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| Against the Jews on the question of the Sabbath.
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Chapter XXIII.—Against the Jews on the
question of the Sabbath.
The seventh day is called the Sabbath and
signifies rest. For in it God rested from all His works2640
, as the divine Scripture says: and
so the number of the days goes up to seven and then circles back again
and begins at the first. This is the precious number with the
Jews, God having ordained that it should be held in honour, and that in
no chance fashion but with the imposition of most heavy penalties for
the transgression2641
. And it
was not in a simple fashion that He ordained this, but for certain
reasons understood mystically by the spiritual and
clear-sighted2642
| 2642 Greg. Naz.,
Orat. 44. | .
So far, indeed, as I in my ignorance know, to
begin with inferior and more dense things, God, knowing the denseness
of the Israelites and their carnal love and propensity towards matter
in everything, made this law: first, in order that the servant
and the cattle should rest2643
as it is
written, for the righteous man regardeth the life of his
beast2644
: next, in
order that when they take their ease from the distraction of material
things, they may gather together unto God, spending the whole of the
seventh day in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and the study of
the divine Scriptures and resting in God. For when2645
| 2645 Epiph., Exp.
Fid., n. 22. | the law did not exist and there was no
divinely-inspired Scripture, the Sabbath was not consecrated to
God. But when the divinely-inspired Scripture was given by Moses,
the Sabbath was consecrated to God in order that on it they, who do not
dedicate their whole life to God, and who do not make their desire
subservient to the Master as though to a Father, but are like foolish
servants, may on that day talk much concerning the exercise of it, and
may abstract a small, truly a most insignificant, portion of their life
for the service of God, and this from fear of the chastisements and
punishments which threaten transgressors. For the law is not
made for a righteous man but for the unrighteous2646
. Moses, of a truth, was the first
to abide fasting with God for forty days and again for another
forty2647
, and thus doubtless to afflict himself
with hunger on the Sabbaths although the law forbade self-affliction on
the Sabbath. But if they should object that this took place
before the law, what will they say about Elias the Thesbite who
accomplished a journey of forty days on one meal2648
? For he, by thus afflicting
himself on the Sabbaths not only with hunger but with the forty
days’ journeying, broke the Sabbath: and yet God, Who gave
the law, was not wroth with him but shewed Himself to him on Choreb as
a reward for his virtue. And what will they say about
Daniel? Did he not spend three weeks without food2649
? And again, did not all Israel
circumcise the child on the Sabbath, if it happened to be the eighth
day after birth2650
? And do
they not hold the great fast which the law enjoins if it falls on the
Sabbath2651
? And
further, do not the priests and the Levites profane the Sabbath in the
works of the tabernacle2652
and yet are
held blameless? Yea, if an ox should fall into a pit on the
Sabbath, he who draws it forth is blameless, while he who neglects to
do so is condemned2653
| 2653 Epiph.,
Hæres. 30, n. 32, et Hær. n. 82
seqq: Athan., Hom. circum. et Sabb. | . And did
not all the Israelites compass the walls of Jericho bearing the Ark of
God for seven days, in which assuredly the Sabbath was
included2654
.
As I said2655
, therefore, for
the purpose of securing leisure to worship God in order
that they might, both servant and beast of burden, devote a very small
share to Him and be at rest, the observance of the Sabbath was devised
for the carnal that were still childish and in the bonds of the
elements of the world2656
, and unable to
conceive of anything beyond the body and the letter. But when
the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Only-begotten Son,
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the
law that we might receive the adoption of sons2657
. For to as many of us as
received Him, He gave power to become sons of God, even to them that
believe on Him2658
. So
that we are no longer servants but sons2659
: no longer under the law but under
grace: no longer do we serve God in part from fear, but we are
bound to dedicate to Him the whole span of our life, and cause that
servant, I mean wrath and desire, to cease from sin and bid it devote
itself to the service of God, always directing our whole desire towards
God and arming our wrath against the enemies of God: and likewise
we hinder that beast of burden, that is the body, from the servitude of
sin, and urge it forwards to assist to the uttermost the divine
precepts.
These are the things which the spiritual law of
Christ enjoins on us and those who observe that become superior to the
law of Moses. For when that which is perfect is come, then
that which is in part shall be done away2660
: and when the covering of the law,
that is, the veil, is rent asunder through the crucifixion of the
Saviour, and the Spirit shines forth with tongues of fire, the letter
shall be done away with, bodily things shall come to an end, the law of
servitude shall be fulfilled, and the law of liberty be bestowed on
us. Yea2661
we shall
celebrate the perfect rest of human nature, I mean the day after the
resurrection, on which the Lord Jesus, the Author of Life and our
Saviour, shall lead us into the heritage promised to those who serve
God in the spirit, a heritage into which He entered Himself as our
forerunner after He rose from the dead, and whereon, the gates of
Heaven being opened to Him, He took His seat in bodily form at the
right hand of the Father, where those who keep the spiritual law shall
also come.
What belongs to us2662
, therefore, who walk by the spirit and
not by the letter, is the complete abandonment of carnal things, the
spiritual service and communion with God. For circumcision is the
abandonment of carnal pleasure and of whatever is superfluous and
unnecessary. For the foreskin is nothing else than the skin which
it superfluous to the organ of lust. And, indeed, every pleasure
which does not arise from God nor is in God is superfluous to
pleasure: and of that the foreskin is the type. The
Sabbath, moreover, is the cessation from sin; so that both things
happen to be one, and so both together, when observed by those who are
spiritual, do not bring about any breach of the law at all.
Further, observe2663
| 2663 Greg. Naz.,
Orat. 42. | that the number seven denotes all the
present time, as the most wise Solomon says, to give a portion to seven
and also to eight2664
. And
David2665
, the divine singer when he composed the
eighth psalm, sang of the future restoration after the resurrection
from the dead. Since the Law, therefore, enjoined that the
seventh day should be spent in rest from carnal things and devoted to
spiritual things, it was a mystic indication to the true Israelite who
had a mind to see God, that he should through all time offer himself to
God and rise higher than carnal things.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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