drink better on feast days, and dress more cleanly than on other days. So Abraham also sat down by the mountain with his ass, and made merry with his son and his servants.
It is a wonderful thing that after such a great and difficult temptation to sacrifice his son, he was able to come back to himself so soon and be content and happy in his heart.
And it seems that this was customary with him, although it was not yet commanded in the law at that time, as it was subsequently decreed by Moses, that they also ate with each other after the sacrifice. Since the son remained alive and the ram was slaughtered in his place, both father and son rejoiced with joy and no doubt told the servants about the whole thing with great joy and praised God with a grateful heart. Then they returned to Bersaba to Sarah, from which place they had departed, leaving behind them the holy place, the sacrifice, the angels and the revelation of God on Mount Moriah.
(v.20-24) And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah also bare children unto thy brother Nahor; to wit, Uz the firstborn, and Bus his brother, and Kemuel, from whom the Syrians come, and Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildah, and Jedlaph, and Bethuel. But Bethuel begat Rebekah. These eight Milcah bare to Nahor, Abraham's brother. And his concubine, whose name was Rehumah, bare also Theba, and Gaham, and Thahaz, and Maachah.
These countries, Syria and Canaan, lie close to each other. Abraham did not know anything about his brother Nahor, who stayed in Haran with his wife; therefore Moses wrote that Abraham was told to kill his brother's children and family, that he had eight sons with Milcah and four sons with Kebsweibe, that is twelve persons, except Rebekah. And the holy scripture remembereth this generation first of all, that it maketh Nahor almost equal unto the patriarch Jacob in the right and perfect number both of the male and female generations. For he begat twelve sons and one daughter, as Jacob also did. Then for Rebekah's sake and for the marriage that was soon after between Isaac and her.
But this text explains the previous question in the eleventh chapter above and indicates,
that Nahor was older than his brother Abraham, because he had so many children, which are listed here: item, Bethuel has his daughter Rebekka, Nahor's son's child, since Abraham is eighty years old. Therefore it can be assumed that Abraham is not the firstborn.
383 Among the Hebrews he is considered the firstborn, Haran the second, and Nahor the third; but if this is so, how could Milcah and Sarah, Haran's daughters, have married two brothers, Nahor and Abraham? For it would follow that Haran in the eighth year of his age had taken a wife and begotten Sarah, which is in bad taste. Lyra alone challenges this calculation and opinion of the Jews, and concludes that Abraham was born last and is sixty years younger than his brother, and proves it with good, proven causes and evidence, which we have told above.
But St. Stephen's words in the stories of the apostles move me a little more, since he says in the 7th chapter, v. 4, that Abraham went from Haran because his father died. V. 4, Abraham went out of Haran because his father had died. For it follows that one must put sixty years to Abraham's age, in which he went out, if one wants to look at the history and count the years of Tharah, his father. But if one wants to start counting from the seventieth year of Abraham, as Ulan does in all yearly calculations, then the sixty years are lost, as I have also indicated above; as there is also a lack of twenty years in the books of the kings, so that we almost lose a hundred years. And it can be seen as if the holy scriptures, out of special counsel, have hidden these years for the sake of the last day, because God wanted that the hour or year of it should be unknown to us. For it may well happen that he would come a hundred and sixty or more years before the thoughts or desires of the pious.
The other question of Sarah or Jizca and Milcah has been dealt with above. There were three brothers, Haran, the firstborn, who died at Ur in Chaldea, and left two daughters after him,
Milcah and Ishca, whom Tarah took to herself; the middle brother is Nahor, and the third Abraham. These two brothers took two sisters in marriage, the daughters of their brother Haran; for at that time such marriages were still free.
Now Moses says that among these twelve fathers, Kemuel was a father from whom the Syrians came; but this name has become obsolete and has passed away, and it is no longer mentioned in the Scriptures.
387 Uz has the name of the wood or the tree; but they make this also the father of the Syrians, and is called with this name the country Uz, in which Job was born, as St. Jerome says. Many want to say that Job was of the family and descendants of Esau; and I was also of this opinion, but now understand it differently, and rather believe that he was born from Mesopotamia in Syria. For therefore it is also told in his history, Job 1, 17, that the Chaldeans as neighbors devastated the country, plundered Job's house and drove away his cattle. Therefore, I think that Job was a powerful and rich lord who had a part of the land of Mesopotamia close to the Chaldeans and Babylonians.
388 Bus was also a noble, mighty man and had a part in Mesopotamia. Therefore Elihu, the son of Baracheel, is called a Busite, Job 32, 2. who disputes so hostilely against the afflicted Job and showers him with many abusive words. Therefore it can be seen that Nahor had a large and famous church, in which there were many great men, the like of which Abraham did not have in his church.
Jerome writes that those who are well versed in the Scriptures say that this Elihu is Balaam, of whom it is written in the 23rd chapter of the 4th book of Moses, who was an excellent prophet and teacher in Mesopotamia, and to whom God's word was revealed, as he himself boasts, and to whom many beautiful and glorious prophecies were given by God. Therefore he says in Num. 23, 7: "From Syria, Balak the Moa-
By this he indicates that he was called and fetched from a place in the country where these fathers, who are listed here, lived, and it can truly be seen that they were excellent men, and that they had a beautiful rule and well-ordered regiment.
390 Moses writes that Balaam was a son of Beor, whom St. Peter calls Bosor, 2 Peter 2:15, and lived above the waters of the children of Ammon, that is, above the waters of Tigris or Phrath. He was a great man, but fell horribly, like
his history indicates. He had the greatest prophecies, which were equal to the prophecies of Daniel, of the great Alexander and of the Roman empire, which was to devastate the kingdom of Israel and Judah. This Balaam, they say, was born of Bus, the son of Nahor, and lived until the time of Moses, both of whom were the highest prophets at that time. Balaam was called from Mesopotamia against Moses, who came from Egypt: and Balaam had in truth the word of God, and blessed the people of Israel.