Demonstratio Evangelica 7 part 3/5

Immediately after the aforesaid utterances, it is again said, by means of riddles: 'And the Lord continued to speak to me still further, because this people is not willing to have the water of Siloam that flows gently, but wants to have Raasim and the son of Romelias — therefore, behold, the Lord brings up against you the water of the river, strong and abundant, the king of the Assyrians and his glory; and it shall rise over every ravine of yours, and shall walk over every wall of yours, and it shall take away from Judaea the man who is able to lift up his head, or who is able to accomplish anything; and his camp shall be such as to fill the breadth of your land. God is with us. Know this, nations, and be defeated; hearken, even to the uttermost part of the earth.'

For clearly these things preserve their sense in no other way than by contemplation according to figurative interpretation alone. For indeed the text itself signifies, by 'the water of Siloam that flows gently', the evangelic teaching of the saving Word; for 'Siloam' is interpreted as 'sent'.

And this would be the divine Word sent to us from the Father, concerning whom Moses also says, 'A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until he comes to whom it is reserved, and he shall be the expectation of the nations.' For instead of 'to whom it is reserved', the Hebrew contains 'Shiloh' — the word there too signifying 'Siloam' here, that is, 'the one sent'.

Now Raasim was, again, king of the idolatrous nations in Damascus, as was also the son of Romelias, king of those in Samaria of the Jewish nation who had revolted from their ancestral religion.

God, therefore, threatens that to those who have not received the Siloam — that is, the sent Emmanuel, and the son who was born of the prophetess, and his drinkable and fruitful word — but who, though it moves gently and quietly, reject this one, and instead choose for themselves either the ruler of the idolatrous nations or the ruler of the apostasy of the people of God, he will bring upon them the water of the river, strong and abundant — which water the very word of the prophecy itself interprets, saying that it is the king of the Assyrians; thus again either signifying, according to the sense, the ruler of this age, or the now-prevailing rule of the Romans, to whom indeed were handed over those who rejected the aforementioned water of Siloam that flows gently, and subjected themselves to the doctrines that are opposed and hostile to right reason.

Indeed, immediately and not long after, when they had not received the gospel of our Savior, but had rejected the drink of Siloam that flows gently, the army of the Romans, directed by God, came upon them, rose over every ravine of theirs, and walked over every wall of theirs, and took away from Judaea the man who was able to lift up his head, or able to accomplish anything; and the camp of the aforementioned army became so great that it filled the whole breadth of Judaea.

And this too has been fulfilled for them literally in this way. Hear, if you wish to learn, for what reason. Because God Emmanuel, who was born of the virgin, was 'with us,' but was not also with them; for if they had possessed him, they would not have suffered these things. Therefore the Word next cries out to the nations, naming Emmanuel: 'God is with us; know it, O nations, and be defeated.'

And these things are explained to us so as to show that most of the prophecies must be understood at one time literally, and at another time through enigmas.

And setting out from this, it is fitting that we likewise examine the rest of the prophecy now in hand.

But if those of the circumcision still even now say that these things are to happen at some future time, expecting that they will come to pass literally and only in express words concerning the Christ whom they await, they must be asked how the one who is, according to them, to come will 'take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians,' seeing that Samaria has already been destroyed at the present time and no longer exists, and that the so-called power of Damascus in no way exists any longer, nor does the dominion of the Assyrians, which the Medes and Persians long ago destroyed and succeeded; and since none of these at all exist even in their beginnings at the present time, how is it possible to expect their overthrow to occur in some future time? Nor indeed can it be said that the things prophesied ever happened at any other, earlier time.

For among the Hebrews no one is ever recorded, having been born of a prophetess mother and of Isaiah the prophet, to have made war against the king of the Assyrians and taken the spoils of Samaria and the power of Damascus, understood according to the literal sense.

So that it must in every way be confessed that these things have been fulfilled only according to the interpretation we have given, and at no other time, evidently, than at the coming of Jesus our Savior which has taken place, at which, as we have demonstrated, the things foretold received their fulfillment.

Accordingly, in accordance with the prophecy, there was also written, concerning his coming, the new volume, the account of the new covenant, containing the birth of the son of the prophetess; who, both taken literally, delivered by unspeakable and divine power into the hands of the Roman empire the royal might of Damascus and of all Syria, and the spoils of Samaria as we have interpreted them to you, and moreover also according to the deeper sense, having won for himself, as it were, certain spoils — his own disciples from among the Jews — and having fenced them about with intelligible and rational weapons, set them before the face of the aforesaid king of the Assyrians, and prepared these as soldiers, men-at-arms, of his own household.

But those who refused the fruitful and life-giving water of his teaching, which flows quietly, and chose instead the things of war and hostile to God, he delivered over to the king of the Assyrians, to whom indeed even now they happen to be enslaved.

This one, then, went up against every valley of theirs, and against every wall of theirs, and took away from Judaea every ruler and king, called 'head,' and every man of power able to accomplish anything; so that from that time until now they have possessed neither a head nor anyone powerful in divine matters, such as of old distinguished himself among them, whether prophet or otherwise a righteous man beloved of God.

It is manifest, moreover, how their whole country still even now stands subject to their enemies and adversaries, and how all these things have been accomplished at the coming of Emmanuel. So indeed the scripture of the Hebrews contains it, well-nigh signifying that Emmanuel, disbelieved by the Jews and become for them the cause of so many calamities, was believed by us the nations, and shown to be for us the cause of salvation and of the knowledge of God.

Wherefore it is next added: 'God is with us; know it, O nations, and be defeated.' We indeed who from among the nations have believed in him have truly been defeated, conquered by the truth and by the power of the God who came to be with us; and being defeated, we all alike, we who dwell even to the ends of the earth, have obeyed him, according to the prophecy that says, 'Hearken, even to the end of the earth.'

But while we have been defeated and have obeyed him who calls, to those of the nations who still disbelieve the following words are addressed: 'Though you grow strong, you will be defeated; for if you grow strong again, you will again be defeated. And whatever plan you devise shall not stand among you, because God is with us.' Thus says the Lord to those who disobey his strong hand.

By these words the Word clearly declares to those who are restive and set themselves against the teaching of Christ, and to those who disobey his mighty hand, that they will not have strength even in their attempts to make war against the God who is with us, and that whatever they plan against us shall not stand for them, because Emmanuel is with us. And it is easy to confirm this conclusion by observing the threats made against us and the uprisings of rulers from time to time, and how, on account of the God who is with us, the outcome of their threats always proves ineffectual. From the Same [Prophet]

This first, drink, do quickly, O land of Zabulon and land of Nephthalim, and the rest who dwell on the seacoast, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who sit in darkness, see a great light; and to those who sit in the region and shadow of death, light has risen upon them — and so forth.

To these he adds that every garment gathered together with deceit, and every cloak, they shall pay back with reconciliation, and they shall wish, if they had been consumed by fire — because a child has been born to us, and a son has been given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder. And his name is called Angel of Great Counsel, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Potentate, Prince of Peace, Father of the age to come. For I will bring peace upon the rulers, and health to him; great is his government, and of his peace there is no boundary, upon the throne of David and his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with judgment and righteousness from now and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Sabaoth shall do this.

This is now the third time that the child is prophesied, the same one being signified in various ways. Since, then, it is now our task to show the manner of God's coming to men, observe through how many texts and in what way he is presented. First it was shown that he who is called Emmanuel is God, born of a virgin; second, that the child born of the prophetess and of the Holy Spirit is none other than the one already spoken of; third, the one now before us, being one and the same as the former; and to this one, indeed, a name is said to belong which, according to the Seventy, is 'Angel of Great Counsel,' and some of the copies have 'Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Potentate, Prince of Peace, Father of the age to come.'

But according to the Hebrew, as Aquila says: 'A child has been born to us, a son has been given to us, and dominion came to be upon his shoulder, and his name was called Wonderful Counselor, Strong, Mighty, Father, further Prince of Peace, and of his peace there is no end.'

But as Symmachus renders it: 'For a youth has been given to us, a son has been given to us; and his instruction shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonder, Counselor, Strong, Mighty, Father of the Age, Prince of Peace, and of his peace there is no end.'

Therefore, according to the Seventy, it was not simply 'an angel' but 'the Angel of Great Counsel,' and 'Wonderful Counselor,' and 'Mighty God,' and 'Potentate,' and 'Prince of Peace,' and 'Father of the age to come' who was prophesied to be born and to become a child through these texts. And you have, in the former passages, the Word of God variously proclaimed as God and Lord, and at the same time this same one named 'Angel' of the Father, and 'Commander-in-chief of the host of the Lord.'

Who then could this be, who, according to Aquila and the testimonies still current among the Hebrews, is born among men and becomes a child, yet is 'Wonderful Counselor and Strong, Mighty, and Father,' and moreover 'Prince of Peace' — a peace which, he says, shall never have an end; and according to Symmachus, 'Wonder, Counselor, Strong, Mighty, Father of the Age, Prince of Peace,' and this peace boundless and unending; and according to Theodotion, 'wonderfully counselling, Strong, Potentate, Father, Prince of Peace,' by the multiplying of his instruction, of whose peace there is no end?

I leave the rest of this to you yourself to consider, only noting this much: that this very one, who is called Father of the Age and Prince of boundless peace and Angel of Great Counsel, is prophesied to be born and to become a child; and that, at his birth among men, those who begrudge the salvation of the nations that comes about through him — whether wicked demons or impious men — will wish to have been consumed by fire, concerning whom it is said that they shall pay back every garment gathered by deceit and every cloak with reconciliation.

Who then could these be but those concerning whom it is said elsewhere, in the very person of our Savior, 'They divided my garments among themselves, and cast lots for my clothing'? — and those who share in this same impiety, who also will wish, when later they behold their own judgment, that they had been consumed by fire before their impiety was committed, rather than that the Angel of Great Counsel should be treated impiously by them.

And you yourself consider within yourself whether it does not surpass all human nature, that his peace should be said to have no end, and that he should be named Father of the Age. And this very fact too, that he is called not simply an angel but Angel of Great Counsel and Mighty God, and whatever else is reckoned together with these. Moreover it says that through him the kingdom of David will be set right; and you will understand this too in the following way.

Very many are the promises that were made to David, among which it is said: 'And I will set his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers; he shall call upon me, You are my father, my God, and the helper of my salvation; and I will make him my firstborn, high above the kings of the earth. Forever I will keep my mercy for him, and my covenant is faithful to him; and I will establish his seed forever and ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.'

And again: 'Once I have sworn by my holiness that I will not lie to David: his seed shall remain forever, and his throne as the sun before me, and as the moon established forever.' Such were the things promised to David by God in the psalms; yet the opposite of these promises came to pass, on account of the impieties of his successors.

For the kingdom that came from the seed of David, having lasted until Jeconiah and the siege of the sanctuary by the Babylonians, was dissolved, so that from that time neither did the throne of David remain, nor did any of his seed any longer reign over the nation of the Jews.

And this very falling away that took place from the promise to David, the divine Spirit foretells in the following manner, in this same passage of the psalm cited above: 'But you have rejected and set at nought, you have deferred your Anointed; you have overturned the covenant of your servant, you have profaned his sanctuary to the ground, you have thrown down all his fences.'

And, a little further on: 'You have cast his throne down to the ground, you have shortened the days of his time, you have poured shame upon him' — things which, manifestly beginning to be accomplished from the captivity of the people into Babylon, extended even to the reign of the Romans and of Tiberius. For no one from the succession of David is found, in the intervening times, to have sat upon the royal throne of the Hebrew nation, right up to the coming of Christ.

But when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who came of the seed of David, was proclaimed king over the whole inhabited world, that very throne of David, as though raised anew from the earth and from its fall, was set upright again through the divinely-inspired kingship of our Savior, and it remains forever, and even now, like the sun before God, it illumines the whole inhabited world with the rays of the light of his teaching — in accordance both with the testimony from the psalm and with the prophet now before us, who speaks of the child that was to be born as seated upon the throne of David — evidently the eternal and abiding throne, which was indeed also promised to David — that he would sit upon his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with judgment and righteousness from now and forever.

And that these things were fulfilled, the angel Gabriel could be a trustworthy teacher, who, in his message to the virgin, said: 'Do not fear, Mary, for you have found favor with God; and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.'

This the prophet too, in the psalm mentioned before, was expecting — namely, the birth of Christ — and, perceiving its postponement and delay as it were the cause of the fall of the throne of David, he laments, saying: 'But you have rejected and set at nought, you have deferred your Anointed.'

And he prays, as though beseeching the divine to fulfill quickly the terms of the promise, saying: 'Where are your ancient mercies, O Lord, which you swore to David in your truth?' — and these very things, most plainly, he foretells will be fulfilled at the birth of the Angel of Great Counsel. At which, he says, those spoken of earlier will wish that they had been consumed by fire, because a child has been born to us and a son has been given to us — the Angel of Great Counsel.

But to whom was this a cause of joy? To us, or to those who have believed in him in the Galilee of the nations, for whom he became the cause of light and gladness, and of the new and fresh drink of the mystery of the new covenant? According to the prophecy that says: 'This first, drink, do quickly. O land of Zabulon and land of Nephthalim, and the rest who dwell on the seacoast, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations; the people who sit in darkness, see a great light; and to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, light has risen upon them.' Those who might be signified in these words would be both those from the nations who have believed in the Christ of God, and the disciples and apostles of our Savior, whom, calling them forth from the land of Zabulon and Nephthalim, he chose as heralds of the gospel.

To these, then, the Angel of Great Counsel was given as a son, the cause of salvation; but to those who disbelieved in him, he became, evidently, a cause of fire and burning. And the prophet says that the ground of this whole dispensation is the zeal of the Lord, saying: 'The zeal of the Lord of Sabaoth shall accomplish these things.' But what zeal? Surely that which Moses recalls when he says: 'They provoked me to jealousy with what is no god, they angered me with their idols; and I will provoke them to jealousy with what is no nation; I will anger them with a foolish nation.'

But since, with God's help, the matters concerning the sojourn among men of the one prophesied, and moreover also the manner of his manifestation, have been demonstrated by the prophetic testimonies, it would now be the moment to consider in what part of the earth he was to be born, and from what stock he was to come, and from what tribe of the Hebrews he was proclaimed to proceed; let us then go on to examine these things too. From Micah

'And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, are very few in number to be among the thousands of Judah; out of you shall come forth to me a leader, to be a ruler in Israel; and his goings forth are from the beginning, from days of old. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in travail shall bring forth; and the rest of their brethren shall return to the sons of Israel. And he shall stand and see, and shall shepherd his flock in strength; the Lord, and they shall exist in the glory of the name of the Lord their God. For now he shall be magnified to the ends of the earth, and this shall be peace.'

Emmanuel, being interpreted 'God with us,' born of the virgin, and becoming a child — the Angel of Great Counsel — has been clearly shown through what has already been set forth. But it was necessary also that the place of his birth should be indicated. It is accordingly prophesied that a ruler was to come forth from Bethlehem, in Israel, having his goings forth from the beginning, from days of old. But this could not fit human nature, unless it applied to Emmanuel alone and to the Angel of Great Counsel.

For to whom could it be fitting to have subsisted from eternity, except to God alone? From Bethlehem, then — which is a district of Judaea, not far distant from Jerusalem — it is said that one who exists from eternity shall come forth. And from this place we find that neither of these applies, except that David alone became renowned, and then, after him, our Savior Jesus, the Christ of God — but no one else besides these two.

But David, having preceded the times of the prophecy, had already died very many years before the prediction; nor, moreover, had he made his goings forth from days of old. It remains, then, that the things written find their fulfillment in the one who afterward came from Bethlehem, the true Emmanuel, God the Word who pre-existed before all creation and is called God with us; since indeed his birth in Bethlehem manifestly declared the presence of God, through the marvels connected with it.

Luke, at any rate, writing an account of this, records it in this way: 'Now it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole inhabited world should be enrolled. This enrollment was the first, made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, the woman betrothed to him, who was with child. And it came to pass, while they were there, that the days were fulfilled for her to give birth. And she bore her firstborn son.'

'And she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And there were shepherds in that same region, living out in the fields and keeping watch by night over their flock; and an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of God shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.'

'And the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be for all the people: that today there is born to you, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be the sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.'

'And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men. And it came to pass, as the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go now as far as Bethlehem, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.'

'And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. And when they had seen it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at the things spoken to them by the shepherds.'

These, then, are the words of Luke. And Matthew too, giving an account of the birth of our Savior, writes in this manner: 'Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying: Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him. And when Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.'

'And having gathered together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judaea; for so it is written through the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a leader, who shall shepherd my people Israel. Then Herod, having secretly called the magi, ascertained from them exactly the time when the star appeared.'

'And sending them to Bethlehem, he said: Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him. And when they had heard the king, they went their way; and behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them, until it came and stood over where the child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.'

'And when they had come into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they worshiped him. And opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed into their own country by another way.'

All this I have set forth as a demonstration of the events that took place at the birth of our Savior in Bethlehem, providing clear proofs that he is the one signified by the prophecy.

And even to this day, those who inhabit the place, in accordance with a tradition that has come down to them from their fathers, bear witness to those who arrive at Bethlehem for the sake of the history of the sites, confirming the truth of the account by pointing out the cave in which the virgin, after giving birth, laid the infant — concerning which things the prophecy says, on their account, 'until the time when she who is in travail shall bring forth; and the rest of their brethren shall return.'

And accordingly here too, 'she who brings forth' indicates the one named 'virgin' in the earlier prophecies, and the 'prophetess' who was to bring forth Emmanuel and the Angel of Great Counsel. For until her time, and until the one born of her, the affairs of the former people still stood, a fixed term having been given to them 'until the time when she who is in travail shall bring forth' — that is, until the marvelous birth of the one born of the virgin, after which their kingdom was taken away; and 'the rest of their brethren' would be those who believed in the Christ of God — the apostles and disciples and evangelists of our Savior — whom, after they had turned, the Lord himself is said to shepherd, not as before through angels or through human servants, but himself in person; so that on this account they were magnified even to the ends of the earth. For they were magnified when their voice went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.

It is manifest also how great a flock, throughout the whole earth, made up of rational and human sheep, was gathered for the Lord through his apostles; which the Lord himself, in person, being both shepherd and lord of the flock, is said 'to look upon and to shepherd in strength' — so that the sheep, being guarded by the master and shepherd with a mighty hand and an uplifted arm, should suffer nothing terrible at the hands of the savage and cruel beasts lying in wait for them.

The matters, then, concerning the birth in Bethlehem and the coming-forth from that place of the God who was proclaimed beforehand, stand in this way. But the descent from heaven to men of this same Lord and Shepherd I have already earlier cited from this same prophet now before us, in the words where he said: 'Hear, all peoples, and let the earth pay heed, and all who are in it; and the Lord shall be a witness among you, the Lord out of his holy house. For behold, the Lord, the Lord, is going forth out of his place, and he shall come down' — and so forth.