1. The truth of the history being preserved, the divine words sometimes designate causes from the time, sometimes from the place, which they do not indicate in open speech. From the time, indeed, as when the Lord preached to the Jews, it is said through the evangelist: 'It was winter' (John X, 22). Among those mysteries which the Truth was speaking, what cause was there that the name of winter should be added, unless that by the quality of the season he might show the cold of the heart? For even while they received the words of truth, the hearts of the Jews remained cold. But sometimes from the place, as to the carnal people of Israel, when Moses came down from the mountain, the law was given in the plains (Exod. XX, following); and to the holy apostles the Lord, sitting upon the mountain, spoke the highest and spiritual precepts (Matth.
V, 1), that by the places it might be shown that to those, as to carnal men, the least commandments were given in the valley of the lands, while these, as spiritual and holy, might hear the heavenly commandments on the mountain; so that it might openly be shown that those ascending in heart to heavenly things would leave behind the lowest things of the world, and stand on the summit of the mind. Whence now the prophet Ezekiel describes what he did in various places at God's command, that by the qualities of the places he might indicate what should follow hereafter concerning the mysteries of prophecy. For lo, he says: Verse 22. — 'The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he said to me: Arise, go forth into the plain, and there I will speak with thee.' 2. What is this, that the Lord had before spoken to the prophet in the midst of the
Israelites, and yet afterward says: 'Go forth into the plain, and there I will speak with thee,' unless because he deigned first to pour the grace of his prophecy into Judea, and afterward to display it in the breadth of the nations? For not without reason is the Gentile world designated by the plain, which is spread far and wide, that is, throughout the whole world. Where also it is added: Verse 23. — 'And rising up I went forth into the plain, and behold there the glory of the Lord stood, like the glory which I saw beside the river Chebar.' 5.
In the plain the prophet saw the glory of the Lord which he had seen beside the river Chebar in the midst of the Israelites, because that same majesty of his appeared to the nations, which before, by the revealing Spirit, had declared itself to the elect among the Jewish people. There follows: In the same place. — 'And I fell upon my face.' 4. Having seen the glory of the Lord, the prophet falls upon his face, because although man be raised up to understand sublime things, yet from the contemplation of the majesty of God he understands the weakness of his own condition; and he as it were has no standing, who sees himself to be ashes and dust before the eyes of God. There follows: Verse 24. — 'And the Spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet.' 5.
When we humbly prostrate ourselves before God, when we acknowledge ourselves to be dust and ashes, when, weighing the weakness of our own condition, we hold no posture of rigidity and pride, Almighty God lifts us up by his Spirit, and sets us upon our feet, so that we who lay and lie humbly before ourselves out of the consideration of our weakness, may afterward stand as it were upon our feet by uprightness in good work. And why is this done concerning the prophet in the plain, unless that it might be specially signified that the Holy Spirit was to be given even to the elect of the nations, who would both first cast down those whom he took up from the posture of their pride, and afterward establish them upon their feet, that is, upon good works? As it is said through Paul:
'Lift up the hands that hang down and the loosened knees, and make straight steps with your feet' (Hebr. XII, 12). There follows: In the same place. — 'And he spoke to me and said to me: Go in and shut thyself within the midst of thy house.' 6. What is this, that from the midst of the Israelite people the prophet is led out to the plain, and afterward is called back from the plain to his house, unless because the grace of preaching, taken away from the Jewish people, was scattered in the breadth of the Gentiles? But nevertheless at the end of the world, when the Jews return to the faith, the prophet is as it were led back to his house, that in his own people preaching may again dwell, which now shines forth to diverse nations as though in a plain. For it is written:
'Until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in, and so all Israel should be saved' (Rom. XI, 25). Because also through the prophet it is again said: 'If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved' (Isa. X, 22; Rom. IX, 27). Let the prophet therefore go forth from the midst of the people to the plain, and from the plain return to the house, that the preaching which was made to Judea may go forth to the nations, and, the nations being filled with faith, Judea may receive back the gifts of spiritual doctrine which it had lost. But the prophet is commanded to be shut up within the midst of his house, because in the time of Antichrist the converted people of the Jews is straitened with hard persecutions by those nations which shall remain in unbelief. Whence it is written:
'But the court which is outside the temple cast out, and measure it not, because it is given to the Gentiles, and they shall tread the holy city under foot forty-two months' (Apoc. XI, 1-2). Verse 25, 26. — 'And thou, son of man, behold bands are put upon thee, and they shall bind thee in them, and thou shalt not go out in the midst of them; and I will make thy tongue cleave to thy palate, and thou shalt be dumb, not as a man that reproveth, because it is an exasperating house.' 7.
These words indeed, if we follow them through the order of a typical exposition: the prophet in his house receives bands and is bound, because in the last times, when Judea shall have believed, it feels the most grievous persecutions in the time of Antichrist, so that the ministers of iniquity do not receive its preachings, but by resisting press them with bands of griefs. And he does not go out in the midst of them, because preaching does not reach the hearts of the depraved, while the tongue of the good, bound by tribulations, is silent. For there shall be then many among the unbelieving Jews who will persecute those very ones who shall have believed from among the Jews. Whence it is to be noted that here too it is said that the prophet should sustain bands in his house:
namely, that it might be signified that Judea, when it shall be faithful, bears the tribulation of persecution even from its own kindred. For while the Only-begotten of the most high Father, incarnate and dead, is not believed to have risen again and ascended into the heavens, as is preached through the pages of Sacred Scripture, without doubt among the Jews prophecy shall be bound. But if it ran down into their understanding as it was spoken, it would as it were have had the free steps of its preaching. 8. To the reprobate, therefore, the knowledge of the preachers is then compelled to be silent. Whence here too it is added: 'And I will make thy tongue cleave to thy palate, and thou shalt be dumb, not as a man that reproveth, because it is an exasperating house.'
But because, when Enoch and Elijah preach, many of those who shall then remain in unbelief among the Jews return to the knowledge of the truth—as is said of that same Elijah: 'Elijah shall come, and he himself shall restore all things' (Matth. XVII, 11; Mark IX, 12; Malach. IV, 5), who both are named by Zechariah the two olive trees (Zach. IV, 3), and by John the two candlesticks (Apoc. XI, 4)—rightly here too is subjoined: Verse 27. — 'But when I shall have spoken to thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God.' 9. For then, as it were at the last, the mouth of the prophet is opened, when in the preaching of Enoch and Elijah, the Jews returning to the faith, it is known that the prophecy of the sacred word was concerning Christ.
But since we have said these things typically, now let us set forth the same words morally to your charity. 10. For what is this, that the prophet is bidden to go out into the plain, unless that everyone who preaches, for the sake of those whom he corrects and restrains from iniquity as placed outside himself, goes out to the plain by speaking? And there he sees the glory of the Lord, because he receives the grace of doctrine the more largely, the more he stretches himself in the labor of preaching out of love for his neighbors. Therefore by going forth outward he is led into a high vision, because from that very source whence by the ministry of his speech he enlightens the blindness of ignorance in the hearts of others, thence heavenly grace exalts it into a higher understanding.
But because the preacher ought always to return to his mind, and to guard within himself humility and purity, after the plain it is necessary that he return to his house, so that in the things which he speaks he may recognize within his own conscience what manner of man he himself also is. For if either he by no means keeps that which he speaks, or seeks temporal glory from the things which he speaks, he goes out indeed to the plain by speaking, but by not considering himself he disdains to return to his house. For when the Spirit has been received, we are shut up within the midst of the house, when by his grace we are recalled to discuss the secrets of our mind, that the soul may rest within itself in God, and no longer run about through outward desires into the appetite for praise and glory by the mobility of thought.
Concerning this house of the heart the Truth says to one who had been healed through himself: 'Take up thy bed, and go into thy house' (John V, 8; Mark II, 9). By the bed, indeed, in which the rest of the flesh is, the flesh itself is signified, while by the house the conscience is figured. And because, when in mind we lie in vices, we rest in the delight of the flesh, being infirm we are carried on a couch; but when we have been healed in mind, so that we now resist the pulsing vices of the flesh, it is necessary that we also endure the insults of temptations from our own flesh. To the sick man therefore, restored to health, it is commanded: 'Take up thy bed,' that is, carry the couch on which thou wast carried, because it is necessary that whoever is healed should carry the reproach of the flesh, in which he formerly lay sick.
What is it therefore to say: 'Take up thy bed, and go into thy house,' unless: Carry the temptations of the flesh in which hitherto thou hast lain, and return to thy conscience, that thou mayest see what thou hast done? The prophet accordingly, after the plain, is commanded to be shut up in the house, that the preacher always, after the grace of doctrine which he ministers to his neighbors, may return to his conscience, and discuss his very self by subtle examination, lest concerning those things which he preaches outwardly he himself within seek anything of transitory praise for himself. 12. Whence also through Solomon it is said to us: 'Drink water out of thy own cistern, and the streams of thy own well. Let thy fountains be conveyed abroad, and divide thy waters in the streets' (Prov. V, 15); 'have them thyself alone, neither let strangers be partakers with thee' (Ibid., 16).
But those things which he says seem exceedingly contrary: 'Let thy fountains be conveyed abroad, and divide thy waters in the streets,' when he straightway adds: 'Have them thyself alone, neither let strangers be partakers with thee.' For how shall he be able to have the water of knowledge alone, if he divides it in the streets? How are strangers not partakers of his water, if his fountains are conveyed abroad? But when we preach to the peoples, we without doubt divide waters in the streets, because we spread wide the words of knowledge into the multitude of hearers.
But when we, with the help of divine grace, guard ourselves within, and with cautious solicitude look about us lest the malign spirits, who are rightly strangers to us because they lost the lot of blessedness, snatch us away in pride, we alone have the waters which we divide in the streets, so that in them strangers may not be partakers with us. These without doubt are they of whom it is written: 'Strangers have risen up against me, and the mighty have sought after my soul' (Psalm LIII, 5). He therefore both divides waters in the streets and has them alone, who by this that he preaches to many, does not exalt himself in the thought of temporal glory. For then a man possesses what he teaches, when he rejoices not to become known, but to profit.
From the plain, therefore, the prophet is led back to the house, that he who speaks from God, after he has gone forth outward by speaking for the profit of his neighbors, may out of humility always be recalled to discuss the secrets of his own heart. Whence also it is subjoined: Verse 25. — 'And thou, son of man, behold bands are put upon thee, and they shall bind thee in them, and thou shalt not go out in the midst of them.' 13. For when any preacher is led back to the conscience of his house, bands are placed upon him, and he is bound in them, because the more he discusses himself in thought, the more the just soul recognizes with how many infirmities of its mortality it is bound. For unless Paul had beheld himself bound, he would by no means have said: 'Having a desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ' (Philip.
I, 23). Hence through the Psalmist it is said: 'That he might hear the groans of them that are in fetters, and might loose the children of the slain' (Psalm CI, 21). And again: 'Let the sighing of the prisoners come in before thee' (Psalm LXXVIII, 11). But often when the soul already desires to go forth to contemplate the beauty of its Redeemer, when it sighs to be present at the heavenly joys, it beholds and groans at the very bands of its mortality, by which it is still held bound in the present world. Hence it is that Jeremiah, beholding the subtle judgment of Almighty God, says: 'He hath built against me round about, that I cannot go forth; he hath made my fetter heavy' (Lam. III, 7). For we have as fetters the very weakness and corruption of our mortality;
but when tribulation is added to our groaning, our very fetters are made heavier. And indeed, so long as the just man in this life suffers delay, by speaking good things he hastens to profit others; but when he beholds the minds of the depraved, and considers them to be occupied with contentions, he holds back the word of preaching. And he does not go out in the midst of them, because he falls silent from the good things which he could have spoken, as it is said through Paul: 'Nothing through contention' (Philip. II, 3). And again: 'If any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom' (1 Cor. XI, 16). Whence here too it is aptly subjoined: Verse 26. — 'And I will make thy tongue cleave to thy palate, and thou shalt be dumb, not as a man that reproveth, because it is an exasperating house.' 14.
But sometimes, even against the tongues of those who resist, the Lord kindles the hearts of the preachers with his dart, that they should not be silent, but should press the sayings of the deceitful with the words of truth. Whence here it is subjoined: Verse 27. — 'But when I shall have spoken to thee, thou shalt open thy mouth, and thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God.' 15. But these things which we have briefly discussed under a twofold understanding, it is my pleasure that we pass over, touching them lightly according to the consideration of the letter. For what more is commended to us through the very words of the history than the virtue of obedience? When the prophet is commanded now to proceed to the transmigration beside the river Chebar, now to go out to the plain, now from the plain to return to his house? So that, first proceeding at his bidding, and a little after going out,
and again returning home, and shutting himself in, he always breaks the choice of his own will to the precept of the divine word, so that, suspended upon the heavenly bidding, he may fulfill not his own, but his Creator's will? To whom it is said: 'And thou, son of man, behold bands are put upon thee, and they shall bind thee in them, and thou shalt not go out in the midst of them.' In which matter it is to be noted that the prophet foreknows adversities, that he may be prepared against all things. For evils prevail less against the mind which do not come unlooked-for; and yet, while contrary things are foreknown, how great is the virtue of obedience in him is shown, who both knows that he is to suffer adversities, and yet is not disobedient to the voice of the Lord.
But the words which are immediately added need great consideration: 'And I will make thy tongue cleave to thy palate, and thou shalt be dumb, not as a man that reproveth, because it is an exasperating house.' For it is to be discerned by us whether the word of preaching is withdrawn for the sake of the evil hearers alone, or sometimes also on account of the fault of the preacher. 16. For by four conditions is this matter, thus considered, distinguished. For sometimes on account of evil hearers the word is taken away from good teachers. Sometimes, however, on account of good hearers the word is given even to evil teachers. Sometimes, moreover, for the justification both of the teachers and of the hearers, it is given to good teachers,
that both they themselves may grow by merit, and their hearers may profit in understanding and in life. But sometimes, because neither are these worthy to receive to whom the word of doctrine is offered, nor those to offer the word of doctrine who hold the place of teaching, the word of preaching is taken away, that both parts may be strictly judged. For on account of evil hearers the word is taken from good teachers, as now it is said to Ezekiel: 'I will make thy tongue cleave to thy palate, and thou shalt be dumb, not as a man that reproveth, because it is an exasperating house.' And as it is said to Paul: 'Make haste and go quickly out of Jerusalem, because they will not receive thy testimony concerning me' (Acts XXII, 18).
And as, when the apostles wished to preach in Asia, it is written that 'the Spirit of Jesus forbade them' (Acts XVI, 6-7). On account of good hearers the word is given even to evil teachers, as the Lord says of the Pharisees: 'All things whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do; but according to their works do ye not; for they say, and do not' (Matth. XXIII, 3). For the merit of the teaching and the justification of the hearers, the word of doctrine is granted, as it is said to the holy apostles: 'Go ye, teach all nations' (Ibid., XXVIII, 19).
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But on account of evil hearers and the unworthy life of those who ought to have taught, the word of doctrine is withdrawn, as Eli had not the word of strict rebuke for the correcting of his sons (1 Kings II, 29; III, 13), because both his negligence and the life of his sons demanded that together with them the people should also fall, and the ark of the Lord, being taken, should pass over to the Philistines (Ibid., IV, 11, following). For great is the grace of Almighty God when to those who act wickedly the hard word of rebuke is offered by the teachers. Whereas now, on the contrary, it is said: 'And thou shalt be dumb, not as a man that reproveth.' For he would have rebuked the offenders, if they had been worthy of that very grace of rebuke. 17.
But since in the doctrine and in the silence there is so great a diversity of merit, that it cannot easily be known whether the word of teaching is withdrawn by the fault of the hearer or by the fault of him who seems to hold the place of doctrine, what else is bidden us than that humility be always preserved in doubtful matters? So that both when we are able to speak we may not be lifted up, lest perchance this very grace of our speech be conferred not on us but on our hearers; and again, when we are not able to speak, those who are committed to us may by no means judge us, lest perchance we be unable to speak not from our own fault, but from the sin of the hearers.
To this end, therefore, all things concerning our merits are uncertain to us, that we may hold the one certain grace, humility; so that we, when we speak, may reckon this to be from the gift of Almighty God, and your merit. And when we fall silent from the speaking of doctrine, although it be our fault, you may yet believe this to be specially your own; so that when in turn we ascribe evils to ourselves and good things to others, by that very grace of humility it may come to pass that the word of doctrine, which had been taken away, may return. There follows: Verse 27. — 'But when I shall have spoken to thee, thou shalt open thy mouth, and thou shalt speak to them: Thus saith the Lord God: He that heareth, let him hear; and he that ceaseth, let him cease, because it is an exasperating house.' 18.
Often certain men desire to hear the word of God, but while they look upon others turning away their ear, they too deviate from the hearing of salvation; and very frequently many long to be at rest, and to be free from all the deeds of this world, and no longer to succumb to any earthly desires; but when they see others prospering by their restless activity, and being exalted in this world with riches and honours, then, because they are not yet firm on the path of righteousness, they slip down to depraved works after the example of others. For this is what the Psalmist, speaking under the figure of the weak, was declaring when he said: 'But as for me, my feet were almost moved, my steps had well-nigh slipped' (Ps. 72:2-3), 'because I was envious at the sinners, seeing the peace of sinners.' Hence again he says:
'While the wicked man is proud, the poor is set on fire' (Ps. 10:2). Hence to the prophet Jeremiah it is said by the Lord's voice concerning Judah and Israel: 'Hast thou seen what the backsliding Israel hath done? She hath gone up upon every high mountain, and under every leafy tree, and there hath committed fornication. And I said, when she had done all these things: Turn thou unto me; and she returned not' (Jer. 3:6-7). Where immediately it is added how, from her provocation, even Judah, which seemed to stand, also fell. For it says: 'And her treacherous sister Judah saw that, because the backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce;'
'yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also' (Jer. 3:8). Behold, the merciful God is despised while He calls, and to those who turn away from Him He opens the sign of His mercy, for He says to the one sinning: 'Turn thou unto me; and yet she returned not' (Jer. 3:7). But because the people of Israel forsook Almighty God, unwilling to return, she received the bill of divorce. She forsook Him, that is, by sinning, but she received the bill of divorce by remaining in her iniquities without the scourge. For the soul that sins departs. But if prosperity follows it after its sin, no discipline, no rebuke of severity recalls it to its heart;
in the division which it has made between itself and the Lord, it has also received the bill of divorce, so that now, as though forsaken like a stranger, it may do the evils it wills, may not feel the scourges of God's zeal, and so descend the more deeply to eternal punishments. But her sister Judah, since she saw the Israelite people dismissed into their pleasures, herself too burned with the uncleanness of fornication. For because she beheld the adulteress flourishing in her perversity, she too was not afraid to sin worse, and to withdraw from union with the Lord as from the bed of a lawful husband. Wherefore it is necessary that we consider all sinners the more wretched, when we behold them abandoned in their guilt without the scourge. For hence it is said through Solomon:
'The turning away of the little ones shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them' (Prov. 1:32). For he who is turned away from God and prospers is the nearer to perdition, the more he is found a stranger to the zeal of discipline. Let it be said therefore: 'He that heareth, let him hear; and he that resteth, let him rest; for it is a provoking house.' As if it were openly said: You who have already begun both to hear the words of truth and to rest from depraved action, do not imitate those by whose ways you see me provoked. 19. Yet this we can also understand in another way. For certain men, hearing the word, do not hear it, since they set their ear to the sacred speech, but do not pluck their heart from the desires of the world.
And there are some who, resting, by no means rest, because from depraved acts indeed they are idle in body, but out of affection they turn over perversities of works in the mind. For this is why it is written of Judaea coming into captivity: 'Her enemies saw her, and mocked at her sabbaths' (Lam. 1:7). The enemies indeed mock the sabbaths, when the malignant spirits cast depraved thoughts into an idle mind, so that even if it rests from work, it does not rest from delight in evil works. Rightly therefore is it now said: 'He that heareth, let him hear,' that so the discourse may enter the ear of the body in such a way that it may sound in the ear of the heart. 'And he that resteth, let him rest,' that the desires of depravity may be repelled from thought, since they now seem repelled from action.
And lest we should follow, as we have said, the examples of the wicked, there is added: 'For it is a provoking house.' But the wicked, even though they are long tolerated, suddenly collapse, and the weak behold their punishments, lest they imitate those whose faults they had reckoned unpunished. Hence here too the desolation of that same Judaea is subjoined, which is called a provoking house, when the Lord immediately says to His prophet: Ezek. 4:1-2, 5.—'And thou, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city of Jerusalem, and lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mound against it, and set camps against it, and place battering-rams round about it.'
'And take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city, and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.' 20. In which words, indeed, what else is designated according to the history but the besieging and destruction of the city of Jerusalem, and the affliction of a sinful people is expressed? Which is called a provoking house, when it is openly said: 'Lay siege against it, and build forts, and cast a mound, and set camps against it, and place battering-rams round about it.'
But because the words of prophecy very often narrate historical things in such a way that through them mystical things are also described, it behoves us to expound these same sayings which we have brought forward in a spiritual manner, especially since among them is inserted what does not seem able to be held according to the letter, when it is said: 'And thou, take thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city, and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged.' For unless mystical things were mingled with historical, what need had the prophet of an iron pan, to place it between himself and the city, that he might separate himself from its siege? For when it is said:
'Take thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city,' it is openly declared that by that same iron pan the prophet renders himself free from the siege of the city. Whence also what he foretold is subjoined: 'And thou shalt set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged.' From which thing it is shown that the prophet will not be in that same siege, if he places the iron pan as a wall of iron between himself and the city. And certainly, whether in that captivity which came upon the Israelite people first, or in that which came later, no one was free from the danger of that captivity, but one and the same calamity involved them all together.