First part.
How God speaks to Jacob and commands him to erect an altar; how Jacob then preaches a sermon to his congregation.
V. 1. And God said unto Jacob, Arise, and go to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar unto God, which appeared unto thee, when thou fleddest from thy brother Esau.
(1) Hitherto the patriarch Jacob has had great pain and has been in great anguish, since one challenge has always come upon another. His only daughter was weakened; the Shechemites were strangled; and from the same murder a great danger arose, by which he and his whole house would have been destroyed and perished, if God had not protected and saved him in such danger. For there was no one to advise and help him, and there was no one to comfort the poor, miserable, sorrowful father. His sons responded to his punishment with great pride and still justified their very wicked cause. So he is now troubled by sorrows and terrible pains, that he hangs, as it were, between heaven and earth; and the weakness of faith is added to this, so that he struggles so hard that he forgets all the promises, which were truly very glorious, forgets also the previous redemption, in which he had experienced the hand and gracious help of God.
2 These examples of the fathers are held up for us to read and learn in the church of God, so that the godly may see that they were wonderfully tempted by weakness and by strength, that they were sometimes victorious and sometimes rejected by fortune and misfortune, that at last, through mankind, they were able to overcome their weaknesses.
The Lord said that he would make martyrs out of all heavy trials, a sweet savor, and "straight smoke," as it says in the Song of Solomon, Cap. 3, v. 6. V. 6, and that therefore the carnal in them would be killed completely. These examples also teach us that our sufferings are childish and small compared to such heavy tribulations of the fathers; therefore we should take comfort from them and prepare our hearts for patience. For we have not yet struggled with such great afflictions, miseries and hardships as this One Patriarch has borne in his life.
But now God comes and helps his patriarch in the greatest need and when all was lost with him; as he is called and in truth is a true helper in trouble, as the 9th Psalm v. 10. 11. says: "The Lord is the poor man's refuge, a refuge in trouble" etc. For he does not abandon his saints who hope in him, even though they seem to be abandoned and forsaken; for this does not mean abandoned, namely, when they are almost abandoned. But God turns our no into a yes. As when the godly say, "There is no help for me in God, I am utterly lost," God answers thus: "You are not lost, nor shall you perish as you judge; but I will give you a mouth and wisdom even in the greatest and most extreme calamity, so that you will not be forsaken. It may seem as if this is an abandonment, but in truth it is not. Therefore, God lets Himself be heard again with His word and comforts the sorrowful and distressed old man.
4 And we have often said that in the legends of the holy fathers one should pay special attention when God speaks to them. That is why the histories in the Holy Bible surpass the histories of all other nations. For they are holy and useful for the reason that God speaks there. And one should not pass over them only as cursorily as
of the silent holy legends, since God does not speak; but one should recognize and consider the value and treasure that makes these histories precious, namely God's word, which He speaks with the holy fathers. Yes, that is what makes these legends golden. And if one wanted to compare the examples of the hermits or hermits with this, such examples would even be obscured. These hermits may well have lived according to the commandments of God and in faith, and for this reason they are considered great men, but they are by no means equal to these fathers, whom God meets in adversity and makes a new sun rise. The other legends have a great splendor because of the great and unusual miraculous works; but the histories of the fathers must not be judged by such works, but rather by the holiness that is God's word.
5 Now when God sees that Jacob is abandoned and despised and mocked by his sons, and that they do not grieve much because they have put their father in great danger and grieved him greatly, He comes in due time and comforts him. For groaning has filled heaven and earth. Dear Jacob, he wants to say, your prayer and tears force me to help you. Whatever you think will be your undoing will not harm you. I am the Lord your God; by my doom the Shechemites have been strangled, and this whole game has been arranged for this purpose, so that I may test you, try you, and make you chosen and proven. But be of good cheer; I will restrain and stop all the fierce wrath, raging and fury of the people, and will change your sadness and howling into joy, and you shall be a ruler in Shechem; for so I have decreed. Like Rehoboam, when he wanted to bring the ten tribes back to himself, he is forbidden to do so. For the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 2 Chron. 11:3, 4: "Tell Rehoboam the son of Solomon, Thus saith the Lord; Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren. Let every man go home again, for this is done of me," etc., namely, that with this I will send Solomon,
the father, and his son, Rehoboam. So God sometimes lets the Turk and the Pope rage; and again, when he wills, he restrains them both. For he who has set a goal for the sea has also set a goal for the wrath and raging of the devil and the world. As Christ says in the garden, Luc. 22, 51: "Let them be made so far away" etc.
(6) God allows all this to happen so that He may teach us to call upon Him, to cry out to Him and to groan. For this is the "straight smoke that comes up out of the wilderness," as it says in the Song of Solomon, Chapter 3, v. 6. In this way, the very great storm is calmed here, and Jacob receives a very pleasant comfort and peace in his heart, since God says to him: "The citizens of the surrounding cities shall not attack you; only despise such storms and the fierce anger of the nations; go, preach, read and practice the worship of God, pray; let me take care of this storm, and the waves that come up may be calmed.
7 Bethel is not far from Shechem, and we have discussed the name above. Jerusalem has ten names, and many think that Bethel is Jerusalem, or that it is Mount Moriah, on which the temple was built; and it still retains the old name among the Turks. David bought the same hill from Arafna the Jebusite and built an altar there, 2 Sam. 24, 24. 25. For there Abraham sacrificed Isaac, and got the name of reverence and worship, because on the same mountain Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel sacrificed; and after that the following patriarchs considered it holy and ordained it for the practice and use of worship. After that the Jebusites took it, but David took it again and destroyed it.
008 But that Moriah is not Bethel may be known: Bethel was a place near Ai and Shechem, was not in the tribe of Judah, nor in the tribe of Benjamin. And from there came the idolaters, with whom Hosea and the other prophets fought for and against.
904 D. VM, 292-294. interpretation of Genesis 35, 1. w. II, IS2S-I32p. 905
have. For they have boasted that God spoke with the fathers in this place; therefore the place should be better and held in greater honor than the temple at Jerusalem. Lyra thinks that Bethel is Moriah. This seems to me not to be true, or if it is one and the same place, then the name must have been changed afterwards. According to the geographers, Bethel is not Moriah, nor is Jerusalem, or it was called so with reference to the meaning of the name, namely that it was God's house.
(9) And the Lord commanded the patriarch Jacob to build an altar at Bethel, and reminded him of the former tribulation and distress, and comforted him with the examples of the former temptations and deliverances. As if to say, Remember the promises made to you before time, and remember what happened to you before when you fled from your brother Esau, and how much you suffered, and how graciously I delivered you and protected you. From the time Jacob fled from his brother until this time, almost thirty years have passed. For twenty years he was in Mesopotamia, eight years he dwelt in Shechem, two years he was on the way, and almost all that time he was afflicted with the enmity of his brother. Therefore remember, says the Lord to Jacob, that you also had a promise before in Bethel that I would protect you, and how fatherly I saved you from so many and great trials and faithfully kept my promise. When Jacob hears these words, he comes to himself again and takes courage, and the wound that was inflicted on him by his sons is immediately healed. For the word of God revives and comforts those who are troubled.
(10) But the text does not say how God spoke to Jacob, whether it was in a dream, or by a clear vision, or by some prophet. For God is in the habit of using these three ways. But at that time there was no prophet or patriarch, for they had all died. Unless perhaps Isaac, the father,
Jacob's son, or sent letters to him, commanding him to turn back and go to Bethel. But in whatever way it happened, it is enough that we have heard that God spoke to him. He may speak in whatever way he pleases, but it is certain that this is the word of God.
(11) But human nature is so perverse and depraved that, alas, we do not believe that we hear God's word when he speaks to us through a man. For we judge the word by the appearance and greatness of him who speaks: we hear the man who speaks as a mere man, and think that it is the word of a man. And therefore we also despise it and become weary of it, when we should thank God for putting his divine word into the mouth of the man or servant who is like us everywhere, who can speak to us and comfort and uplift us with the word.
We do not recognize the greatness of this blessing, nor do we thank God for it. That is why the legends of the holy fathers are so excellent in the play, not only for the sake of the word, but also for the faith of the patriarchs, so that they may have firmly and surely kept the word. Unfortunately, when we hear a minister of the gospel preach and absolve, we cannot be so sure that we have been taught and absolved by the divine majesty itself and have received comfort. We say that it is a word that we hear in the church, but it is the word of the pastor or the preacher. But it is not the word of the priest, nor of St. Peter, nor of any other minister, but of the Divine Majesty Himself.
13 Therefore our histories are colder because of our faith, which is colder. But in the fathers faith was much more fervent; as in their whole life a great wonderful faith shines. That is why the histories of the fathers are called sacred and are sacred. Now if we could believe that God speaks to us through our parents, through the pastors and ministers of the Word, then we would-
906 D. vm. 2S4-2SS. Interpretation of Genesis 35:1. 2. W. n, IL2S-ISS1. 907
we would feel and experience that our hearts would be kindled with great joy. For we would thus boast and say: I am baptized. By whom, by the priest? Answer: Not at all, but by the Holy Spirit; I am absolved by the Holy Spirit and by God Himself. Why should I be afraid? Of whom shall I be afraid? Why should I grieve because of my sins? Therefore, compared to the fathers, we are hardly little children and infants. For they have seen many abominations of idolatry among the pagans who lived around them, and yet they have so firmly accepted the word of God and kept it. We have before our eyes many innumerable examples of faith from our times and also from previous times, and yet we do not believe.
(14) Therefore, first of all, take heed diligently to the words of God who speaks, and then to the faith of those who have believed; then you will see the true miracles in the histories of the saints who, through faith in the word, have overcome all the calamities of the world and of the devils. And such victory they obtained not by their wisdom, for they knew no counsel, as the 107th Psalm v. 27. says, but because of the word that came to them and comforted them, and by faith, so that they clung to the word. For "our faith is the victory that overcame the world," 1 John 5:4. God makes us victors and overcomers through His word, so that He may establish and strengthen us. Therefore, this is a great glorious comfort that God gives to Jacob here; for it is as much as if he wanted to say: I have death and life, and all tempests, storms, and afflictions in my hand: only believe, and thou shalt be helped.
But he also gives him a commandment to set up an altar, that is, to worship. One must remember this rule: Without the Holy Spirit, one should not make any way or manner of serving God. How Jacob did not invent from his own will that in this place the house should be built
But he learned it from the revelation, when he slept in the same place and saw the angels ascending and descending, Genesis 28:11, 12; then he says in v. 16: "Surely the Lord is in this place," and surely God dwells here. Therefore, one should not erect altars or special services out of his own pride, but should look to God's command.
16 Jeroboam erected a calf at Bethel in later times, so that the people could sacrifice and worship there, 1 Kings 12:28 ff. And that he might obscure the commandment of God to build the temple at Jerusalem, which Solomon had, he extolled this commandment, which had been given to the patriarch Jacob, to set up an altar and worship at Bethel. For the same, he says, is much older, and therefore it should be more precious and glorious than the new commandment to build the temple at Jerusalem.
(17) As before this time, when God was to be sought and known in His Word and Sacraments, the pope rejected both Word and Sacraments, and invented the sanctuary and memorial of the saints, so that he deceived the poor people into believing that worship was bound to such things: and people fell into such foolishness about it that in some places they praised Joseph's pants, the milk of the Virgin Mary, and St. Francis' underclothes as sanctuary. Franciscus' undergarment as a sanctuary and proclaimed. In addition, there were the fictitious and strange works of the saints, such as St. Francis, St. Dominic, and others, whose holiness they judged according to their works and outward life. For in this way people who had turned away from the truth were deceived and fooled. But if you read the Scriptures diligently, you will see that without the Word nothing pleases God.
Then Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him: Put away from among you the strange gods that are among you, and cleanse yourselves, and change your garments.
18 Jacob clings to the comfort he has heard in the word of God: because of this, the storm ceases and the sea is completely calm, winter has passed, the beautiful flowers are seen, the nightingale sings. Therefore he is now happy and thanks God: "Praise be to God the Lord, sadness and fear have ceased, for the light of the sun has risen and dispelled the darkness of affliction. And now he repeats the words himself, which he has heard God speak, and tells of the trials that have befallen him in about thirty years. But he is not yet past all sorrow and misery; for there is still the terrible storm and misfortune with his son Joseph. But he thanks God that he has overcome the previous misfortune and prepares to go to Bethel, where the Lord first comforted him.
019 Thus saith Moses, How Jacob spake unto his household, and to all that were with him. There he makes a distinction between the members of the house and the strangers. The members of his household were his wives, children, servants and maidservants, but by the others who were with him he understands those whose hearts God had stirred to join the house of Jacob, either because they had hoped to marry them or because they had come from the robbery and barking of the Shechemites. For I have often said that it is very plausible that the patriarchs taught and preached there. Many of the Gentiles came to them, who saw that the patriarchs were pious, godly and holy men and that God was with them, and therefore heard and accepted their teaching.
20 For since they were sent by God into the world as messengers and preachers of the word, we should not think that their ministry and service went without fruit. And not only those who were of the blood of the patriarchs joined them, but also strangers; as above, Cap. 14, v. 13, were the covenanters of Abraham, Escol and Aner, all of whom undoubtedly heard the word, as did Abimelech. And afterwards Joseph in
Egypt, Daniel at Babylon, Jonah at Nineveh, taught the doctrine of the right true God. For this reason, God has gathered the Church into the world, not only from the one lineage of the patriarchs, but from all peoples to whom the Word has come.
(21) In this way many of the Canaanites joined Jacob and believed his word, whom God saved from the calamity that was present and from idolatry. As the harlot Rahab in the book of Joshua at 2. Cap. V. 1 ff, when she saw that the whole city was in danger and distress, she went to the spies and asked them to protect and preserve her and her friendship. For the hearts of some are always stirred, to whom those who are godly come in the world. And such people, I believe, were those whom Jacob carried with him. For the word is not taught without fruit, but gathers a multitude in the world, not only of those who hear the oral word, and who are in the church and congregation of the patriarchs, but also brings in those who are strangers, that is, those who are provided for it.
22 After this it came to pass that they made friends with the Canaanites for the sake of the marriage of the twelve patriarchs, who took pagan wives in marriage. Judah took the Cananite woman Thamar, Joseph the daughter of an Egyptian priest. Thus the blood of the Gentiles and the Israelites came together, so that also the Moabitess Ruth became a mother of Christ. For God is not only the God of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles, Rom. 3, 29, even though He spread His grace and His word into the world through the Jews as His servants. Finally, the patriarchs also had fellowship with the Gentiles. Therefore, they often took the opportunity to talk to each other about God and religious matters. For they were not dumb blocks and stones; but they conducted such a conversation with the people that they drew those who were strangers to them with special kindness, so that they might become their "comrades" in doctrine and religion.
(23) Now there is a fine sermon which the patriarch Jacob preacheth unto his house and congregation, which was gathered together of his household, and also of strangers; in which sermon he exhorteth them to amend themselves, and to depart from the sins which were yet in that church and congregation. And the first sin he punishes is against the first commandment, namely, idolatry; so he wants them to amend themselves in it and abolish such sin. "Put away," saith he, "the strange gods that are among you."
(24) For this is the main thing and the origin of all other sins. And all reformation or correction that may be undertaken is in vain, unless the doctrine is first purified. For behold the folly of the pope and all succeeding conciliar authorities, who first of all decree certain external ceremonies, such as commanding the priests to wear long robes, to read their seven times and mass diligently, and forbid them to gamble and commit fornication. They call this a reformation of the church. And if a council is held one day, such a thing will be dealt with and decreed in it. For the bishops and cardinals are crude, clumsy people who have no thought for the word and the doctrine, nor do they understand it or ask anything about it.
(25) Therefore, "the axe must be laid to the root of the trees," Luc. 3:9, and the head of the serpent must be attacked. For no matter how hard you strike it on the body, it can endure all this without danger; but if you hit it on the head with even a small rod, it will soon die. Now the noblest power of Satan is to fight against the word and doctrine, to destroy them, which doctrine is contained in the first commandment. He attacks it very hard. For this reason, we should make every effort to have the right and certain doctrine of God. Then a right reformation and church order can be established.
When King Ferdinand prepares to march against the Turks, he shall let the Turks have their way.
that one should fast, keep item, processions and saint's journey. But what is the use of such a thing but that it is a mockery of the devil? This should rather be done so that the right faith and the pure doctrine of the right worship may be taught. But they turn this around, defend the obvious errors in doctrine and still confirm idolatry: then they want to appease the wrath of God with external ceremonies and supplications. In this way, God is enraged and mocked in a twofold way.
(27) Therefore let us remember this commandment of Jacob, which saith, Put away strange gods from among you; that is, put away the abominations of doctrine and ungodliness, that the people may learn to fear God aright, and trust in him; and then the long robes, plates, and other such outward things, shall have their place.
But the two words "foreign gods" are not in the same numerus in Hebrew. The word "gods" is plural, but the other word "foreign" is singular and genitive, and thus reads, "the gods of the foreign" or "of a foreign thing." But the Hebrew word, nekar, has a double meaning, one of which expresses the opposite of the other; for it denotes both: unknown or strange, and: known. As subsequently in One Verse, Cap. 42, v. 8, both meanings are given, Joseph recognized his brothers, and he alienated himself from his brothers, that is, he made himself unrecognizable. This is the figure of speech antiphrasis, which is found in all languages. Thus the Latins call bellum, war, because it is not a good thing; and lucus means a forest, because it is dark and does not shine. The Germans have many such words, as when they say: Halt, ich will dir rathen, will dir helfen; this is also spoken by the figure antiphrasis, and this is the opinion that I want to punish or destroy another. Item, when one says: The executioner can well advise the thief etc.
The same is true of the meaning of this word: the gods of an unknown or known thing. The
912 L. viu, soo-302. interpretation of Genesis 35, 2. w. n, iWs-iWs. 913
But right understanding must be taken from the way of speaking. And in this place the Hebrew word nekar must necessarily mean unknown and strange. For as the Latin word bellum takes its name from the beautiful, and war, bellum, seems to the inexperienced to be very beautiful, potassium, and pleasant, just as revenge is sweet (but experience makes it necessary for us to feel and sense that it is a very sad and miserable thing about war; for it is called potassium by the figure antiphrasis, it means honey sown and mustard sprung up): So also at first the new service pleases the people very well, and lets itself be seen as if it were the right loud truth; it seems to be a lovely sweet drink. For so the spirits of the pagans are wont to promise and boast much of their doctrine, that there is nothing more certain, better, or more delicious; but in the end we only learn that it is only darkness, error, and lack of understanding. Therefore, in Hebrew it is called nekar, that is, known and yet not known at all. Such phrases remind the students of theology that it is very necessary that they learn to understand the Hebrew language well. For this reason, I want to exhort them to make an effort to learn the same language.
(30) But if a man has once lacked in his heart the right, true and one God, then a great innumerable multitude and disorder with many gods must follow. Whoever once abandons God, it is impossible that he should remain with a certain deity, that is, with a religion or a certain worship. As from unbelief, or where one has lost faith, innumerable sins must follow. The same can be seen in all histories. Since Israel fell away from God, they served Baal, Camos, Astharoth and other gods. Since we in the papacy have fallen away from Christ, the Son of God, our Savior, Dominic, Franciscus, Vincentius, Christophorus, Clara and other supposed saints have come in Christ's place, and in addition many other innumerable new services, which daily the priests and
Monks have invented without end and without measure. For the lust and the arrogance of the people could not be satisfied in any way.
(31) Therefore, to depart from the one God is as much as to be drowned in the multitude of many unknown gods. And for this reason Jacob called the strange gods gods of a strange, unknown and foolish worship, which seemed to be well known and holy. Therefore we should set our. Therefore, we should turn our hearts and all diligence to the one God, who is God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and remain with the one mediator Christ Jesus. This is the first part of the reformation that Jacob held up to his house.
The Jews understand here by the foreign gods the images of the idols, of which they have had many for and for; and they have had as many gods as there are devils in hell. As we have also seen in the papacy. But Jacob understands not only the images of gold and silver, but also that which is attached to them, or the inclination that men have toward them: which inclination is like the head in the image of silver or gold, namely, worship. For otherwise there is no sin in the image, but I may use it; as above Rachel, Cap. 31, v. 34, used the idols of Laban her father, which she put under the litter of the camels and sat on them. But this is a damnable sin, that is, the confidence of the heart turned to the image, though the image itself gives cause for such sin; but the desire for such an image and the idol is first in the heart.
(33) As the people before that time, and even now some kings, run to the dumb idols, and serve the same, as to Mary at Regensburg, or where there are images of other saints. That is, in truth, worshipping wood and stones. For the faith that is due to the one God as the Creator is there turned to the silver image and not to the Creator. But what could or would be more foolishly called or done? For why do you not in the same way also worship the thalers and the
Money that you have in your purse? Therefore Jacob does not look at the outward images alone, but wants to have God honored above all things, and the doctrine to be pure; and so he wants to begin the reformation from the first commandment.
34 The other part, when he says, "And purify me," understands in himself the sin against the other table, and wants that one should improve in it also. For first, saith he, the gods which ye think well known are very unknown: therefore put them away from you. Then also repent, and forsake the sins that are done against your neighbor. Let there be no thieves, fornicators, or adulterers among you, that the body and heart may be righteous, chaste, pure, and innocent of such sins, that the neighbor may be hurt. This is the outward righteousness.
35 The third part, the change of clothes, is an external thing and concerns the ceremonies: Take off the unclean garments, adorn yourselves also with an outward adornment. For such ceremonies, though they make no one righteous, are nevertheless necessary. For in outward ceremonies, gestures and customs, reverence should also be held, so that one may come together in a fine, honest and modest manner in the place where the word is taught, where one prays and calls on God, and where other worship takes place. First of all, the heart should be so skilled that it has right faith in God and is reconciled to Him, and then have love for one's neighbor, which should be perfect and without all offense or offense. Thirdly, where people come together, they are to observe outward discipline, so that everything may be done honestly and properly, 1 Cor. 14:40. But those who despise and neglect these things show that they believe nothing and that they despise God and His Church. For we are not to conduct ourselves in the church, where we come together for worship, as we do in the tavern; rather, this requires seriousness and proper decorum.
This is a beautiful reformation, because first the doctrine is reformed and purified; then the sins are also swept out,
than, usury, theft, robbery and fornication. Lastly, there is also an admonition that the people and the priests in the temple should dress in fine honest clothing. Our reformers reverse the order; for they begin their reformation from shoes and garments, and what is noblest and best they leave undone. It should rather be done in such a way that the heart may be purified inwardly by faith, and the body and members may be purified outwardly by love and outward ceremonies, also in clothing and manners.
Finally, in the commandment given to Jacob by God, the manner of speaking should be noted. For we should take care, when we read the Bible, to defend and prove our doctrine of the three persons in the Godhead from the Hebrew text. For thus read the words from the Hebrew: The gods said: Make GOOD an altar. This way of speaking is to be noted diligently when God speaks of God. For although the Jews despise and destroy this way of speaking, and say that there is a change of persons here, which is usual in the holy Scriptures; of which we ourselves also confess that it is true: yet we do not dwell on the Jewish trifles. For we cannot convert them, as we will not convert other stiff-necked men. And because such a way of speaking agrees with the New Testament, we keep in this place the words as they are.
(38) Now where God or the gods speak of God, the three persons are expressed and one God. By the God to whom Jacob is to make an altar, we understand the Son of God, who is the one and true God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, as we said above about the man who wrestled with Jacob. This instructs and strengthens us wonderfully. For when Moses wrote this, he was not drunk, neither was the Holy Spirit who spoke through him. And even if an angel or Moses speaks to us, it is the word of God. Therefore the Lord will say this much: If you will honor the God who gave you the gift of God at Bethel, then you will honor the God who gave you the gift of God at Bethel.
you will honor the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. For where it is said: Elohim, gods, said, there
is understood to mean that there is more than One Person in the Godhead.
V. 3 And let us arise, and go to Bethel, that there I may make an altar unto God, which heard me in the time of my affliction, and was with me in the way which I went.
(39) It is worthy of note that in the history of so many patriarchs it is not described or praised that they slaughtered any animal for sacrifice, although the holy Scriptures often say of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob how they built altars. Of Noah, Adam, Hain and Abel we read that they used sacrifices, namely burnt offerings; which the fathers undoubtedly did after the manner described by Moses, that is, they slaughtered and boiled sheep, oxen and goats, and burned a part of them as a burnt offering to the Lord, but a part of them they ate. For what else could they have used the altars for? Therefore, where the Scripture remembers them, there is no doubt that they were burnt offerings and sacrifices, when they offered cakes, bread flour, incense and other things, which sacrifices are described in Leviticus 1. 2. 3. ff. This is to be noticed however particularly well that these patriarchs also set up altars, and Mose remembers nevertheless no sacrifices at all. But he leaves it to the reader that he may conclude that there were sacrifices, burnt offerings and heave offerings where altars were erected.
40 Again, when Moses speaks of the sacrifice and burnt offering of the Levites, he describes such sacrifices of the animals they slaughtered so diligently that he does not pass over or conceal even the hair and skin and the dung that comes from the animals; there you will find nothing but vain incense and slaughter. He does not say what God said, what those who sacrificed suffered or did; just as in the histories of the fathers nothing is said about the slaughter of oxen or sheep,
The part they kept and the part they burned, but the most important part is added, namely, the sermon the fathers preached at the altars. Moses cooks, roasts, boils. In these legends, however, nothing is set apart except from the altar, and neither incense, wine, nor any other sacrifice is remembered.
041 So Jacob will build an altar. What for? Answer: He will build it for God, "who has heard me," he says, "in the time of my tribulation" etc. Yes, these are the right altars, against which the sacrifices of oxen and goats are only shadows and outward signs. But preaching, hearing the word, giving thanks to God and praying, these are the right sacrifices; Moses describes these to the fathers: but the outward sacrifices he hardly touches with a word. I will boast there, says Jacob, how God has been with me in the way I have gone, how he has heard me. Therefore, sacrifice in truth is nothing else but giving thanks and praise to God that He is our God, who will hear us according to His promise, and be with us in all tribulation and save us from death. For this means that he is our God, and that we thank him for having provided for us and preserved us until now, and for wanting to provide for us from now on, even though he leaves us tempted beyond our ability.
(42) Churches are built in this way and to this end. But if these sacrifices are not there, they may more cheaply be called cowsheds or stalls than altars or churches. For it is ordained that we should meet together in the church, that we should teach and tell the people about God, that he is our God, who lets us be tempted to goodness. This is the preaching of faith, of our patience, of God's grace, and how He leads and governs His own. Where this doctrine is not heard, do not think that there is a church or an altar. As in the papacy the churches were only the theaters of the devil, who mocked and miserably strangled the souls.
43. but the slaughter and the sacrifices of the Levites God has appointed for an appointed time for an outward sign, that the
The people of the world are to be drawn to the right worship and knowledge of God through a certain semblance of God. As he has given us baptism, the keys, absolution and the Lord's Supper not for the sake of the outward work itself, as the papists dream: but that we should remember the benefits of Christ, who says Luc. 22:19: "Do this in remembrance of me," that the heavenly doctrine may be heard among you; that ye may call upon me, giving thanks unto me; that ye may hope in me, and be patient to bear the cross, until I come and deliver you from all evil. This we do and teach diligently, publicly in the church and especially to the sick. We do not slaughter oxen or sheep, but praise God.
44 For Jacob says here that he does not want to erect an altar in order to sacrifice on it, although the same is also understood by this: but that he may praise and glorify God, who heard him in the time of tribulation, namely, when he had to flee from his brother Esau. He recognizes that God has heard him; that is why he has always stopped praying, seeking, knocking, that he has called upon God. Esau and Satan were his masters, who drove and forced him to cry out to God and to call upon Him for help. For God wants us to call upon Him, and He wants to hear us and be our God.
(45) So we have heard that Jacob was often in great distress and anguish, and that in his terror he lost God to some extent. How he was a very miserable man, since he had to flee to Mesopotamia. After that he was unjustly afflicted with infinite misfortune by Laban, so that he had to fight. Finally, when he left Mesopotamia again, he had to fight with the son of God. Because of this, his whole life was miserable and poor; and this is what he means when he says: "in the time of my tribulation". For he has had to bear one misfortune over another for almost thirty years.
46. however, it now also seems there as if
God be gracious and merciful? Yes, he is truly such a God. For Jacob adds here in the text that he hears the prayer. As in the 66th Psalm David praises God, when he says v. 16, 17, 19, 20: "Come, listen, all you who fear God; I will tell you what he has done for my soul. To him I cried with my mouth, and praised him with my tongue. Therefore God hears me, and heeds my supplication. Praise be to God, who does not reject my prayer, nor turn away his kindness from me." He is quite inclined to hear us, if only we were also inclined to cry out to Him. The answer is certain, for he himself has said, he himself has commanded us to ask, as he says John 16:23, 24: "Ask, and ye shall receive. Verily, verily, I say unto you, if ye shall ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it you." Item John 15:7, Christ says, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." For this reason we are justly to be punished, that we do not ask, do not cry out, do not stop. But the example of Jacob should entice and admonish us, who praises and glorifies God not because of his works or sacrifices, which nevertheless also happened, that he thereby shows his gratitude that God had saved him; but he praises first of all that he has such a God, who gave him his promise, heard him, protected him and delivered him from all misfortune, in which it sometimes seemed as if it were even lost.
We should learn and remember this diligently. And the example of our first parents teaches us the same. For when God called to them after the fall, when He said Genesis 3:9: "Adam, where are you? But after that, when God says in Genesis 15: "The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent," indicating that their lineage shall remain and that He wants to preserve the human lineage, and that such a seed shall be born that shall bruise the head of the serpent, they are again raised up and rejoice, and are not frightened when they hear the words in Genesis 19: "In the sweat of the blood".
in thy sight shalt thou eat thy bread" etc.; item, v. 16.: "Thou shalt bear children with heaviness" etc. For Eve will have said: I will gladly bear the pains of birth and death, if only the severe judgment and wrath of God may cease; which wrath we have brought upon ourselves, since we bit into the apple and transgressed God's commandment: if instead of eternal punishment comes a bodily one, then I will bear it with all patience.
So our whole life is truly a miserable life, and a real sour apple we have to bite into. But there is still the right life in it. The other apple of Eve was very sweet, and was very funny and lovely to look at in appearance, but it brought eternal death with it. Therefore, it is better to suffer misery and suffering with the hope of eternal salvation than to flee from such misery and affliction and run into eternal damnation.
(49) We see that the prophets and patriarchs also suffered the same, and that they boasted of suffering; as the Psalms and many sayings of the apostles testify, as Rom. 5:11 and elsewhere. Therefore we must remember this in our hearts, so that we will not be so afraid of any calamity that we will forsake worship and prayer. For since I am safe from eternal death and damnation, and am delivered from them, let the Turks and the Tartars and the pope and all kinds of calamities come to me; I will not despair of them, since I have the restitution and the very blessed change, knowing that death has been changed into life, damnation into eternal blessedness, and sin into righteousness; for I know that everything must be for the good of the godly.
It is lamentable that we are so ungrateful that we do not recognize nor thank God that the Son of God has changed eternal death into a temporal punishment. For we always want to have our pleasure in this life and live in joy, and we are afraid and flee from any cross, no matter how small it may be. But now it is necessary for the flesh to be put to death, and for such obedience to be made.
we should bear with patience in the cross, so that we may be grateful to God, knowing that Christ died for our sin. And He Himself says that His yoke is easy and His burden is light, Matth. 11, 30. And finally, because Jacob boasts with such great joy that God has saved him from bodily affliction, how much more are we due to praise God and thank Him for the eternal and temporal benefits!
51 But he also adds to the answer that he says, "He who was with me in the way I went. Yes, he has been with him in truth and has testified to this with the work and redemption; but very secretly and that it has not been seen. As Jeremiah says in his Lamentations on the 3rd Cap. V. 22: "The goodness of the Lord is not yet ended." For as far as outward appearance is concerned, the devil, Laban and despair were with Jacob. But he says, "All these thirty years the Lord has been with me.
52 Thus it was with the sacrifice which was customary among the fathers, and it was also customary at the time when they made a show of the Levitical sacrifice. For Moses did not look primarily at the temple and altar, nor at the sheep and oxen that David and Solomon sacrificed. For these are only the chaff and the bark or the bowl of the right worship, which God requires for a time and which He uses as an outward sign for our sake, so that He may awaken our senses from sleep.
But the right service is expressed in the New Testament, where the Lord Christ says Luc. 22, 19: "Do this in remembrance of me"; item, Matth. 28, 19: "Baptize them in my name" etc. But it is frightening that the pope makes a sacrifice and an external work out of the mass, and rejects the right core, which is that one should give thanks to God, call upon Him, hope, and also praise Him in the cross and tribulation. He has kept the bark, namely, the work of our hands and the sacrifice; yet we do not eat or drink our flesh and blood here.
The right worship is described in Psalm 50, v. 14, and reads: "Offer thanks to God and pay your vows to the Most High. The outward ceremonies are to serve this purpose and are to awaken you to praise God, who hears you, redeems you, governs you and helps you, so that you may trust in him, tolerate his hand, learn to be killed and die, and be patient in all these things, as befits godly people. This is the sacrifice of our body, and that which is alive, of which St. Paul says Romans 12:1.
Second part.
How Jacob's congregation puts away the foreign gods that Jacob buries; how Jacob then goes out safely; how he goes to
Bethel comes and aligns an altar.
V.4 Then they gave him all the strange gods that were warm under their hands, and their earrings; and he buried them under an oak that stood beside Shechem.
(55) You see that the patriarch had an obedient church or congregation that believed God's word. For they immediately put away the strange gods and accept the reformation of their teacher. That is why the whole church was well reformed and finely arranged everywhere. And Moses, in his books, gathered together many things from the ways and ceremonies of the fathers, as one who goes through all the books from time to time and gathers them together. Among other images were also the teraphim, idols, which Rachel stole from her father in Genesis 31:19. And the idols or images they called gods; not that they were so foolish or senseless as to take wood, gold or silver for God or to worship them, but they bound the silver or gold images to the God who should hear the prayer and look upon the worship, which was invented in that place out of human fancy.
56. how the pabstium of such silver
We have been full of idols of gold, wood, and stone. For even though we knew that such idols were all carved and cast with human hands, we fell down before the images and worshipped them, thinking that God would look at this or that image. And we let ourselves believe that St. Barbara, St. Anne and St. Christopher were looking at their images and were listening to our prayers. This has been the darkness in Egypt, and completely the same nonsense and frenzy, which has also been before times with the pagans, since they have invented so many countless gods; for so they have honored Juno, Bacchus, Ceres, Priapus and others more.
(57) I do not think that in any house there were golden images, but wooden ones, such as our people had in their houses before that time. It must have been some wooden idol, decorated with silver and gold jewels. As one reads of Dionysius, who plundered the image of Jupiter, because he took the gold and silver jewelry from it; as one uses with us golden bordure, clasps, corals, paternosters etc. And I think that the earrings were also such jewelry, so that they were put on the images, and not on those who honored the images. Although Lyra is inclined to think that Moses meant the ornaments or hats and priestly garments that they used when they prayed or sacrificed, either the priests or other people. For such things were used in all manner of divine services, both of which were wrong and right. However, this understanding seems to me to be truer, namely, that the earrings of the idols were jewelry.
58) The Hebrew word nesem means a small crown, or a golden half-circle, like the moon when it is curved, so that they have adorned the forehead from one side to the other as with a crown. Nowadays, we call it a bead or a golden braid and hair ribbon.
59 Aaron also had an earring, nesem, among other priestly ornaments. According to this the kings also used them
and made crowns out of them. Therefore it was common at that time that they adorned the idols or images on the heads with such little crowns for the sake of divine honor, so that they had a form and appearance of holiness; although it may also be, according to Lyra's opinion, that the priests may also have used such jewelry.
And Jacob took and buried all these things in one heap. And truly there was great piety and obedience in these people, who so willingly and gladly gave away what they held so dear and valuable. The greater part was looted because they plundered the Shechemites, who were idolaters. But he persuaded his household and strangers who were with him, because of the glorious preaching he did, that they should do such things of themselves, and that he would go to Bethel with his congregation when it was cleansed from idolatry.
(61) Why did he bury the idols under the oak tree, which were gold and silver, or wooden and adorned with gold, and why did he not rather melt them down and distribute the money to the poor, or use it for something else? For what good is gold and silver if it is buried in the ground? Answer: He did this for the sake of abuse, because he knew that God was very hostile to it: and he himself wanted to completely despise the goods that had been badly won, because through God's blessing he otherwise had enough that he could distribute among the poor.
62. Moses commanded Deut. 7:5 to burn all the images of the pagan gods, and would not have the people of Israel covet the silver or gold that was in them, or bring it into their house, lest they also become an abomination to God, as these images were. From this it is clear that some of the images were wooden, which they adorned with bracelets, hats and cloaks made of gold and silver, because gold is not burned. But the kings may have had idols of gold and silver. And Moses had such a commandment from the fathers, that one should not burn the
The saints were not to use the gold and silver of which the idols were made, even though it was good in itself. God wanted the first tablet to be so pure at that time that he did not want the saints to use the gold and silver of which the idols were made, even though they are in themselves good creatures of God. But he did not want to have this because such creatures were tainted with idolatrous false worship, with which false worship God is greatly angered. In this way Jacob buries the foreign gods in the ground, so that he can testify that he is clean from the sin called idolatry. In the Law of Moses, the same thing was kept as a terror to the rude and ignorant people, so that they would learn to flee and curse such abominations.
We in the New Testament know that an idol is nothing in the world, as St. Paul says in 1 Cor. 8:4. Therefore, the holy martyrs and bishops melted down the idols and put them to the right godly use, to preserve the church servants or other godly people and the poor. And in this they have done right. For such laws of outward ceremonies have now ceased, which laws the rude people had, to whom such outward compulsion was necessary, because they had not the spirit, but were governed only by the law and compelled by outward discipline, lest they should fall into idolatry. For in this way we also use to frighten the children outwardly, so that they abstain from sins or what is otherwise unseemly, namely, when we show them painted dragons or other misshapen, hideous monsters, and compare the things that are shameful with them, so that they learn to be frightened when they even think of, hear about, or look at such things. This people also had such an outward child discipline. For Moses did not want them to desire idols or images, or to carry them into their homes, so that they would learn that God does not want such things.
He said that he was very hostile to idols and that he abhorred them.
But those who are grown up and have understanding have no need of it; therefore we do not keep the same law and have no need of it. For what do we have now in our churches that has not been acquired by the most abominable idolatry of the popes? And nowhere is there a prince, city or municipality that supports or maintains its church or school servants with their own or new salaries. Although some of the church properties are honestly acquired and given to the church to maintain the good arts and schools. But what is given for masses, vigils and the service of the saints is nothing else but whores' wages and very shameful idolatry. Such silver and gold is all nesem, as the Hebrew word reads, that is, they are earrings, little spangles of idols, given to preserve superstition and godlessness or idolatry. But in this we make use of the evangelical freedom, that we do not expel such gold or bury it in the earth, but we handle it so that it may be turned to divine and right use, and that what has been given to the idolatrous missals may henceforth be distributed among the pious godly teachers and ministers of the gospel. And would God that we could obtain and preserve such things from the birds of prey, who seize the church goods by force and unjustly, and leave the poor parish priests and school servants barely enough to keep them from starving.
In the Electorate of Saxony, the parishes and schools are preserved, and we have allowed that what is left there may either be kept by the prince or distributed among the poor students. If one now asks: Why do we not also throw away the evil gained goods of the Babylonian whore? we answer thus: that they are now invested Christianly and well, and that we have brought it about that the money, which before served the devil, must henceforth serve God. In the Law of Moses it was necessary that the people had to be disciplined with harder discipline in
They were held in check because of the danger they might have been in because of the pagans who lived around them soon after, since there was no such great light of the Word then as there is now, and since they did not have that time of grace which by God's grace has appeared to us this day. Therefore, the laws of external ceremonies do not bind us.
V. 5. and they went on their way. And the fear of God came upon the cities that were round about them, that they pursued not after the sons of Jacob.
This was a blissful and safe journey under such a forerunner and captain as Jacob had. And it is an excellent and noteworthy example, which shows that the faithful and those who cling to God's word have protection and protection from the Creator of all things, against the gates of hell, Matth. 16, 18. For the prophet Eliphaz rightly said 2 Kings 6, 16: "There are more of them that are with us than of them that are with the adversaries. For such weakness of faith and misbelief makes the hearts of the godly very faint and despondent. Yet there are always some who retain this comfort to the extent that they can and may. Jacob himself was somewhat weaker in faith during the danger and hardship, as we have heard several times, than any other of his household could have been; and the inexpressible groaning in his heart nevertheless filled heaven and earth, and awakened God to show him comfort and help.
(67) Now this is a lesson and a comfort to us, that we may certainly believe that we cannot be abandoned, whether we believe firmly or not. For the weak are also protected; as St. Paul teaches Rom. 14:1, that one should receive the weak in faith; although the same weakness is in the neophytes or young Christians who have only begun to grasp the Christian doctrine. But the weakness of the great men, as, Jacob and the
other saints, is not in word or doctrine, but in temptation, when it seems that they have almost lost the faith. This is a faith that struggles and is not a weakness of young Christians who have only just begun; and God also accepts and protects them, as this example and many others show and testify.
(68) Now God keeps the life of the saints in measure and restraint, so that we do not become proud, and so that we do not put our trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, as St. Paul says 2 Cor. 1:9. For this is the work of the Creator, that He makes the poor rich, raises the dead, raises and comforts the afflicted, and overthrows those who hope.
69 He first strengthened Jacob with the word that he had commanded him to go to Bethel and had given him the sign of protection and divine help, namely, the commandment to build an altar. Because he had to build an altar and sacrifice, he had to live. As if the Lord wanted to say: The surrounding nations shall not destroy you, but you shall go to Bethel and sacrifice there. Third, there is also the deed and the experience. For the Lord makes the neighbors fear, who before were fierce and angry because of the murder which the strangers had done in the neighborhood and before their eyes. These neighbors, I say, the Lord has made so fearful that they could not pursue the sons of Jacob and the old father with his poor and defenseless little band. For the Lord is the forerunner and chief captain of this army that Jacob leads. Jacob is leading it, and he strengthens it with his word, saying to them: "Be of good courage and be of good cheer; I will fight for you without defense and without outward force; I will only make their hearts afraid, so that they may not attack you or chase after you.
(70) Dear one, who should be allowed to fight with such a prince or commander who first overcomes the great strong courage and puts it down? But when he is laid low, all the forces and limbs of the whole
The body will become soft and dull. For those who are experienced in warfare are accustomed to pay attention to this and to guess from it what the outcome of the battle will be: when the order of battle is set and arranged by both sides against each other, they can soon see which group will win; for in the same group, they say, one senses a special cheerfulness, both in men and in rust. On the other hand, they say, everything seems dull and as if dead in the crowd that is to be conquered. This is what the men of war say, who are well versed in warfare; and this also rhymes with the sayings in the holy scriptures. For victory comes from heaven, as it is written in the 144th Psalm, v. 10: "Thou givest victory to kings"; item in the 33rd Psalm, v. 17: "Grates do not help, and their great strength does not save. When God wants to give victory, He also gives a cheerful and strong spirit. If God gives, it is given. But if he takes away or breaks the courage of the enemy, then the defense falls out of his hands immediately, as it is written in the 76th Psalm v. 6. 7: "From your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both horse and chariot sink into sleep. The proud must be robbed and fall asleep, and all warriors must let their hands go down."
In this way God comforted Jacob with words and works in his greatest trial and distress, because when he went away with his people, the neighbors were so terrified that no one among them could open his mouth, let alone draw a sword. For the Lord had broken the power of the bow, shield, sword, and battle, so that they could not be ready and brave to fight, since they were otherwise very powerful and able to fight. And these things were not done for Simeon's and Levi's sake, as if they had done them by their own deeds or guile; but by the power of the promise, and by the faith of the patriarch and his own, though they were weak.
(72) Therefore the Holy Spirit admonishes us with this example, that we should learn the article of creation rightly and well, namely, that all things are in God's hand and God's will.
and that we become accustomed and awakened to trust in our Creator, which trust in us is still quite weak and small. For if we firmly believed that God is the Creator, then we would certainly also have to believe that he has heaven and earth in his hands and power, and all that is in them. Yes, that is even more, if we saw that the world was about to break with all the elements and fall over a heap, and was already lying on our necks, we would still say: You will not fall, if you are already falling, unless God wants it. And if it were on our head, we would say, "You will do me no harm, nor will you oppress me;" or if it pleases God that I should be overtaken and oppressed with such a burden of yours, then let it be done in the name of God what pleases the Lord. "My time is in his hands," Ps. 31:16; but if it please him otherwise, I will defy thee, heaven and earth, with all the violence of the Turk and the Pope, and other fierce wrath of the whole world.
73 For the house of Jacob was in such a state that it would certainly and completely have been destroyed. For the Canaanites were not lacking in strength and good will, nor in counsel, nor in armor, nor in fists. But what was in their way? Answer: The Lord says: I will not have it. "Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further; here shall thy proud waves be laid up," as Job says in 38 Cap. V. 11. and as in the 65th Psalm V. 8. 9. it says: "Thou stillest the roaring of the sea, the roaring of the waves thereof, and the raging of the nations, that they which dwell at the same ends may be astonished at thy signs." We live in the midst of the sea; and as the waters of the flood went up fifteen cubits above the highest mountains, so that they were covered, so now the great sea is still three cubits higher than the earth. But why does it not overtake us? Answer: Because God has set his goal for the sea. Its proud waves are puffed up and push very hard against the shore, as if they were about to break out and overtake the earth.
Land run: but such great violence of proud waves is compelled and restrained by God.
The same may be seen in all the fierce anger of the world that rages against the church. The Turk is like an impetuous sea, puffed up by waves, and if we were to force it with our strength and hold it back, it would be over with us long ago. For we Germans lie and snore, are sleepy and drunk, and have no such princes or commanders who could properly carry out such great important things with wisdom, good counsel and courage. And if the Turk were to continue, he would have taken all of Germany long ago. For there is no one who could protect us, neither emperors, nor kings, nor princes. God alone fights for us: and the Turk will not invade Germany, for only if God has decided and wants it. Otherwise he would have oppressed us long ago without effort and work, because we are so lazy and sleepy; for both the princes and the nobility are quite mad and corrupt in carnal lasciviousness, greed and avarice. But that we are protected and preserved, that happens through the power and goodness of God, and the church attains the same protection with prayer and faith. Thus, the emperor will not be able to come any further in the Netherlands, will not rage and rage any further than God has provided. This is now held up to us for consolation and to awaken our faith, so that we may call upon God so much more fervently and trust in Him.
And one sees the providence and government of God shining also in the histories of the pagans. Hannibal could have conquered Rome without any effort or difficulty, since he had defeated the most defiant captains and armies of the Romans: but he was held back by God. And because the others did not understand this, they cried out and said: Vincere scis, Hannibal, victoria nescis uti: You can win, Hannibal, but you do not know how to use the victory. But he should not bring it higher.
932 L. vm, sis-ssi. Interpretation of I Moses 35, 5. W. n. isss-rsss. 933
The Emperor Charles captured the King of France, having defeated him in a great battle before Pavia, in 1525. The next year he conquered Rome by force and the warriors plundered the city. Thus he had two of the most powerful monarchs in his power. And he did not lack a good opportunity and army power to wage a glorious war against the Turks, since in 1532 they had gathered a select army from all places of the Roman Empire: but he did not use such an opportunity and will henceforth seek such a good opportunity in vain in future times. For it is God "who takes away the courage of princes, and is terrible among the kings of the earth," as it says in Psalm 76, v. 13. He breaks the courage of the great warrior princes, such as Pyrrhus, Hannibal and others, with a word or a hint.
This is the right knowledge and the right faith of creation. Which teaching is to be diligently considered and practiced, so that we may awaken ourselves to call upon God and trust in Him. For where one wants to rely on fortresses and ramparts and tins, that is an ungodly and futile thing. And if God should one day decree that the Turk should invade Germany, the ramparts built at such great cost and labor will not protect us: and I would certainly not then desire to dwell in this city, I would rather crawl out. But if we bend our knees and cry out to our Creator, he can make fiery walls around us, as the 125th Psalm v. 2. says: "Around Jerusalem are mountains; and the Lord is around his people from now until forever"; item Ps. 34. v. 8.: "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and helps them out." I am hostile to great ramparts and fortresses, for they are nothing but a waste of money, and a glory of great folly. We should much rather let this be our concern, that we hold it firmly and surely that we are in the hand and power of our Creator: and not we
but also our enemies and the devils with all the gates of hell. For where the devil would have free power to rage and rage, our none would remain alive for a moment.
Therefore, let us learn to put our trust in God, who is our Creator and protector, and not in fortresses, guns, wisdom or force; it is all foolishness. The Turk and the devils break through without any effort or work, tear it apart and ruin it. For God does not want His own to rely on anything other than Him alone, so that they bear the name of having such confidence in God, the Creator, through His Son, through whom He received us into grace and made a covenant with us; which covenant is that we have such confidence that our life hangs on God alone against all cunning plots and violence of the devil and the world. And if God wills that I should be destroyed, it is not necessary for Him to send warriors for this purpose; but where He will not. In spite of all the Turks, death and devils in hell!
79 Therefore let those who have divine promise remember that they can rely on God to take care of us, to be our protector, shepherd and father for the sake of His Son; as Christ Himself says, Jn 16:27: "The Father loves you because you love Me" etc.V. 33: "In the world you are afraid, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world"; Cap. 15, 18: "If the world hates you, know that it hated me before you", and yet your life of this sinful body is also in my hand and power. Why then are we frightened and afraid of the threat of the violence of our enemies? We should rather rejoice in the Lord, who has called us by his holy calling, and has taught us to trust in him, and to overcome and conquer in him.
80This is the lesson of this text, in which Moses showed with special diligence that fear had come upon the nations that were so mighty; among whom, no doubt, many were angry and said: Shall we then suffer this great reproach
of our neighbors go unpunished and unavenged? Shall this mob of loose people and beggars thus rage and rage freely in our neighborhood, and remain unpunished? But the commander of Jacob's army is the Lord of hosts and of the whole heavenly host; as the son of Elisha the prophet saw in 2 Kings 6:17 that the mountain was full of fiery chariots and chariots around Elisha. And the saying in the 91st Psalm v. 11. is very sweet, where David says: "He has commanded his angels over you, to keep you in all your ways." And we know that this is true, and is so often repeated in the holy Scriptures, and yet we do not believe it. Such is the great and pitiful lamentation of unbelief. The thing itself is quite certain, the words are true: and yet the heart believes not.
So Jacob came to Luz in the land of Canaan, which is called Bethel, with all the people that were with him, and built there an altar, and called the place El Bethel, because there God was revealed unto him, when he fled from his brother.
Jacob arrived in Lus fresh and healthy "together with all the people who were with him. For the protection of God and the armies of angels around protect them, so that they do not lose a claw. The neighbors are very harshly enraged, the robbery of wives and children is led away: but the strong and contending heroes may not even open their mouths. But why? Answer: Because it pleases God the Lord.
82 And when they were departed, no doubt the widows of the Sichemiteu, which were strangled, bewailed with weeping and wailing their affliction and pain, and that they were lonely. Then Jacob soothed their sorrow and lamentation with words as best he could, and some of them were subsequently married to the patriarchs. Jacob did not take a Cananite as a wife, but his sons and household members will have taken some of them as wives. But Simeon,
Levi, Judah and Reuben were already husbands at that time. And with such hope Jacob comforted the poor widows kindly, namely, that he would give them in marriage to his household and others; just as the kings of Israel, who came from Jacob, also showed themselves gracious and kind to the strangers. For Salma took Rahab and Boaz Ruth as wives, Matt. 1:5, and so these widows also came to the inheritance and fellowship of the church. This was a very beautiful compensation for the accident that they had been deprived of their previous husbands and had otherwise suffered much physical misfortune.
83 This kindness is to be praised in Jacob and in the fathers, that they dealt so honestly and kindly with the female sex, so that they might have comfort in their misery and imprisonment. For Jacob will have comforted them thus: Dear daughters, suffer this harm with patience and be content; for it has pleased God thus. And what you have suffered in bodily harm, that shall be finely repaid you with other, spiritual and much greater benefits. For Jacob was not such a rude and inhuman enemy as the Turks and Spaniards are; but he advised and showed them all how they might be helped. He was full of faith, patience and kindness; and these same virtues shone forth in his wives, Leah and Rachel, who kindly received the widows, and took care how they might soothe their sorrows with all kindness and godliness, and bring them into the fellowship of all good deeds and eternal blessedness.
Lus is a city that has been called this from ancient times, as we saw in 28 Cap. V. 19. Jacob is the first to change the name and calls it Bethel. Just now, Cap. 28, v. 17, he prophesied that God certainly dwelt there; but now this name is nullified by God. As the angel also called Jacob Israel; but the same name did not remain on it: therefore it is repeated by God, that
May he remain on him forever and ever and be constant. In the books of Judges and Joshua, there is a history of how the children of Israel drove out the citizens and inhabitants of the city of Lus, after which it retained the name Bethel.
The question of whether Lus and Jerusalem were one city has been discussed above in Chapter 28. 28 above. All the histories of the kings indicate that they were different cities. Under Abraham and Joshua, Bethel, Ai and Hai were cities close to each other; but Lus is Bethel and is placed throughout the Scriptures close to Ai. It was twelve miles from Jericho, as Jerome indicates, and was on the way down to Jericho. Now Jacob came there fresh and healthy, loaded with gold and silver and the plunder of the Shechemites, and he kept the inheritance of the same land. Then Joseph was sent to his brothers, who were feeding their father's herd in Shechem.
Here we should repeat what was said above about the building of the altar. For Moses omits other ceremonies and sacrifices, which he otherwise describes at length in the third book, and tells only this few piece, which is to praise God, to comfort the weak, to punish the erring, to teach the ignorant, and simply to drive out the word. For there sin and death are destroyed and righteousness and eternal life are restored; the devil is trodden underfoot and God is exalted. This service is very pleasing to God. After this comes the invocation and prayer of the Church, so that we may pray that we may be strengthened and preserved in this doctrine and faith, and also be protected by God in all tribulations. These two parts are the right, true and highest service of God, namely, the teaching and the prayer. After this follows the killing of the flesh and that the old leaven in our flesh may be swept out. And Moses looks primarily to the word and to the salvation of the soul. It does not rhyme badly with this, however, that not only the members of Jacob's household, but also the neighbors are to be
had come when the altar was built. For God is not only the God of the Jews, but also the God of the Gentiles.
The name of the place el bethel is a new and peculiar name. For the word el is placed before it, which is also placed in the name bethel. However, we have not retained the Hebrew proper names everywhere, but have made generic words out of them in our German translation: as in this place the Latin interpreter has given this in Latin, domus Dei, God's house. But this name we keep; for it is strange, because el is added. Since the place was called Bethel before, he calls it here "GOtt Bethel", and it is very common in the Hebrew language that the proper names are put to the name of GOtt in one word; as, Isaiah, Gabriel, Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, in Latin, exaltatio Dei, the exaltation of GOtt. In the German language we have few of these. In the Greek language, however, such names are many, as, Theodosius, Theodorus etc.
Now this place cannot be God, and yet it is called el bethel. Therefore we dispute with the Jews about such a name, for the sake of the text in the prophet Jeremiah, 23 Cap. V. 6. and Cap. 33, v. 16, where it says: "And they shall call him: The Lord, who is our righteousness." From this we want to prove and maintain that David's seed or the Messiah, of whom, as they all admit, this text is to be understood, must be true God, because Jeremiah says that he will be called Lord, and there the noun tetragrammaton, as they call it from the four letters, namely, Jehovah, is placed, which alone belongs to God. Therefore we hold fast that Christ is true God, who justifies us, because he has the name that belongs to God alone.
This text is firm and strong enough on our side. But we cannot counter the inconstant blasphemy of the Jews so precisely that they do not always seek their evasion, how they may escape us. For they reproach us with such testimonies, in which the name of God is also attributed to other things.
as this place is called el bethel, since el is a proper name of God. And above in 33 Cap. V. 20, Jacob built an altar and called it the strong God of Israel. But now, they say, it does not follow from this that one wants to conclude: The thing has the name of God, therefore it is God. For it is another thing to have the name of God and another thing to be God. Moses calls 2 Mos. 17, 15. the altar: Dominus vexillum meum etc.: The Lord my banner, triumph, victory and exaltation; yet the altar is not the Lord, neither is the victory and triumph. Such examples they present to us and argue with it against the text of Jeremiah.
90 Lyra is very angry and answers thus: Christ is called our righteousness and our Lord in his person; but other things or places are not persons, nor can they have this name, but only signify some divine effect which is introduced by such a name. But the Jews are not moved by this, that they should not say that Christ is a mere man. And I have not yet decided with myself how one should seize and hold these slippery eels, the Jews. We have enough that this testimony or saying agrees with the New Testament, in which it is evidently said that Christ is our righteousness and also true God, until we may convince them from other places of Scripture. But it is impossible that all ways should be barred to the sects or mobs, that they should not be able to escape us; as Christ himself could not overcome the Pharisees and Sadducees, since they also had already been overcome.
91 But we will answer that this name of Christ should be praised and spread, if he is not called Jehovah by his proper name, as the Jews blaspheme. For his name was Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary. But we Christians interpret the words of Jeremiah thus: "They will call him", that is, they will praise Christ, they will extol him and spread him, that he is the
Lord be he that justifieth us. The Jews are only stuck on the syllables, namely, that he was not called by that name. But this name has a different meaning than other names, such as Bethel and the altar, that it is our God. For this is not the common name, so that the altar is called, but it is only an external designation and historical memory. For this was never said or praised of the altar, that it should be our Lord. So also the other names, which the prophet Isaiah assigns to Christ, are such names, which are said of Christ. As when he says in the 9th cap. V. 6. he says: "And he is called Wonderful, Counsel, Everlasting Father" etc. If the Jews do not accept this, they may always go on with their mockery. This is nevertheless certain, that there is a difference between a real proper name, as it is given to Christians in baptism, and between a distinguishing epithet.
(92) Why does Jacob set up the altar? Answer: Because God reveals Himself there. He wants to thank God for giving him the word, and he wants to praise the God who revealed Himself to him, to remember Him, and to confess Him. This means el bethel: Here dwells God; it is like a house of wood or stone. If the word is confessed and preached there, or if God is praised and invoked there, then it is a temple or church, even if it is already under heaven or under a tree, as under the oak tree under which Jacob buried the foreign gods. And the idolaters and godless priests have followed this way. For they have chosen the most delightful places on the mountains, in the valleys, or by the waters and trees, whither they have drawn the people to sacrifice under heaven after the manner of the fathers.
But in Hebrew it is expressly said: Quoniam ibi revelati Dii: Because there the gods were revealed to him. And such passages in the Scriptures are to be diligently noted when the Scriptures speak of God as of many gods. As it says above in 1. V. 26: "Let us be men.
to make an image that is like us"; item, in Cap. 3, v. 22. V. 22: "Behold, Adam is become as one of us"; item, in 11 Cap. V. 7: "Come, let us go down, and confound their language there"; item, in 18 Cap. V. 2. 3: Abraham saw three men against him, and said unto them, "Lord, if I have found grace in thy sight, pass not over before thy servant. "etc. These are very important and noteworthy passages. For they show that the fathers had the same knowledge and faith in the Godhead that we teach today. And it is a clumsy thing to reproach us with the fact that the doctrine of the Trinity is nowhere proclaimed in the Old Testament, when it is evident from so many sayings that the godly at that time also held that there was more than One Person in the Godhead. But that this mystery has not been expressed in all letters, we should know that this has to be reserved for the New Testament, in which the clearest revelations are.
But it was not uncommon among the fathers to teach that there were more persons than one in the one divine being. Although the majority did not believe this doctrine, as even today the Turks and Jews do not agree with us. And what is more, among those who hear our sermon there are also many who do not respect or believe in this doctrine. For the same thing happens to them that Isaiah says of his listeners in chapter 6, v. 10. V. 10, that their hearts are hardened, and their ears are thick, and their eyes blinded, that they see not with their eyes etc. For men who are deceived by their affections and desires, or by their own delusions, do not see with their eyes or hear with their ears; they live with other living men like blocks and sticks.
(95) Now many people hear our sermons and read the books we write, but their hearts are in the kitchen or other places. Therefore, when they stand and hear our sermon, they do not understand it at all; which is not natural, but voluntary.
This is a great lack of understanding, by which one turns his heart away from the things that are present and speculates, or thinks and desires other high things in the meantime. The prophet Isaiah calls such hearts thick or hardened hearts, which are covered as it were with mud, and eyes that are weighed down, as the eyes of the disciples were in the garden,' who pay no attention to what Christ speaks. And this is the condition of the greater part of men, both among the Jews and also among the Christians: of these there are almost few who pay attention to the teaching of the fathers or follow their faith.
96 But we are to understand that in this place it is clearly said that the gods are revealed to Jacob; for in the Hebrew it is in the plural. And also the tense is significant: Dii detecti, the gods uncovered; for the same word means revealed or to be uncovered, and to be seen by heart, as one is formed; to uncover that which has been covered. Thus it is written in 3 Mos. 18, 7: "Thou shalt not uncover thy father's shame" etc. Thus God was revealed and uncovered to Jacob, appeared to him as He is, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in the Son, who was to become man. As Jacob saw three persons on the ladder, and that God would become man from His seed, who would bless all generations on earth. Thus it is said that gods have revealed themselves, and yet is One God. For why was it necessary for Moses to write all this, since he could have used other words if he had not wanted to describe that this great mystery had been revealed to the fathers?
97 Jacob praised this revelation in many beautiful sermons. For this reason the altar was erected to commemorate such an excellent gift, namely, that the Trinity was revealed to him and the incarnation of Christ, and that spiritual and physical promises were given to him at the same time. And there must have been some who heard this sleepily and with thick ears. But the patriarch received great light and comfort from it, and because he escaped the danger into which his sons had led him, he now lives.
without worry and in good peace, keeping the promises and revelations of God. But another accident will soon follow. Nothing in the lives of the saints is long-lasting, and everything is full of many disputes, even though salvation will come again.
Third part.
Of the death of Deborah; how God appears anew to Jacob and Jacob sanctifies the place of appearance.
V. 8 Then Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under Bethel, under the oak tree, and was called the Lamenting Oak.
This affliction is somewhat easier and more bearable than the one that follows, which he had from the death of Rachel. But what is the purpose of writing and knowing the death of this old woman? Answer: It was so that we might know that the life and all the works of the saints are like our works. They may have been people of faith, but they sometimes showed themselves to be very weak in temptation, so that we may not despair in our weakness, because they were clothed with the same flesh, so that today we also are dragging ourselves along. They may have had more excellent gifts than we: but in the fellowship of grace and help, and likewise of the protection of God, we are one like another. Deborah, the nurse, is introduced and described here as a holy woman who was very dear to the patriarch Jacob, because of her age and her special godliness, she was able to strengthen and comfort him in his most difficult trials. Therefore Jacob mourns her death and calls the oak tree under which she is buried the Lamentation Oak.
99) And this also was a cause why Deborah's death was told, namely, that the holy Scripture might show that the patriarchs were not lumps and sticks, or even unkind men, which
had no natural inclination, as the monks had been. For they considered it a great honor that they could despise their parents, brothers and sisters, and they shamefully abused Christ's saying, since he says Luc. 14, 26: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, he cannot be my disciple. From this they made up a peculiar and evangelical holiness, if they would hate and despise their parents. But what was that but to hate his own flesh and the whole human race? As it is told in one place of one who could not bear to look at a man.
The same monks have taught: Whoever has desire and love to deal with men will not be able to have communion with the holy angels. For they have called the solitary life an angelic life; but in truth it has been a quite devilish life. For they have taken away from man the inclination that God created and planted in human nature. God does not want you to despise or leave your father and mother (as Jerome admonishes those who want to go to the monasteries) out of your own counsel and nobility, if your profession does not drive you to do so; for such is a work of your own choosing. But if any tyrant would force you to deny the pure sound doctrine, or if your parents would force you to do so: then God tells you to put your life and property in danger and that you should rather leave your parents in such a case than the confession of the Word. Here the saying of Christ Lnc. 14, 26. is applicable, if one should either deny God or leave his father; then one should say to father and mother: "I do not know you", Deut. 33, 9. I have no father or mother. And you should do the same not of your own choice, but if your divine calling drives you to it.
101 I say this for the sake of the histories, or, as they called it, for the legends, in which the lives of the fathers who lived before us are described, in which such un-.
and heresy are found a lot. The Holy Scriptures describe the saints as people who are ready to suffer all kinds of danger and to leave all their possessions. But when necessity does not demand it, they are full of the inclination and love that God has planted in nature, such as loving their spouse, children and blood friends, and having compassion on those who have fallen into misfortune and are afflicted etc. For thus Moses portrayed the patriarch Jacob, that he loved his wives and children very much, when nothing could be more carnal than such a thing. He writes that he wept and mourned for the death of this holy woman, Deborah. But in such affection and love his heart was nevertheless subjected to the divine will and ready to obey in his profession.
(102) In the same way, other people are moved and grieved when their friends and relatives die, and even more when their wives or children die. And such things are not sins, but good natural inclinations: when a father weeps for his son who has died, when he grieves that he has lost his wife, he is not to be punished. Yes, the vice that is contrary to this inclination, namely, unkindness, is condemned by St. Paul, who wants us to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice, that is, we should be moved by other people's misfortune or welfare.
When I hear that the Turk rages horribly and sheds the blood of the poor Christians, that he puts the little children on the fences or stakes and commits atrocious acts of shame with the women, it is truly fitting that I should sigh. And a human heart cannot refrain from it, it must be moved violently when it hears such a horrible thing. But here some stoic would like to reproach me: Well, you are a tender martyr, crying and weeping like a woman: it behooves a man who has a manly heart to despise such a thing. What is it to us that virgins and women are taken away, and that they are violated and strangled? To this I answer that such things are rather
is nonsense and frenzy, and not strength. For what can be said or thought that is more repugnant to all human kindness than not to be moved by other people's miseries and misfortunes, which are so grievous and horrible? It is not godly or Christian to laugh when other people are in distress and danger, as when we see that some have gone astray; or that the emperor and the Turk are raging horribly against the poor Christians; item, that the pope is plunging so many thousands of souls into eternal damnation: then it is due to me that I am a human being, and that I consider it due that I should also have human feelings and sentiments, as he says in the comedy. But it is much more fitting for me to be a Christian, and to let such misfortunes of other people, and that so many should perish in body and soul, go to my heart. And Christ himself teaches such kindness when he says Luc. 6, 36: "Be merciful, as your Father is merciful." And St. Paul says Rom. 12, 13: "Take care of the saints' needs."
For this reason the unkind people of the monks are to be cursed, who live without all godliness and fellowship of the human race. For if all people wanted to follow them and crawl into the corners so that they would not see any people, who would want to preside over the church soon afterward and administer the world and domestic government? God has called and placed us in this world, and not outside of it. And John the Baptist and Christ the Lord Himself were called out of the wilderness to teach and preach in the world. The description of the holy fathers also belongs to this, in which it is shown that they were friendly people who loved the community of people and had a very friendly disposition towards their own and also towards strangers. For it is an ungodly and inhuman thing not to have compassion for other people, and not to weep with them when they are miserable and sorrowful; or not to have a desire for those who have departed from this life, because they were very dear to us in life.
We see how the death of this pious matron Deborah so grieved the patriarch Jacob and how he was saddened by it; which Deborah, I believe, will have refreshed him at times with words and comfort in his greatest anguish and distress. For women have their gifts, and God has often used the female sex to perform great miracles through them, as Agatha, Anastasia, Agnes, Lucia, with their faith and constancy in confession and suffering, have darkened even great men's legends. The Holy Spirit lit their hearts and strengthened them, so that they laughed at the torture and very gruesome torment.
(106) So I believe that this Deborah was a wise and godly matron, who served Jacob and advised him to govern the servants in the house; and in great danger and hardship he often allowed himself to be persuaded and comforted by her. For the women who love godliness are also wont to have special grace. They have the grace to comfort others and to ease their pain; and the conversation of women moves people more than that of men. That is why God gave Eve to Adam in Paradise, so that she would be around him, not only to do the housework, but also to comfort him in his common misery and pain.
107 Deborah was very old, and the servants thought of her as the grandmother of the house. For she was Rebekah's wet nurse and was therefore very dear to Jacob and his children, for she brought them up and looked after them with kindness. And grandmothers tend to have greater affection for their children than the mothers themselves, so that in such affection love always descends and in such descent against the usual rule becomes more and more ardent. Her age can easily be taken from the chronology, since she was Rebekah's wet nurse. For in this year Jacob was at least a hundred and six years old: his mother, Rebekah, was given in marriage to Isaac in the thirtieth year of her age, when he was forty years old. The same has in the sixtieth
In the fiftieth year of his age he begat Esau and Jacob, and in the fiftieth year of Rebekah. If one adds a hundred and six years from her birth to this time, there are a hundred and six and fifty years of Rebekah: above this the nurse was still older at forty years; therefore she was at that time a hundred and six and fourscore or a hundred and ninety years old. But now she was held in honor by all the congregation and all the servants because of her age and other gifts. For she had seen and heard the very great patriarchs for a long time, Shem more than a hundred years, with whom Jacob lived fifty years, and Rebekah a hundred years, and the nurse a hundred and thirty years. Such a matron had a great treasure of knowledge and experience. That is why they took her for their grandmother.
(108) And it is probable that Rebekah also died at the time or shortly before, when she may have been weary with sorrow of heart and grief, though her death is not remembered. It seems, however, that since Jacob's years of service had passed, Deborah was sent to call Jacob again from Mesopotamia; as Rebekah had promised him in the 27th chapter above. V. 45. where she says: "I will send for you, and bring you from thence" etc. For she had come from Syria and had been given to Rebekah by her brother and mother as a companion, since she was to be given in marriage to Isaac, as it says in Cap. 24, 59. For this reason she stayed with Jacob for some time, so that she might comfort and refresh him and his household.
109. But now, as they were going home again, she died on the way: and the burial under the oak, which was called the Lamentation Oak, shows that Jacob and all the servants were greatly grieved over it, and that they bore witness to their grief with tears. Which the Holy Spirit tells us, so that we may know that they were kind people, and that it is an ungodly thing not to take other people's grief and misery to heart, and not to mourn and weep over them; for one also finds such a tendency.
in the unreasonable animals. Therefore he calls the place of burial the "Lamentation Oaks", as a sign that they held the pious nurse dear and that they longed for her; and that he thereby showed that he, together with all the household, had mourned the very dear nurse and had grieved over her death. They would have preferred to take her home again to her old father Isaac, but God wanted it differently.
Let us learn, then, to rejoice with the joyful and weep with the weeping, so that we do not become sticks and blocks; as there are many examples in your book called "Lives of the Fathers," who, outside their profession, went into the wilderness from the fellowship of men, and there did not concern themselves with the things that other men deal with.
V. 9, 10: And God appeared unto Jacob again after he was come out of Mesopotamia, and blessed him, and said unto him, Thou shalt be called Jacob; but thou shalt no more be called Jacob, but thou shalt be called Israel. And so he is called Israel.
It has been said many times that God often delivers and comforts the saints and does not allow them to be tempted beyond their ability. Therefore, He now repeats and confirms the promise given to Jacob above, Cap. 28, v. 13 ff., when he appeared to him in a dream on the ladder. And he does this so that he may relieve his pain and sadness, which sadness he had from the death of Deborah. For the life of the saints is nothing else than that they go down to hell and come up again, since light and darkness, temptation and comfort always follow one another. But the patriarch is not yet past all misfortune, but there is still much greater sorrow and misery that he will have to suffer. Therefore, he is now strengthened by God, so that he may bear this present misfortune and also the future accident with so much greater courage.
112) Here it is also said in clear words that God appeared to Jacob, but in the beginning of this chapter only that He said, "Arise, and go to Bethel. And it seems that there is a difference between these two. For God could have spoken through Isaac, Jacob's father, or through the nurse Deborah, of whom Deborah the holy Scripture boasts not in vain that the patriarch Jacob wept for her; and it is very well believed that she was a very wise matron and prophetess, full of the Holy Spirit, who will have reproached Jacob about many things. But what the saints speak is to be understood as if God Himself had spoken it. As when we preach the gospel, when we baptize, or when we call and ordain ministers to the ministry of preaching, we do not preach, baptize or ordain, but God speaks through us. Therefore it is also called God's Word, God's Sacrament, and God's Ministry; and it is rightly said: God speaks, God baptizes, when He does the same through the ministers; since all that is attributed to God is what holy men have said. As an example, these are Adam's words, as he says above Cap. 2, v. 23: "This is the bone of my legs"; item v. 24: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife": and yet Christ says in Matt. 19:5 that God has spoken such things. Therefore, when we speak the word of God, it should not be taken as the word of man.
And it is well believed that Jacob was commanded to go to Bethel in this way, without appearance, only by a prophetic spirit, either through Isaac, his father, or through Deborah, who, full of the Holy Spirit, would have advised him to flee from Shechem. In this place the holy scripture says: "God appeared to Jacob", namely, Christ the Lord Himself in the form of an angel. Now this was a manifest appearance, and much different than when he speaks through a man.
114 Therefore, now that Deborah has died, who could very well have admonished and comforted Jacob, since the equipment of the prophecy
or prophecy has gone out, God takes the place and does not leave Jacob, but when Deborah has disappeared, He appears Himself, so that a new appearance may come to those whom He has had above, especially on the ladder, because He sees Jacob suffering and weeping because he had lost the pious prophetess, and speaks very kindly to him.
But the blessing is to be understood of the spiritual blessing, that is, of the future seed. For the bodily blessing was given only for the sake of the spiritual. How we live in this whole life to the end that we are baptized, that we believe, that we are sanctified and saved: this is God's order in parents, teachers and church servants. For God created the ministry of all creatures, including angels, so that His kingdom might come, His name might be sanctified, and we might be saved and obtain the inheritance of eternal life.
For this reason the spiritual blessing is understood in it, and God wants him to wait for it and keep it. As if to say, "Be of good cheer, for though they all die, yet I live; and now I repeat my promise to you who mourn and weep, that you may know for certain that from your flesh shall come heirs and the seed that is given, as I promised Abraham and Isaac. And that Jacob might have a sure pledge and testimony of the gracious divine will, he changed his name, and called him Israel. This change of name indicates that God is not dealing with him in small, common things, but in very great and special things. This is a common name, which he received in the bodily birth through his parents; but this is very excellent and full of comfort, that he now gives him a new name.
117. as we are born in this life sons and daughters of our physical parents, and as St. Paul Eph. 2, 3. says: "children of wrath"; since we bring with us the name of the sinful and corrupt nature because of original sin; if
But if we are baptized, then we receive a new name, and now he who is baptized is no longer called a son of John or Peter (although we need such names among men in the fellowship of this life), but before God the name is changed and cancelled, and the man with a new name is called a Christian because of baptism and faith. The name reminds us of baptism, which baptism is practiced in daily tribulations and temptations and must produce its fruit and effect, so that we grow and become a new perfect man, and so that the Christian name is perfected until our name and old Adam is even taken away and abolished.
Therefore it is to be noted here that God Himself gives this name to the patriarch Jacob, with which new name a distinction is made between the flesh and the spirit. For Israel is a divine name, and God has a different way of giving names than is customary among parents, relatives, neighbors, and likewise in each one's fatherland and according to each one's status; but the name with which God calls and recognizes us is a special name. As He said to Moses in Exodus 33:12: "I know you by name." And this is what St. Paul saw when he says Rom. 9, 6: "Not all Israelites are of Israel." Not all Israelites are of the flesh and have the name Israel, but the true Israelites are spiritual and God has given them a spiritual name; as this is explained in detail and gloriously in Rom. 9.
119. but God will say this: I have not yet revealed your name to you, that you might be called by me, but I have caused you to be called by your father's name and according to the flesh: but now I give you a name according to the way I have dealt with you, how I have led you wonderfully, not as a son in the flesh, but as I have led you, governed you, afflicted you, swept you and sanctified you through many plagues, that I might make of you a new man and a new woman.
new creature, and now wants to give you a new name, not of the flesh, but of the spirit.
The derivation of the word has been explained above. The Hebrew word sarah means to fight, or rather to overcome. The name Jacob is not very dissimilar to the same word and meaning; for Jacob is also called a subverter, that is, an overcomer. But here he says that he overcomes God: "You will be an overcomer of God. And this is a common name for all Christians; for we are not only conquerors of the devil, of sin, of death, of men and of this life, but also of God; for he has promised that he will help us, yes, he has even surrendered himself to us. If it were not for this, we would not be conquerors of God; but because he is our God through the promise, and has said to us, "I will be your God," you can only be confident etc.: therefore it comes about that we become God's conquerors.
(121) For when he hath made his promise unto us, he feigneth afterward as though he were at enmity with us, and suffereth us to be bound, and hideth his face from us, as though he had forgotten all his promise. Then we must ask, seek and knock; and if we let ourselves think that we are not respected and that we must even sink, we must nevertheless remain steadfast, persevere and always continue in faith with prayer and patience. In this way we overcome God, if we do not leave the promise, or God, who has given us the promise; and if we thus persevere in prayer and faith, God becomes to us from a hidden God an appearing God, who comforts us and does what we want, as written in the 145th Psalm v. 19. Psalm v. 19: "The Lord does what the godly desire", item Joh. 15, 7: "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you". These are right Israelite pieces and so that God is overcome. But it belongs to it that Christ says: "If you remain in me, and my words remain in you"; item Joh. 14, 23: "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and we will come to him,
and make our abode with him. For thus God is overcome, and then He sets us and calls us Israelites, when He hears and sustains us for the sake of faith in His promise.
But the Israelites are not such people according to the flesh. For they would not be able to do what belongs to Israel, who is therefore an overcomer, because he remains in the word, and perseveres in asking, seeking, knocking and stopping. God gives such constancy and victory to Jacob, and says to him: "You have been tried long enough and very much and have been well exercised; I have often hidden my face from you. But because thou hast kept the promise so firmly, I have yielded unto thee, and have heard thee, and have helped thee, and now proclaim and declare that thou art a righteous Israel and an overcomer of God. Not that he was not also such an Israel long before; but he now reveals this honor of Jacob to him for comfort. For above, Gen. 32, 28, it was prophetically said to him: "You shall no longer be called Jacob" etc., but here this is now fulfilled and revealed, since God Himself appears to him. You, he says, have been such an Israel until now; but now you shall also be called so.
But here a question arises: Why does the Lord say that he shall no longer be called Jacob, since Moses, as in this chapter, and all the prophets call him Jacob and Israel without distinction? Lyra disputes without cause and in vain about the real and contemplative life and says: He is called Jacob for the sake of the real life, that he may subjugate the affections and lust of the flesh; but Israel he is called for the sake of the contemplative life, because he now sees God. Of course, he does not use the derivation of the word that Eusebius and the grammarians have, namely, that they say that "Israel" means as much as a man who sees God; but he interprets it as if "Israel" means as much as being directed toward God, that is, that he deals with God with fine amusing thoughts and speculation and contemplates the future life, for which he cites Gregory.
124. but I will let that go; because I
that the fathers themselves did not understand what they taught about two kinds of life. For the monks called it real life, which consists in the fact that man keeps evil lusts and desires in check and forces them, and outwardly leads the life with good morals right through fasting and mortification of the flesh, through unclean clothing and such other things more; which the Rottengeist Münzer calls "entgroben", that is, that one should improve oneself concerning the gross sins. The pagans called it an outward discipline, which is useful and necessary in this life, especially for the youth, who need instruction and teaching, so that they do not become rude and impolite, and unskilled in all the works of this common life.
But according to the holy scriptures, the real and contemplative life must be described in another way. For it is especially such a life now, when one's eyes glaze over. It is not such amusing thoughts, speculation and consolation as the monks' speculation used to be; but he who wants to be a true Israel and overcome God must handle it with such practice as we have said before, namely, with supplication, seeking, knocking, and that he holds fast to the word and promise. This is the right contemplative life of the godly, since reason and our imagination or thoughts are useless, since the sense and understanding of man is killed with all his strength, and man lives by the word of God alone, as Deut. 8, 3. It is written: "He humbled you, and made you hungry, and fed you with man, which you and your fathers never knew; that he might make known to you that man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.
The other speculation that the monks do is cold, dead and dangerous thoughts. For they come from their own will and reason, without word and promise. Therefore, one should beware of them, and whoever wants to speculate and have thoughts about God in a godly and right way should not do so without the Word, but should take hold of the Son of God, who became man, and should believe in the Word.
the manger and the swaddling clothes, in which the Son is wrapped, until he comes to the Ascension. So he will receive it in faith, and will abide in the word and promise given to us. I know of some who boasted of their speculations, that they had so much pleasure in them that they made themselves believe that they had been raptured and lifted up to heaven. I do not love such speculations, nor do I ever wish for them, for they are without word. And those who follow them are people who know nothing of the law and the gospel.
The right speculation, however, which makes an Israelite, is a killing of all the powers that are in our senses and reason, and that one remains only in faith and hope in the promise. When man is in the last stages and wrestling with death, one can see what use such speculation is, for then we feel no counsel or help at all. That is why such speculation is necessary, that is, that we only take hold of the clear word and do not let our senses and feelings err, according to the saying of Christ John 8:51: "If anyone will keep my word, he will not see death forever.
But the law or the commandments of God set and order the real life: not the statutes of the monks, but the works that belong to our profession in the outer life. Then each one should consider what his profession is, which he leads, and therein he should wait for his profession, and diligently practice the works which God has commanded in the Ten Commandments. After that, when the trials come, you will become an Israelite if you hold fast to the faith of the promise and practice it. As you were a Jacob in the Ten Commandments, so you will become a true Israel in the promises that will drive you to prayer, to call on God. We have a good example of this in the Canaanite woman, Matth. 15, 25-27, who is very finely trained in the contemplative life, and continues in this way, so that she does not allow herself to be driven back and rejected even with harsh words: she knocks on the door, as it were with force, until Christ must give way and hear her, and
956 D- vm. S4Ä-AS. Interpretation of Genesis 35:9-12. W. n. noo-nos. 957
her faith and constancy, that she had so finely persevered, praises and exclaims before all the people.
In this way one teaches correctly about the real and contemplative life, namely, if one distinguishes it according to the Ten Commandments and according to the promise, which the monks have not understood. For the Ten Commandments show every man the works of his profession; but the temptations do not teach us to understand the Ten Commandments, but that we take hold of God with faith and boast of no merit or promise of the Law, as the Pharisee does Luc. 18:11, and as they say Isa. 58:3, "Why do we fast, and you do not see it?" For such glory is condemned by God. Outside the promises I may remember what I have done or suffered in persecution and tribulation: but not according to the example of the monks, who invent in works a merit of eternal life.
130 And this it hath pleased me to repeat from the fathers, lest we should be accounted as having rejected their writings altogether. For one should not despise such writings, but read them with a right mind: Read with right understanding. It seems that Lyra and Gregory have not understood what the real or contemplative life is; for they place both kinds of life in the ceremonies and statutes of the monks: but the effect is to remain in the Ten Commandments, the contemplation in the promise. Jacob becomes a transgressor in the law and a right Israel in the promises.
But now I want to come back to the question: Why Moses or the following histories did not keep the name Israel everywhere? And answer thus: God speaks of the most distinguished name, namely, of the promises in which Jacob was trained and shall be trained still further. For the sake of these promises, he is to be called Israel first and foremost, and so he is to be called. But he was called Jacob according to the common custom of men, and for works. And this is not the noblest name: as the works which the godly do according to the
Law, nor are the noblest works, though they belong to this life, but they are Jacob's works. God wants us to have both, that we should believe and also do good works, and that we should therefore be Israelites and Jacobites. But of faith and promise we are called Israelites first of all, and of works, that we are obedient to the authorities and parents, that we lead an honest and chaste life, etc. we are called Jacobites. And because such obedience is not perfect, it does not make one righteous, but is nevertheless necessary as a fruit of faith: but faith takes hold of the unblemished and blameless righteousness of the Son of God, which makes right Israelites. Let this be said of the spiritual blessing, which gives Jacob the name of faith, so that he may take hold of this blessing. What follows belongs to the physical blessing.
V. 11. 12. And God said to him, "I am the Almighty God, be fruitful and multiply; nations and clusters of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your loins; and the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give it to your seed after you.
The previous promises are repeated here to Jacob's comfort, and almost all of them rhyme in particular and in every word with the previous history, above, chapter 17, when Abraham is given circumcision, since both he and Sarah had their names changed; and there God also uses the same name Shaddai that he has used here; and you may also look for the interpretation of the same name above. But why he said that kings should come from his loins, and yet afterwards, when the people desired that a king should be given to them, he was severely punished by God for it: this is not the place to discuss it.
133 And he adds, "And I will give it to your seed after you," so that no one may doubt the promise, as if it were not certain, since it is known that Abraham and Jacob were strangers in the same land, and not by one foot.
except the land of Shechem, which Jacob took with his sword and bow, as he himself will say later. 48, v. 22. Therefore he interpreted the promise to give the same land to the seed and descendants of Jacob. For what is given to the son, the father also rightfully claims. But in the meantime he keeps the promise of the name of Israel, which is much better. For God was his land and his inheritance. And so Jacob's grief, which he had over Dinah, because she had fallen asleep to him, and because Deborah had died to him, was eased. But there are still more grievous things behind.
V. 13. So God departed from him, from the place where He had spoken with him.
The holy patriarchs were diligent and continued to teach and pray, and they used the morning hours daily for such exercises. First of all, the people came together on the Sabbath to preach and to pray together in the congregation and to call upon God. But when they let the congregation go, Jacob alone prayed and lifted up his eyes to heaven, occupied himself with the word and spoke of it: God appeared to him, and did not speak to him through his father Isaac or through Deborah, but was present with him, as above in Cap. 32, v. 30, when he said, "I have seen God face to face." It was such a face as before, when the man wrestled with him, only that he understood it to be God Himself speaking, which he had not seen so soon in the previous struggle. And that it was a divine revelation, Moses himself testifies, since he says: "God ascended from him."
B. 14. 15. And Jacob set up a stone mark in the place where he had talked with him, and poured drink offerings upon it, and sprinkled oil upon it. And Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken unto him Bethel.
135. it is to be noted that this place is especially praised above other places; for
now he is called Bethel for the third time. But shall not this make false prophets and idolatry? Jeroboam indeed greatly abused it, since this place was so praised, and turned the whole worship and religion to it: therefore Hosea and the other prophets who lived in his time had such great strife and hard work to punish, condemn and abolish the idolatry of Bethel. And they took away the glorious name of that place, and called it Bethaven, that is, a house of sorrow and affliction; and yet they do little with it.
136. For the false prophets reproached the godly priests and prophets, saying, "What is it that you boast so much about the temple at Jerusalem? Read the first book of Moses, and you will find that God appeared to Jacob in that place, and that it was therefore called Bethel and El Bethel. What could be more certain or stronger? And it seems that this argument cannot be resolved. What is it, they said, that you hold up to us Moses or Solomon's new commandment? Do you think that they can or will turn the worship from such a holy place to Jerusalem? For in this place the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sacrificed, and the king Jeroboam is to be praised for such godliness, they said, who was a pious king and led the people to the same place that the patriarchs praised, to which God Himself came, whom He pleased and spoke to the fathers.
This was the occasion and cause that they used to persecute and slay the godly teachers and prophets; as Amaziah scolded Amos fiercely, "You seer," he said, "go away and flee to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there. And prophesy no more at Bethel, for it is the king's foundation and the kingdom's house," etc., Amos 7:12, 13, that is, it is a house of God that King Jeroboam founded and established.
But the right answer to that, so
the false prophets, which has had a great appearance, has been this: God spoke to the fathers in his time and in his place; but after that he said clearly through Moses, Exodus 20:24: "In the place where I will establish the remembrance of my name, there will I come to thee, and bless thee"; not in any place, mountain, green pasture, or water, but thou shalt look to the place which the Lord shall choose. And therefore he gave them the tabernacle, the altar, and the Levitical priesthood, that he might bind the hearts of men unto them. And the prophets also diligently urged this upon the people; but it was in vain and in vain, because of the very great appearance which the idolaters had of the worship of the fathers, and that this place was so very famous. Yes, they concluded even further and said: "If Bethel is a holy place, then Gilgal, Mizpah, Shiloh and Thabor are also holy for this very reason, since the fathers performed great glorious things. Therefore an innumerable multitude of idols came, as it happened with us with the pilgrimages. For they would not heed the commandment of Moses, who ordered the tabernacle and other ceremonies by God's command, and also for this reason called the tabernacle in Hebrew moed, Ex 29:10, that is, certainly decreed and ordained, that he might lead the erring hearts to serve God in a certain way.
139 Now Jacob, having set up the stone mark, keeps it in the same way that he used it above, chap. 28, v. 18. 28, v. 18, for he watered it with oil, and perhaps he also took the same stone. But the watering is done with that which flows, as primarily with wine and oil. And this was the way they used to consecrate and anoint, which Moses also took afterward; for he anointed the priests and garments etc. As Jacob watered and anointed the stone, that it might be such a place consecrated and dedicated to God, that there the congregation might come together to hear God's word, to call upon God, and to give thanks to God. The
I pass over the secret or the secret interpretation. This is the bodily blessing and how the church or congregation is to be arranged. And I like to believe that the patriarch Jacob did more in this place than Moses wrote. For above, Cap. 28, v. 20 ff., he made a vow that he would give a tithe of his goods when he returned healthy and unharmed: therefore I believe that he would have given a tithe to the children of Eber to maintain the church.
Fourth Part.
How Rachel dies over childbirth and Jacob sets a tomb for her.
V. 16, 17: And they departed from Bethel. And when there was yet a way from Ephrath, Rachel gave birth. And it came hard upon her concerning the birth. And when she was sore in childbirth, the wailing mother said unto her, Fear not: for thou shalt have this son also.
The Hebrew word kibrath is one of the words that neither the Jews nor we understand. And the whole Hebrew language would be much darker if we Christians had not explained it with the Latin and German translations of the Bible. For where the Jews doubt any word, they give it many meanings and obscure it much more with their glosses. That is why the grammarians argue about this word and are not yet at one. Jerome makes words enough of it, although he interprets it badly. He says that there were seventy interpreters, hippodromus, that is such a place where one races with horses; but the derivation of the word does not entail such a thing. And I cannot understand what they meant by it, for perhaps that alone, that it was so far from the place where Rachel gave birth, to Bethel, as a horse race is far.
Among the rabbis one brings this, the other another. One makes a word out of it, which is composed of several words; the other wants to
962 L. vm, S4S-WI. Interpretation of Genesis 35:16, 17. w. n, I4os-i4is. 963
have that it is a simple word. Those who want it to be a compound of other words say that it comes from k, which means similarity, and from the word barath, quasi barath terrae, id est, spatium terrae ad veniendum in Ephratha, for example.
a field path from Ephratha. But how far or much of the same is, is not yet expressed. Others say it comes from the word birjah, which is 2 Sam. 13, 8.
is derived from Thamar and Ammon, and means food or soup; as if he wanted to say in Latin: spatium terrae, unius jentaculi etc., that is, as much way as one can walk until morning bread, which is about a quarter of a mile of way. This derivation of the word pleases me very much, where one should assume any other derivation. Others generally interpret it as a stretch of road, but they do not say how far it is. Jerome says it comes from the word bahur, which in Latin means electus, select, and wants it to mean a select time of the year, namely, Lenz or the time of May, when the merriest time of the year is, formosissimus annus, as the poet says, and when men go over the field, and flowers break in the country, so allernächst is located around. But this does not rhyme with the measure or breadth that Moses intended to indicate. Therefore I will follow those who interpret it thus, that it should be called so much way to Bethlehem, as far as one can go to the morning bread: a little way, that one might become merry to the soup.
Now let us look at the challenge that follows the peace and security of conscience that Jacob received from the divine manifestation and promise. But we cannot fully explain this text until we come to the 48th chapter, since Jacob indicates that at that time he did not understand the words of the promise, even though they were full of comfort. The causes of this darkness are the following temptations. For he is promised a blessing and that he will have seed, since God says, "Be fruitful and multiply"; and yet, outwardly, the opposite happens,
so promised to him. Therefore, we will delay until the 48th chapter with the interpretation. For there Jacob will first learn through experience how the promise should be understood. Now he is satisfied that God comes down to him and promises him comfort and help; but how he is to understand it, he will learn later.
After the apparition, he prepared to return to his father with a peaceful heart and had already come close to Hebron. For Bethel is situated between Jerusalem and Hebron, which are six German miles apart. Jacob is three or four miles from Hebron, and it is probable that he went before the army and all the servants, having left them behind, and hastened to his father, having taken only a few companions with him. As they were going from midnight and from Bethel to Hebron, this accident happened unexpectedly, which was contrary to the promise, since he was almost on the threshold of his father's house. He brought joy and comfort with him from the promise, and was glad that he should bring his very dear wife, who was with child, to his father and please him with it when he would see her. In the same way it came to Rachel to give birth, and when she was overcome by the pain of childbirth, her soul went out.
Is this a consolation, a blessing or an increase, that his most noble and beloved wife is taken from him, who was well educated and had very good manners, and was also very experienced in managing the household? For she was used to housework and to take care of the cattle at home with her father Laban. Moreover, she had nourished herself with her husband with her sour work and had lived almost miserably. Therefore Jacob was deprived of his wife as a faithful companion, whom he had hoped to introduce into his father's house, to the old father Isaac on his lap, especially since she was pregnant, so that he might please his father in his old age with the dear little child. She herself also told of
964 L. vm. M. 382. interpretation of Genesis 35:16. 17. w. II, I4I2-I4IS. 965
He had wished with all his heart to see his father-in-law. But soon all hope and joy falls away. And so Jacob, Isaac and Rachel are deprived of the sweetest wishes and hopes they had.
But does that mean to be fruitful and to be blessed by God? Yes, this is a very evil curse. But our Lord God has a Hebrew language, the hindmost first, the suffering before and the glory after. The cross and suffering must go before, as St. Peter says 1 Petr. 1, 11, that the Spirit of Christ in the prophets testified beforehand of the sufferings that are in Christ, and the glory afterward. And unto Moses saith the Lord, At last ye shall understand my counsel. Just as Jacob understood the last thing in Egypt, when Joseph, who he thought was lost and dead, came to life again.
In the meantime, he was deprived of all comfort, and the whole house was filled with lamentation and sadness, and after the sun had set, the most sorrowful darkness fell upon him, because his most beloved wife died, who had been barren for the first six years and had given birth ten years after Joseph; which wife the man still preferred, because he waited daily and longed for her to bear him more children while she was pregnant. After that she was a very dear mistress to all the servants, a hope and comfort in the house. But she was suddenly taken from this life, which they had not hoped for, and died in an inconvenient and unfortunate place. For if she had died in Syria before that time, it would have been somewhat more painful. Now the pain is so much greater because she dies, as it were, on the threshold of Jacob's father's house.
(147) I will now be silent about the sadness and lamentation he had over the fact that his godly wife had been taken from him; which sadness in itself is very heavy. For in this life nothing is better or more pleasant than where husband and wife live together in friendliness and unity. V. 1. 2.:
"Three beautiful things are both pleasing to God and to man: when brothers are one, and neighbors love one another, and husband and wife are at ease with one another."
There is not much pain when a stubborn, uncouth, wicked wife dies: but among these spouses there was great brotherly love and a very kindly inclination, which one bore to the other. She was chaste, holy, diligent in her office, and also kind to her neighbors and servants, loving her husband and obedient to him in all things. Therefore, Jacob the patriarch's grief and sadness were great because of her, and he now lost all hope and his greatest joy, and thought, "What is it that God says that my family should multiply and become great, when he takes away from me the mother through whom I should become fruitful and multiply?
He did not understand the promise, nor could he make sense of these two things, which are actually contrary to each other, namely, that God promises him a seed and an heir, and yet takes away the matron, from whom he and the whole house with Isaac, the grandfather, expected children and heirs. And Jacob, especially because of the comfort that had been given to him the other day, had no fear of danger with his wife; indeed, they all praised Rachel with one accord, how blessed she would be, because she would become the mother of many children, since God had said that Jacob would be multiplied. No one thought that it would happen in any other way than through Rachel. And Jacob will often have said to her: My dear Rachel, let us give thanks to God, who has now again promised me new heirs. Only now will you become fruitful. And for this reason, if he had ever loved her before, now he loved her even more. But this beautiful, sweet hope, which the husband and wife and the servants had, has failed them. Just as it happened to Eve when Cain was born, for she said in Genesis 4:1: "I have not given the
Man, the Lord." As if she wanted to say: The Lord himself has come, who will crush the head of the serpent. But not only did she miss her hope, but she also had to expect another great misfortune from the Son.
150 Thus says God here to Jacob: You will be fruitful and multiply, but I will take your wife from you. These things are strictly contrary to each other. Rachel was the mother of the firstborn son Joseph and was the proper matron, and they hoped that Benjamin would soon come from her, and after that other children. So she gave birth on the way to Isaac, the grandfather. But she became sour in childbirth and was endangered in life and limb, and was unable to place the child in her grandfather's womb, as she had fervently desired; instead, she died from the great pain of childbirth, and at the same time her joy and very beautiful hope were completely extinguished. The wistful mother sees that she is troubled and frightened by the fear of death, therefore she comforts her and says: "You will also have this son. But the comfort is in vain. For Rachel feels that she is weak and faint, and that death has overtaken her. Therefore she calls the son Benoni, that is, from pain.
This is the end that Rachel has come to, and it is truly a miserable and sorrowful end, both for the man himself and for the rest of the household. She falls asleep in childbirth, in her profession and state, in which she was placed by God, and succumbs under the cross, which God has imposed on women, saying: "I will cause you much pain when you are with child" etc. She is not free from the danger and sorrow that ungodly women have to bear. And the same is to be pitied, that such a holy woman, who has been an honor and beautiful adornment of the same house and of the whole congregation, should also bear the same affliction that befalls the ungodly.
152 Let this example be diligently considered, and let the lamentation and pain of the pious patriarch be well thought of, which
The pain of all the circumstances in this history is great and difficult, and there is still no end to the misery. For having lost his mother, he soon loses Joseph, the firstborn son of his mother, almost in the same year. Thirdly, Bilhah, Rachel's maid, was given to him by Reuben, his firstborn son by his other wife. Does this mean blessing? Yes, Jacob might have thought, "It is not God who has spoken to me, but the devil; as any impatient man might easily have gone out and spoken such words. Jacob did not come to his father until these two great accidents had happened to him, the death of Rachel and the incest that Reuben committed with Bilhah, whom Bilhah had come in Rachel's place. It was truly too much that he should be assailed with three such terrible accidents in such a short time, one of which alone could kill an impatient and carnal man.
But we are delicate people, to suffer something (delicati martyres). For we do not understand this great misfortune and we would be able to bear it much less. The suffering of Christ is higher than all sufferings can be, and it does not move us even so much because he is God. But the fathers were like us and had all human affections and inclinations. Jacob loved his Rachel because of the excellent virtues she had. She, Rachel herself, had good hope that many children would be born of her; but immediately in that hope and in childbirth she died.
154 Therefore let other people know to be all the more moderate in their grief when some are deprived of their spouse or children, because we see that the fathers also suffered the same. For we are much less than they, and have not the promise of the kingdom, or of the seed, or of the seedlings, or of the priesthood, as they had; which at that time Jacob lost all.
But such temptations become harder and harder when the terror in the conscience is added to them, when Satan pours oil on the fire. For where the
When the devil sees that the hearts are challenged and frightened, he soon shoots them with his fiery and poisoned arrows, so that they think that God is angry with them and has become an enemy to them.
Therefore, it is a great comfort in all kinds of temptations that we can believe that God is with us and favorable to us. But the human heart can hardly accept such comfort when our Lord God loves one so much that his soul wants to go out. But this is truly such love as He has shown in His own Son; as Christ says John 15:9: "As My Father loves Me, even so do I love you"; namely, to speak according to the Hebrew way of which we have just said, that is, that suffering precedes glory; which way of speaking the world does not understand. For God fills the belly of the wicked, whom he does not love, with bodily goods, Ps. 17, 14; but he adds to this and says Luc. 6, 24. 25: "Woe to you who laugh here and are full" etc.
In this way, the tribulations of the holy fathers are held up to us as an example, so that we may see their practice and excellent faith in such misery and calamity, and that we may learn that we do not lose the face of God, so that He may smile upon us, bless us and promise us grace, when He takes away from us what is good and dear to us, and which He has confirmed with His promise. Yes, faith should thus conclude: Although this misfortune is very hard for me, I still believe that God is true. But in such severe cases, which come so unexpectedly, faith is pressed very hard and can hardly be seen, like the smoldering wick. Therefore, it must be awakened with such examples.
V. 18 But when her soul went out to die, she called his name Benoni; but his father called his name Benjamin.
158. Moses overflows it all recently. Without a doubt, many words were spoken and there was also groaning and weeping before the child was named Benjamin. Rachel herself commanded her soul to God, and in the last moments and because she was having such a hard time with the birth, she
She held on to the comfort she had heard from Jacob. For she was full of faith, and before that she had been hard enough afflicted with the common misfortunes and miseries of her husband in the house of Laban, which she had suffered and borne with him. Just as Sarah and Abraham also bore common misery and danger with each other. For pious, godly women take to heart the trials and tribulations of their husbands, and have compassion on them, weeping with them. Such a natural inclination was also very good in Rachel. Therefore, her death greatly saddened her husband, her household and her neighbors, who knew of her virtues and godliness.
We are to learn the consolation, so that we may keep ourselves upright when our spouse, children and good friends pass away with death. For although both our death and that of our relatives is a very sad thing, it is certain that we will live forever. It was better that Rachel died in right invocation and faith in God, than if she had still had all kinds of joy in this life, and also the joy that God had promised. For after death we shall be much more blessed and lords over more goods than we have left in this life. For these are temporal and perishable goods, for which we receive eternal goods.
(160) But the flesh cannot refrain from it, it must weep and bear sorrow; as this example shows, when they give this son a name of sorrow. And I believe that he was called this for a while, until the pain was somewhat relieved, and Jacob changed it and said: I will no longer have a mourning memorial in my house to remind me forever of the last words and sorrows of my wife, whom I have lost, and so to renew my sorrow always; but he called him Benjamin, that is, the son of his right hand.
But they dispute about the cause of this name. I think that it can be understood according to the house rule: Leah was the wife of the left and Rachel the wife of the right, that is, the
first and most distinguished. So Benjamin is the son of the right, as if he wanted to say, his most beloved wife. And Jacob wanted that with this name rather the love, so he carried to his most dear wife, should be remembered, than the pain and wailing. So he changed the sad name into a happy name.
The other cause of this name belongs to the world or church regiment. As if to say: This son, born of my most beloved wife, will receive the promised inheritance, which is due to the son of the most noble wife. He will be the heir of the kingdom and the priesthood. For Jacob believes that the promise and the blessing are due to Joseph, just as he had obtained the blessing before his brother Esau. And if Joseph were to die, he thinks that Benjamin would take Joseph's place. He does not yet understand that Judah will be the father of Christ until he first learns it in Egypt, when the Holy Spirit will impart it to him. But he is so much more strengthened in this opinion of his, because he does not hope to have a son anymore. That is why he is especially fond of him, and that is also the reason for his brothers' hatred of Joseph. And since this hatred and envy broke out and came to light, and Joseph was sold by his brothers, his father Jacob was exceedingly grieved about it.
V. 19 So Rachel died, and was buried by the way of Ephrath, which is now called Bethlehem.
Rachel died in right invocation and faith in God, and was taken up into heaven, into the bosom of Abraham her father. She was buried not far from Bethlehem, almost a quarter of a German mile away. She died and was buried in the field near by or on the road, as if some shepherd's wife had died in the field or among the cattle: there was no house or inn there, except Jacob's tabernacle. This is the right way of the saints to heaven.
Ephratha and Bethlehem are two different words, but they have almost the same meaning. Ephratha means fertile. Bethlehem also means a house of bread, where there is a good pasture for beaks.
V.20. And Jacob set up a mark over her sepulcher; the same is the sepulcher of Rachel unto this day.
The fathers adorned the tombs gloriously and kept them in honor: they did not throw away the dead like the carrion of unreasonable animals, but erected tombs for their eternal and immortal memory, that they might be witnesses of the resurrection to come, which they believed and hoped for.
For this reason, we should keep the ceremonies and the funeral pomp, and we should also weep and have compassion for those who have lost their dear friends. Not that we should pray for the dead, as Lyra would have us do, or that we should fear death; but rather that in death we should learn to exercise the faith that struggles with the terror of death. And so let us think that though we die and are contemptuously buried, we shall rise again with great glory. How Jacob kept this comfort, as if to say to his wife, My dear Rachel, the hope of thy joy in this life hath failed thee: but this is a blessed error. For thou hast exchanged the corruptible and perishable goods for the eternal.
For this end, and for this cause, the marks of burial have been set up, so that we may learn, according to the example of the fathers, to esteem and despise this present life for the sake of the better life that is yet to come. After that, that we also keep the promise and learn to bear the will of God with patience. For what more can the devil or the Turk do, if they already take our life? "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, God will also lead with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus," as St. Paul says in 1 Thess. 4:14.
V. 21: And Israel went out, and pitched a tent on the other side of the tower of Eder.
The Latin interpreter has made a generic name out of the word "Eder", but it is a proper name of a castle or tower, which has been a shelter on the Bethlehemite field. For it is certain that on the Bethlehemitic field there has always been pasture. Jerome writes that afterwards Eder was changed into a temple or church, which in his time was called in Latin Angelus ad Pastores, therefore that there the angels appeared to the shepherds on the night when Christ was born. For there have always been many shepherds and flocks there, because there was good pasture for the sheep. Therefore, this tower was named because the flock was pastured there. The castle or tower was located on the other side of Bethlehem, toward the south. Lyra also says the same thing and follows Jerome.
The others say that the word "Eder" has different meanings, and interpret it to the city Jerusalem, therefore that in the prophet Micah at the 4th Cap. V. 8. it says: "And thou tower Eder, a stronghold of the daughter of Zion" etc. Which error came from the fact that the text in Latin is dark and badly interpreted, and that they did not pay attention to the grammar. For the prophet Micah speaks of the tower of the host as a generic name through the figure, called metonymia, as can be seen from the following words: "Thou tower of the host Ophel", that is, the fortress or castle of the city. Therefore, it is a proper name of a place in the field, near Bethlehem, where today is supposed to be a temple or church, which in Latin is called Angelus ad Pastores.
Fifth part.
Of the evil deed of Reuben; of the twelve sons of Jacob; and of Isaac's death and burial.
V.22. And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in the land, that Reuben went and slept with Bilhah,
of his father Kebsweibe; and this came before Israel.
170) After the death of Deborah and Rachel, there follows another and horrible accident of the holy patriarch: and how horrible it is, I cannot reach or speak out with words. I will command the speakers to make it great; for it is an abominable sin. The firstborn son Reuben, who was ordained to kingship and priesthood, corrupts himself with all his descendants. It is an abominable act, but it is most harmful to the perpetrator.
But we want to alleviate it a little and say that he sinned out of foolishness or evil desire. And I think that Bilha would have been beautiful and not very steady; for she soon let the foolish youth persuade her. But if she had punished him a little harshly and threatened to tell his father, she might have turned him away and driven him back. But it is very bad. Therefore Bilha is to be punished as well as Reuben.
172 Moses calls her a concubine. She was Jacob's wife and the mother of two sons, Dan and Naphtali, who were two great tribes from which Samson and Barak came. Her brother Reuben reviled and mocked her so much that they had to bear the disgrace forever. Deborah and Rachel were only dead and buried, and both their legs were still warm, as it were, when this sin was committed. For the two women had been the disciplinarians in the house. When they died, Bilhah, Rachel's maid, remained there, and immediately there was a change and disorder of the discipline that had been kept in Rachel's tent; which disorder she could easily have prevented, and would not have suffered the maid to become so lecherous.
The devil has done the great disgrace of afflicting the pious holy man Jacob, who had the promise that nations and kings would be born from him. But what is the beginning of this blessing? His wife dies, on whom all hope of inheritance or of a kingdom rests.
Children has confessed. And now the tabernacle of his most noble wife is shamefully defiled. For Jacob has no longer kept to the Kebsweibe. And it would not have been a miracle if he had been oppressed by the great pain. Truly I would not be able to bear or overcome such things. Because it is too hard or heavy and even unpleasant.
174 And the wound and sorrow, which he had from the death of Rachel and Deborah, was new at that time. Now his firstborn son Reuben has given him a new wound and pain, since the tears were still flowing down his cheeks. Bilha, however, willingly committed this disgrace and was not forced or coerced into it. And this is not fornication or adultery, or mere fornication, but an exceedingly shameful incest, that the boy sleeps with his father's wife while the father is still alive.
Now this is written for our comfort, that we may know that our sorrow and affliction is not the uttermost or most grievous, and that it is not at all to be compared with the sorrow and affliction of the patriarchs. After this we shall also know that sins are forgiven, but not without punishment. For this tribe was afterwards weak and greatly despised, and was the least of all the people of Israel; and the firstborn, that is, the kingdom and priesthood, was taken from it, so that it would have been much better for Reuben also to die seven times. For this history is read and proclaimed forever until the end of the world: in all churches and schools one has to hear about this great shame, of which the child and all descendants had to be ashamed. And no history is found in which it is reported that God has done something good in this tribe. So now Reuben remains alive, and the tribe that came from him also: but they have had to live in eternal shame. And this punishment is truly severe enough that all their descendants have heard that their father's disgrace has been spoken of in all the pulpits.
But where are the sons of Jacob?
the strong heroes to avenge and punish injustice and sin? Why then do they not slay their brother, who has committed an abominable incest? Shechem was strangled because he had slept with Dinah, Jacob's daughter: but that was still such a sin, which could have been glossed over, covered up and healed with an honest marriage. It was not incest or any forbidden degree. Here, a special punishment would have been needed to punish this boy for the incest he had committed. And Dan and Naphtali would have had enough good reason. For they were always accused that their mother had committed incest; though they were not born of incest, yet their mother committed incest afterward. And Reuben put the scarf on them. Therefore it was the beginning and origin of a very great hatred and secret enmity that existed between them forever.
The Jews try to excuse this sin in Reuben; just as they are very fond of praising their own, just as the Greeks of old and the Italians of today despise all other peoples and call them barbari, that is, crude and clumsy people. The Jews also do the same: wherever obvious vices are found among their people, they try to belittle them, cover them up and adorn them. Therefore they say that Reuben did not commit incest, but that he did violence and wrong to his father. For when Rachel died, Jacob is said to have put Bilhah's bed in Leah's bedchamber; and therefore Reuben was angry, and took away Bilhah's bed, and slept not with her etc. So they falsify the holy scripture with their very clumsy lying gossip. But in Hebrew the text obviously says: He slept with Bilhah: as Potiphar's wife says to Joseph, as it is written in the 39th Cap. V. 7: "Sleep with me"; item, as it says in 49. V. 4: "He went lightly, like water. Thou shalt not be chief, for thou hast gone up to thy father's bed, and there thou hast defiled my bed,
1 Chron. 6:1: "Reuben was the first son, but because he defiled his father's bed, his firstborn was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel; and he was not counted among the firstborn."
Therefore, such a great sin cannot be covered up or glossed over; and how great a grief the pious patriarch had from this disgrace of his son and wife, we can think more easily than we can say in words. And it is truly to be wondered at that such horrible cases should also occur to the holy people, where the Holy Spirit dwells, speaks and governs them, where the true church is, which is pure and holy: and yet the devil is also able to do so much there that he makes such horrible noise. There was no other woman in Jacob's house at that time, who had died in Rachel's place. There was no other woman in the house of Jacob who could have taken the place of Rachel, who had died, from whom one could have expected the heirs promised by God, but this Bilhah alone; and she is now asleep and defiled by his son. What could happen to a man in this life that is sadder and more dreadful?
179 Thus he was called Jacob until now: here he is called Israel in the history, since Moses says: "And Israel went out, and set up a tabernacle" etc.; item: "When Israel dwelt in the land" etc. The Scripture impresses this name on us with special diligence to make the shameful incest great and difficult. For it wants to make it clear that Reuben committed this sin when his father was gloriously glorified, when his name was changed and the promise was made that he would be fruitful and multiply, and that he would beget kings. After such great glory, Reuben went and slept with Bilhah, and defiled the noblest tabernacle of Rachel. Therefore Jacob is not called Israel in vain in this place. For it grieveth the Holy Ghost that the father, whom God hath thus exalted, should be so shamefully defiled by his son in his wife, which came in the stead of Rachel dead.
It is truly a miracle that he was able to live so long. But he has in the word
Jacob lived according to the promise, otherwise it would have been impossible for him to endure and overcome so much and so difficult misfortune and sorrow; now he learns what it means to grow and be multiplied, namely, that it means so much that he can no longer beget a child; for Rachel died, from whom he had hoped to have many children, but Bilhah fell asleep and was defiled. Therefore Jacob lived alone without a wife after that, and no longer kept himself to Bilhah, who was defiled, nor to any other wife. Soon afterward the Holy Spirit put Jacob's children one by one in a register, as it were, to show that there were no more of them than twelve, and that is how it should remain. So David also lived without a wife to the end of his life because of the incest committed by Absalom. And Jacob abstained from wives not so much because of his age as because of his grief, and because the shameful deed of his son and wife grieved him so exceedingly.
V. 22-26. Now Jacob had twelve sons. The sons of Leah were these: Reuben, the firstborn son of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. The sons of Rachel were: Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid: Dan and Naphtali. The sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Mesopotamia.
181. the Hebrew says: The sons of Jacob, who is born. There the singular is put for the plural. He was called Israel before because of the abominable vice; now he is called Jacob again. And Moses wants to say so much: Thus ends the begetting of children of the patriarch Jacob, the incomparable man, who has the promise that he shall be fruitful and multiply and that kings shall come from his loins. Now how is the scripture fulfilled? Since Benjamin was born, and the mother died over childbirth, Jacob ceased to beget children and has only twelve sons: how then is he multiplied? Here
you see how Jacob took the right understanding of the promise out of such sorrow and affliction. For when Rachel died, and her tabernacle was defiled, he understood that they of whom the kings were born, Joseph and Judah, of whom the one is the father of the kings of Judah, and the other the father of the kings of Israel. These came from the loins of Jacob, and those born of them are also considered descendants of Jacob. Thus Jacob was taught by his tribulation that he should henceforth abstain from marrying; therefore he did not keep himself to Leah. So far we have had in Jacob an excellent example of the greatest misfortune and affliction and of an abominable sin in Reuben.
Now these are the twelve patriarchs, whose holiness is praised in the Scriptures, who were the fathers of the holy people of Israel. But behold, in what great abominable vice and sin the devil hath wrapped them. For he makes of Reuben such a son as is not easily found in the histories of the Gentiles. For the Gentiles also have an abhorrence of this sin; as St. Paul 1 Cor. 5:1 says: "There is a common cry that fornication is among you, and such fornication as even the Gentiles know not how to speak of, that one hath his father's wife." Now the same thing happened in the congregation of the very holy patriarch Jacob; after which murder and abominable lying followed. For all the other sons, except Joseph and Benjamin, especially the sons of Leah, are murderers of mothers and fathers. For as much as there is in them, they kill their old father Jacob with their abominable sins, by which he was more distressed and grieved than by any other affliction. They also strangled their brother Joseph, and sent his skirt to his father as if he were truly strangled, and not only did they not comfort him at all, but they also mocked his pious old father.
But this is held up to us so that the infinite longsuffering and inestimable grace and mercy of the Lord may be revealed to us.
God be praised and glorified, so that no one be frightened and despondent on account of his great and many sins, or lose faith and trust in God. For these patriarchs were also shameful bad boys and great sinners. And they did not lack the word; neither did they lack the teacher, the discipline or discipline and good examples of their father. They had a disciplinarian in Deborah; they saw how God showed them all kinds of help and miracles; they heard that so many promises had been made to the fathers. But what did Reuben and the others learn, since they heard so many beautiful sermons? They were bad boys, and they were punished hard enough and had to pay for it.
184 Therefore, all this is part of our teaching and punishment, that we learn to fear the wrath and punishment of God. Therefore it is a comfort to those who have wickedly disobedient children to bear such calamities and tribulations with patience, since we are no better than the patriarchs. For every one of them was stained with abominable sins: Aster, Dan, the Benjaminites (as the two last chapters in the book of Judges testify) and much more the Ephraimites. For the devil is much harder on the church and congregation of God than on the strangers.
V.27-29. And Jacob came to Isaac his father to Mamre, to the capital which is called Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac were strangers. And Isaac was an hundred and fourscore years old, and waxed old, and died, and was gathered unto his people, old and full of life. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Here again the name Jacob is put. But above, v. 22, he has set the name Israel against the sin of Reuben: and it seems as if the patriarch had moved away somewhat slowly with his cattle, and what else he had of the servants and equipment; or else that he himself either went to.
He said that he had gone on foot or on a camele beforehand and had visited his father several times before bringing the whole household to him.
Mamre is the proper name of a man, one of the three brothers who were in league with Abraham, as it says in chapter 14, v. 13. V. 13. From this Mamre, the firstborn, the city got its name, because either he or his descendants ruled in Hebron.
Now Isaac, who was old and blind, did not see Jacob or his children; he only heard him tell him of the trials, mourning and tribulations he had suffered in succession, and that Deborah and Rachel had died. etc. Then he lamented such great affliction, and comforted his son, saying that such was the calamity of hell and of the devil; but that God was mightier than the devil, and would not suffer us to be tempted above our ability, 1 Cor. 10:13. For he that is in us is greater than he that is in the world etc. And His Father Himself always had to struggle with such trials and tribulations in His entire life, and was therefore able to comfort His Son with special earnestness and fruitfulness.
Now that he had lived at home with his father in peace for several years, Isaac the father died and Jacob alone was still alive; all the other fathers from the Flood to this time had died. Therefore the whole burden of the reign lies on Jacob alone, who is still alive in the face of such great wickedness of his sons, and perseveres in prayer with teaching, exhorting and threatening against the devil, who has raged and raged greatly. In his old age he had to bear great hardships, and now he no longer has a companion in Isaac or in another of the patriarchs.
Thus Isaac died in a quiet and peaceful old age, having had enough of life; not like men, who always live in pleasure, but tired of this life, and worn out by great toil and much affliction. I am, he will have said, tired of life, I don't like it anymore; therefore he asked that God would redeem him and finally lead him to the harbor and a better life.
This way of saying, "He was gathered to his people," indicates and testifies to the future resurrection of the dead, since there is a people to whom we are gathered. For when we die, we do not disappear into thin air. Therefore the Holy Spirit does not say that he has disappeared, since he has no longer lived, but "he has been gathered," not scattered, tossed to and fro, or afflicted, as in this wretched and miserable afflicted life, but he has been delivered from all evil, has been gathered to his people; like the other fathers who sleep in peace, whom God has gathered into his bosom, where they lie quietly and rest. This is the right understanding of these words, which are put very emphatically. There is a people of the dead, among whom are Adam, Seth, Abraham, Deborah, and so on. The people are gathered in the bosom and arms of God, there they are in good quiet rest and will rise again in his time.
Therefore, by this figure and manner of speaking, the Holy Scriptures indicate that the fathers died, not as the Gentiles die, but that they are gathered and preserved in the hand of God. As the prophet Isaiah says in 57. cap. V. 2. says: The righteous "come to peace, and rest in their chambers," for they have walked rightly before Him. And an hour will come when they will reappear and go out of the graves more beautiful than the sun and stars, namely, "who have walked rightly before them." Reuben did not come to the hope of the future resurrection, unless he was cleansed by repentance: as Paul was a persecutor and enemy of Christ, shedding much innocent blood; but he wiped away the same sin with the blood of the Son of God.
192. Therefore, such passages in Scripture should be diligently noted, in the words used by the Holy Spirit, that God does not reject or scatter the saints, but gathers them together in such a way that not even one leg or hair of theirs must perish.
193 Now the brothers, Esau and Jacob, come together to the burial, and Esau is placed before Jacob in the text. And is
There is no doubt that he had visited his father before and that his father had often punished him lovingly and admonished him to give up hatred and revenge. That is why he comes to the funeral, so that he may prove his obedience and reverence to the father, and is a sure sign that he is with his brother from
and that he kept himself to the right church and congregation, so that he might also be made a partaker of the spiritual promise, if not by promise, nevertheless by grace; just as we Gentiles are accepted by grace, not that such is promised to us, but by pure grace and mercy.