V. 1-5. Now these are the commandments, that you fear the LORD, one God 2c. Hear, Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD 2c.
1. there we see that moses begins to strike out the first commandment masterfully and diligently. So he said: "I am the Lord, your God" 2c. What does this mean? To this he answers: that you trust in God and the Lord,
And fear him, that thou do that which is good in his sight, that thou go not elsewhere, that thou transgress not his commandments and his statutes: but thou shalt take heed to him, that he will do thee all good, and it shall be well with thee. This is how we have interpreted it.
2. "Not to have other gods" means to love, fear, and trust in God. "To fear" is to remain with the one GOtt, to fear
I will not seek another God or take hold of another, but will put my trust in this one. For he that trusteth in another despiseth the former, feareth him not, and is so bold as to look for another God, and putteth his trust in him; neither trusteth he in him. And there faith is gone with the first commandment.
3. take an example from the papacy. (I would not like people to forget the abomination for the sake of ingratitude]. Whoever puts his trust, hope and comfort in St. Margaret, or another helper in need and saint, beats God into the entrenchment and despises Him to the utmost; thinks: Who knows what God is doing? He cannot help me; but the holy virgin St. Margaret will help me, because she deserves it. And that is to despise God and to rely on the creature called St. Margaret or St. Barbara, since one trusts and believes her more than God in childish and mortal need, when our trust should be in God alone, that he would help. But most of the people consider him to be a block, therefore they do not call upon him [Ps. 53, 2].
4 An idolatrous warrior calls on St. Barbara not to let him die without the Sacrament; or fast St. Marco to help them. He knows nothing about God. Doesn't that mean to despise God? It is not considered that he could come to the aid of the warriors, since he says: "I am the Lord, your God." Yes, the brave hero David confesses in the 144th Psalm, v. 1, that God trains his hands and fists for war. And you do not consider GOD to be the one who could help you; but in contrast, St. Margaret. St. Barbara and St. Marcus, they can help you?
5. Mary, the dear holy Virgin and Mother of God, has also become the most shameful idol, who should also be merciful to us and help us out in the greatest needs. We have all been so skillful that we have fallen from God, and she should be our gracious queen; Christ has been nothing; that all temples and altars have been commonly founded and built in Mary's honor. Does this not mean to despise God? Does God help, what may I do for Mary's help, or
of other saints? But if I set my heart on the Virgin Mary to help me and to do good, what may I do to God? He only sits idly in the smoke hole.
(6) Yes, they say, you should honor the dear saints, because they deserve it. Where is this written? Here you hear Moses saying, "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD." May you what? Call upon him. There is no need for you to run to another; for he says to you, "I am your God"; he does not say, "I will be your God, I will become your God," but: I am ready; only remember and believe me, I will help you.
(7) It is the same with the monks and nuns. When they come into high idolatry, they think: We have taken three vows, poverty, chastity and obedience, and have their order, rule and statute. These works of theirs, which they do therein, are their idolatry. For they depart from God, do not fear Him, are not allowed His graces and gifts, such as the forgiveness of sins, but come trolled and want to be blessed by their order, caps and plates, and thereby obtain forgiveness of sins. And thereby they become faithless, falling away from his grace and mercy, which should justify them and forgive their sins by grace. But they are not allowed to do it; their status, cap and idolatry can do it. That is to despise God, not to fear Him, and to set up another god. For, because their order helps them, they may not trust God. So they never trusted God nor feared Him, and despair had to follow.
(8) Therefore, this is the true essence and meaning of the first commandment: "Fear God," that you seek no other, and trust in him who will give you all good things. "Fear" serves to keep us with Him, so that we do not choose another God. "Trust" brings with it all help, that you alone look into his hands in all your needs, and be sure that he will do the best for you, provide you with counsel and help, because he has promised it and does not lie, and because of that you do not depend on anyone else.
9. his words are: "I am your
God", that is, a helper in trouble, who gives all good things. He cannot speak more clearly than to say, "I will do you all good and help you out of every trouble. He who meets the right God has this, namely, to do all good, and to help you out of all tribulation and distress, and to deliver you. This is easily said, but hardly believed. But we have said that God exists through the creature; therefore kings, princes, preachers, parents and Christians are also called gods.
010 But if any man say, Do I not wrong in worshipping kings, and do honor to a prince, and reverence to priests, by bowing the knee, or taking off the hat? Why then do you say that I do wrong in calling on the saints, in worshipping Mariam? To this I answer: If you honor a prince in such a way that you see God giving you all good things through him, then it is right for you to do well. For you do not receive peace and protection here in this land from Duke John, Elector, nor do I rely on him, but God gives you peace through this man; so that you do not remain attached to the one through whom it happens to you, but come to the one who gives it to you through the prince. For peace is a work that belongs to God alone, and is not the work of a prince or other authority.
So you also receive the sacrament from the priest, and hear the preaching of the divine word; but not as from him, he cannot give it to you, but God gives it through him, he is the means and instrument through which God gives it to you. Think, then, that the prince and the priest are not your God, and that they do not give you the sacrament, the word and the worldly protection as their own, but God gives it through them. Therefore I also honor the authorities for the sake of GOD, who gives me these things through these means, Rom. 13, 1. Otherwise they may have a good year, [which] the princes fear and put their trust in them; for they must go to failure and be accursed. It is a true word that one is wont to say: Princes' grace is like April weather; it does not last long. Therefore the 146th Psalm, v. 3. says: "Do not rely on princes"; and Jer. 17, 5.: "Cursed be he who relies on princes." Psalm 146, 3: "Princes are men,
they cannot help. The Holy Scripture testifies to this everywhere, that whoever relies on men will go down.
(12) Now it is another thing to receive benefit through a man, and to trust or rely on a man. From princes, preachers, and parents I shall receive it as from creatures, though God the Lord gives it to me through them; but to fear them and trust in them, as if there were no other God, is not to be done. I shall not fear them nor trust them; for fear and trust all belong up to God. Then shall I say, What is right, that will I keep; God grant, be it lord, master, father, or mother.
(13) But there are too many of them who knowingly act against God's commandment, fear the princes, and do for their sake things that they can never answer for, and that otherwise would leave them well off. They do not fear God, but the prince. Therefore, when they have a gracious prince, they are proud, and no one can agree with them. Yes, to our Lord GOD himself they do not sing of the hauberk. A ruler and an authority must do good by virtue of their office and command, and help their subjects; therefore one should not trust in them, nor fear them, nor do anything against God for their sake; but one should receive good from them as from God, and honor God through them. Therefore, do not rely on men.
(14) Now that some say, What shall we do with the dead saints? Should they not be honored as parents and princes are honored? Answer: You do not see that the saints, such as Mary, St. Margaret and St. Barbara, help you, as you know that your prince and father help you; therefore you must not worship the dead saints. The prince protects you, handles you justly, as the authorities are ordered; God wants to let you see his divinity through them, and gives you peace of the country through them, so that they represent you. This you do not have from the dead saints, who have no command, order, nor even an established status; therefore you should not call on the saints, nor fear them, nor trust in them. Moreover, the greatest thing is that God has not told you to do so. Because you
not to fear them, nor to trust them, whom God Himself has ordained for your benefit and prosperity, and that through them He is your God, much less will He have you prefer the saints and hope in them.
(15) Through your parents he gives you life and limb, feeds you and provides for you; yet you should not trust them. You may use them according to God's order, but do not respect them above God; for they are only to be a means by which He creates you in this world and sustains you for a time. But the dead saints are not in this state, nor do they do anything to you; they are taken out of the world; we can enjoy nothing of them, as otherwise of the living according to God's appointment.
Therefore, when I say that the Holy One has the office in heaven, I am making it up out of my own head, without God's word, and the devil is deceiving me with his seduction and false pretenses. And yet this is where the greatest trust is directed, that we have chosen for ourselves special and own gods, whom we feared much more than our Lord God Himself. So we feared St. Valentine, Anthony and Sebastian. Because it was invented by us, we like it. So they said: Yes, St. Margaret has helped me. How, if the devil had done it? because he can also help you. But you can see that, and here you have God's certain commandment, that he has thus ordered these estates, that your pastor, prince and parents preside over you, and they are ordained by God to help you through them; therefore he also gives that they should be honored.
(17) Therefore, it is pure superstition and idolatry if I seek help and counsel elsewhere than from God. I shall not have recourse to them, since God has not ordained help for me, nor shall I honor them. For after this follows contempt and distrust of God, that God is so hard to believe, and the devil is so easy to believe; for what God shows up for a time, the devil soon gives. But we will speak of this at another time.
(18) For this time let us keep in mind that God is the one who does all that is good, and helps out of trouble; not always by Himself, but by all His means, as well.
through his angels, princes, rulers, parents, preachers, Christians, 2c. but above all through Christ. Now it is right that I should know the means by which good things come to me from God; but I should not build upon them, nor exalt them above God, nor do wrong for the sake of kings, princes, and lords, nor for the sake of their disfavor and wrath leave justice; but in God the Creator alone should I put my trust.
19 For this reason David was worshipped, that is, honored, because he had his hands full of good deeds; through his hands went the government, protection and protection of this great nation of Israel. Therefore David was called God; not that he was an essential God, but that he did God's work, and God helped through him out of troubles, did good and redeemed the people. and redeemed the people from their enemies. Therefore, he was not to be relied upon any further, for only if he remained God's servant and instrument, holding fast to His word and command.
We have heard in the fifth chapter the text of the ten commandments, and in the beginning of the sixth chapter it will follow how Moses begins to explain it, namely: "Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord" 2c. There we hear that the interpretation of the first commandment is this: "You shall love God, your Lord, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might." But what this is, we have often heard preached in the Gospel, since it has always been held up to us that this commandment is not so easy and small as it seems, but it is a summa and conclusion of all wisdom and understanding.
(21) For "to love with all the heart" is in the highest affections, and is not an evil, cold work, based only on outward conduct or transgression, as the Jews and Papists understand it; as, not bowing the knee to images and idols, or lifting up the hands against them. If they have not done so, they think they have the right God, and have not committed idolatry. Item, if they fast, wear long clothes, pray their times, keep themselves outwardly in all kinds of gestures after their manner, then they think: We are holy people, and have lived well; as nowadays there are still many of them to be found who
Let outward things seem holy. But here Moses says: "If you want to keep the first commandment and know what is there, do not have other gods? Listen: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart", that is, that nothing is dearer to you than God, his word and will; in sum, that we love nothing above him in heaven or earth.
(22) We have heard two Sundays in a row that God cannot be grasped except through the Word, without which He cannot be seen or felt [John 14:23]. If one puts oneself rightly to the word that one loves it, and means it from the heart, then God is also loved. Now, one cannot see, feel or experience this love in us, so that we fear and love God, because if one sees how we place ourselves at the word of God, or how we obediently hold ourselves against the sermon. If you prefer this word, boughs and order to everything from earth, then the matter is bad; then it is a sign that one loves God, and so you will honor your parents, love your neighbor also, not kill, commit adultery, steal 2c. Therefore, if the word is dear to you above your body, life, and what else you have, the matter is just; then you will not harm your neighbor in any of his things, but will keep all the other commandments and works. Therefore, if the ten commandments are dear to me, I will live by them; I will not lie or deceive, but rather leave life, limb and all above. [2 Macc. 7, 30. 7, 2. ff.]
But where do you find them? If they were to be counted, they would be very few. The devil, the world and our flesh teach us much differently. For the sake of a loose penny, we may well throw all God's commandments, His word and neighbor into the redoubt. For does it mean to love and keep God's commandment and word, if you speak evil of your neighbor, defile his wife, or violate him in the marketplace, or anywhere else you can? You may well love the devil; yes, you love a penny more than your God. But you should bite your finger rather than do anything against God and his word.
(24) Thus it should be, if you have love for the word of God: Before you have your
If you betray your neighbor for a penny, or speak a word against him, you will give up your body, your honor, your possessions and everything, and put them first. For a godly man puts the word of God before all things, as the noblest treasure. But if you began to count such, you would not find one of them who loves God with all his heart. For the wicked, for the sake of a word and (as they say) a dove's foot, are wont to put God and their neighbor in the background, to blaspheme. Thus, the miserly take Mammon for their God.
25 Now this is the first commandment: "Thou shalt have no other gods," that is, thou shalt love God thy Lord, hear his divine word and let it be acceptable to thee; what his word means and means, let it be told thee, and keep thyself according to it. Yea, this word of his shall be unto thee the most precious jewel of the earth. Thou shalt no longer have thy body, life, honor, goods, and all that thou hast. But we run over the commandments of God, like a pig over the sanctuary, for the sake of our own lusts and manifold desires, as if no law had ever been given by God. Continue in Moses:
V. 6, 7, 8: And the words which I command thee this day thou shalt take to heart, and shalt hone them unto thy children, and shalt speak them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, or when thou standest out; and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be a memorial unto thee before thine eyes; and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thine house, and upon the door.
(26) Behold, how vehemently he urges the first commandment, that in our hearts and inward affections there may burn and reign one faith and one love toward God and toward our neighbor. And says: "You shall sharpen these commandments." This is a master with preaching and interpreting the law. He knows that the most power and strength lies in the first commandment, that is why he acts it so diligently. Let these commandments, and especially the first, be commanded to thee with all faithfulness, that thou write them not only on paper, or put them in a book, but that thou write them in the corner of the book.
1) In the original and in the Erlanger: denen.
Do not let them lie there, or let them resound in your ears alone, or be painted before your eyes, but grasp them and write them in your heart, so that you remember them day and night, speak and act gladly about them, work, stand or walk wherever you want. Summa: These words shall be your highest, dearest treasure, for where your treasure is, there your heart is also [Matth. 6, 21.]. You shall at all times let them be most dear to you.
27 But why did Moses speak thus? Because he knows that there are so many people on earth who, when they hear and learn the Ten Commandments and enter into life, already know them by heart and know them all too well beforehand. Therefore, when they hear them recited and told, it is as if they were hearing a fable or a fairy tale, or a new newspaper from the Turk or the king of France; they do not pay attention to it, nor do they think that the Ten Commandments are of any concern to them, much less do they think that they should take them to heart, do them, and keep them. They think it is enough if they hear it once in a while, and they know how to talk about it, as if someone heard something else strange, and they can repeat it. And so the majority of the world is of such a mind that they either seek glory in it and wash their hands of it, or do something for the sake of appearances alone, which they do not care about. This is very annoying, when people soon become wise and tired of the word of God, as if it were only a matter of hearing it from time to time and then leaving it alone; although many of them also despise listening and let it stand. They, as soon as they hear it and it is said, think of another, and when the other comes, they look for another, and so on and on; forgetting the first and most necessary thing.
(28) I have often said, and I still say, whoever knows the Ten Commandments, and especially the first commandment, I will gladly sit at his feet and let him be my doctor. I consider myself more learned than the enthusiasts are, for they cannot do the Ten Commandments. But I can, praise God! I know, however, that the ten commandments are not
I still have to remain a student in this, even though I have often read the Bible. But the prudent and the wise, if they only know a sermon, they think they know it all, and they are doing their hopefulness with intemperate washing; but they know the devil on their head.
029 It is a hostile people that are so soon taught. For they do not think otherwise than that they hear the ten commandments as common things, and can wash, chatter, and prate of them as of anything else. But, dear fellow, it is not a matter of chattering, but of bringing them into life and into action, and publicly proving to everyone that you are thus minded, before you would act against some commandment of God, you would rather let everything on earth pass over it. Now be a master and prove yourself honestly.
Therefore, we conclude that no man on earth keeps and fulfills the commandments of God. Yes, even such spirits and washers do not attack it with a letter or the smallest work. Therefore this is their way: In one day they learn the law and the gospel, so that they can do a lot of washing, but in the meeting, in the deed and the proof there is no one at home. They are only feathers and hairs.
(31) Against these evil spirits and vile talkers Moses set these words, saying, Thou shalt take them to heart. That is, do not become wise to me too soon; do not think that you have eaten it all up, devoured it, and have long since gotten rid of it, or that it is learned as soon as it is heard. No; I will not be content if you take it on the tongue and in the ears, and then let it rush and float over. You shall take it and put it into your heart; therein it shall be and remain your comfort, defiance and support. Strive for it, come to it.
After these things sharpen and sharpen them unto thy children. First of all, remember for yourself that you learn them well, not only in the book, in your ears, and on your tongue, but that you put them into your heart, so that it pleases you from the heart to live by them. After that, when you have these commandments in your heart, continue that
you also teach them to your children. And says actually of sharpening and sharpening; does not say, thou shalt teach them alone and recite to them; but with this word "sharpening" he shows what kind of fellows we are. It does not want to be done with bad instruction and admonition, but to be driven, practiced, urged, and persevered in. For our heart is dull, obdurate, and rusty, that it will not cleave to it; it very soon falls from words, therefore it must always be acted upon. Otherwise it disgusts this food, soon gets tired of it; yes, it always wants to be master before it has become a disciple. That is why it is always necessary for those who are commanded to us preachers to stop, so that they may learn it all the better.
(33) I myself know some who think that we should not have preachers or pastors, and that we should tolerate the priests because of custom and old tradition; the salary and expenses that they incur annually could well be used in other and better ways. As if they were (as he says) a necessarium malum. Especially the nobility and some of the clever ones say: "We have books from which we can read it just as well as if we heard it in church from the priest. You read the devil on your head, who then possessed you. If our Lord God had known that the ministry of preaching was not necessary, he would have been so wise and prudent that he would not have had Moses preach it to you, and would have had no need for your ungodly, devilish, foolish thoughts and speeches, so that he would have ordered the Levitical priesthood later on, and would have sent out prophets all the time, as he himself says [Matth. 23, 34]. He would have remained at home as a preacher and pastor during this time. So he would not have been allowed to bind the parents that they were so serious about it and did not let them hang. He knows very well where we are lacking.
This follows by nature: If you get to the point where you think you know the gospel, the ten commandments and the words of God, you are lost, and the devil has won the game. Therefore, when we get tired of this teaching, and it tastes to us like the dregs of a fast, our heart wants something new; it is tired and fed up with the former [2 Tim. 4:3]. Then one commonly says
So I say: Oh, I heard that a long time ago, tell me something else. Thus one always wants to have a different teaching, and people's noses stink of innovation. So when the heart is tired of God's word and no longer considers it its best treasure, then the door is open behind and in front, so that the devil has free access and can introduce all kinds of error [Luc. 11, 26].
(35) So it happened with the enthusiasts, as before in all church histories; herewith they were moved around by the devil, felled and prevailed over, thus he got room. The gospel and the faith of Christ were not a great treasure to them, they had to have something new; they were disgusted with great art, Christ was too little for them; they could do it all; it was an annoying doctrine to them. If a sick person no longer likes food, but is afraid and disgusted by it, he is not far from death, he will soon die. So also, if the heavenly food of the divine word is unpleasant and no longer tastes good, he will not keep it up long.
Let no one think, as long as he lives, that he will unlearn the first commandment. Because God Himself thinks highly of it and does not want anything more glorious or better to be preached, and Moses is not ashamed that he always plays one song on one string, that is, one thing, so it is not shameful for us to always teach and hear one thing. I should be more ashamed and disgusted that I always preach and teach the same thing than you, who should hear it from me. But the Holy Spirit and God are not weary of teaching the same thing, and so we are a hostile people, despising everything. May God protect us from the same filth, so that we do not also fall into the trap of making ourselves believe that we can do it. Truly, the text is set here contrary to such rich, disgusting spirits, so that no one may think that he has learned it all.
V. 7 And speak of it when you sit in your house, or when you walk by the way, when you lie down, or when you rise up.
(37) Behold, how Moses diligently doeth this: Whether thou be at home, or in the field, thou shalt speak of the word; therefore shalt thou not be weary of it. When thou risest up, and when thou goest to sleep, thou shalt do it; thou shalt paint it in thine hands, and write it over thy door, that thou mayest have it always before thine eyes, and do it always, and that it may always be a memorial unto thee. What is this? What does he mean? Moses not only wanted to imprint this commandment on our hearts, but also on our whole life.
The Jews took a way from this text, from Matth. 23, 5. that they made a parchment skin around the head, on which the ten commandments were written, and wrote them also around the clothes; just as we now preach God's word, read, sing, paint, print and write. This was not a wicked way and custom with the Jews, for they wanted to have God's word before their eyes, and painted it in all places, even in the gardens, and certainly took such a way from this text. But they were boys and peelers, as one is wont to say in the proverb: A paternoster wear at the neck, a rogue in the heart 2c. This is not evil, but it is only a pretense, because they pretend to be godly, and in reality they do not even stand up to it; therefore it is hypocrisy, and Christ is also hostile to them, and punishes them severely for it.
Thou shalt preach and speak of this commandment in the house: that is, whatsoever thou doest in the house, or in the field, or in whatsoever place thou mayest be, thou shalt always remember it, that thou do no evil. When I am in the marketplace, remember God's commandment that I do no harm to my neighbor, for God has commanded me not to steal; where the commandment pleases you, and you love God with your heart, you do not steal. If you have this commandment, "Thou shalt not steal," in the marketplace, or in the field, where one has goods, and [fields] 2) to his neighbor, be obedient to him; if you love GOD and His word, you will protect yourself from all deceit, usury, avarice and deceitfulness.
1) In the original and in the Erlanger: this.
2) Added by us to give meaning.
and not do anything against it. That is, to act so that one's life is guided by it.
40 Therefore, when thou traffickest in the house, being a craftsman, a brewer, a cobbler, a tailor, a baker, 2c., remember, I will deal thus with my neighbor, that I offend no man, nor exaggerate, translate, deceive, presume. For God commanded in the seventh commandment: I shall not steal, nor cheat, nor defraud anyone 2c. If I love God's word and commandment, I will not wrong anyone. But where are such? Christians should always say, "I will live my life according to this, so that I do not sin against my God or offend my neighbor. And these keep and fulfill this law, who thus bring it into life.
41) Let the Pharisees and hypocrites go, who wrote the law on their hats and skirts, and never remembered God's commandment, and deceived their neighbor. For this writing on the hats is of no use, even if you rub it in with seperating water, 3) for such a one is and remains a rogue. But a devout Christian shall say thus: I will direct my life, work and business with God's help, so that I do not sin against my God, and do wrong to no one; that you remember to love, fear and trust God, and to do harm to no one, but to do good to everyone; then continue, you are on the right path.
(42) Those who carry out and continue the commandments in their lives write the mark on their hands. All this is to be done, that thou remember it always in all thy words, works, and undertakings, that thou fear God, trust in him, and do harm to no man, kill not, commit not adultery, steal not, 2c. but be useful to everyone. Lift this up, and lay hold on your life; do it for a year, and tell me again for a year what you can of the first and the other commandments all, and you shall know it. Remember not to seek your own, not to betray your neighbor, not to overreach anyone, then you will see what loving God means, and you will realize that you are not yet
3) Original: einbeißest.
If you have learned the ABC, you will also recognize yourself as a gross sinner. Then there would not be so much theft and evil deeds. If you loved God, you would not worship mammon. Your whole life testifies against you that you do not love God, but rather hate Him.
V. 9. And thou shalt write them over thy house posts.
(43) That is, Thou shalt remember, whether thou goest out or cometh in, whether thou dealest with thy neighbor at home or without, that thou shalt so live that thou shalt not do evil against thy God. Therefore, God wants these commandments written before the eyes of all.
44 This is a necessary admonition that Moses gives to the first commandment. For he has seen that people, out of pride, make themselves believe that if they have only heard God's word, they can and do know it all perfectly well, yet they live in anger and do little according to it. Therefore he will direct them from the hearing into the heart and life, how they should live with the heart and in their walk. Then people will also see how they harm their neighbor with words and deeds, always seeking their own, and each thinking only of his own cause: God give, let his neighbor stay where he will. For the world prefers mammon to God.
45. But these are the right high things, when God the Lord not only sets before us His commandments, which we despise, but when He also attacks us, sends us plagues and calamities, throws us into the cross and persecution, hangs poverty and sickness on our necks, so that you think God is your enemy. Then see if you can love God in such affliction and sorrow, and how patient you are in it; if you also suffer such things without grumbling, as Job, who still praises and gives thanks in his cross, and says [Job 1:21, 2:10]: "If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, why will we not accept evil? Praise be to the name of the Lord." There you will find the right knots. If you have not done evil to your neighbor, and if you have kept the ten commandments of God a little, you will still find that the will of God is not pleasing to you.
who should be your highest comfort and treasure. Item, when you are reviled and violated, see if you can love your worst enemy.
(46) But we will leave this for now, and remain only with the common way, that these commandments should not be regarded badly, as loving God with the tongue alone, but that they should be grasped in the heart and in the whole life, that you always remember what you speak, do, intend and begin, in all your affairs and life, that you do not transgress the ten commandments, angering God and your neighbor, so that the word of God may be your best treasure, and dearest to you of all.
V. 10-i2. When therefore the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give thee; great and goodly cities, which thou hast not built; and halls full of good things, which thou hast not cut down; and wells hewn up, which thou hast not hewn up; and vineyards, and mountains of oil; 2c. take heed lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
(47) After Moses has explained the first commandment, namely, "to love God with all our heart," he continues, and wants us to stay with the same word and not to seek another sermon, for we can do this quite well. Now he also wants to tell us about the obstacles and the aversions against this commandment, or the sins, so that one acts against the first commandment and transgresses, and wants to clear these out of the way, so that we remain with the first commandment, and avoid and flee such things.
The first obstacle and trouble is Mammon, called riches and abundance, about which Moses laments and prophesies that he will tear you away from your God and from his love, so that you will fall on beautiful houses, oil and grain, fields and vineyards, and other temporal goods, which will then become your god, and you will forget the Lord your God, when you are showered with such physical goods. 32, 13-15], as otherwise the god of all the world is the cursed mammon. Now God wants to defend all of them here in the text and bind them: All that is told now shall not be so dear to you.
than God; for you shall love him above all things, and before that you shall leave your house, your court, your castles, your fields, and everything, that you may keep only the commandments of God.
49) But these words are soon spoken, "You shall love God," 1) yet they have a difficult appearance; they do not ring and ring in our hearts; God's word is not valid in our hearts. What is the point of the five words? some think; for their sake I cannot leave house, field, meadows and other my goods; I take a hundred guilders for these words: Love GOD, your Lord. I do not care much about the words, my house and mammon are much more dear to me. Therefore mammon or avarice is the first thing that hinders you from loving God. So that you forget him and despise him, the beautiful houses and vineyards will do that. This is mammon. Baruch the prophet also says [Cap. 3, 17] that people rely on gold. And David knows well the plague and sickness of men, because he says in the 62nd Psalm, v. 11: "If riches come to you, do not set your heart on them." Therefore St. Paul also says [Col. 3, 5] that avarice is idolatry and a root of all evil [1 Tim. 6, 10]. Therefore be warned from this text. For the first devil and the first temptation is mammon or riches, which cause one not to love God and to be drawn away from God's word.
50 Is this not the way things are in the world? Doesn't experience testify to it? When children grow up and become adults, they make a distinction between goods and parents. Who are the ones who prefer to have their parents rather than the goods? How do they remember the pain, sorrow, and toil that their parents have suffered for having brought them up, even for having put honor, body, and goods upon them? Now that they have been brought up, they would like their parents, father and mother, to be dead, so that they alone could have the goods. For the property is much dearer to one than the parents. Yes, one finds pious people who fight with their parents for the goods. They thank their parents so that they would like to see them dead, so that they would get the patrimony.
1) "To love" put by us (according to the Bible) instead of: "to love" to make five words, as follows immediately.
and bring them to themselves. Then the quarrel, anger and hatred against the parents arise. Otherwise one who loves and fears God would say: Before I would quarrel with you, dear father, before I would let all good things go. Now those who fear God do this.
(51) Thus we also see how often brothers become mortal enemies among themselves for the sake of good. Who breaks the love between the brothers there? Squire Mammon. But where brotherly love would be here, you speak: Before I am angry with you, I would rather that all good things swam in the Elbe.
So one citizen and farmer also acts with the other. Who then can make children despise their parents? Who causes such dissension between brothers who are of one heart, of one flesh and blood? The god Mammon, he arranges it all. So Mammon tramples God's commandments so that they are not respected, neither by children, sisters, brothers nor neighbors, and natural parents, brothers, and all good friends must be put in second place; as you can see in the divisions, where one immediately thinks: If only I had the house, the meadows, my father, mother, brother and sister would be where they wanted. Do you see here how a mighty lord and god the wretched Mammon is, that he also destroys all God's love and commandments, and teaches to consider them as nothing?
Moses faithfully warns us of this, saying: "Mammon will challenge you and ride you; open your eyes and stay with the one God, and remember: "Fie on you, you wretched thing, that for your sake I should have enmity, hatred, strife and envy against my parents, brothers and neighbors; if I never have goods, I have God, who can give them to me. According to the teachings of St. Paul, I should use worldly goods as if I did not have them, 1 Cor. 7:30, 31: "Those who buy do not keep them, and those who need this world do not need them. So let God be dearer to you than all the goods on earth. If he has given you a house, gardens and vineyards, which you have not planted, trust in him; he who has given you these things can give you more.
54. verily, what thou obtainest from thy
Parents, you did not acquire or earn this, but God gave it to you through the parents. We must confess this. But if you ask Mammon: Which is nobler and better, God and parents, or goods? he says: Goods are better than God and parents. Therefore Moses admonishes us here that we should prefer God and His commandment to all the goods on earth. For even if everything is taken from you, he is still your God. He can give you more. Even if he would not give you more, he will not let you die of hunger, for he says: "I am your God. It will be certain that the LORD your God has promised you; but hold fast to his word, and know that goods will follow.
55 Therefore I say, The first offense against this commandment is mammon, who wants to be another god, and is also another god. It was so with the Jews, and also still with us, that we look more to the good than to God and his commandment. This is what mammon does. For if you loved God and His commandments, you would not set yourself against God and His word, even against your neighbor, for the sake of good. But now you are attached to mammon, despising and hating God. This is a sure sign that one does not love God, because one acts so deliberately against God and one's neighbor.
56. But it will not be given to us, says Moses [v. 15], "for your God is a fierce God among you. Therefore see to it that not even his wrath be angry, and destroy you from the earth. Then you see that [it] is not a joke, you must not take it to the wind, nor make a mockery of it. For if I do not keep it today, nor tomorrow, I will no longer have a God in him, but a devouring, devouring fire, which will devour everything, as said above [Cap. 4:24]; that is, he will cut you off from the land and destroy you, destroy your life and limb, and then your soul, so that he will condemn you forever with your wealth and goods.
(57) As experience teaches us with usurers and miserly men, who drain and exploit the people to the limit with their stealing and robbery, God has given us the right to do so.
and despise his word, his servants and all warning; so he despises them again, that their wealth, money and goods do not come to the other or third heir. For male quaesit, male perdit, says the whale. But since they as Christians let God be dearer to them than mammon and goods, they would have enough of all things, and wealth and abundance would be in their houses, also in their descendants, as the 37th Psalm, v. 25, says: "I have been young, and have grown old, and have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed going after bread." Item [Proverbs 10:22]: Benedictio Domini divites facit. Summa Summarum: This is the first devil and hindrance that makes us forget God and His commandments. But here we are warned to learn to hold His commandments more dear than all the good that is on earth. May God protect us from mammon, amen!
Thus far the first obstacle against the first commandment has been the mammon, which is a true idol and the worst enemy of God. Moses sternly warned his followers against this idol, that they should be careful not to let mammon ride on their backs and listen to them, nor to serve him, and to love temporal goods more than God. Therefore he said that they should take the Ten Commandments into their hearts and always practice them as a doctrine that cannot be practiced, imagined and acted upon enough. For the devil, the world and our flesh are always stirring up and creating opposition, storming and raging against this commandment. Therefore, since these three do not tire of fighting and opposing this commandment, neither should we tire or grow weary of practicing and enforcing this commandment.
59) So this teaching is always necessary among the people, that Moses says: "You shall" not only "sharpen these words", but "when you sit in the house, be on the way" 2c. That is, it is not necessary for you to write it on the walls with letters, to paint it over the doors and posts for eternal remembrance; as the Jews had such a way, but in all business, handling, food and work we should see to it that we do not offend or harm anyone, but act in such a way that God is more able with us, and more able with us.
Mammon is right with us. For if we go out or come in, if we buy or sell, whatever our nature may be, let a man beware lest mammon deceive him, lest he cleave to it more than to God. Let each man look to his own hand, eyes and deeds, what he does, how his nature and trade stand, so that mammon does not deceive him into evil and wickedness.
(60) The shameful mammon is the greatest god on earth, and it is a dangerous thing to deal in goods [Matt. 19:23]. Those who have riches and goods generally trust in them [Luc. 12, 19. 16, 19.]; those who do not have them seek them day and night, and would gladly gain something. He who has wealth has pleasure and joy in it; on the other hand, everyone is afraid of poverty. Everyone must have an advertisement, business, work, and trade, and wait for it; and there it is dangerous, where something is acquired and driven together. For it readily happens that one either has hope and defiance of the good, or doubts of want. This life hovers between scarcity and possessions, between good and poverty; therefore it leans toward one of two ends, that is, toward trust or despair. This is the source of all kinds of mischief, so that people eat and grind, scratch and scrape among themselves, and so that one person betrays and deceives the other wherever he can, according to the common saying: "He who is able puts the other in sackcloth.
Great and fine cities that you have not built, houses full of good things, vineyards and olive groves 2c.
(61) Then he expounds it with more words and a little more extensively; and here we see the assiduous diligence of Moses in expounding this first commandment. First of all he said, and put these words: "I am the LORD thy God, thou shalt not have other gods." To this he adds a prophecy: "I am a zealous God, visiting the sin of the fathers upon the children, even to the third and fourth generation. Item, puts also to it a promise, as: "To those who love me and keep my commandments, to them I do good to the thousandth part" [5 Mos. 5, 8-10.].
62. lastly, he says: do you want the opinion
I will tell you, when you come into the land and take possession of beautiful houses, gardens, vineyards, mountains of oil, water with fish, and all that I will give you in abundance without your labor and merit, then look at it, it will become the first devil that will blind your eyes, so that you will put the fear of God out of your heart, despise God, and forget the first commandment. For thou shalt cleave unto the goodly houses, and vineyards, and lands, and other goods, which I shall give thee, 2c., and shalt make a god of them, and put thy trust in them, and shalt not inquire so much of me, but shalt forget me.
Thus, idolatry is already established when a man trusts more in mammon than in God, and fears lest he lose him. Moses did not say this in vain, and so diligently warned and admonished, for he knew that Mammon was such a god. And here we hear strong evidence that our nature, reason and will are inclined against the first and all other following commandments. We are such fellows: When things go well for us, we forget God and cannot thank Him, and do not recognize His benefits that He has helped us to achieve, nor can we look back to the time when we did not have them.
(64) But when there is danger, affliction, and distress, or when there is a lack, there is no confidence, faith, and hope in us; prayer lies low, and despair comes upon us. This has been seen not only by the prophets and church teachers, but also by the pagans. And many wise people have complained about good fortune and bad fortune, about good days and bad days, that one does not know how to handle this. So there is also a German saying: There must be strong legs that can carry good days. Item: Man can suffer everything, but not good days. It is also said that when a donkey is too comfortable, he goes dancing on the ice and breaks a leg.
The poet Ovidius speaks finely: Luxuriant animi, rebus plerunque secundis, nec facile est, aequa commoda mente pati. Thus
1) In the original: eiget; "sich eugen" (äugen) --- to show oneself.
a man can carry everything, however great and heavy it is, except for good times, which are impossible for him to carry. Virgilius also noticed this and added these verses: Nescia mens hominum fati sortisque futurae, et servare modum rebus sublata secundis. A man, when he is well off, cannot sustain himself by his own efforts, misses himself, and exalts himself of wealth and happiness, and goes away.
Read the histories, both of Christians and pagans, and you will find it well. About this, there is also the experience that good makes courage, courage makes overconfidence, overconfidence never does good. That is, not being able to endure good days. It is also seen in the household, and everyone in his position grasps it with his hands, if he did not want to see it in the holy scriptures. If a servant has too pious a master, a child a kind father, a maid a kind wife, they cannot bear it; the kinder it is done to them by their lordship, the less they respect it. So also do the citizens; they are always the more wanton, the more lenient the council and the authorities are.
The lighter the masters they have, the worse they are. If someone is to bring them to something with kindness and goodness, he must have good luck; that is why it is like this: If you beg a farmer, his belly swells up. So it is with every man. If he has good days, it is not good for him to perish until he causes misfortune, and God plucks out his great feathers; for the feeding stings him, it is too good for him. There are many sayings about this, all of which belong here, and are based on this opinion, that when a man is happy and feels good, he is never well to deal with, for he becomes stubborn, obstinate and strange; the devil cannot get along with him.
68] This is what God is complaining about through Moses, and he is about to speak in a human way, saying, "I am not well pleased to make you rich and full, because when I bring you into the land, you will turn back and tempt me. 1) As otherwise in the
1) löcken --- to be impudent and wanton; to jump, to leap, to strike behind.
As it is written in Genesis [Deut. 32:15], "Israel has become fat and fatty," so he begins to lick me and strikes me with his heel. In sum, we must be pressed with the cross and suffering so that we will not be proud.
Therefore nothing is better for the world than a sharp, hard, strong regiment, as is still the case with the Turks, and some noble squires are swift, grasping rulers, who take the peasants' coats and skirts. Such rude tyrants belong in the world, not pious authorities, so that they may dampen their hopes. For the world cannot be ruled with kindness and gentleness, for there are always too many bad boys.
Therefore, you see what God is complaining about, namely, that when he makes people prosper through his fatherly kindness, they forget him and all his good deeds. Now Germany lacks nothing, because it is so well off, everyone does what he wants; Germany has this plague, it is too well off, and the authorities are too lenient. That is why there is a loud will to courage in all classes; almost everyone lives according to his own liking. It is lacking that the frogs do not have storks as kings; truly, the donkey goes dancing on the ice. But they will continue to be stubborn until the Lord comes and says: "You have despised me long enough; I will teach you morality, so that you may know that I am still God. For experience always agrees with the Holy Scriptures.
71 Therefore Moses says: Behold, it will not be given to you; if it does not happen, punish Moses with lies. The pious Moses is not lacking in his diligence, always repeats the previous warnings and says: Be careful, your God is a zealous God, so that you do not provoke His wrath against you, and He lets you see a little something that you would never have thought of. This is what he always rubs into their nostrils, that they should fear God, and not let themselves be turned away from the Lord, nor forget him, for he is an angry God, and punishes to the third and fourth generation. But the dear Jews did not ask anything about it, God may be zealous in the first commandment, or be angry, as he wants.
This plague is also between our skin and flesh. When we have only good days,
We do not ask for God, priests, princes, father and mother, and even the devil. But when the hour comes for wrath to come upon you, it will be said, "Exterminated from the earth! Then you will lament that your wife is violated before your eyes, your children are killed, your parents are slain, and your skin is beaten out and your neck is cut. There you want to have help, rescue and protection. But then it will have waited too long.
Therefore, the Lord wants you to understand here: If thou shalt be stubborn against me, I will also be unwilling to help, when death, the devil, war, pestilence and all misfortunes come in heaps, and I will also let thee flounder and be stuck, yes, the last 1) play with thee.
74 It is said to you here beforehand, so that you may be guided by it, that even if you cry out to God, he will not hear you. For here the text is clear that God wants to punish your willfulness, which has been driven against him and against your dominion, so that you yourself will say that he has paid and struck you right. In sum, good days cannot be otherwise than forgetting God, and presumption follows, which passes over, and the fear of God perishes.
(75) Oh, that each one of us would now think in his own state: I am well, praise God; I will fear God, give thanks to Him from my heart and serve Him, and in addition I will faithfully fulfill my own, and do what is required of me in my state, I will be humble and devoted; I know that the Lord will show me mercy. But if I am disobedient and unthankful, the Lord has promised me that he will destroy me from the earth. If this were thought of, there would not be so many lamentations and plagues from the drudgery and so much unfaithfulness of the people. But now everyone thinks that our Lord God has died, that his evil and wickedness will not be punished. Therefore, each one should be ready to be obedient to our Lord God and to do good before His wrath is kindled.
1) Last --- Valete, Garaus.
In the Turkish regiment, the servants are treated like this: If a maid does not want to be obedient, she is sold for three pennies; then someone buys her and beats her like you beat a cow or donkey, and chases her with a whip if she does not want to do what she is supposed to do. A strict regiment is also kept everywhere else, and it looks better than with us Christians. The Turk has more guilders than our princes have pennies; nevertheless, he is diligent in his affairs. Each of the Turkish servants has his allotted amount of food, drink and work; if he does not spend it as he should, he is soon there with rods and whips; if that does not help, he strikes with his sword, the knife follows soon after and cuts off his head.
(77) But with us, if a laborer or a servant misses a day or two, or is otherwise disobedient and unfaithful to his master, he has no conscience about it, but thinks he is doing right; therefore now almost no one is obedient to father and mother or authorities. But when the devil comes among you, you will be destroyed from the earth. Therefore, such a Turkish regiment must follow, which will smash us to ruins. Such a regime belongs in the world, that one should rule differently to the people, just as the Turk does; when he lifts up a finger, it goes as he wills in his whole empire. And where such rulers are not, God is forgotten, and all kinds of estates are despised as authorities, their commandments, parents, lords and wives, and other ordained persons.
78 For the wanton people make themselves believe that we must be tolerated and have, that we cannot be dispensed with. That is, we have lived without the fear of God, we have forgotten God, we have not feared God; we forget God, and we do not fear him for good days, and for the service of mammon, for he is our God. But if it were so, that every man should have but a morsel of bread and a drink of water, and yet his measured work, as to load up ten cartloads of dung, and to lead it out, and if he did not do this, after him with the distemper, then they would become more pious, and God not so.
despise. But since this is not so (as we may not get there in blissful times), it is also impossible for them to become better. Therefore it follows:
V. 15 Lest the wrath of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee.
79. What has God done to the stiff-necked Jews? In the time of King Ahab, for four and a half years, He did not let a drop of rain fall [1 Kings 17:7]. Then the wrath also came upon them, and the whole earth withered away. It is terrible and horrible to say that there was a great famine [1 Kings 18:2], that there was no food for the people, no fodder for the cattle, so that all the cattle were slaughtered. And how did it go in the final destruction of Jerusalem, did God not pay them honestly? that after other punishments they finally bought dove droppings and donkeys' heads, one almost for three guilders, which they otherwise would not have been allowed to eat. The children died of hunger in their parents' arms; others saw their children slain; some slaughtered their children; after that the cities were plundered. So God avenged their ingratitude and punished their contempt. As if to say: You have forgotten me, well, I will now forget you again. And when the need was there, they cried out; but he heard them not, neither helped they.
So it will also happen to us ungrateful Germans that we will cry out in misfortune and hardship and receive the word: My wrath is fierce, and we will have no hearing nor help. For our days are too good; we know not (with leave) where our backs are. Upon my soul, it is not to be joked about; it is not possible that [it] remain unpunished; the punishment cannot fail. A great plague must come upon Germany; I fear it will all come at once, pestilence, war, famine. No one fears God, everything is wanton; servants, farmers, craftsmen, do everything they want. No one punishes, everyone lives according to his will, cheats and deceives the other. It is impossible that [it] should remain like this for a long time, because the good days deceive us.
Would to God that there were among us some
few understood this, who prayed earnestly that the punishment would be postponed, and if it did not remain, that the wrath would not come in our or our children's time. For when war comes and the Turk comes, faith, preaching, the knowledge of Christ, the sacrament, baptism and the Lord's Supper are all gone, as can be seen under the Turk, and we become like beasts, so that they drive us and hunt us down like cows. Then you will have to do what you do not want to do now. And those who do not want to live according to God's commandment now will only have the Turks sent upon their necks. If the Turkish empire did not harm the gospel, I would wish it upon us, that it would be our master, and afflict us well, who are now safe spirits. But it is impossible, he destroys the Gospel and the Church of God.
(82) Therefore it is better that we should suffer the adversity, the people's willfulness, and the peasants' reproach, with the gospel, than that we should have the Turk for our master without the gospel, and lose the gospel. But if we were under the Turk, each one would have his measured food, certain purpose and time to eat, and a definite work, and not a drink of wine, but water, and his piece of bread, and not a morsel over it. You would not have to go to beer, as it would be good to prevent people's slovenliness and gluttony and drunkenness. As now in Turkey the captive Christians are forbidden to drink, and now they suffer hunger and have to work like donkeys. If you would not do it, the Lord would come with a rope, bind you and scourge you. Then you would know that I had not lied; if I were lying, rebuke me. You would then gladly give thanks for the peace, and God the Lord would take you out of the alehouse in the name of the devil, and you would have to work as if your skin was smoking. Then you would remember me. If I lie, Moses also lies; but he will not lie, therefore it will also become true with you.
First of all, do what God has commanded you. Do not be a servant of mammon, do not forget God. Then do not steal, do not rob.
Do not, serve, work faithfully, do your office, what you are commanded, with diligence and faithfulness. Be obedient to your overlords, and you will have a gracious God, and you will be blessed, become rich, and prosper. But if you do not work faithfully and honestly and treat your neighbor sincerely, you shall be destroyed; wrath, anger and persecution shall befall you.
84 Dear one, do not let the good days deceive you. But this is in vain, and is said to the deaf. As it is said that it is impossible to endure good days. Therefore it must be inculcated with the word of God, to raise us up a little, and to exhort and urge us to fear God, and not to forget Him, if it would help a little, as otherwise, without the sermon, truly, no one would respect Him. For when nature is too comfortable and lives without God's word, it goes dancing on the ice and runs into the lark's field, where it stings the food. In danger, however, it cannot preserve itself; there is nothing but trembling, trembling, fear and despair.
For this reason, the preaching of the divine word is prepared to exhort a man to the fear of God, and to remain with God when he is well, and again, not to despair when he is ill, but to persevere steadfastly in the faith. So also here the divine word admonishes us, saying: Be careful, beware when you have good days; for, do you know what it means? When you fatten the swine, you want to slaughter them; death is nearer to the sows than when they go astray; as Jeremiah the prophet also says [Jer. 12:3].
So, if God gives you good days, gives you grist and mire, and you fatten yourself with God's goods, it is truly for your brat. One will come and slaughter you, and make sausages of you, and eat you up, and consume the sea, the lard and the fat, that is, take away your accumulated goods and treasure.
87. this is a piece that Moses wants to say: rather, when there is good time, and there is no pestilence or other accident present, and you
1) Grist --- coarsely ground grain.
sits in alehouses, drinks, sings and listens, and does not ask much about what [the] grain is worth, where one takes food and drink. As the servants think: The master and the wife must manage well; they are without worries, and the day laborers work four days a week. To the same it is said: Because it is so good, beware of the safety and forgetfulness of God, do not become bold and proud; for it is time that you remember God's commandment and do not forget God.
(88) Truly you should thank God that you are sitting there with good peace as a squire, and God the Lord is keeping you this peace for so long; you are driving your sheep out and in from the sheepfold without any care, so that the murderers do not slay you. But yes, that you only once remember: Dear God, help me to do what you want me to do, that I love you and serve my neighbor, I will cheat no one, give my eggs and cheese right 2) purchase. No one wants to think about this, and thank God for such gifts, to be obedient to the authorities, and to serve the neighbor; but one says: I want to be free, to sup my beer, to sell what is mine with advantage, deceit, and overthrow; because it is mine. And so you need the noble peace and the gifts of God, that you desecrate and blaspheme God. Therefore he will come and tear you out of the earth in his wrath and destroy you. Do you understand me? I am speaking in German. You have a blessed time, I also wish you happiness in your good days, that you may use them well. But watch out, come war, since you now give two pennies for a jug of beer, then you would gladly give a penny.
You will not then sit idle in the marketplace, as you do now, when you live in all riches and abundance, and use these benefits, not to thank God, but rather to spite and shame Him, and to harm your neighbor; you do not think of temporal peace as you thank God for it. So in a household the servant cares nothing for food and drink, does not care for food, clothing and wages, considers it all nothing; for he knows and relies on it,
2) "right", which is missing in the original, is taken by us from the old edition.
The Lord must provide well. He does not think how good his days are, lets someone else take care of him, is disobedient to his lordship; thinks that he is there only to eat and drink; thus abuses his good days, and stings him too much with food, and makes himself shitty enough.
(90) But the great men and mighty men do this much more surely. Doesn't that mean forgetting God when he does good to you, and you don't know how to make yourself bad enough to annoy God and harm your neighbor, you don't think about temporal peace? How, if theurung, war and strife came, and took away this treasure of peaceful, sufficient life? Then servants and maids will become so cheap that twenty, thirty, forty maids and servants would gladly serve more diligently for a piece of bread than they do now and for money. In other places, where there is a theurung, one takes a piece of bread and serves for two days; now she serves barely half a year so diligently for great pay and wages.
91 Therefore Moses saith, Beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee up out of Egypt. But we do not see it now, it is out of our sight; but it will come to our fist one day; we struggle for it, and it will come. We pervert everything, and trust too much in the good days, since we should be afraid in the good days, and not be too sure; again, consider the time of trouble, that then one should trust in God and not despair. For God will not lie; if you misuse your good days, He will destroy you. This is one thing, that we should fear, and not forget evil in the blessed time; that you should think what it would be like if war or terror came, and if you should serve one who would hardly give you a piece of bread, and strike you to the ground for it. Again, that you also hope in God in the time of tribulation. That is, as the wise man Solomon [Proverbs 30:9] says: When things go well for us, we exalt ourselves; when things go badly, we despair; this he took from the first commandment. This is a part of our naughtiness: When it is well with nature, it cannot abstain.
she forgets about God; and lets go hands and feet when things are bad.
Therefore God's commandment and word must come to encourage, awaken and warn us, for your own good, lest you come to harm, and lest, when it is well with you, you trust in your present gifts and goods and do evil against God and your neighbor; otherwise, if it were not for the preaching, it would come to pass that one ass would put the other in sackcloth. So Solomon admonishes us in the same way that Moses did, that we not be deceived by security, lest the donkey go dancing on the ice. Therefore, the donkey's food must be placed higher, so that he can honestly 1) bear the skin, and so that his ribs may be counted; sacks must be placed on him.
93) In the book of Proverbs of Sirach [Cap. 33:25] it is said, "To the ass belong three things, food, sackcloth, and staves; so also to a servant belong food, work, labor, and staves"; that is, to every one that hath business, that hath office or service, whether he be mayor, or judge, or servant, or maid, or whatsoever his profession be, he shall have three things. First of all, he shall be given food and drink, and then a sack to carry out his work and supply him with food and drink, so that he may not only eat and drink, but also work. And if he refuses to have only the food and not the sack, then a good stick must be used, and the skin must be threshed so that the stripes are counted, and the tickle and the lick will be gone from him.
(94) Each one wants only food, but you must also carry the sack. The donkey does not like to carry the sack, nor does the servant like to have the work; but we all want to have the food and the wages, we all strive for good days. There is no lack of food, yes, we have too much; we would also have sacks, but there is no stick, there is no earnestness, anger and emphasis, as there should be. The stick should also follow later, so that one strikes. The Turk or some other horrible tyrant belongs to us; although our princes are also sticks enough.
1) honest--barely.
V. 16. 17. You shall not tempt the LORD your God, as you tempted him 1) in Massa; but you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes which he commanded.
This is the other piece. For, as I have said, when one is too well off, he does not fear God, he forgets him, and becomes arrogant and presumptuous. No one cares for the other, thinks that he is not allowed to serve anyone, so he robs and steals in the world. Again, when things go bad, flesh and blood can suffer nothing less than evil days. Mammon has two arms, with which he rules the world; with the right arm he rules, when things are going well, everyone does what he wants; then one fears Mammon, and God is forgotten. When things go badly, when evil days are present, he rules with his left arm; then man tempts God the Lord.
Now the temptation of God is many. But here he speaks of the real temptation of God, namely, when Israel tempted God in the wilderness with the bread of heaven; when they had neither food nor drink, they went to Moses, and once they had a fight with him, grumbling against God and Moses because of their hunger [Ex 16:2, 17:2]. They almost wanted to say, "The devil told you to bring us out of Egypt, and do you think that God is here? Otherwise we would ever have to eat. For this reason they would not believe, nor suffer any lack; they would not wait and trust, but immediately grumbled if there was no food; they set a goal, measure, person, time, manner for God: so you shall give it to me, through this, at the time 2c.They wanted to have our Lord God bound to give it to them according to their will and set goal and time, and could not wait one day for God 2) and say: I need this and that, but I leave it up to you; how or when you give it to me, I will gladly accept it.
97. that is, god is trying, if we want to have a thing from god, as we want to give it to him.
1) "him" is missing in the original and in the Erlanger.
2) "GOtt" taken over by us from the old edition instead of "Gut" in the original and in the Erlanger.
Or we fall away from him, that we also cannot expect One day, or give him what we need, or trust him, and stand firmly on him when things go badly. That's where idolatries and pilgrimages come from in the papacy, so that we celebrate the saints: that's how people ran to the oak tree when they were in trouble, so that the saints would help them. Each one has sought ways that he might suffer nothing, and trust God and expect help from Him. That is to try God, when I lack something, that he should give it to me soon, when I want it, and what I desire from him, and not wait or hope for his help.
Thus did the Jews, tempting and tormenting God in the wilderness, grumbling against God. What they only wanted, he had to do on a strict deadline, as to give water, quails and bread from heaven 2c.; aimed it at him with measure and time, when he should give it to them, but he did not accept it. So at all times mammon rules in two ways: First, when things go well, Mammon is master, and makes us forget God, makes us safe. Again, when things are going badly, he will come again and make you try God in your misfortune, or throw him away and accept another. Thus Mammon wants to rule in abundance and in scarcity. Do you not see this before your eyes? They would like to have it in their fist. If they have it, God is forgotten. If it goes well, it is no good; if it goes badly, much less. If it goes well or badly, he is not to be advised.
99. How can you help him? Mammon fights and stings. The first commandment is in such dire straits that it cannot be kept, for better or worse. How can one make people pious? How can one govern the world? Let there be a measure and a way. For if it goes well, God is forgotten; in danger God is tempted. If the LORD said, I will give a man good days, and he shall serve me. Yes, behind him, as the peasants carry the spits. If I give it to them, they do not thank me; but if I am angry with them, they run away from me, and attach themselves to other gods, or despair.
100. this is how it goes: if I laugh, they will
When he is present, he makes the people proud; when he is not present, he makes the people despondent. That is why Moses fights so fiercely against him. Now this is the interpretation of the first commandment, therefore to love God in that, and not to have other gods. That is, fear God in abundance; if you are well, do not be proud; if you are unwell, trust in Him in adversity. Do not run to another place, and do not seek other gods, but believe that he can help you out of trouble, and punish you in riches, so that the heart may keep the middle road inside, and stand the same. This is what the first commandment demands.
V. 20. If your son will ask you today or tomorrow, saying, "What are these testimonies, commandments and statutes?
This is a prosopopoeia. 1) He commands the parents to be God-fearing, to learn to fear God, and to serve Him in happy times, and to believe in unhappy times, and to keep a pure faith; and this not only for themselves, but also for their children. The parents shall be the schoolmasters of the children, and the children shall also teach it to others; they shall tell the descendants, so that it always remains in fresh memory how God led them out of Egypt. They are to be vain schoolmasters; this is what God wants, for He says that they are to say to their children [v. 21], "We were servants in Egypt. "2c. Hereby he gives them the command that they teach the children God's forbearance, and to be afraid of the forbearance; when it is well with them, that they despise not God, and in time of temptation learn to trust in God, and take hold of his promise, and not despair. For He tempts them and will not forsake them. That is right the ten commandments preached. Moses is a true master and interpreter of the Ten Commandments.
V.25. And it shall be our righteousness in the sight of the Lord, if we keep and do all these commandments, as he hath commanded us.
Behold, how highly he exalts and praises the first commandment, for he says, "Whoever keeps this will be counted righteous before God. He writes
1) prosopopoeia (personal poetry) is here that what God teaches is put into the mouths of the persons.
righteousness to the fulfillment of this commandment. We teach that no man on earth is justified by works, as the whole world is accustomed to preach against the teaching of the gospel; therefore, only faith in the word and promise of God is necessary [Rom. 3, 24-28. Gal. 2, 16]. Therefore, in the Catechismo, we have stated that the service of God should be in the fear and love of God. Every commandment is set forth in fear and love, that we should fear and love God. This is the first commandment, from which all the other commandments flow. For the works of the other table, that we commit no adultery, kill no one, steal no one, do not make us righteous, nor can they be done by us without faith; for where the first commandment is not, there are none of the other commandments, and what is done by men appears only before the world.
(114) But the first one (for it goes through all the commandments), which teaches how to become righteous, godly and holy. How then? Well, if you keep the first commandment by faith and hearty trust in Christ. Therefore, this commandment alone requires faith. This faith justifies you, as it is written about Abraham in Genesis 15:6. So the first commandment requires the main thing, faith; whoever keeps it is blessed. But no one keeps it, unless it be given him by the Holy Spirit to belong to the gospel. Therefore no one is saved, but Christ must be here beforehand, that one believes in him; by faith one is justified [Rom. 10:4]. Therefore Moses says, "He who is righteous has it because he keeps it and does it. But he that trusteth in God with his heart, and believeth when it is evil, and feareth God with his heart when it is well, keepeth it.
(115) He who fears and trusts in God will not strike anyone dead, will not wrong anyone, but commands God to do what is unjust to him, and suffers it patiently for God's sake, and returns vengeance to God, and he will do well. Thus the fifth commandment is kept, for it flows from the first; for a believer does not avenge himself because he relies on God and trusts Him to do right. Thus the first commandment is the marrow and core of all other commandments. Therefore he says: He who fears the Lord and serves him,
He will do good, he will keep and do these commandments. "Keeping" goes to the first commandment, that one trust God and fear Him. This keeping is also followed by "doing," that is, the other commandments will follow; that is, he who fears God does good; thus, he who trusts God has patience, he will help him.
Therefore he is righteous if he keeps and does these things, that is, believes and proves faith by works [Gal. 5:6, Jac. 2:14, 17, 22, 24]. Moses only shows how to
live and keep the commandments; but it takes another man for us to keep them, and to trust in adversity. For a man, as a man, must despair in adversity, and rise up in happiness. So then I say that Moses teaches us what to do and what to keep, but only the gospel teaches where to get and how to take it, namely, that we should believe in Christ; then God will give us grace to be able to restrain our courage when we are well, and to believe in God in the cross and in temptation.