I HAVE often cautioned against disregarding the chronology in the sacred accounts. We must keep in mind which patriarchs lived at the same time, for in this way extraordinary light is thrown on the history. Thus Abraham saw all the men mentioned in the genealogy that is recorded in Gen. 11. He was a contemporary of Noah for 58 years and of Shem for 31. Moreover, Arphaxad was a contemporary of Abraham for 84 years. Shelah lived three years after Abraham, and Eber 64 years.
Peleg was a contemporary of Abraham for 48 years; Reu, for 78 years; Serug, for 101; Nahor, for 49; Terah, for 135. Was this not a most glorious age? During this time the Word was spread abroad by so many teachers of whom some, like Shem, saw the first world, that is, the fathers before the Flood, like
Methuselah, who saw Adam, the first human being. And yet Satan prevailed among the children of iniquity. Therefore Sodom was destroyed, and the kingdoms of the world were troubled in various ways by wars. Yes, even Abraham himself was led astray by the showy religion of the Chaldeans; but he was called back by Shem and the other fathers.1 It was Noah's son Ham who brought this bane into the world. Accordingly, Japheth, too, degenerated, and the Messianic line remained in the house of Shem alone, by whom the promise was passed on to Abraham. Thus the chronology throws light on the account if one takes into consideration the entire character of the times.
1. The Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as He had promised.
2. And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
3. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.
Moses is very wordy in this passage. He repeats nearly all statements twice. Evidently it is his purpose to commend to us that most exuberant joy of the saintly patriarch. After awful misfortunes
Abraham has not only found a safe place and a favorably disposed king, but Sarah becomes pregnant and bears him the son who is the heir of the promise. But if the joy of parents is genuine when children are born to them in the usual manner without a promise, how much more Abraham rejoiced over this his son for whom he had now waited so many years after he had been promised! Accordingly, what thus far has been an object of hope, and what he has believed, this is now a reality; and, if I may express it in this way, the promise has now been made flesh.
We cannot come close to feeling this joy; for the things which thus far had been invisible and impossible, which Abraham had believed, are now visible and altogether possible—an example for us, that we may learn that there is no real joy in this world except that which the Word brings when it is believed.
When Moses mentions the definite and established time, this has the purpose of emphasizing the promise and of making us pay greater attention to the Word of creation than to the work itself. Thus
Isaac was born on approximately the same day on which Sodom was destroyed a year earlier, evidently in order that the godly parents might have a joy to counterbalance the vastness of their grief.
For God does both: He brings down to hell, and He brings back; He afflicts, and He makes glad.
Therefore the fact that Moses frequently brings God's Word or promise into this account does not imply that our ordinary way of giving birth takes place without the Word. For when God once said
(Gen. 1:28): "Be fruitful," that Word is effective to this day and preserves nature in a miraculous way.
But how few there are who believe this or are aware of it!
Hence just as Augustine says about the five loaves that He who fed the five thousand people feeds the entire world to this day by the same miracle,2 so we can correctly state about the birth of a human being that it is just as miraculous today as was the birth of Isaac.
But because of their frequent occurrence these great miracles have become commonplace.
Therefore God sometimes puts forth a new work, not that it may be a greater one but to show that those common and ordinary works which happen among us are similar to those extraordinary ones and are derived from the same source, that is, from the almighty Word of God. For the growth of the fruits of the field and the preservation of various kinds, this is something just as great as the multiplication of the loaves in the wilderness. Nor is it in vain that everywhere in the Gospel Christ employs images or analogies drawn from creatures. But we are deaf, blind, and stupid; nor do we marvel at anything except at those things that appear to be extraordinary.
- 5 The passage through the Bed Sea and through the Jordan were grand miracles; but who regards it with wonder that we, too, cross the ocean itself every day? For what else is this, that although it is the nature of water to flow and to cover the earth, nevertheless by virtue of the Word which God spoke
—"Let the waters be gathered together" (Gen. 1:9)—the earth continues to stand, and both the lower and the upper waters hang suspended, as it were, and we actually dwell among the very waters round about?
One may make the same statement about the birth of a human being. Nobody comprehends what a great thing it is, and yet it is regarded lightly, in accordance with the ancient saying: "What happens every day becomes commonplace."3 But the cause of this is original sin, from which have sprung hideous lust, depravity, troubles, sicknesses, and other evils. When one becomes aware of these, God's work, together with the Word, is put out of sight, and men begin to shrink from this saintly kind of life which has such a wonderful blessing from God. But it is the common lot of all God's works that they are covered up in this manner and polluted, so to speak, by many vexations and misfortunes.
What troubles are experienced by someone who governs a state! The citizens are disobedient.
Discipline cannot be maintained even by means of severe punishments. Moreover, the hatred and enmity resulting from punishment are an unbearable burden. Furthermore, in addition to this there is
Satan, the enemy who throws empires into turmoil by means of offenses. Do you suppose that one who gives proper consideration to all these facts will assume a public office? Therefore he who wants to rule in such a manner as to keep a tranquil heart will put these annoyances out of sight and will look at the Word and the will of God. There he will see that whatever other kinds of life there may be, he is leading the kind that pleases God, and that he has entered upon it at God's command.
The whole world has nothing better, more precious, or nobler than the church, in which the voice of God is heard and God is worshiped with true forms of worship, that is, with faith, invocation, patience, obedience, etc. Yet the church is so hidden from view by the cross, by afflictions, by dishonor, and by contempt that the world concludes that nothing is more detestable and baneful.
Indeed, look at Christ Himself. What is more wretched than He? "We saw Him full of scabs," says Isaiah (cf. 53:2–3), "so that we turned our faces away from Him." Yet He is the Son of God, the King of glory, and the salvation of all men. Why, then, is it strange if few are aware of the dignity of marriage and of the miracle of birth? For this is the source of those familiar sayings that a wife is a necessary evil and that she is an irksome blessing.4 But if we were mindful of the Word, we would judge differently. Now, since we are blinded by original sin, we pay no attention to the Word, and we take into account solely those things which we find offensive.
Therefore let us learn to look at the Word and the will of God; then we shall bear everything calmly, no matter how bitter it is. Moses distinguishes the sin of lust from the work of God in an excellent way, inasmuch as he emphasizes so many times that Sarah conceived and gave birth, just as the Lord had said, and that this took place at the age when the passion of sexual desire had subsided.
In this manner we, too, should distinguish vices, which original sin brought on, from the creation and works of God. I am sure that I was created a male.5
Moreover marriage is God's institution. "It is not good," He says, "that the man should be alone"
(Gen. 2:18). But inconveniences, vexations, and sundry crosses are encountered in marriage. What does it matter? Is it not better that I please God in this manner, that God hears me when I call upon Him, that He delivers me in misfortunes, and that He benefits me in various ways through my life's companion, the pious wife whom I have joined to myself?
He who reasons thus puts himself into the purity of Paradise. For just as the prophet says (cf. Hab.
3:15): "Your horses were in the mud of many waters, and yet your chariots were salvation," so it also happens in the household, in the government, and in the church. All have a very great abundance of annoyances, and yet those who regard the Word keep an even temper and experience deliverance. For God often puts on a beggar's mantle, as is wont to happen on the stage, although He is King of kings and Lord of lords.6
Therefore the prophet (Is. 45:15) calls Him "God who hides Himself."7 For under the curse a blessing lies hidden; under the consciousness of sin, righteousness; under death, life; and under affliction, comfort. But one must look at the Word, for those who do not have the Word follow their own feeling and remain without comfort in their tears and sorrow. Why do the monks withdraw into - 6 monasteries? Doubtless to be free from the inconveniences which, as they see, abound in the whole world. With the same intent the pope chose celibacy, although he sought to obtain a reputation for saintliness in this manner. But the inconveniences which God inflicted on the human nature because of sin should not be shunned.
Moreover, consideration should be given to the brilliant rays of the Word of God with which God has adorned the household, the state, and the church. Thus it will come about that we shall not be offended by the inconveniences and adversities, none of which were in Paradise and which are necessary in the world to keep nature in check. And indeed what the monks flee from in the world they find in twofold measure in the monasteries. For the devil dwells even in the desert.8 Therefore let it be your concern to be in a state about which you can maintain with certainty that it has been instituted by God. This no monk can say about his monastic life, and no papist can say it about his celibate life.
Moses praises and exalts the birth of Isaac at such length because he wants to remind us that nothing should be given so much consideration as the Word itself. Those who do this see that the entire world is full of miracles. But clear eyes are needed; otherwise the most excellent works of God become ordinary because of their frequent occurrence, and the glory of the Word and the works of Physicians see neither the Word nor the glory in the marvelous work of the birth of a human being.
Though they do not know its real cause, they are nevertheless forced to admire and praise the result.
For they set aside the filth and the sweat or excrement, that is, the lust, and look upon the work of birth purely by itself. They consider the arrangement of the members, their characteristics, their uses, etc.
This they do even though they lack the spiritual wisdom which the Word shows.
But we go beyond their wisdom and also contemplate God's will and Word, namely, the spiritual crown with which God adorned marriage: "Male and female He created them" (Gen. 1:27). "It is not good that the man should be alone; let Us make a help for him" (Gen. 2:18); and "He blessed them, saying: 'e fruitful and multiply' " (Gen. 1:28). This is the golden crown which all godly spouses wear on their heads; and in spite of it the unclean world, like swine, directs its mouth and eyes toward the mud and filth, and values only the inconveniences. As for ourselves, let us learn to understand our own blessings—true blessings indeed—and the desert will become for us a Paradise. Then we shall be able at least to suffer and endure all adversities with moderation, or patiently bear them. For this reason
Moses inculcates the Word of God and His promises so earnestly.
4. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
Abraham assigns the name to his son by divine authority, for the angel of the Lord had stated that this name should be given to him. He also circumcises his son on the eighth day, and Moses adds that this was done in accordance with the Lord's command. Therefore just as Abraham does everything in accordance with the Word and his call, so we, too, should see to it that we undertake nothing without the Word and are not found in a state or work about which we have doubts.
The papists reproach us severely because we do not accept their self-chosen works and forms of worship. This, however, is a theological issue for us,9 lest we enter upon a kind of life or work concerning Which we do not have God's express command.
But I am speaking of such works as have to do with worship; for reason has its own particular course in civil affairs, which it manages on its own without the Word. But nobody can boast of his worship unless it has the Word, is enveloped by the Word as by cloths, and is enclosed, so to speak, by it. Then no trial or vexation of the world can come through which we cannot pass. Even if we have to walk through water and mud, we shah nevertheless overcome, according to the prophet (Hab. 3:15), who promises that the chariots of the Lord are salvation though stuck fast in mud.
Therefore we, too, have the most excellent treasure which the holy patriarchs had, namely, the Word. Let us take pains to guard it properly, and let us not allow our adversaries to draw us away from the level road into the desert that is full of thorns and to adopt self-chosen forms of worship. First let them prove their claims with the Word, and then we shall follow them. But when they extol the authority of the fathers, of Augustine, of Gregory, and likewise of the councils, our answer is: "Those things have no claim on us. We demand the Word. Augustine and the councils are not the Word."
Therefore we shall not walk in their ways, in accordance with Christ's saying (Matt. 10:5): "Do not turn aside into the ways of the Gentiles."
5. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Moses records this not only because of the number of the years but rather to praise the miracle that God so blessed that old man that in his hundredth year he begot a son when his body was already exhausted because of age. But here, too, Moses separates the pure work of God from the uncleanness and hideousness with which original sin has bespattered the work of God. For because Abraham is a hundred years old, who does not realize that he would not10 have approached Sarah if God had not commanded him to do so?
On the debate about the years of Abraham—whether he was the first-born or not—we have touched above, and it is certain that the computation of the Jews as well as that of Lyra is wrong; for it eliminates sixty years.11 But we shall deal with these matters in another place.
6. And Sarah said: God has made laughter for me; every one who hears will laugh over me.
7. And she said: Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would suckle children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.
At this point the philologians wrangle much among themselves; for although the verb קחַַצָָ properly denotes "to play," "to laugh," "to joke," they assign a variety of meanings to it. In Ex. 32:6
Moses states: "The people sat down and rose up to play." In the Rooks of the Kings (2 Sam. 2:14) we read: "Let the young men arise and play"; that is, let them fight with weapons, and let them perish by wounding one another; and below (Gen. 26:8) it is stated concerning Isaac: "The king saw Isaac fondling Rebecca." Here, as the Jews explain, Moses is speaking of sexual intercourse.12 Thus there are many grammarians and countless grammatists.13 Yet among these you would find no one whom you could call a learned Hebraist. For because the subject matter has been lost, the language or the words have also been lost.
We shall take the meaning from the subject matter itself and disregard the disputes of the philologians. Accordingly, the proper meaning of the verb is "to laugh." Therefore when Sarah says:
"God made laughter for me," this means that she rejoiced in earnest and was glad about the son whom she had borne, not only with a carnal gladness—like that of other mothers of whom Christ says that they do not remember their former anguish after giving birth (John 16:21)—but with a gladness of the Holy Spirit, because she had actually become a mother as a result of God's blessing.
On account of her barrenness Sarah had so far been regarded as a woman under a curse, because God was begrudging her the usual blessing, Consequently, she undoubtedly concluded that a great injury was being inflicted on her. But now, after the birth of her son, she, too, boasts of the divine blessing, leaps with joy, and says: "Now God causes me, too, to laugh and be glad of heart because of this His unhoped-for favor."
The opinions current at that time support this understanding; and if some do not take note of them, why is it surprising if they are in doubt about the words? Throughout that entire time before the birth of Christ the blessing of matrimony was considered a most important matter among the Jewish people, just as, on the other hand, barrenness was considered a curse.
Today this blessing is not esteemed so highly, because the pope has introduced celibacy as a holy kind of life. Moreover, even though those who live in the married state lack this blessing, nevertheless they do not for this reason fear the wrath of God or the contempt of men. They are tormented only by their desire for children, but they do not feel God's wrath in their conscience. Thus the change of opinion has changed the world.
But at that time this most saintly woman lived in deepest sorrow; and the more she was aware of having been deprived of the blessing, the more troubled she was. Now, therefore, when the Lord has regard for her with the great boon that she not only gives birth to a son but to a son who will be the ancestor of Christ, there is exuberant joy in the Holy Spirit in addition to the joy of the flesh. Therefore she is carried away by her joy in this manner and speaks words which are sobs, as it were, of exuberant joy. For she knows that from this son of hers there will be born the One who will deliver the entire human race from the everlasting curse.
- 8 Yet these are words not only of joy but also of shamefacedness, as though Sarah meant to say:
"Not only has the Lord made me laugh and rejoice most exuberantly in the Holy Spirit, but also among men all who hear of it will laugh at me. For childbearing is the function of young women whose age is suited for giving birth. But that I, an old woman whose vigor is exhausted, that I, who am all but a corpse, give birth to a child, does this not deserve to be laughed at?" Accordingly, just as she leaps with the utmost joy before God, so she feels ashamed before men.
Besides, it is common in every language for words to have their proper meaning at one time and a figurative meaning at another time. And so the verb קחַַצָָ, which properly means "to laugh," is used by antiphrasis (which is very common among the Hebrews) for "to laugh at." Similarly, in German we call a worthless fellow by anti-phrasis ein fromm kind, ein edles kreutlein.14 Thus I explain the verb "to laugh" in this passage by antiphrasis.
"The Lord has made laughter for me" is spoken in its strict sense, for laughter denotes joy. But when Sarah adds: "And men will laugh at me," this is spoken figuratively; that is: "They will condemn meas a lustful old woman. But blessed be the Lord, who caused thislaughter for me. Men laugh; I, too, laugh. And I know that the Lord has made this laughter for me." Thus these are words of one who rejoices with a sincere joy and yet is mindful of the ridicule of the world.
The following words—"Who would have said to Abraham?"—are also explained in various ways.
Here again I see many philologians but no Hebrews. Therefore we have every right to take it upon ourselves to give instruction and, as we do so, to go beyond all the rabbis. For the subject matter does not have its origin in the words. No, the words have their origin in the subject matter, just as Demosthenes answered someone who asked how one should speak properly: "Say nothing unless you know it well."15 When the subject matter is well considered in advance and properly understood, then the appropriate words for setting forth the subject matter will also present themselves.
Hence here, too, the meaning must be sought from what the circumstances require. Accordingly, Sarah is very glad and full of wonder. This makes it impossible for her to give adequate expression to the joy she has experienced in her heart. She says: "If my Isaac were not lying in his cradle, who would ever have the audacity to say that a son was born to my husband Abraham?" In German it is expressed more dearly: Wer durffts Abraham ansagen so ein gross herrlich Wunderwerck?
But the name "Abraham" is interpreted more correctly in accordance with the subject matter. It signifies the house or family of Abraham, as though Sarah meant to say: "Who would ever believe or have the audacity to say that a son was born to Abraham in his hundredth year when his wife was in her ninetieth? Who could consider it possible for a son to be born to these two?" Therefore they are words of spiritual and physical joy. For when the heart is joyful in the true God, the flesh also exults, just as, on the other hand, we also see that the flesh16 is affected when the heart is sad. This latter sense
I consider to be more appropriate.
At this point the Jews also ask why Moses states in the plural number that Sarah suckles children, when she did not have any except the one son Isaac; and they invent the story that Sarah said these words at the feast, about which something follows a little later. They say that when the other women could not be convinced that Sarah had actually given birth to a child but thought she had bought a boy from some poor woman and pretended that this was her son, she suckled many infants at the feast in the sight of all the women and in this way removed the suspicion that her statement about having borne a son was hlse.17
Such are the fabrications of the Jews. How much simpler it is to say that the plural is used in place of the singular! We say that he who has found only one coin has found money. And a man is called a father because of his children, even though he has only one offspring. This way of speaking is very common in all languages; but because the Jews do not understand what is being discussed, they deal properly neither with the words nor with the grammar. Our sophists do likewise. Since they have lost the things that pertain to theology, they have groped around in the darkness like blind men. For it is everlastingly true that lack of knowledge of the subject matter results in lack of knowledge of the words, and those who afterwards want to debate about the subject matter on the basis of the words inevitably talk nonsense. One must have a familiarity with and a knowledge of the subject matter. But for those who do not have the subject matter it is impossible to speak properly.
8. And the child grew and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
Here Augustine asks why Abraham made a feast, and a great one at that, not on the day of birth or circumcision but on the day of weaning, since the day of birth appears more suited for a feast, just as it is the custom of nearly all people to celebrate a birthday.18 The day of circumcision had also been commanded by God, but none of these things can be said about the day of weaning.
Augustine concludes that there is no answer to this question unless that joy—the joy one also feels because of the birth of Christ— is understood spiritually. Then one needs solid food, not milk. I am not relating this opinion of Augustine for the purpose of scoffing at the saintly man, who is the only one to touch on this passage, but because it is good and necessary that these saintly fathers sometimes are found to be like ourselves, that is, that they are human beings, so that the glory of our God, who is strong in our weakness and wise in our foolishness and errors, may stand firm.
This the papists do not know. Out of the individual statements and words of the saintly fathers they make articles of faith which one may not oppose even in the least. But God is wonderful in His saints, and so wonderful that through their failings and errors He manifests His wisdom to us. Therefore one must believe the one and only Word of God, not the canons, and not the statements of the saintly fathers except insofar as they are in agreement with the Word, just as Augustine himself says about himself and his books.19 For no one has the authority to burden the church with new doctrines.
Therefore so far as the question that has been submitted is concerned, I will let St. Augustine have his own opinion. Nevertheless, this is not to be tolerated, that he deals with a historical account only from a spiritual point of view. For the historical accounts should be explained by themselves, inasmuch as they are not without meaning, no matter how unimportant they may seem.
Therefore our opinion about the very saintly man Abraham can be as follows: that he was unwilling to imitate the customs of the heathen, because he had been warned either by the Holy Spirit or by the saintly fathers and his ancestors who were still living at that time. Moses similarly prohibits the religious customs of the heathen, and especially those of the Egyptians.20
Furthermore, this, too, is true, that the time of weaning was very suitable for a feast. Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised, and because of his age he could bear the pain of circumcision; but Isaac was an infant eight days old when he was circumcised. At that age, therefore, he needed more attentive care from his parents. For circumcision brought on great pain, as we see in the Book of Joshua (5:8) that the people tarried and rested until they were healed from their circumcision.
And below (Gen. 34:25) it is related of Simeon and Levi that they attacked the Shechemites on the third day, when the pain of the wound is at its worst. We can say the same thing about the day of birth; for often not only the infant but also the mother is endangered by the birth. Therefore these two days— of the birth and of the circumcision—were not suitable for a feast. Accordingly, they postponed this until the time of weaning, when the infant had grown well in strength. This would be my reason if it were necessary to give an answer to this question.
But here one must also note that it was common practice for the saintly fathers to feast together; for Abraham undoubtedly invited to this feast Shem—that is, Melchizedek21 —the king and priest, with his household, likewise other fathers, and provided rather sumptuous fare. For Moses does not state without a purpose that Abraham provided a great feast. Therefore the saints may also refresh themselves physically, especially when they are burdened by sadness and misfortune, just as Scripture states (Prov. 31:6): "Give wine to those in bitter distress." Likewise Ps. 104:15: "Wine gladdens the heart." It should be the purpose of feasts to gladden hearts and to refresh them after sadness. For God dislikes sadness. When hearts are burdened with it, they cannot praise or give thanks.
Accordingly, this was not a feast of frivolous men. No, it was a feast of the saintliest fathers, who thanked God for having confirmed and fulfilled His divine promise; and they not only refreshed their bodies with rather sumptuous food but also refreshed their hearts with sacred discourses, just as Paul states in Acts 14:17 that hearts are satisfied with food and gladness as a result of the Lord's kindness.
Therefore this passage should be taken note of against the gloomy hypocrites who all but kill their bodies with their unnatural fasts and do not give the flesh the necessary care which God has given it but are so exhausted by tormenting themselves that they become altogether useless. One must keep to - 10 the middle of the road, for it is safest. "Not in reveling," says Paul (Rom. 13:13–14); "but make provision for the flesh, yet not in its lusts,"22 lest there happen what is written in Ex. 32:6: "The people sat down and rose up to play."
Of such a nature are the excessively bountiful German feasts; but godly people feast to gladden the heart and to give thanks to God, as Moses says (Deut. 16:11): "And you shall feast before your God."
Here it should also be noted that in this way God gives Abraham a palpable demonstration of His grace. He had promised him a son, but He delays the fulfillment of the promise. Meanwhile Abraham, who is satisfied with the Word alone, believes the promise and simply clings to the invisible things.
But it happens in due time that the invisible things become visible. We, too, should imitate this and set it before our eyes. We believe that our flesh will rise again on the Last Day. This should be as sure for us as if it had already happened; for we, too, have the Word and the same spiritual comforts that Therefore just as a hundred years ago we were nothing, so when death will have destroyed our flesh, our flesh will come forth again from nothing and will live. Thus the things we have at the present time instruct us clearly about the things we shall have in the future. Let no one say by way of objection that Abraham had the promises; for do we, too, not have the promises in Baptism and in the The only difference between us and Abraham is this, that Abraham believed the promises, but we do not believe them. Through faith Abraham made visible things out of invisible things, but we cling solely to the visible things and do not feel God palpably in ourselves, as Paul says in Acts 14:17 that He has left in us sure evidences of His presence and goodness.
Nevertheless, Abraham had an advantage that was unique and not to be regarded lightly. We do not have that advantage. He was sure of descendants, because both sons would live. Above, when he was reminded by the Word of God, he learned that twelve princes would spring from Ishmael. He also knew about Isaac that Christ would be born from him. This example we observe in Abraham alone and his family, for no one of us can be sure about the life of his descendants during a single year.23 But this is merely a physical benefit. We, however, so far as spiritual promises are concerned, are either on a par with or even above Abraham; and if we could only believe as Abraham believed, we would be in Paradise, yes, even in heaven itself. For we are baptized, not into the house of Crassus or of Caesar but into the kingdom of heaven. Besides, we have received absolution and the Lord's Supper. Yet even though we have more promises than Abraham had, we snore in our sluggishness and neither thank
God nor rejoice in the spirit.
Hence we do not lack promises, but we lack the faith that Abraham had. Among the papists, however, even doctrine itself has perished; for they teach nothing about faith, nothing about the Word of God, which absolves from sins and gives comfort, and nothing about the promises. They teach only the merits of one's own works. Baptism is altogether dead among them; they absolve only those who are contrite and have confessed; and they teach those who use the Lord's Supper that they are doing a work of obedience toward the church. About the remission of sins and about the way of approaching it by faith they teach nothing. But it behooves us to open our eyes, to consider the blessings we have, to give thanks for them, and to rejoice like Abraham, who is glad not only in the spirit but also in the body.
9. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, that he was a mocker.
Some are of the opinion that this happened on the very day of the feast; for they think that Ishmael and Hagar were offended by the sumptuousness of the feast and made some insulting remark. But the circumstances show that these events took place some years after the weaning and that the quarrel went on, not for one day but even for several years. Paul indicates this (Gal. 4:29) when he speaks of the time of the persecution. Nor was it a quarrel about an insignificant matter. Ishmael wanted to have the prerogative of primogeniture, and his mother Hagar was proud in a boastful manner because
Abraham became a father through her. These things the brother threw up to the boy Isaac, who now, because of his age, was susceptible to insult and persecution; and perhaps, as is wont to happen, he brought the greater part of the domestics over to his side, as though he were the sole heir of the promise. For what he had heard about the twelve princes who would be born of him, this undoubtedly
- 11 caused his youthful mind to become puffed up. Therefore he dreamed of a kingdom for himself and despised Isaac in comparison with himself. His mother acted the same way toward Sarah, who, although she was a very saintly woman, nevertheless, in accordance with the rule,24 was weak. For the saints, as I have repeatedly stated, should be praised in such a manner that they nevertheless remain for us examples of patience and of weakness.
Finally Sarah became impatient of the contempt and the insults. When she saw that there was no remedy except to expel Hagar and her son from the house, she reported the matter to Abraham. This quarrel did not last only one day, as I have also stated above; but Sarah concealed the insults for a number of years. Moreover, Hagar appears to have stirred up her son and to have fomented quarrels in the household. For this reason Sarah attacked her rather severely, as follows.
10. So she said to Abraham: Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.
11. And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.
Sarah mentions the mother first, evidently because Hagar was the main cause of those quarrels.
She does not mention Ishmael by name, and thus she shows her contempt by calling him the son of the slave woman. But above we praised the saintly Sarah because she was obedient to her husband and called him lord; and it is surely a very outstanding virtue in a wife if she is subject to her husband, holds him in honor, and fears him.
"Where, then," you say, "is now25 this reverence toward her husband? Sarah says to Abraham:
'Cast out the slave woman.' This is rather dictatorial; and because this quarrel, as the circumstances prove, lasted a long time, Sarah undoubtedly was often irksome to her husband, since she continued to demand that the mother be cast out with her son," Both were stubborn, and they skillfully embellished their cause against Sarah before Abraham and the whole household. For it has always been a very common practice in the world for instigators of wrongs to defend themselves and to put the blame on those who have been hurt.
Therefore when Abraham was either too ready to believe or too slow and too easygoing to punish, Sarah seems to have forgotten her former humility and modesty, and to be giving her husband an order, as it were, and making him her servant.
But the saintly woman by no means forgets her duty. Therefore her words must not be understood as though they were spoken haughtily and imperiously. Very important and very just reasons prompt
Sarah to accuse the mother and her son, for they were stubborn in their pride and unbearable in their presumptuousness, since they wanted to rule and to be the heirs of Abraham. Therefore they despised
Sarah and ridiculed her son Isaac in various ways.
Accordingly, Sarah's words should be understood as those of a suppliant and of one who is imploring her husband's help with the utmost reverence and humility: "Alas, my husband, we shall certainly have no peace unless you interpose your authority and east Hagar and Ishmael out of the house; for it is their desire that I and my son, who alone is your true heir, be completely subdued."
In this manner Sarah implores the help of her husband. But she does not command him. Even though she was the mistress of the household, she nevertheless does not arrogate to herself so much power that she would east out Hagar without seeking Abraham's advice. But first she submits the matter to the master of the house with reverence and humility, and she points out what in her own judgment is the way to achieve harmony. Moreover, what she says about the inheritance should not be understood as though she wanted Ishmael to be excluded from the inheritance; she simply says that he should not be made an heir together with Isaac, but that Isaac should keep his portion for himself.
But this plan made by his wife displeases Abraham very much. For he, like any human being, was preoccupied with love for his first offspring. Nor did he consider the promise as carefully as Sarah did.
His fatherly affection evidently prevented him from doing so. For the saints, too, are unsettled and carried away by their affections. Accordingly, Abraham considered it unfair to exclude his natural and lawful son from the inheritance. Sarah, on the other hand, makes fundamental distinctions between the son of the slave woman and her own, and, as Augustine says, she is not excited like a woman; but she is speaking under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and she relies on the sure promise which she had heard concerning her son.26
- 12 Ishmael, too, had his promise; for the Lord said to Abraham (Gen. 17:20): "I have heard you praying for Ishmael, for of him shall be born twelve princes." But Sarah noted more carefully that an additional statement was made about her son with these words: "But I will establish My covenant with Abraham, evidently preoccupied with love for his first-born, did not consider these words as carefully as Sarah did. She makes a very fine distinction between her own son and Hagar's. In the first place, she knows that Ishmael is the son of a slave woman. But she considers herself the mistress, as she actually was. In the second place, she knows that Hagar, as a slave woman, is not independent, but that she herself is free, that it is intolerable for the son of the slave woman to be regarded as the equal of the son of the free woman, and that therefore it is improper for the slave woman to try to oppress the free woman and mistress and for the son of the slave woman to want to treat the son of the free woman with contempt.
These considerations give the saintly mother the heart boldly to implore her husband's help; but Abraham, constrained by his fatherly affection, turns a deaf ear. Not once or twice, therefore, but more frequently than this a violent outburst occurred between the godly spouses, since the father kept on excusing Ishmael. Accordingly, Sarah, spurred on by so many injustices and affronts, had reason to look more carefully at the promise. For the statement of Isaiah (28:19) is true: "Trouble gives understanding"; likewise, hunger is the best condiment. For those who are afflicted have a better understanding of the Holy Scriptures; the smug and prosperous read them as if they were some poem written by Ovid.
But in the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians Paul points out why these events are recorded, and we have carefully explained this passage in our commentary.27 For it is not without reason that the saintly mother opposes her husband's will in this manner. It is her purpose to prevent
Ishmael from coming into the inheritance together with Isaac. Above she even called Ishmael her son, for this is what she said about Hagar (16:2): "That I shall obtain children by her." And when Abraham instructed him to do so, Ishmael called Sarah his mother. For she was his lawful though not his natural mother.
The Saracens have made use of this name because Ishmael was the lawful son of Sarah, and they boast of their right of primogeniture.28 But Sarah maintains that there is a difference as a result of the promise. She neither wants Ishmael to be made the equal of her son in the inheritance, nor does she invent this difference because of a womanly affection. The promise points it out, inasmuch as God plainly speaks of "My covenant with Isaac."
Abraham did not consider this exclusive promise as carefully as Sarah did. Therefore he is greatly displeased by Sarah's request and opinion. He thinks that Ishmael is not being treated fairly, and he is unwilling to let Sarah change his yes to a no.
All the domestics, you see, were already of the opinion that Ishmael would be a joint heir with Isaac and that he ranked higher than Isaac because he was born earlier. Therefore Hagar and her son
Ishmael behaved in a haughty manner and despised Sarah and her Isaac. Later on this state of affairs gave rise to much disagreement between the saintly spouses.
Yet it should be noted that this disagreement did not arise over trifling matters and that Sarah was not carried away by her womanly affection. She had very weighty and very just reasons, namely,
God's promise. It is about this that she is contending, and she does not want it taken away from her son.
On the other hand, Abraham is also motivated by just reasons for not excluding Ishmael; for he knows that Ishmael is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. How, then, could he tolerate it that Sarah wanted him cast out of the house?
For these reasons a division arose in Abraham's household, and without a doubt, as happens, each side had its applauders and instigators. Accordingly, those who declare that managing a household is a vulgar kind of life can learn from these examples that in wedlock there is far severer training in faith, hope, love, patience, and prayer than there is in all the monasteries. For the monks neither see nor undergo trials as grievous as these; they cultivate swinish emotions and are envious of the better bread and wine of others.
- 13 These spouses, however, are fighting about the promises, and they are doing so in the fear and obedience of God and in true humility. But these very excellent virtues are obscured when they are dismissed as works done by the laity and common to all spouses, while it is said to be an outstanding virtue to shut oneself up in a monastery, to torture oneself with fasts, to be sad, etc.
This account is useful for comforting spouses, in order that they may not think it strange if disputes arise among even the most affectionate and the saintliest people. One should rather consider that in marriage there are such varied exercises in godliness and love, while, on the other hand, the selfchosen forms of worship of the monks are nothing but dung. For what saintliness can it be to do nothing except what pleases yourself? And yet they boast that they have renounced themselves and their possessions.
But it is a true renunciation when we voluntarily give up those things which we could claim for ourselves with the greatest right, that is, when our natural feeling is given support by a command of God. Thus Abraham is the natural and lawful father of Ishmael; he is also one flesh with Hagar.
Such sentiments are very deep. Therefore Abraham feels his innermost heart assailed. Added to this there is God's command that he should defend his wife and care for and support his son.
Nevertheless, Sarah maintains that the mother should be cast out together with her son, not because they displeased Abraham, toward whom they undoubtedly were very respectful, but because they ridiculed Isaac.
Accordingly, these are torments of which the entire papacy, because of its abominable celibacy, has no knowledge.
Therefore they call the life of married people a "secular" life, but it surely has a place among the highest levels of spiritual life. For the loftiest sentiments of married people toward God and man are being cultivated.
In this passage Abraham is an instance. He is compelled by a twofold right, the natural and the divine, to defend his lawful wife and son. Because of this feeling he is unable to see the promise clearly. On this account a violent outburst of anger occurs, and there is a very sharp quarrel—to give us an example and to comfort us, in order that when slight offenses arise, we may be mindful of the life and the lot that are common to all men.
One should derive another consolation from this. We are to know that those who live a godly life —in the household, in the state, or in the church—will not be without crosses and troubles.
Abraham, a high priest in the house of God, undoubtedly worshiped God devoutly. But what happens? At this point he is being tested by God Himself and is commanded to obey Sarah. For Moses continues as follows:
12. But God said to Abraham: Be not displeased because of the lad and your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you; for through Isaac shall your descendants be named.
13. And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.
Here Abraham is forced simply to give up his opinion and to cast out his son, whom he loved very much, together with the wife, of whom he was very fond. Who does not see that this is a far heavier burden than when a monk wears a cowl and girds himself with a rope? Likewise those who have a position in the government and are godly have as many devils to plague them as there are citizens; and those who teach in the church make the whole world hostile to them. Therefore those who long either for marriage or for a magistracy in order that they may be able to live in leisure and sumptuously are foolish.
Accordingly, the three celestial hierarchies about which the asinine sophists prattle so much29 are nothing else than the life in the household, in the state, and in the church. Those who live outside these three orders live in a self-elected kind of life which, throughout the prophets, God rejects and condemns.30
Abraham has very saintly thoughts, and his will is very upright; for he realizes that by divine and human right he is under obligation to his wife and son yet is compelled to east out both; and there would have been no end to this conflict if God had not intervened.
Furthermore, by His own testimony God proves that Sarah did not speak out of carnal affection and did not command her husband in a haughty manner, but that she begged him humbly and reverently, even though she had a very just cause. The entire account bears witness that Sarah treated
- 14 her husband with reverence. But at this point she is compelled by God's command to undertake something contrary to her husband's will.
Nor does Sarah do this under the impulse of the emotion she feels as a woman. But she has been submissive for a long time, and on the occasion of this outburst of anger she has been well trained by humility, faith, hope, and love. Finally she overcomes herself and puts the Word of the promise ahead of her duty toward her husband. This is how everyone should remain in his own calling. By no means should he do anything contrary to the Word for the purpose of pleasing someone.
Today we, too, do our duty and pray for the emperor and the other princes, who nevertheless hate our doctrine exceedingly. But we see that our prayers are in vain, inasmuch as the emperor and the princes do not want to be converted to the Word. Then our faith is put into practice, so that in the end we decide that if one or the other must perish, it is better that the world rather than God and the church of God should perish.
Abraham had not given such careful consideration to the promise. Therefore God repeats it and once more expressly states: "Through Isaac shall your descendants be named." Accordingly, He does not condemn the saintly will and the just sentiment that Abraham loves his wife and son; but He merely reminds him of the promise which gave to Ishmael the hope of becoming a great nation. The covenant, however, He reserved for Isaac alone.
The godly mother takes note of this difference, but because of his love for his son Abraham does not take such careful note of it. Therefore he is commanded by God's voice to yield to Sarah, who relied on a definite statement.
Without a doubt, however, these things were done either through Shem or through another of the patriarchs to whom Sarah submitted this case. He pronounced this verdict against Abraham; and because it is in agreement with the Word of God, Moses is right in stating that God Himself settled this dispute with His verdict.
The promises were twofold. The temporal one had concerned Ishmael; the eternal and spiritual one had concerned Isaac. Therefore when Ishmael wanted to have the ascendancy, it was easy to decide that this must not be tolerated and that, as is recorded later (Gen. 25:23) about Jacob and Esau, the older should serve the younger in the eyes of the world.
Thus Abraham heard from the fathers who were living at that time the intrepretation of the promise made in chapter seventeen, namely, that an eternal covenant was made with Isaac, who not only was born as the result of the promise but would also produce a blessing, namely, Christ, who blesses all believers.
On the other hand, since Ishmael had only a temporal promise, by which he was puffed up when he despised Isaac, he deserved to be driven out. These facts have been recorded for our instruction, in order that we may learn that we can serve God in the saintliest obedience even though we are only married people, or, as the papists call us, laymen.
Through Isaac shall your descendants be named.
This little sentence should be most carefully noted, in order to refute the Jews, whose arguments against us Christians run as follows: "All the descendants of Abraham are also the heirs of Abraham.
We circumcised Jews are descendants of Abraham. Therefore we are also heirs. On the other hand, those who are not Abraham's descendants cannot be Abraham's heirs. You Christians are Gentiles and are not descendants of Abraham. Therefore you boast in vain that you are the church. For this is what it means to be the heir of Abraham."
Relying on these arguments as on battering-rams, they glow against us and subvert many of our people, as I hear is happening under ungodly princes.31 This, of course, is their reward for driving out godly pastors far and wide and leaving the people defenseless and uninstructed in religion. For because they are deprived of the Word, they are unable to resist the reasoning of the Jews. For neither fact can be denied: the title that they are the descendants of Abraham must be conceded to the Jews, and we cannot deny that we are Gentiles and do not belong to the family of Abraham.
But St. Paul, assuredly a well-versed master, refutes these arguments of the Jews superbly in Rom.
9 and Gal. 3. He maintains that the major premise in the first syllogism is false, namely, that the universal proposition, that all who are the descendants of Abraham are his heirs, is not true. And against this he adduces an instance which no Jew can deny: Ishmael is a true descendant of Abraham
—a descendant born of Abraham's own flesh; nevertheless, he is driven out and does not share the true inheritance with Isaac.
Accordingly, Paul's response to the major premise is this, that he postulates a threefold progeny of Abraham. The first is physical and without the promise concerning Christ. Ishmael, who was born of the flesh of Abraham, was an offspring of this kind.
The second progeny, says Paul, is physical, but with the promise concerning Christ. Thus Isaac, too, was born of the flesh of Abraham; but he had the promise: "I shall establish My covenant with The third progeny, says Paul, is not physical but is the offspring only of the promise. Although it certainly does not belong to the flesh of Abraham, still it holds fast to faith and embraces the promise made to Abraham.
Therefore the major premise in the first syllogism—that all who are descendants of Abraham are his heirs—is false, for this is not true in Ishmael's case. Therefore the historical account forces us to change the universal proposition into a particular one if the argument is to be valid at all: "Some descendants of Abraham are the heirs of Abraham."
But if the Jews add the minor premise that they are those descendants of Abraham, they must prove that claim; for we can prove that they are descendants of Abraham just as Ishmael was. But Ishmael was excluded from the promise. Hence the Jews, too, are excluded.
Therefore it is necessary to determine who are the true descendants of Abraham—the descendants who share in the promise. Here again the historical account is illuminating for us, just as Paul proves from the books of Moses that only those who result from the promise are heirs, whether they are physical descendants of Abraham or not.
At this point it is clear how the second argument is to be refuted; for in it, too, the major premise is faulty. For it is not altogether true that those who are not physical descendants of Abraham cannot be heirs of Abraham. The promise makes true heirs of Abraham, as is clear in the case of Isaac. Therefore those who accept the promise in faith are true sons of the promise and heirs of Abraham, as Christ says
(Matt. 3:9): "God is able from stones to raise up children to Abraham." But if they come from stones, then they do not come from the flesh and bones of Abraham.
Therefore the text is clear. Ishmael is a descendant of Abraham, born most truly of his flesh.
Consequently, he called Abraham his father; and he, in turn, was addressed by his father as son. Yet he is cast out of the house. But Isaac remains in the house as the sole heir. He was born as the result of the promise, actively and passively, so to speak: passively, because the Blessed Seed is promised to him; actively, because he believes the promise.
This the Jews do not consider, for they have lost the true doctrine concerning the promise and faith; and they cling simply to the physical birth, which by itself alone is nothing unless the promise and faith are added.
Thus Absalom is the son of David according to the flesh; but because he does not believe, he perishes. Similarly, the people who died in the desert were also children of Abraham; but because they did not believe, they were destroyed. It is impossible, however, for the son of the promise, the heir of Abraham and the people of God, to perish.
Hence the essential quality32 of the heirs is the promise itself, for by it alone those who are not children of the flesh are made heirs. But physical birth is only a material cause so weak and useless that even if you are really born of the flesh of Abraham, you are not for this reason an heir of Therefore Paul is right in stating that those are heirs who are of the promise, that is, who hear the promise and believe the promise, whether they were born of the flesh of Abraham or not. For the promise, which is the Word of God, is so effective and powerful that it eats into existence the things that do not exist (Rom. 4:17). Christ says (Matt. 3:9) that children are raised up for Abraham from stones.
This power the flesh or physical birth does not have. Only the Word has it, because it is omnipotent.
- 16 A little while ago, however, I stated that the promise is twofold: a passive one, which happens to us; and an active one, which we accept by faith. But it is the latter which makes us, too, who are by nature Gentiles, heirs of Abraham, yes, brothers and fellow heirs of Christ (Rom. 8:17).
Therefore the Jews boast in vain against us that they are the descendants of Abraham. For it does not follow from this that they are also the heirs of Abraham, unless they apprehend the promise and believe in Christ.
The Jews are indeed descendants of Abraham, born of his own flesh and blood. But that physical birth does not make children of God, as John (1:13) says: "Who are not of blood"; that is, who have the physical birth and according to the flesh are children of Abraham. "Nor of the will of the flesh"; that is, who are legitimate children or children by adoption. "Nor of the will of man"; that is, who are of the prophets who ruled and taught, as the papists in our time boast of their apostolic succession.
"But who are born of God"; that is, who believe the promise and accept it with firm faith. For it is not enough to be born of the flesh of Abraham; and Isaac himself would not have been the heir of the promise unless, in addition, there had been faith.
Therefore you should note that there is a threefold progeny. One is the natural progeny, without the promise; another is the natural one, with the promise; and still another is of the promise only, without being natural. Of these three only that one is cast out which is physical, without the promise, as is clear in the instance of Ishmael; and the final cause of his being cast out is, as we learn from Paul (Gal.
4:21–31), that this distinction between children and heirs might be maintained, lest we fall into the error of the Jews, who think that it is enough to have Abraham as their father.
The glutton in Luke 16:24 also calls Abraham his father, but in vain. For only those who cling to the promise are considered children of Abraham, whether they are born of the flesh of Abraham, as Isaac was, or not. Thus Christ tells the Jews in John 8:39 ff.: "If you are Abraham's children, do the works of Abraham; but you are doing the works of your father, the devil." Let this be enough to check the stubborn Jews, who boast so much about the blood and flesh of Abraham.
Furthermore, the same game is going on at the present time and, if one may put it this way, has been going on among all nations ever since the beginning of the world. The Jews are stubborn and obstinate because of their birth according to the flesh, and they boast that they alone are the people of But look at the Turks, and you will see that they rely on the same trust in the flesh. For because they fight successfully against the Christians and have increased their power through many great victories, especially in these lattertimes,33 they first take from us with the utmost smugness the title that we are the people of God, especially since we are being plagued by so many defeats. But they arrogate to themselves the glory that they are the people of God, because they are so successful from day to day, especially against the Christians; for the Turks are by no means so fortunate when they fight against the Tartars and the Persians.34
Therefore since the Turks are elated by their success and are crammed, as it were, with victories, they regard us as dogs and swine. Sennacherib did the same thing at Jerusalem, and his success made him a blasphemer, so that he boasted that his idols were stronger than God, whose abode was in Jerusalem (2 Chron. 32:13–15).
Thus later on the gods of the Romans made the entire world subject to Rome. Consequently, the Romans were sure that their religion was the best, and the most pleasing to God. Therefore just as the Jews take pride in their birth according to the flesh, so the Turks in our time believe that they are the only people of God under the sun.
If you ask for the reason and how they prove this, they cite their victories, success, power, and wealth. They attach no importance to God's promise; nor do they have any knowledge of it. They are unaware of God's majesty, which bestows the kingdoms of the world even on the unworthy and ungodly; for the Turkish empire, whatever its extent, is nothing but a morsel of bread which a rich head of a household throws to his dogs.
This the Turks do not know. But Christians know it, and they regard the entire world with all its wealth as nothing; for they are waiting for another, better life in which one star will be more beautiful and more magnificent than this entire world. Moreover, for this conviction of theirs they have a firm foundation, namely, the promise of God which has been set before them in the Son of God, while the - 17 Turks have their stinking Koran, their victories, and the temporal power on which they rely. I readily believe, however, that in places which are close to the Turk many Christians lose courage because of this stumbling block and fall away from the faith, because they see that they are unlucky, but that the Turks are very prosperous.
Such Christians need faithful teachers to remind them that God's favor should not be gauged from things that will perish, such as wealth, power, and victories, but from eternal benefits. For to bestow kingdoms and the wealth of the world is a small token of the majesty of God. These things God gave for the use of all when He created the world, but that gift reveals the nature of the Divine Majesty when we shah rise from the dead and live in the new world, and forever at that. Therefore it serves no purpose to say: "God is granting kingdoms. He is granting wealth. Consequently, I have a propitious
One should rather say: "God gives a promise, and it deals with eternal life. Consequently, He is truly propitious." Therefore the text before us should be used as a proverb: "Through Isaac shall your decendants be named"; that is, he who has the promise and believes shall be the heir.
Where there is no promise, or where the existing promise is not believed, there, in spite of wealth and kingdoms of the world, prestige and power, no church is to be found and no people of God. It is
Ishmael who is cast out of the house, not Isaac, the heir.
Thus the pope and his followers arrogate to themselves the name "church," but we should be fully convinced that they cannot be the church. The reason is that they are not the children of the promise; that is, they do not believe the Gospel but persecute it. Therefore although they boast of their apostolic succession, their office, and their legitimate authority, nevertheless, if they do not believe the promise, they are nothing except Ishmael in the house of Abraham; that is, they are children of perdition, not heirs.
As is clear from what has been said, Moses, Christ Himself, John, and Paul make this distinction; yes, the Second Commandment itself, when it forbids taking the name of God in vain, proves clearly enough that this is a false church—a church which does not want to refrain from using the name of God and yet misuses it.
But this serves to comfort us, for the name of God is awesome and should be feared. Because the false church uses it against the members of the true church, it must inevitably terrify them. When the pope excommunicates us, he does so by making use of the name of God. Therefore one should know from the Second Commandment that these very people who claim to be the only ones who are the church are misusing the name of God.
Accordingly, one must make a distinction in dealing with the church and with the name of God.
God's name is worthy of reverence and is holy, but it is very frequently misused. Then we should not be afraid; but we should be despisers, not indeed of the name of God but of those who misuse it and want to frighten us.
You must have the same opinion about the church. It is saddening to hear the papists lie and say that we are reprobate and dead members of the church; but let us distinguish between the true use of the name "church" and its misuse. Ishmael also calls Abraham father, but the situation is far different from what it is in the case of Isaac. Thus the papists call themselves the church; but if it is true—as cannot be denied, not even by Satan—that the church is made up of those who have the promise and believe it, it follows that the pope with his followers is not the church, but that he misuses the name
"church," because he is an enemy of the promise and persecutes those who believe the promise.
Therefore it is certain that the name "church" is very often grossly misused, for not only heretics but even Turks and Jews call themselves the church. Therefore he who simply says that he is the church says nothing at all. He must prove this. Otherwise we shall have every right to hold the name
"church" in contempt, because it is being misused.
But the Second Commandment compels us to make a distinction; for just as the name of God is being misused, so the name "church" is also being misused. For the church exists only where the Word is and where there are people who believe the Word, in accordance with this text: "Through Isaac shall your descendants be named."
- 18 But the pope persecutes the Word and takes the name of the Lord in vain. Therefore he is the Antichrist and that loathsome beast (Rev. 13:1) which has blasphemous names on its forehead, that is, which teaches nothing but real blasphemies and profanes the name of God through constant misuse.
In the Gospel of John (14:23) Christ says: "If a man loves Me, he will keep My Word." Therefore those who want to be the people of God or the church must have the Word of Christ, that is, the promises of God; and they must keep them, that is, believe them. These are the people whom the Father loves and to whom He comes to make His home in them (John 14:23). But so far are the pope and his followers from keeping the Word of Christ that they alone most tenaciously hate and persecute it.
Because they frighten us with the name "church" and the name "God," let us make the distinction which the Holy Spirit makes in the Second Commandment, namely, that some use the name of God properly, but that others misuse the name of God. The proper use of the name of God is where the Word and the promise are. On the other hand, where the Word is blasphemed, there the name of God is being misused.
Therefore we should not be frightened; for we know that among such people the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit do not make their home, but that the devil himself lives there, as is recognized from their forehead, on which there are blasphemous names.
In short, there is no people of God unless it has the promises and believes them. Those who, like the Jews and the Turks, trust in works, laws, and other gifts are not the church, because works, laws, etc., are not the promise.
But in our churches we retain the confession, accept the promises, and keep the Word of Christ. As a result, up to this time many have been killed and are still being killed solely on account of the Word, because they refuse to give up the confession of the Gospel. These are the sure signs which prove that we are the true church, but that the pope and his followers are the church of Satan.
But what shall we say to this? The papists baptize, they administer the sacraments, and they absolve from sins; therefore they are the church. And we cannot deny that we ourselves, through their ministry—because we were baptized by them—came into the fellowship of the true church.
My usual answer to this objection is as follows: The external sacraments and also the Word can be transmitted or administered even by the ungodly. Judas, for his person, did not belong to the church; yet he was in the ministry of the church, and those who were baptized by him were rightly baptized.
We may say the same thing about the papists, who, so far as they themselves are concerned, are blasphemers and ungodly. Yet when they baptize, administer Communion, and absolve—provided that they retain the essentials—their ministry is valid. For even though they are blasphemers, still I, who make use of their ministry and believe, am not a blasphemer; but through faith I truly obtain what
God's promise offers, no matter how wicked he who recites the promise to me may be.
Therefore it is not enough to have the name "church," to be called a bishop, a cardinal, a priest.
"All these things," as Paul says, "are carnal and pertain to the person." But God does not regard the person;35 nor should we regard those masks of the flesh. We should look at the Word and on the basis of this account devise a proverb against the papists in the following manner: Abraham has two sons.
One of them is a son according to the flesh and does not have the promise of Christ. He persecutes the other son, who is the heir of the promise. The same thing still happens today, will always happen, and has happened from the beginning; for Cain, the first-born, demanded the promise for himself and killed his brother Abel.
Accordingly, just as the sons of Abraham are of two kinds, so the church is of two kinds. One is killed and suffers persecutions; the other kills and persecutes the brethren, just as Cain and Ishmael did. But each of the two has its own sure fruits. The false church blasphemes and persecutes the Word; but the true church retains the confession and patiently bears persecutions, just as today we stand before the emperor and the entire world and confess the Word.
On the other hand, the papists deny the Word of Christ and try to suppress it by means of their ungodly decrees. These fruits of praise and of blasphemy, of confession and of denial, are manifest.
Therefore we cannot doubt that the church of the pope is the church of Satan, even though godly people can make proper use of their ministry when they retain the essentials.
- 19 Therefore let us carefully note this text, which prevails against all who glory in the flesh. The Jews glory in their blood and say that they are the descendants of Abraham; the Turks, in their victories and power; the pope, in the apostolic succession. But we reject the conclusion when they say: "We are the successors of the apostles in our office; therefore we are the church." For in this passage it is written:
"Through Isaac shall your descendants be named," not through Ishmael; that is, the people of God are not those who have the physical succession but those who have the promise and believe it.
For a twofold use is made of the name of God: a blasphemous one and a holy one. In the true church it is holy and to be feared, but in the false church it is not to be feared. For one must boldly hold on to and constantly inculcate this comfort which the Second Commandment teaches, namely, that the name of God is subject to very gross misuse.
It is a common statement in the schools that equivocal terms are not valid for teaching,36 for those who employ equivocal terms start out from confused words with several meanings. Therefore they teach nothing. Thus the name "God," and also the name "church," are being used in an equivocal sense; for some make proper use of it, but others use it in an improper way.
Thus when the pope declares that all who do not approve of his decrees incur the wrath of Almighty God, this in itself is a terrible statement; but it is equivocal and improperly used. Therefore I do not care a straw about those threats and thunderbolts. Likewise, the name "church of God" has no meaning in logical argumentation; for a dialectician does not accept a word unless it has only one meaning.
Therefore the true church of God is the one which does not misuse the name of God but hears and keeps the Word of Christ, that is, believes the promises. When I hear its name, I prostrate myself in true humility and worship it, for I am sure that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit dwell in it. But when those who do not keep the Word of Christ but persecute it and walk in their self-chosen forms of worship adorn themselves with the name "church," then the word which by its nature has only one meaning becomes equivocal.
Therefore just as it would be folly to be afraid of a painting of a man drawing a sword, so it is folly to be frightened by the name "church" when it is used in a blasphemous manner; for it is merely the picture or mask of the church. But the true church is where Isaac, the son of the promise, is. There the name of God should be feared. There is our salvation and our strength, as the psalm says (Prov.
18:10): "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it."
In short, where the Word of Christ is and is kept—that is, believed—do not be in doubt about the church, even if he who either administers the sacraments or teaches is godless and a blasphemer. "For the Word of the Lord, like rain, does not return empty" (Is. 55:10–11).
This is why we say in the Creed: I believe in the holy church; that is, the church which has the Word by which all things are consecrated (1 Tim. 4:5). But this church puts up with Ishmael, its persecutor, until the words and prayer of Sarah and Isaac begin, that is, until the true church, by its persistent prayer and crying, brings it about that Ishmael is cast out. Yet Ishmael does not believe this until he experiences it in very fact.
13. And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.
The Lord commanded that Ishmael should be cast out. Lest He appear to have forgotten His former promise about the twelve princes (Gen. 17:20) and to repent of His plan, He repeats the promise and adds that He will do this for the sake of Abraham, whose descendant Ishmael is. Thus the natural son is indeed east out. Nevertheless, he is established as a very powerful king of the world.
Accordingly, someone will say: "Establishing him king of a very large people is not casting him out, is it?" For Ishmael's descendants occupied the entire southern region, and today the Saracens are still a great people.
Thus this account serves to teach us that God allots kingdoms and governments even to reprobate and evil men, not because of their merit—which is nil—but for the sake of Abraham, that is, the church, which alone in the world prays for kings and governments, in order that it may be able to have a quiet lodging place in this life and to propagate the Word of God in peace.
Just as the Turk persecutes the church, so he does not believe that he is aided by the prayers of the church, which prays for all governments (1 Tim. 2:1–2). He attributes it to his Koran and to his
- 20 righteousness; for he boasts of his true religion and true worship of God, inasmuch as he is an enemy of images and statues. But us he hates and persecutes as idolaters.
Nor did King Alexander realize that it was the help of the church of God that made him so successful. Nevertheless, it is true that only the prayer of the true church preserves all kingdoms for the sake of the little band of the godly, who are in need of a lodging place in this life.
Similarly, what Emperor Charles has in this world, he has because of the service and prayers of the church of Christ. Therefore one should note well the clause "because he is your offspring" in what
God says to Abraham. For on Abraham's account, that is, on account of Abraham's meritorious conduct, Ishmael is established as emperor and monarch.
But since all kingdoms are preserved and flourish because of the prayers of the church, how unfair it is that it is being oppressed and trodden underfoot by those very people whom it so faithfully aids!
For to the church alone God has given the command to concern itself with praying for kings (1 Tim.
2:2); and this because peace, good order, and security are needed for propagating the Word and gathering a church through the Word, as the historical accounts of the first empires, the Babylonian and the Assyrian, show.
Therefore so far as the present account is concerned, Abraham is compelled to change his mind.
But Sarah has her way and accomplishes what she had undertaken, for she looked more closely at the promise and understood it more clearly than Abraham did. For God also reveals some things to the lowly. He does so in order that the great may be humbled. Now there follows another struggle; it has to do with the Second Table, just as the former struggle had to do with the First Table.
14. So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and he sent her away along with the boy. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
This is surely a sad story if you consider it carefully, although Moses relates it very briefly. After Abraham is sure about God's will, he hastens to obey. He rises early in the morning, does not count any money, and gets ready no garments for an unknown and long journey. He simply sends away his very dear wife, who was the first to make him a father, and his first-born son, and gives them nothing but bread and a bottle of water.37 These are the treasures which his son Ishmael and his wife Hagar receive from the father.
But does it not seem to be cruelty for a mother who is burdened with a child to be sent away so wretchedly, and to an unfamiliar place at that, yes, into a vast and arid desert? Abraham does not send a young male slave along. He does not send a female slave along. The destitute mother and her destitute son are cast out from the true father's estate, and of all his possessions they carry away nothing except a little bread and water, which no doubt was food and drink for only a few days. If he had either given them wine or had provided them with money, their misfortune would have been more bearable.
Now, however, in the judgment of reason Abraham seems to be acting cruelly; but in this instance he actually sacrificed conjugal and paternal love, which are two most powerful attachments. For we should not suppose that Abraham was a Wendish boor.38 No, he was a truly godly, saintly, gentle, humble, and compassionate man who actually loved even his enemies.
Why, then, does Abraham send his wife and son away in such destitution, as though they were his enemies? Where is his fatherly heart? When the angels came, he set before them butter, a calf, and bread baked in ashes, although he did not yet recognize them (Gen. 18:8). But here he thrusts his own first-born son out of his inheritance into exile, as though his fatherly affection had suddenly become entirely extinct and dead.
Let every one of us consult his own heart. If you had a female partner in an honorable marriage and a natural offspring were born to you and you were not hard and stern by nature, would you be able either to overcome or to cast aside your fatherly affection to such an extent that you would not provide at least a servant to be their guide on the way?
Therefore Abraham did not do this without a very great struggle and very heavy sorrow, for he was not a stone or a rock. But he sent his very dear wife away with loud sobs and many tears. God does not change nature in the saints, nor does He destroy their affections. Thus it is altogether likely that neither
- 21 Hagar nor her son Ishmael laughed, but that they were utterly dejected by this unheard-of announcement of their exile.
Accordingly, this expulsion is described as a tragedy, although the words are few. If Abraham had not heard the promise and had not comforted both the mother and her son with it, he could have feared for their life because of the wolves, bears, and lions in the desert. In short, Abraham would not have treated the Sodomites, who were very wicked people, so harshly; for he continued to pray for them and came near dying in his prayers (Gen. 18:23–33).
Assume, then, that the monks who are living in the monasteries are saintly. What will you find in them that is similar to this one painful and difficult work, namely, that Abraham overcomes two very great attachments, toward his wife and toward his son, when he yields because of the obedience he owes the command of God?
Therefore this is an outstanding example of obedience, faith, and all good conduct, but especially of true obedience toward God; for these events did not happen in as brief a time as the words make it sound. Nevertheless, they had to be described in this manner, in order that we might learn from Abraham's example that God must be loved above all things, and loved so perfectly that you love nothing in the entire world in the same way, neither your wife nor your children nor your own life. But if Moses had wanted to record everything as it happened, he would have needed a large volume for this one account. For who could describe the tears and sighs of the mother as well as of the son?
Accordingly, they moved Abraham, Sarah, and finally the entire household to pity and tears. But especially Abraham and Sarah urged both to bear this expulsion patiently; for, as they said, it was
God's will expressed by a definite word that Ishmael should leave his home and his native country and should wait for God's blessing in another place than in the land of Canaan. Moreover, they said that God is unchanging and truthful and would not forsake them but would bountifully give them what He had promised, namely, a most powerful kingdom.
I am not inventing these things, but the very situation and Moses' earlier narrative clearly suggest these circumstances. For the history of the Sodomites shows how godly and how gentle and compassionate Abraham was even toward his enemies. How, then, could he refrain from tears in this instance, when he sent away his wife and his first-born son in this manner with meager provisions?
He said: "My dear Hagar, I have not forgotten what I owe you and your son, my own flesh, and I would gladly keep both of you with me and perform the duties of love which I owe you; but God's command demands and directs something else. For the sake of God, therefore, bear calmly the fact that you two are being cast out in a state of such destitution. God does not want to make you rich through my wealth; He wants you to experience His blessing in a different place."
What, then, can be set before us that is more profitable than this account for instructing us regarding most important matters? For it warns us by the example of Abraham that when God gives an order, one must not delay or argue. God wants obedience, but delay displeases Him. His innate affections confused Abraham too, so that he thought: "Where will my poor wife stay with her son?
Where will she find an abode? Who will defend her against harm?"
But his faith, strengthened by a trustworthy assurance, smothers all these thoughts of the flesh, though not without difficulty and great grief, and simply clings to this hope: "God will look out for them. God will take care of them, for He loves them more than I do and will be more able to help them."
Accordingly, this example is suitable for us to learn to do quickly and without argument whatever we know has been commanded by the Word of God. When Christ said to Peter (John 21:21–22):
"Follow Me," Peter, oblivious, as it were, of the command but concerned about John, said: "What about this man?" But the Lord rebukes him and says: "What is that to you? Follow Me!"
Therefore Abraham's conduct is proper. He does not argue about where Hagar will go with her son; he simply turns his attention to the command of God, who had ordered him to cast out the mother with her son. That is what the examples or exercises of saintly men are like.
The monks, as I have said before, boast of their self-denial, their purifications, and their mortifications; but for them it is a mortification if they see that a brother who is sitting near them gets better or finer bread or fish. But in Abraham we see that the flesh is truly crucified, and that his inclination, even when it is just and saintly and also strengthened by a divine command, is mortified.
- 22 For it is God's command that one should love one's wife, defend one's children, lay up treasures for one's children, etc.
Abraham is commanded to smother this natural inclination and saintly affection, and to send away his wife as well as his son in such a manner that they take with them not even a penny from his vast possessions. If this is not an example of mortification, I do not know what can be called mortification.
He loves both his wife and his son; but when he is commanded to cast them out, he obeys without delay when God summons him, and he cuts short all arguments, no matter what fortune may eventually overtake the exiles.
This is the description of the expulsion or departure. As you see, it is pitiful enough; for neither side was able to hold back its tears. It was hard for Ishmael and his mother to leave the wealthy, kindly, saintly father and his entire church. For the father it was hard to send them away in such destitution and in the future not to have the companionship of the two. This also brought sorrow to Sarah herself and to Isaac. But both sides obey the will of God and kill their innate feelings, even those feelings that are strongest, namely, toward children and wife—feelings which cause us to undergo and bear even the greatest hardships.
But this is a proper observance of the vow of continence, of which the lazy crowd of monks—yes, even those among them who want to be the saintliest—have no knowledge.
The final little statement which Moses adds, namely, that "she wandered in the wilderness," tends even to increase our sympathy, since there was no one to guide the way. Because they did not know where they were going, they wandered in the wilderness. Furthermore, the word "to wander" indicates that they were in a very confused state of mind, with the result that they did not know where they were going, as happens to those who are bewildered because of fear and grief. We know that by nature the female sex is weak in spirit and is gravely upset even by slight inconveniences. What, then, shall we think about Hagar as she wanders so pitifully in the desert, without a guide, without provisions for the way, and without any human help? But another misfortune happens, one that is greater and sadder.
This is described next.
15. When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes.
16. Then she went, and sat down over against him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said: Let me not look upon the death of the child. And as she sat over against him, she lifted up her voice and wept.
The account could not have been written in a more horrifying way, even though Moses, in his customary manner, employs very few words. The mother and her son had water for three or four days, and with it they refresh themselves in the wilderness; but after this there is no more water. Therefore death is imminent for both, and from thirst at that, which is unbearable for our nature.
If someone wanted to rant against Abraham at this point, he could make him the murderer of his son and wife. The responsibility for this outcome lies in him who, as it seems, is cruelly casting out his own flesh. And Moses himself employs rather horrifying words; he states that Ishmael, now almost dead from thirst, was laid under a bush by his mother, and that her motherly affection constrained her to withdraw from him, lest she see her son breathe his last.
Who would believe this if Moses had not recorded it? Clearly one misfortune follows on the heels of the other. The first-born son was cast out from his father's house and was deprived of all of his father's wealth, ln addition to this, in the desert he is now in peril of his life because of hunger and thirst.
Moreover, it is a tragic misfortune that the mother lays the lad in the grass under a bush; for she is so heartbroken through grief that she cannot bear the sight of her dying son. Someone will say:
"Abraham should have thought of these misfortunes beforehand and should not have acted so hastily, especially in a matter altogether contrary to natural love or affection."
I have stated above that we should take very careful note of this example, in order that we may not argue when God commands something but may obey Him without delay. It will certainly not be easy
- 23 for us to imitate this obedience which Abraham showed here, but what the monks are doing—wearing cowls and abstaining from meat and the handling of money—this will be very easy for us to imitate.
Therefore Abraham was no ordinary Christian or confessor, if I may express myself in this way.
No, he was a martyr of martyrs. For who is there who does not know how intense a father's affection toward his children and wife is? It is easier for a parent to suffer death than to forsake his own or to permit great harm to be done to them. But everything must yield to a command of God; and if you want to be a Christian, this is not a matter of wearing a black or gray garment. No, everything must be risked, not only wife and children but your own life.
For Christ teaches clearly (Matt. 10:37) that "he who loves father and mother more than Me is not worthy of Me." This means: "When I come with My Word and command, then you must forget everything you have and possess in this whole world."
What, I ask you, have you ever heard or read about this denial in the writings of any monk? To be sure, they inscribe "Deny yourself" on the doors of their dwellings.39 But if you judge the matter on the basis of their actions, this means nothing else to them than "Forsake a poor kitchen, and enter a rich one; shun the inconveniences and hardships of the world, that is, of the household and of the government; enjoy a life of ease, and fatten yourself like a pig, and begrudge everybody whatever he has." Oh, what an easy and pleasant mortification of the flesh!
But the more patient and the more compassionate Abraham was, the more laudable his obedience is; for he puts God's command above everything else and loves God above all things, and to such an extent that he casts his most dearly beloved son and his very winsome wife out of his house like enemies.
To be sure, this expulsion is described in a manner that expresses grief, because the lad is weeping as he lies dying of thirst and his mother is unable to aid him in the desert; and if you judge the outward appearance, you will conclude that this is cruel, and you will blame Abraham. But what else was he to do, since God had given him the order?
But even though Ishmael is cast out of the house and the church of Abraham, nevertheless, as I have stated more than once above, undoubtedly many of the Canaanites were converted to the church.40 Thus I do not doubt that Ishmael and many of his descendants were converted to the true church of Abraham. For the expulsion does not mean that Ishmael should be utterly excluded from the kingdom of God. No, the purpose is to let him know that the kingdom of God is not owed to him by reason of a natural right but comes out of pure grace.
For God gives nothing to anyone as the result of a right, in accordance with the statement (Rom.
11:35): "Who has first given to Him?" Nor is God anyone's debtor, for we would fare badly if He were our debtor. Indeed, we are all indebted to God. Therefore if He gives us something, He gives it, not because of a right but out of grace, which He lavishly and richly offers to all who believe His promise.
Ishmael and his mother must learn this lesson, since both wanted to proceed against Isaac on the strength of a right. Accordingly, I have no doubt that after this presumption of a right was destroyed by so harsh an expulsion, Ishmael and his mother returned to Abraham. For the opinion of the Jews that Keturah is Hagar pleases me.41
Therefore this account serves to teach us that we have nothing by reason of a right, but that everything comes as a result of the grace of God. The Jews want to be Abraham's heirs and to have possession of the blessing on the strength of a right, because they were born of the flesh of Abraham.
Yet if they surrendered that right and sought refuge in grace, they would in this way become sharers in the promise.
Thus the pope boasts of his succession and on the strength of this right lays claim to the primacy for himself, but we in no wise concede this to him in the church. If he wanted to be first out of grace, we would put up with him; but when he insists on a right, we do not put up with him.
We say the same thing about the canons. If they left them optional, we would tolerate them; but because they make them binding, we utterly reject them and are harder than an anvil and a diamond.
We would be softer than wax if our freedom were left to us.
- 24 Concerning monastic life our opinion is the same. The monks have their rules and exercises. They insist on these as a right, and they maintain that eternal life is their due. But who has commanded them to do this?
When God freely promises and gives all things abundantly for His Son's sake, is it not great ungodliness that we, thrusting aside His promise, presume to lay claim to eternal life for ourselves on the strength of a right?
Accordingly, by this example of Ishmael, God makes it clear that He owes nobody anything.
Before Him, therefore, let no one boast of or glory in his righteousness and merit; but let the whole world be subject to God, prostrate itself, invoke His grace and mercy, and with one accord say (Ps.
143:2): "Enter not into judgment with Thy servant."
This is what Ishmael teaches every one of us. After he had been crushed in this manner, he simply renounced his right. Later on he came into the inheritance of the promise as a guest, as Paul says about the Gentiles in the Epistle to the Ephesians42 (2:11–12).
For I believe that the descendants of Ishmael also joined the church of Abraham and became heirs of the promise, not by reason of a fight but because of irregular grace, just as we have stated above about the Cainites.43
This is the reason why the destitute son, along with his destitute mother—he alone along with her alone—was cast out of his father's house into the desert and into death from thirst and hunger, namely, in order that the exceedingly destructive beast called the notion of one's righteousness, fight, and merit before God might be slain.
For before God nothing except grace has any value. If the Turks, the Jews, and the pope apprehended it through Christ, they would be saved; but since they are utterly blinded, they reject grace and rely on right and merit. Therefore they perish eternally.
Accordingly, this passage concerning the trials of Abraham and Hagar is wholly theological. For, as I have said, it was a great trial for Abraham to cast out his natural son along with his lawful wife in so brutal a manner, without making any provision whatever either for the wife or for the child but delivering both to what seemed to be certain death. For Abraham was not a hard stone; he was full of the Holy Spirit, who makes men gentle, humble, kindly, and beneficent.
Therefore this account is astonishing; but it is recorded about the saintly patriarch as an example for us, in order that we may learn that we should love and revere God above all things. Similarly, in chapter twelve Abraham is commanded to leave his country; and in Ps. 45:10 the church which has been gathered from the Jews is told: "O daughter, forget your father's house." And Christ says (Matt.
10:37): "He who loves father and mother more than Me is not worthy of Me."
Thus the Second Table contains the commandments dealing with love toward the brethren; but when a new commandment is added, as when Saul is commanded to kill the Amalekites, then we must be filled with wrath, persecute and kill them. Then we, like Abraham, must forget all love, even if a son has to be sacrificed. For the statement "I am the Lord your God" annuls that other commandment about loving one's neighbor and honoring one's parents.
Hence we observe a twofold mortification in the case of Abraham. The first has to do with the First Table. For in that case the conflict concerns God's promise. Contrary to the Word, Abraham wants it to be common to both his sons. This loyal affection is mortified, and Abraham is forced to learn from his wife what the true understanding of the promise is.
The second mortification has to do with the Second Table, for Abraham is compelled to forget his loyalty toward his wife and son.
These examples should be diligently taught in the church; for they are in harmony with the Gospel, which teaches that the Word should be given preference above everything human. Since Abraham was taught by these44 exercises, he had no hope that he would attain the fulfillment of the promise in this life; but he understood it to refer to other things—things greater than those that have to do with this life—since he is troubled by great trials and misfortunes even after the heir of the promise has been given to him.
The knowledge of eternal life, faith in the coming Christ, and the hope of the resurrection from the dead are the real blessings. These Abraham looked for because of the promise. He was not at all disturbed by these adversities—that he was compelled to wander about in this manner, to have no - 25 permanent abode, to cast out his wife and his first-born son. To the carnal man all these things seem to conflict with the promise. In reality, however, they are exercises of faith that are indispensable to us.
But they are extraordinarily burdensome to the flesh, yes, altogether impossible.
These words—that Abraham gave Hagar a skin of water and bread—are few; but they, too, show what a pitiful misfortune this was. For consider the circumstances, and you will see that they are so horrible that they cannot be expressed in words. Not Sarah, not some servant, but Abraham himself, the father, equips his wife and son for the way. He puts bread and water on their shoulders and commands them to leave.
The account is almost like what is related about the sacrifice of Isaac. The grief would have been less heavy if Abraham had assigned this duty to a servant and if at that time he himself had gone to another place. But he is compelled to equip both of them for the way and to watch them in person as they leave. Therefore he must divest himself completely of his fatherly affection toward his wife and his son, like a hard and cruel man, as though he had never known them.
Moses considered this immeasurable fear and love of God worthy of being extolled in writing, inasmuch as Abraham is not only an onlooker but also the cause of this misfortune. But if someone else had done this and had cast out of his house his wife with whom he had been closely associated for twenty years, more or less, what do you suppose Abraham would have done? But now, when God commands him to do this, he himself is the perpetrator, as it were, of this cruelty.
Abraham teaches us by his example that everything indeed should be done for the sake of one's neighbor, but that when we are ordered by a command of God to do something different, nothing in this entire life should be so dear and pleasing to us that we must not hate it, even our own life, as Christ says: "He who hates his life will find it" (cf. Matt. 10:39).
This, then, is forgetting one's father's house, as the psalm (45:10) expresses it. It is surely a piteous description, which I can hardly read with dry eyes, that the mother and her son bear their expulsion with such patience and go away into exile. Therefore Father Abraham either stood there with tears in his eyes and followed them with his blessings and prayers as they went away, or he hid himself somewhere in a nook, where he wept in solitude over his own misfortune and that of the exiles.
For, as I have stated repeatedly, Abraham was not a log or a stone; but he had a heart brimful of compassion and of love for his neighbors, and far more for the people of his household, namely, his wife and his first-born son. Where in this way trial follows upon trial and tears force out other tears, the mortification is real; and real are the exercises of the faith which mortifies even innate love.
Therefore one may say that the instances of mortification of the monks and nuns, of which they boast, are trifles.
Beer-sheba, of which the text makes mention, is close to Egypt, and perhaps there were herds of sheep and cattle in the neighborhood. For the people of that region supported themselves by means of herds of cattle and lived in tents. There Ishmael and Hagar45 encounter a new danger—a danger which stuns the mother and renders her almost cruelly unfeeling, just as Abraham, too, can appear to have acted cruelly, although for another reason; for he obeyed God's command.
Ishmael is being tortured to death by thirst. Since his mother could not watch this sad spectacle, she lays him down on the grass among the shrubs and goes away a short distance, as though she intended to abondon him when he was about to die. Nevertheless, she sits down nearby. From here she can hear the groans of the dying boy.
We know that it is great misery and a misfortune if an exile without a fixed abode wanders about among strange people; but the misfortune which the circumstances in this place reveal is greater. For Hagar is both a mother and a woman, and is alone and in the desert at that, after being east out so suddenly from a spacious house. And now there is a lack of all provisions, and her son is dying.
Hagar could have had water from Beer-sheba, for undoubtedly the tents of shepherds were there.
But the woman wanders about, not only afflicted in her body but also so disquieted in mind that she does not know what to do.
But it is a theological rule that Satan adds affliction to the afflicted and causes those who go astray physically also to go astray mentally. As we say in the German proverb, he is in the habit of climbing over a hedge where it is low and of pushing in the direction in which a wagon leans, in order to overturn it completely.
- 26 Accordingly, very sad thoughts, which Satan has outstanding ability to stir up, were added to these misfortunes. "Where shall I go now," thought Hagar, "a woman who has been pitifully cast out? There is neither a God in heaven nor a human being on earth who takes pity on us. God hates us. Therefore
He will let us die here and perish in the desert from thirst and hunger."
This is that destructive addition from which Satan has his name when he is called Leviathan.46 Out of a physical misfortune he makes a spiritual one, and to a burden he adds a burden that is greater.
Moreover, Job (40:24) states that he cannot be caught with a hook; that is, he cannot be driven off by human strength. He is Leviathan, or the one who always adds something to the other pan of the scale and forces it down; he overturns the leaning wagon.
Accordingly, this was a severe trial and one that was far more serious than hunger or thirst.
Therefore Hagar falls into a stupor so deep that she does not know what she is doing. Otherwise she would have seen the well and would have thought of the people of that place. But after she has become involved in those additions and exaggerations of Leviathan, she thinks that there are several hundredweights of affliction where there is but an ounce.
Thus the author of Revelation calls Satan "he accuser of our brethren" (12:10). For Satan makes those who are smug altogether adamantine, just as our antinomians are. But those who have a feeble and timid heart he dashes to the ground with his terrors as with the force of a thunderbolt.
Accordingly, Hagar is being tried not only by her physical expulsion but also by her spiritual one; and she is despairing to the point of death. The water had been used up, but there was a whole well in the neighborhood. Hagar does not think of this, for she is sunk in those lying thoughts which Satan has suggested: "Behold, Abraham is a man of God and His prophet; in his house alone is the true church, and he it is who is casting out you and your son. What other, surer proof can there be that you do not belong to that church?"
I would not like to have my heart attacked with such darts, for I have experienced how dangerous a wound this inflicts. If some minister of a church were to deny me absolution and keep me from Holy
Communion, even though it were done for some trivial reason, I nevertheless believe that I would run away in despair with Judas and hang myself.
But Hagar does not hear this verdict of expulsion from some ordinary minister. No, she hears it from the foremost patriarch, who is the father of the promise. In what frame of mind, then, do you suppose she was?
About Lot we have heard above that he was so crushed and stunned by misfortunes that even though he saw, he did not see, and even though he did something, he was not aware of it. For his mind is preoccupied to such an extent with great grief and perils that all the senses in his body are virtually dead. Therefore this is called an ἔκστασις47 and a trance, which is so powerful that Lot was completely without any knowledge of what he had done with his daughters.
Here good Hagar is also in such a state of violent emotion, and Moses indicates this by the word "to wander"; for her exceedingly great sorrow prevents her from seeing anything. Despair makes her deaf, dumb, blind, and thoughtless. Indeed, it simply kills her so far as all her senses are concerned.
Moreover, you see that here, in opposition to our antinomians, the Law is considered before the solace is mentioned. Ishmael and his mother Hagar acted proudly toward Isaac because they themselves were also the seed of Abraham; and they were hoping to get the inheritance because of their relationship according to the flesh.
First it was necessary that this state of mind be overcome by knowledge of the Law and by mortification. Those who have been mortified through the agency of the Law must then be buoyed up in turn and comforted by the Word of God. For they are contrite; they are not smug and proud, as Hence the passage before us gives us instruction concerning the exercise and function of the Law.
Therefore Paul (Gal. 4:30) calls these words of Sarah, "Cast out the slave woman," words of the Law.
He does not say: "What does Sarah say?" No, he says: "What does Scripture say?" If, then, Moses, with his written Law, was not yet in existence, still the Law was there in its use and exercise, because
"to cast out" is a word of the Law.
Therefore let us utterly reject the antinomians, who cast the Law out of the church and want to teach repentance by means of the Gospel.48 It is correct, of course, to say that people should be buoyed
- 27 up and comforted; but a definition should be added—a definition stating who such people are, namely, that they are those who are wasting away from hunger and thirst in the desert after they have been cast out of their home and country, who sigh and cry to the Lord and are now at the point of despair.
People of this kind are fit hearers of the Gospel.
But those who feel that they are in the state of grace because of some physical prerogative, who vaunt their own righteousness and sanctity, do not think they are in the desert. No, they think they are in Paradise. They do not know what it means to wander in the desert. They are not humbled. They are not killed. They must be struck with the hammer of the Law and broken to pieces. Yes, they must be reduced to nothing.
This is done through the Law, which says: "Cast out the slave woman with her son; for he shall not be the heir" (Gal. 4:30); that is, by nature we are all outside God's grace. For so far as our nature is concerned, we are children of perdition; nor is it of any benefit that the Jews are the descendants of Abraham, that at birth we bring with us the judgment of reason and the Law, and that in some measure we can adjust our will to the Law. All this contributes nothing to salvation.
But whatever there is of the Law, whatever there is of the will of the flesh and of man—of this it is said: "Cast it out!" For God cannot bear the presumption of Ishmael; that is, He does not want us to glory in our physical birth, in our strength, in the freedom of our will, in our wisdom and righteousness. All this must be mortified; all this must be despaired of, just as Hagar despairs in this place.
When this has happened and we have been thrust down into hell, this is the time to call us back by means of the sweet voice of the Gospel, which does not say: "Cast out!" No, it says (Matt. 9:2): "Take heart, my son, your sins are forgiven." For this reason Scripture says (1 Sam. 2:6) that it is God's work
"to bring down to Sheol and to raise up, to kill and to bring to life."
This is the reason why Ishmael and his mother are cast out, namely, that the horrible and ungovernable evil of presumption of their own righteousness may be killed. For this is what he thought: "I am in the house of Abraham; therefore I am the heir." This self-confidence is such a poisonous evil and such a pernicious pest that it cannot be killed except through utter despair, so that a man, divested of everything he possesses, all but despairs of God and His grace and feels himself cast away by God. This the Father and the true Abraham, that is, God Himself, is compelled to bring about in us. For neither the church nor Christ nor righteousness concerns us at all unless harmful presumption is first completely overcome and mortified.
Therefore the antinomians, who defend themselves with our example, deserve to be hated by all, even though it is manifest why in the beginning we taught as we did concerning the grace of God. The pope had pitiably burdened the consciences with his traditions and had taken away all true means of help with which despondent hearts could be protected against despair. What else, then, could we do than encourage the disheartened people and hold out true solace to them?
We know, however, that one must speak differently to those who are sated, addicted to pleasure, and fat. At that time we were all cast out and exceedingly miserable. The water in the bottle had been consumed; that is, there was no comfort available. We were lying there dying, like Ishmael under the tree. Therefore we needed such teachers as would present to us the grace of God and teach us to breathe freely again.
The antinomians, on the other hand, want the doctrine of repentance to begin directly from grace.
But I myself did not proceed in this manner, for I knew that Ishmael was cast out and in despair before he heard the comfort from the angel. Accordingly, I followed this example and comforted only those who were first contrite and despairing, whom the Law had thoroughly frightened and Leviathan had crushed and stunned. For Christ came into the world for their sake, and He does not want the smoking flax (Matt. 12:20) to be completely extinguished. Therefore He cries (Matt. 11:28): "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy-laden."
Ishmael was not that kind of person before he was cast out of the house. He was proud and smug, and an antinomian Epicurean. "I," he said, "am the lord and the heir; Isaac and Sarah should yield to me." Should this pride have been fostered, or should it have been corrected? But by what other method could it have been corrected than by letting him be cast out together with his mother and letting him carry away with him nothing from the house of Abraham except that reward of the Law, namely, bread
- 28 and water? For this is what the Law is wont to do. It leads the bound thief to the gallows; but before he is strangled, it refreshes him with a drink of water. Finally, however, the water gives out, and death remains. More than this the Law does not do.
Therefore let us learn that God hates all proud people; but those who have been humbled and have felt the power of the Law He comforts, if not through men, at least through an angel from heaven. For He does not permit such people to perish, just as He does not permit those who are smug to remain in Moreover, a teacher in the church must be well informed and experienced in both respects, in order that he may be able to refute and crush the gainsayers and to comfort again those who have been refuted and crushed, lest they be devoured. If our nature had not been corrupted by sin to such an extent, there would be no need for the preaching of the Law. But now, because of our hardness and extreme smugness, God cannot accomplish anything among us through His grace unless He has first broken and crushed our adamantine hearts.
Therefore in Gal. 4:22 ff. Paul also gives the following literal explanation of the passage before us.
He says: "All who are of the synagog are people of this kind." Moreover, we learn by experience that not only the Jews but all men are people of this kind, just as I related above about the Turks, who take for granted that they are the people of God because they are distinguished by victories, and about the pope and his church, who appropriate the name "church" because they have the honor and the office.
In short, this account portrays all such people. They cannot be saved unless they are reduced to death and despair; for all of them, because of their physical birth and the powers this brings with it, take grace and the forgiveness of sins for granted.
I recall that an ungodly and very bitter enemy of the Gospel fell from a scaffold while he was inspecting a building that was under construction. Since he felt no ill effect from his fall—for not a single member had been injured—he cried out: "Now I know that I have a gracious God."49 Thus the world is wont to do. Because of physical blessings it takes for granted that God is gracious. Such is its nature. Therefore its nature must be mortified, which is done through the Law.
Consequently, he who wants to be an heir of the promises must exclude everything that is not a promise, as St. Paul does in his Epistle to the Philippians (3:8), when he calls the righteousness of the Law refuse; for before God nothing is of any avail except the promise and grace set forth in Christ.
The flesh has its gifts, but nothing is owed them except bread and water. But eternal life does not come to the children of the flesh; it comes to the children of the promises, that is, to those who believe.
It is worthy of special note that God added a blessing for married people when He said (Gen.
1:28): "Increase and multiply." But this is a physical blessing and is restricted to the filling of the earth. No matter how saintly a father and a mother are, this is nevertheless of no advantage to the children who are born to them. Nor are the children saved on this account. If they are to be saved, they must become children of the promise, and they themselves must believe the promise. For this reason the individuals must be baptized. It is of no benefit to me that you were baptized; I, too, must be baptized and believe.
Thus the expulsion of Ishmael is a matter that includes all men and unites the church of the past up to the end of the world; it points out that the first birth does not concern the kingdom of God and that without faith in the promise concerning Christ nobody can be saved. Therefore it is foolish for the papists to proclaim that they are the church. For the church is not a people that should be judged on the basis of a large number, of size, of wisdom, of power, of wealth, of prestige, of succession, of office, etc. Far less is it to be judged on the basis of self-chosen forms of worship. No, it is the people of the promise, that is, the people which believes the promise.
Therefore when they say: "The pope is the head of the church; hence whatever he commands is of God," you must say that this is not a logical conclusion, because the pope has neither any knowledge nor any understanding of Holy Scripture and believes it far less. He is a sort of mask of the church and not the church. Indeed, he attacks and persecutes the church, just as Cain attacked and persecuted
Abel. This he does on account of the promise which he claims for himself, even though he does not believe it. Therefore let no one permit himself to be frightened by the magnificent terms "succession,"
"call," and "office."
- 29 The Turks also boast that they are creatures of God; and they swear by God, the Creator of heaven and earth. The pope boasts that he believes in Christ, namely, that He is the Son of God and the Redeemer of the world. Meanwhile he establishes monasteries and institutes Masses, fasts, the worship of saints, and the like, but in vain. For these are works of your own creation—of you who are made of flesh—and they are fruits of an evil tree. But if the tree is to become good, you must become a person of the promise; that is, you must accept grace and rely on mercy alone, something which cannot happen unless you apprehend the Word of the promise by faith. Ishmael is Abraham's natural son. Nevertheless, he is not the heir.
This is the argument of St. Paul, and no man will be able to invalidate it. We see plainly that the papists are persecuting the children of the promise, just as Ishmael persecuted Isaac. Therefore unless the groundless self-confidence they have acquired is mortified and reduced to nothing, together with all their fine gifts from the flesh, they will never be saved. Observe how the Turks are adorned with power and wisdom. The pope, too, and the cardinals are very wise men. Similarly, Plato, Cicero, and Socrates are also very great men. But they are not the church on this account; for they do not have this essential difference by which the church is set apart from the world, namely, the promise.
Consequently, we concede to the pope and his followers their wisdom and prestige. And I add even the succession and office. But they are not the church on this account. For there is lacking that essential difference, which is faith in the Gospel. But those who do not believe the Gospel are not the church; nor do they belong to the kingdom of Christ.
Therefore, O pope, your papacy must first be killed, and you must be reduced to nothing before God. Otherwise you will never be even the smallest part of the church. This is something harsh, and to the papists it is unbearable. But it grieved Ishmael, too, to be cast out and separated from the church, and to be regarded as a member cut away from the church. Nor can anything more painful happen to all of us who are private individuals than to be deprived in this manner of all hope and confidence.
I, too, am very frequently troubled by this trial, that I look about for works in which I may be able to put my trust, because I have taught much, have benefited many, and have borne many more indignities than I deserved. But I realize that in real conflicts all these are nothing, and I am driven to the well-known confession of David, who said: "Lord, I am nothing but a sinner" (cf. Ps. 32:5); and (Ps. 116:11): "I said in my consternation: 'All men are a vain hope'"; that is, every man who deceives and is deceived is useless. Likewise (Ps. 143:2): "Enter not into judgment with Thy servant."
But I encourage myself with this hope alone, that in the Gospel I see that solace has been promised to the contrite, hope to the despairing, and heaven to those who have been put into hell; and the fact that the Son of God, without our knowledge, offered Himself for us to God the Father, His Father, on the altar of the cross, is sure proof of this hope.
If those who have first been humbled in this manner and have been driven to despair begin to be of good cheer because of Christ to the same extent that they despair of themselves, they become children of God and heirs. Yet you may find many who do not want to be humbled but plan vengeance and grumble. These people are doubly obdurate.
Therefore when you feel that you are being humbled, cast yourself at the feet of your heavenly Father and say: "O Lord, if Thou dealest with me in this manner, I shall bear it patiently, and I confess that I have deserved something more terrible. Therefore be merciful to me. If Thou dost not want me to be an heir, see to it that I remain a servant (Luke 15:19). Indeed, as the Canaanite woman says, I do not refuse to be a dog in Thy house so that I can at least eat the crumbs which chance to fall to the ground and otherwise are wasted (Matt. 15:27). Thou dost not owe me a thing by any right. Therefore
I cling to Thy mercy."
This is the true way by which we come to grace and salvation. But few listen, and fewer obey and believe. The Jews recite these words daily in their prayers: "Blessed be God, who sanctifies us before all the people of the earth."50 But this is not a prayer. No, it is the height of blasphemy against God, as the psalm (109:7) says: "Let their prayer be counted as sin!" For God is not one to show partiality. He sets forth His Word to all and wants all to believe and be saved. He makes no distinction between Jews and Gentiles; He wants to be the God of all. Therefore let no one be as arrogant as the ungodly Jews are. Let us all humble ourselves and acknowledge that we are nothing, but that whatever we are, we are by the free grace of God.
- 30 Paul, too, was puffed up by his own righteousness; but when, as he was near Damascus, he heard the voice of Christ, whom he had previously so smugly despised, he said with fear and trembling:
"Lord, what dost Thou want me to do?" (Cf. Acts 9:6.) Where on this occasion was his boast that he was a son of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee, and a student of the Law? Just as Ishmael came from the Law to the promise, from death to life, and from hell to heaven, so this happened to Paul too. This is why later on he manifests such ardor and such a spirit of power when he deals with this very discussion concerning the promise and merits, concerning grace and works, namely, that the promise alone and nothing else makes heirs—not physical birth, not circumcision, not other works of the Law.
17. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her. What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not; for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.
The angel does not call Ishmael Abraham's son; he simply calls him a lad, which is a designation common among all men. And he says that the lad's cry has been heard. Undoubtedly the dying
Ishmael did not mention that Abraham was his father; for, overwhelmed as he is by misfortune and grief, he forgets about it, and Leviathan, of whom we have spoken before—that is, Satan—makes his appearance and kills him spiritually with the power of the Law.
Therefore nothing else was left than the indescribable groan of a despairing heart. Ishmael confesses that he is unworthy of his father's house and inheritance, just as the prodigal son in the Gospel (Luke 15:21) says: "I am not worthy to be called your son." This groan God sees and hears. To be sure, Ishmael cried with his voice; but it was chiefly the distress of his heart and his contrition that led him to groan from the throat and to heave deep sighs. This music, which seems to us very sad and mournful, pleases God more than any other form of worship, as He says in Isaiah (57:15): "I shall dwell with a contrite spirit." For smugness is offensive to God.
The following story is told about the hermit Anthony, who was the originator of the monastic way of life.51 He wanted to know with whom he would share his honor and glory in eternal life, for he was exceedingly pleased with himself because of this solitary kind of life. Accordingly, he hears in a dream that in Alexandria there is a certain cobbler or tanner who would share with him the same glory.
Anthony is amazed at the comparison and goes to Alexandria with the intention of seeing the man who is his equal in sanctity. I do not know what grand things he promises himself from that cobbler; but when he came to him, he found that he gained his livelihood by working with his hands and in this manner supported himself, his wife, and his children. So he said: "Please, my dear cobbler, I know that you worship God faithfully and serve Him truly. Tell me, therefore, what you do, what you eat, what you drink, how or when you pray. You do not spend entire nights without sleep when you devote yourself to prayer, do you?" "Not at all," said the cobbler. "In the morning and in the evening I give thanks to God for His faithful protection and guidance. I ask for forgiveness of all my sins for Christ's sake, and I humbly pray that He would guide me with His Spirit and not lead me into temptation. After this prayer I get busy with my leather and provide sustenance for myself and those who are mine.
Besides this I do nothing except to beware lest anywhere I do something against my conscience."
When Anthony hears this, he is amazed, and he realizes that self-chosen forms of worship are no worship and that therefore no trust at all should be put in them. This blessing not only happened to Anthony himself but is also a warning to all posterity—a warning by which God wanted to help His church, lest it indulge in self-chosen forms of worship, which always bring with them this pernicious pest of self-reliance, which must be crushed.
Poor clothing, coarse food, fasts, long prayers, vigils, or any works cannot be of benefit to us for eternal life. Only trust in mercy, only the promise, saves. If this is lacking, confess freely, and say: "I am nothing. The inheritance does not concern me; I have been cast out of my father's house."
This is the voice of the lad Ishmael, which God hears; and to those who cry in this manner He sends His angels from heaven itself.
Therefore this is a very great comfort for all those who feel that they have been cast out' that is, acknowledge their sins and tremble before the judgment of God. For He does not want to cast such people aside, nor can He do so; and if such people were without solace from men, it would sooner be necessary for an angel to descend from heaven to bring them comfort. Accordingly, God is called the God of the humble and afflicted who does not quench a smoldering wick (Matt. 12:20). But after the - 31 self-reliance of the flesh has been mortified in Ishmael, he becomes a true son of the promise; and what he first demanded on the basis of right, but did not obtain, he now, in his utmost need and despair, receives by grace.
It is a remarkable situation and one most worthy of noting that when Ishmael feels himself utterly cast away, he has God at his side and is very dear to God. And God cannot disregard the voice and the groaning of the afflicted lad. But if God had not heard him here, he would have perished eternally. But to God this is impossible. "For He is merciful and does not want the death of the sinner" (cf. Ezek.
Accordingly, let us learn this rule: Only those who are contrite become children of Abraham, and this takes place out of extraordinary and pure grace. Therefore one should not be presumptuous about anything, just as one should not despair either. But our nature is such that it is presumptuous when there is peace and despairs when there is war, although one should steer a middle course and not lose heart in dangers but should trust in God's mercy and call upon His name, according to what is stated in Ps. 50:15: "Call upon Me in the day of trouble." Likewise Ps. 91:16: "I will show them My salvation."
Nevertheless, everyone must be cautioned not to suppose that contrition, about which we have already said a great deal, is deserving of grace, as the sophists falsely teach.52 For many do not hear the Word, and many who hear the Word do not believe. The Word is offered to all, and "I am the Lord your God" is a general statement which applies equally to all. But presumptuous persons despise it, and those who despair do not believe that it applies to them. Therefore one should keep to the middle of the road, in accordance with this little line: "In the middle you will walk in greatest safety."53
It may be surprising that Hagar did not become frightened and flee when she heard the angel's voice in the desert. But I have stated that her mind was benumbed by such a great stupor that she did not think about who was speaking. Similarly, when Peter, who is in prison, is awakened by the angel and led out of the prison, he does not know that this is really taking place but thinks that something like it is happening to him in a dream (Acts 12:9). But the angel undoubtedly appeared in human form.
Moreover, because the Word of God is never proclaimed in vain, Hagar, too, is first awakened from death, as it were, by the angel's voice. Then she is enlightened with a new light of the Holy
Spirit, and from a slave woman she also becomes a mother of the church, who later on instructed her descendants and warned them by her own example not to act proudly; for, as she said, she had been a lawful wife of Abraham, the very saintly patriarch, and had borne him his first-born son. But this physical prerogative had been of no benefit to her. Indeed, this prestige had given rise to her pride. But after she had been cast out on account of her pride and had been humbled, she finally attained grace.
Similarly, we who have lived in monasteries today tell others about our crosses and sufferings.
Because we put our trust in them, we believed that we were sitting on the lap of God. Now, however, after we have been enlightened by the Word, we call all those righteousnesses on which we used to rely "refuse and loss," as Paul does (Phil. 3:8).
After Hagar had been instructed in the Lord's school in this manner, she gave excellent instruction to many pupils concerning the foremost doctrine taught in the church of God, namely, that no glorying according to the flesh is of any avail. She said that she had been in the same bed with Abraham and yet had been cast out of his house. Therefore he who boasts, let him boast that he knows the Lord (cf. 1
Cor. 1:31), that is, that he has the promise and believes it, and that without this faith everything else is useless.
In the Hebrew the angel's words are very brief. "What troubles you, Hagar?" he asks. But one should not suppose that these words were spoken in a harsh manner, as though he were rebuking her; for they are words of comfort. "Ah," says the angel, "why are you weeping? Why are you sobbing?
What do you desire? There is no reason why you should be afraid. Dry your tears. God cares for you and your son. He wanted to crush you. Since this has been achieved, He wants you to be of good hope with regard to His mercy. Before this you, with your son, also prayed in the house of Abraham. But there God was unwilling to hear you, for your prayer was associated with pride and with contempt for your brother. But here He has heard you. Therefore believe that His church is here. For where God hears prayers, there His sanctuary is, there the church is, and there the unutterable sighing (Rom. 8:26) of those who despair of themselves is." Thus one must understand definitely that he is speaking specifically of the place where Ishmael is.
- 32 So the angel is sent from heaven to comfort the dying Ishmael and his mother. But since the remedy is so costly, the seriousness of the sickness with which both were afflicted is also evident; for an angel is sent to those who are overwhelmed by misfortune, not a human being. And here we are also reminded of the final cause, namely, that God does not let Ishmael and Hagar be cast out so pitifully because He hates them.
This false cause is the invention of Leviathan; but it is God's plan that they should be humbled and learn to put their trust in God's grace alone, not in merits or some carnal prestige.
Moreover, these things were recorded in writing through the Holy Spirit in order that the entire world and all posterity might learn that it is a universal and indisputable proposition that we are saved by grace, not by merits and works. There was no other remedy for crushing the pride in merits and prestige unless Ishmael, together with his mother, were cast out of the holy church of God, which was in the house of Abraham. But if this did not take place without great grief and many tears, yet the fruit which resulted was far greater; for in this way they attain grace and are saved.
This is the purpose of such a pitiful expulsion: God wants to teach us that we are saved by grace alone or by faith alone. Faith takes hold of the grace that is set before us in the promise. For the natural children are to be regarded as equal with those who are not natural children and yet believe. So there is one God of the Jews and of the Gentiles. The Jews should not boast of their prerogative according to the flesh, and the Gentiles should not despair because of their sins.
This is the chief article of our faith; and if you either do away with it, as the Jews do, or corrupt it, as the papists do, the church cannot exist. Nor can God keep His glory, which consists in this, that He is compassionate and wants to forgive sins and to save for the sake of His Son.
Thus the seemingly pitiful account serves to comfort us, who are wretched sinners and come into the church without worthiness and merits. But we have a place on a par with that of those who are natural children. For with God there is no respect of persons (Acts 10:34), and the promise alone avails; for it is the Word of God that abides forever (1 Peter 1:25).
But what can be the reason for doubting? Why do our opponents attack that proposition so vehemently when we say that we are saved by grace and not by merits? What moves them to do so?
For our situation is far surer if we maintain that we are adopted as children through grace rather than through merits. If our situation depends on merits, we can never be sure when we have enough merits.
Thus we can never be without the danger of damnation. What, then, prompts the papists to rely on works and merits rather than on the promise and grace?
The first reason is this, that they do not believe that God is the Creator of heaven and earth. If they believed that they are God's creatures and that God is their Creator, they would never confront Him with their merits or works; nor would they be presumptuous about anything. For how can one compare the Creator to the creature? The creature comes into being from nothing. Hence all things of which the creature is capable are nothing, that is, if they are opposed to the Creator, who gave it being.
For this reason Job says (4:17–19): "Can man be more righteous than God? Or will man be purer than his Maker? Even in His servants He puts no trust, and His angels He charges with error; how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!" It follows, therefore, that the papists do not believe either that God is the Creator or that they are creatures, since they confront God with merits and works and trust in their works rather than in grace. But what does it mean that what is nothing wants to contend with God, its Creator?
The second reason for the doubting is that God does not deal with us in accordance with His majesty but assumes human form and speaks with us throughout all Scripture as man speaks with man.
In Paradise He asks Adam (Gen. 3:9): "Adam, where are you?" as though He did not know unless Adam told Him. The saints cry out everywhere (Ps. 44:23): "Arise, Lord, why art Thou sleeping? Hear me, O Lord." Yes, Christ Himself says in the Gospel (Luke 6:38): "Give, and it will be given to you."
He establishes a kind of exchange with us. Indeed, He tells us everything without majesty and, if I may use this expression, from the emptied form of God. But the result, as the proverb puts it, is that excessive familiarity breeds contempt.54
But God condescends in this manner because of our weakness, for we cannot bear it when He speaks in His majesty. Words of majesty are "Who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid?"
(Rom. 11:35), "He hardens the heart of whomever He wills" (Rom. 9:18), and "Before Him no one is - 33 blameless" (cf. Job 4:18). Who can bear these words? And yet, when He condescends in this way on our account, so that He speaks with us as the head of a household speaks with his servants, He is despised by us, and we conclude that He needs our money, our fasts, our prayers, our vigils, etc.
Thus the familiarity which should urge us to welcome God's kindness makes us presumptuous. He speaks with us about Himself as though He were a human being like ourselves. He pretends not to know where Adam is. He pretends to be sleeping. He lets a vineyard and promises the laborers rewards. We abuse this familiarity and humility of His and conclude that He is a shoemaker or craftsman who gives nothing by grace but does everything on the basis of merit. This is unbearable presumption, deserving of eternal death.
"Nevertheless," they say, "there is the promise (Luke 6:38): 'Give, and it will be given to you.'"
What is this to you? You are not for this reason going to deny that you are a creature, are you? But if you are a creature, you are nothing over against your Creator, and you confront Him in vain with your merits and works. Do you not see that Ishmael, who is proud of his physical birth, is cast out of the house and is all but killed in the desert? But this is profitable to him, for in this manner he is freed from presumption and attains grace.
The psalm (100:3) states: "The Lord made us, and not we ourselves." Why does the Holy Spirit put us in mind of this, as though no one actually knew it? Truly, the entire world has need of this teaching.
For all who are presumptuous about their works do not know that they were made by the Lord; and they need to be reminded that they were made by the Lord. Otherwise they would humble themselves before their Creator and not be presumptuous about their own powers, because whatever they have, they have from God. Thus ignorance of the act of creation makes us presumptuous. So does God's exceedingly great friendliness toward us.
Therefore it is necessary for God to put a lawgiver over us, as Ps. 9:20 expresses it, and to kill us along with Ishmael, in order that Paul's statement (cf. Eph. 2:8–9) may stand firm: "Through faith and not by works, through grace and not through our merits" we are what we are, even naturally and according to the body and the flesh, and to a far greater extent supernaturally and according to the spirit, so that we should simply say: "O God, have mercy on me!" This is what Ishmael and Hagar learned in the desert.
Ishmael's expulsion from the house shows how intensely God hates pride and presumption. On the other hand, however, learn here how God deals with those who have been humbled. Hagar is sitting there weeping very bitterly and in utter despair. For she sees that she has been cast out together with her son and has been excommunicated by Abraham, the father of the church. This is certainly a dreadful situation. For the Law does not jest. No, it truly humbles hearts, in order that they may realize that with all their powers and works they have merited nothing but eternal damnation.
Therefore the angel comes as a comforter and brings nothing but solace from God Himself. But Hagar is silent; for she is unable to answer, since she is prevented from doing so by her weeping. In the sorrow and sighs of a troubled heart the voice and tongue die, as it were. Therefore since she is silent when the angel addresses her, the angel absolves her from her sins and tells her not to fear.
Accordingly, you should note the difference between the Law and the Gospel. First Hagar had heard the sad statement that God wanted her to be cast out along with the boy. This voice of the Law depresses her proud spirit, especially when this trial in the desert had been added. When a heart is held in distress of this kind, it cries out with continual sighing (Ps. 51:12): "Lord, cast me not away from Thy presence." But what it means to be cast away from God's presence only the saints understand, that is, those who have been well humbled. Those who quarrel about merits and works do not understand it. Therefore the true voice of the Gospel comes. "Do not fear," it says; that is: "Hope for deliverance, you who up to this time have been crushed through the Law, rejected, and excommunicated. Your expulsion, the lack of water, the vast desert, and your dying son perturb and all but kill you; but God tells you not to fear. Just as the other things force you to fear, so God's kindness should encourage you."
Moreover, the contrast shows that Hagar feared and trembled very much; for what purpose would it serve to command her not to fear unless she had been perturbed by exceedingly great fear? The antinomians and the Epicureans stuff themselves. They play and dance. Therefore it would be futile to command them not to fear. But Hagar, along with her son, is in a state of utmost despair, not only
- 34 because the water in the bottle was gone, but rather because spiritual water was lacking and because she felt that she had been excommunicated. She had come to the realization that up to this time she had cried out and prayed in vain, for she had been proud. Now, however, her prayer is being heard, because she is contrite and has been mortified along with her son. But God is the God of the humble, not only of the Jews but also of the Gentiles; but He resists the proud (cf. 1 Peter 5:5).
But observe how beautifully the angel tempers his speech. He does not say that Hagar's voice has been heard. No, he says that her sons voice has been heard. Yet he is not speaking with her son; he is speaking with Hagar. She herself, as the mother, was very greatly perturbed because of her dying son.
Therefore when she hears that he is in grace and that a large kingdom or a great nation is promised to him, she is again completely cheered; nor does the fact that she is not at once restored or called back to the place from which she had been cast out stand in the way of this joy. "God," said the angel, "has heard the voice of the lad where he is." It is as though he were saying: "Before God you must make no distinction between Abraham's house and that tree under which your son is lying. Even though you are not in Abraham's house, nevertheless beware of doubting that you and your son belong to the same church.
"Abraham is indeed the father of the promise, and in his house is the true church. To be expelled from it seems to be a calamity. Therefore you think that you would be glad to be a slave maid in Abraham's house and that your son would be glad to be a slave. But this is not necessary; it is enough that you have been humbled. Indeed, so far as the nature of the place is concerned, this place in which you now are is not inferior to Abraham's house. For here God is speaking with you; here He hears the prayers of your son. Therefore He has a sanctuary here."
Paul does the same thing everywhere. He makes Gentiles and Jews equal and makes no other distinction except that the oracles of God were entrusted to the natural sons of Abraham (Rom. 3:2).
This prerogative—that Christ would come from their descendants—the Gentiles did not have.
Nevertheless, so far as the grace of salvation is concerned, the Gentiles are made the equals of the Jews, provided that they believe in Christ. Similarly, in this passage we see that God has an open ear for the voice of Ishmael, who is crying out in the desert under the tree outside Abraham's house. God hears Ishmael in order that this proposition may stand sure and firm, that God is the God of the humble and that "the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him" (Ps. 147:11). Peter says (Acts 10:34–35):
"God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him," whether he is circumcised or not; for the circumstances surely bring out this principle of exclusion.55
Therefore it is fitting and necessary for us to linger over this passage. For it is as true as anything can be that if our worthiness and merit have any value, we are lost. Therefore the papacy deserves the hatred of all men; for there all things are done with respect for persons and station—monk, nun, priest, or celibate. They all think: "We are poor; we are celibates; we fast; we pray. Hence the kingdom of heaven will surely be ours." But this is the pride of Ishmael, which God cannot bear. And we should give thanks to God when He shakes this reliance on merit out of us through sundry trials and teaches us that we are freely justified by faith and not because of the merits of works.
Accordingly, the fact that He seems to be so harsh and appears to be treating Ishmael so cruelly— this is profitable and necessary harshness, first, because of Ishmael, who could not be humbled in any other manner, and, secondly, because of ourselves, in order that we may have the hope and confidence in Him that we are saved solely through His grace and mercy, just as the Jews themselves are (Acts
God hears those who cry out not only in the house of Abraham where the church is, but also under a tree, provided that you humble yourself and hope for grace through Christ. Thus the foremost article of our faith and our highest wisdom are confirmed—that not those born of blood, of the will of man, or of the will of the flesh are children of God, but those born of God (John 1:13), that is, those who believe the promise; for it is through this promise alone that He wants to save those who are not presumptuous because of birth or merit but believe in Christ. This is the angel's message. But he acids a command.
18. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him fast with your hand; for I will make him a great nation.
- 35 Hagar could have thought: "What shall I do now, alter God has again become gracious to me?
Shah I return to Abraham's house?" "I am not commanding you to do this," says the angel. "I am not restricting you to any place. Go wherever you please. But lift up the lad, and hold him fast with your hand; that is, care for him, instruct him, and guide him." Thus he absolves the troubled woman from all excommunication and fear. He receives her again into grace and into participation in the promise of Isaaac, and at the same time he leaves her the freedom of going where she wishes. He does not restrict her to Abraham's house or to any other place. It is as though he were saying: "It is of little importance where you will be, provided that you fear and worship God and guide and care for your son. Do not be concerned at all about the place, the time, and the persons with whom you will be. Do the duty of a mother, and know that you are in God's care."
Accordingly, he has now restored Christian liberty to the woman who previously had been excommunicated and had been made a prisoner, as it were. God could have spoken with her as He does on Mt. Sinai, but the woman who had already been frightened previously could not have borne the voice of His majesty.
God shows the same kindness toward us. He speaks with us through the ministry of men and in this manner conceals His majesty, which is dreadful and unbearable for us. But because the ministry is too lowly and familiar, the pastors themselves, in the first place, and then God Himself, are despised in the ministry and all but trodden underfoot. But there will come a time when God, who humbles
Himself in this manner for the sake of our salvation, will display His majesty and crush the smug scorners. Therefore let us recognize His exceedingly great and incalculable gift: that He emptied
Himself in this manner and took on human form. Let us not on this account despise the Word; but let us fall on our knees and honor and prize the holy ministry through which God deigns to speak to us.
For we are truly that people. As Moses says about his Jews (Deut. 4:7), we have a God who draws near to us and dwells with us, since through your mouth He speaks with me and through my mouth He speaks with you. Yes, the Son of God Himself came down into the flesh and was made man for the sole purpose of drawing us unto Himself and in order that we might acquire hope in His mercy and not be afraid of Him as we shall be afraid of His majesty, which our nature cannot bear, as is written (Ex.
33:20): "Man shah not see Me and live," and also (Deut. 4:24): "God is a devouring fire." Therefore He assumed a weak form—a form like our own and for this reason completely human. We should not be afraid of it, just as we are not afraid of ourselves.
But all this is directed against the incurable failing of our nature, namely, that we all look at our works and merits and thus forget that we are the creatures, but that God is the Creator. We disregard grace, by which alone one must be saved. To counteract this evil, God sent His Son into the world to show us the Father. But the Son sent the Holy Spirit to make it known that the Son was made man and became a sacrifice for us.
Because of such a stem excommunication it was altogether necessary for the angel to repeat the promise about the great nation. For Hagar had to think as follows: "Behold, I have been cast out along with my sons. Therefore even though God made a promise concerning twelve princes, nevertheless, because the excommunication came later, He regrets His kindness, and the promise is lost. For the excommunication does away with everything." Accordingly, the angel comforts her and gives the assurance that the promise will be sure. "You were cast out solely that you might be humbled and learn that what you have you do not have by some right because Abraham was your husband, but that you have it out of pure grace. This had to be taught and made known to the entire world by your example." This is the absolution. A physical comfort follows.
19. Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink.
Moses describes everything in a very simple manner. I have stated above about the stupor and ἔκστασις in which Hagar was that it was so great that she did not notice the well close at hand. But now, awakened by the Word of God as from a deep sleep and cheered up, she opens her eyes and sees the well. And her feet, which had previously been weakened because of the sadness of her heart, now perform their function. She runs to the well and draws water. With it she refreshes the dying lad.
Therefore Moses' statement that God opened her eyes means nothing else than that God dispelled the stupor of her heart with His Word, as the psalm says ( 119:25[?] ): "My soul is changed through - 36 the Word"; that is, I have refreshed my soul and restored it, so to speak. Indeed, in trials that are rather severe hearts are deprived of reason, so that they perceive and understand nothing. A certain character in a comedy says that he is so angry that he cannot apply his mind to thinking.56 But if anger upsets the mind to this extent, what would be the effect of the stupor and the distractions which an awareness of God's anger and of eternal damnation brings with it?
"The heart," says Augustine, "is where it loves rather than where it lives."57 One sees this in the case of lovers. Thus in great grief the heart is overwhelmed, and all the senses die, as it were. But such is the power of the Word of God that it restores to life the hearts that have died in this manner; the word of men cannot do this.
The fact that Hagar gives the lad a drink also serves to inform us how great the trial was. For sad thoughts usually deprive the body of its moisture, so that the tongue becomes dry and the entire human body experiences a weakening. When grief strongly affects and excites the heart, loss of consciousness and other distressing mishaps result.
20. And God was with the lad, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.
21. He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
So far we have heard how Ishmael, after he had been killed and mortified in the desert, was again received into grace and learned that not those who are born of the flesh of Abraham but those who believe the promise are children. For over and above physical birth God demands one's own or personal righteousness, which comes solely by grace, through faith alone, obviously in order that all glory before God may cease (Rom. 4:2).
Moreover, this is intended to comfort and teach us, in order that we may neither be presumptuous with regard to our gifts nor despair because of our sins but may follow a middle course. For those58 who are presumptuous sin against the First Commandment and nourish in their hearts this satanically blasphemous statement: "I am my own God." But those who despair also sin against the First
Commandment and blaspheme God; for they maintain that He is not compassionate, and they deprive Him of the foremost glory of His divinity.
Therefore the middle course is to confess and to believe that, as is stated in the First Commandment, He is our God, and that we are His creatures and work. So let us not despair, for we have a God. Nor let us be so presumptuous about anything; for we are creatures and, as Isaiah (cf.
40:6) says, nothing and dust.
When the text states that God was with Ishmael, this is rich comfort, which shows that God opens heaven to us when we have been humbled, and that He abundantly pours forth Himself and all things.
For Ishmael is not only led back to the right way in order that he may not continue to be presumptuous; but after he has been humbled, he is brought back into the church from which he had been cast out because of his presumption, and God Himself appoints Himself as his Protector, directs him, blesses him, and now regards with favor everything he does.
Thus Ishmael undoubtedly developed into a well-informed and learned preacher who, after he had been taught by his own example, preached that God is the God of those who have been humbled; for it is God's custom to humble His own, not because He wants to crush them, but in order that He may break down blasphemous presumption, and that we may be fit for His grace.
After Ishmael had become a husband, he availed himself of this opportunity to bring his wife and her relatives and parents to the knowledge of God. Among the uncircumcised heathen he established a church like Abraham's church, different indeed with respect to persons and places but one that acknowledged and preached the same God and the same Offspring that was promised to the house of The verb "he grew up" is to be understood not only of Ishmael's natural growth (for at the time of his excommunication he was twenty years old, more or less) but with regard to the fact that God caused him to become great, in the first place, in the Word and spiritual gifts; for, says Moses, God was with him. In the second place, God also blessed him temporally, so that he begot twelve princes.
And Ishmael undoubtedly became richer than Abraham, for he himself saw that twelve princes were descended from him. But Abraham's descendants did not increase in number so suddenly, although later on twelve tribes had their origin from his grandson Jacob.
- 37 Thus we learn how powerful a sacrifice a contrite heart is, and how pleasing a smoke or incense humiliation is to God. For the statement of the psalm (145:19) is true, that God fulfills the desire of those who fear Him; for they offer a holy sacrifice to God. But God abhors those who are presumptuous, for He does not find unutterable sighing (Rom. 8:26) among them.
It happens nearly always, however, that descendants degenerate. This is terrible. The many disasters and captivities show to what extent the people of Israel deteriorated. For Ishmaelitish presumption troubled them. Because they had the Word and the temple, they were smug and did not fear ruin. They not only gave free rein to sins, but they even devised new forms of worship. The same thing happened to Ishmael's descendants, who, as we see, were completely absorbed in the glory of their physical birth. For this reason they called themselves Saracens, not Hagarenes.59
But it is impossible for such ruin not to follow where the doctrine that we are children solely by grace and not by nature has been discarded. For from this antecedent there follows with perfect consistency the consequent that by nature we are all children of wrath (Eph. 2:3), and that, as Ps. 51:5 asserts, we were conceived in sin, that is, that the mass of semen from which we originate is tainted with sin.60
There are indeed excellent gifts in our nature, both of the body and of the mind. But what is God's pronouncement? "All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field" (Is. 40:6). Where this doctrine does not exist, there minds are puffed up and dream up merits for themselves. They boast of their blood, their flesh, and their will, just as the pope does. Because he has the office, baptizes, distributes the Eucharist, and absolves by virtue of the Keys, he boasts that he is the head of the church. But his boast is vain. For in whatever manner he may pride himself on being the successor of the apostles, he does not hold fast to the faith of the apostles. Consequently, he is no part of the church; for not those who are born of the flesh but those who believe are children. I grant that the pope has the name "church," the Keys, and other gifts; but he does not for this reason have the Spirit of Moses states that Ishmael was a rabbi61 or master of the bow; that is, he was skilled in shooting arrows. This is not to be understood to mean that he was able to aim62 well; it means that he was an energetic warrior. For the bow was not used for exhibitions and games, as now; it was used against the enemy. The Arabs are still a warlike people and use bows, and they have never been completely subjugated by any monarch. Therefore the angel said above (Gen. 16:12): "His hand shall be against every man and every man's hand against him." For just as he has not subdued them all, so he has not been subdued. Perhaps his early training and first experience was the shooting of hares, deer, and birds in the desert; but the text refers to the extension of his empire. Accordingly, the descendants of Ishmael fell back into the error of their father after they had forgotten his humiliation.
The same thing will also happen to our descendants. In Acts 20:29 Paul says: "From among yourselves fierce wolves will arise." Thus in our day the Sacramentarians and the Anabaptists have arisen. At first they accepted our doctrine, but later they turned their madness and rage against us; for the wiles of Satan are the same at all times. The Saracens, as I have said, boast of Ishmael, and they do not see that their pride was reduced to nothing by his excommunication. Like the Jews, they want to have the glory from their ancestors, but not the spirit of their ancestors.
But it has been demonstrated that the descendants must have the same spirit, the same faith and promise. Otherwise they are not children of God. I must have faith and hold fast to the confession which Peter made. Otherwise I am nothing, even if I am the pope. Thus the church has diverse gifts; but the same faith, hope, and love firmly bind together all believers in Christ, the one Head.
At the end Moses mentions the wilderness of Paran to indicate that the expulsion was not imposed to destroy Ishmael. For Paran is near Beer-sheba and Gerar in the territory of the Holy Land, and borders on the tribe of Judah, as is clear from the Book of Numbers (10:12; 13:3, 26). Thus Ishmael did not live far from the house of Abraham.
Accordingly, the nearness also indicates that Ishmael was reconciled with his father Abraham and his church, although his descendants, as usually happens, gradually deteriorated.
It should also be noted that Moses expressly points out that Ishmael took a wife and that he did not follow his own inclination but heeded the authority of his mother, as an example for all young men and girls that they should accept the authority of their parents, especially in contracting a marriage,
- 38 and not yield to their own sentiments and desires, contrary to the will of their parents.63 The angel had commanded Hagar herself to take care of her son, to teach and guide him. Therefore Ishmael is commanded by the voice of God to obey his mother, who takes a wife for him from the land of Egypt; and the son, as is fitting, complies with his mother's decision and wish.
This piety is commended in this passage by the Holy Spirit, and God Messes Ishmael in accordance with the promise of the Fourth Commandment: "That your days may be long in the land"
(Ex. 20:12). Therefore let us, too, remember our duty, and let us not despise the services of the men whom God uses as intermediaries. He wants children to be ruled by the authority of their parents.
When you obey them, you are sure that you have obeyed God. Similarly, pastors have been appointed in the church. When you hear them, you hear God. Likewise an officer of the state is in charge by divine authority. Therefore it is Satan's trickery when these outward services are brought into contempt.
It is indeed true that the Holy Spirit alone enlightens hearts and kindles faith, but He does not do this without the outward ministry and without the outward use of the sacraments. Therefore when Paul is approaching Damascus, he is commanded to hear Ananias (Acts 9:12). But just as the Word is committed to us in the church, so in the household there should be no doubt that when you hear your parents giving some order, you are hearing God and are sure about God's will. On the other hand, if you deviate from the ministry and follow your own opinions, you will not only gain nothing, but you will take hold of Satan as God, and will be uncertain about your thoughts, whether they are of God or of the devil.
Thus Ishmael is most amply rewarded for his obedience, because he follows the advice of his mother when he takes a wife; for God blesses him abundantly. On the other hand, God curses those who are disobedient, as the examples show, namely, that the marriages which they contract contrary to their parents' will are unhappy.
22. At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham: God is with you in all that you do; 23. now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but as I have dealt loyally with you, you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.
This is a new trial. I have repeatedly stated that God leads His saints in this life in a manner so wonderful that one trial immediately follows another. But just as misfortunes impel to prayer and faith, so, when the saints are delivered, they are impelled to give thanks and to praise God's mercy.
Nevertheless, a distinction must be made between those exercises of faith and faith itself, just as works always differ of necessity from the promise itself and from faith.
The trial which overtakes Abraham here is a very pretty and very specious virtue of the devil, namely, that untamable evil of envy, which has always caused the godly the most trouble in the world.
The cause of the envy is that God had prepared a lodging place for Isaac in Gerar and the king had granted Abraham the freedom of living where he wanted. Therefore when everything is quiet and peaceful, and Abraham is prospering because of the Lord's blessing, the Palestinians envy him, as an exile, this good fortune. For Moses excuses the king, who, still mindful of his dream, converses with Abraham in a most friendly manner and respects him as a prophet of God.
Furthermore, the name "Abraham" increased the envy; for the Palestinians knew from the king's disclosure64 that the land of Canaan and Christ, the Blessed Seed, had been promised to him. Then indeed, after this report had reached the entire court and the neighboring cities of the Palestinians,
Abraham was an unbearable person to the Palestinians. When a son was born to the old man by his aged wife through an extraordinary miracle, they concluded that this foreigner had in mind to be the sole ruler in the land of Canaan.
For the devil this was an important enough reason for hating Abraham and inciting the Palestinians to envy against him. The rabble generally reacts in this manner: it is envious of increasing power and prestige. And since they knew from the promise that Abraham would inherit the land, they feared for themselves and their people; and they were considering plans either to suppress the foreigner or to hold him in check. Those who held the highest position at the royal court were the originators of this purpose. For although princes and kings are very pious, it is nevertheless not unusual nowadays or - 39 courtiers—or counselors, as we call them—to be fraudulent, envious, unjust, greedy, and full of deceit and lies. Therefore the commands and wishes of pious rulers are not always carried out.
Today our own princes are supporting the churches and are kindly disposed toward the ministers of the churches. But what are the nobles, the burghers, and the peasants doing? Are they not plotting, as it were, to stir up hatred against the ministry? In this way the devil incites his members against the godly. In Paradise he began to do this immediately.
Here, therefore, Abraham is contending against envy, and he displays a courageous heart; for he knows that Satan hates and disturbs every kind of life that is of God. Those who have no experience suppose that marriage is a kind of life in which there is nothing but pleasure and joy. But the countless inconveniences and annoyances that are incident to it demand a brave and patient heart. Somewhere you may find a godly peasant, but he is vexed by the envy of his neighbors. Foxes and wolves lie in wait for his cattle; the domestics are negligent, lazy, and thievish. In this situation, such a peasant has not only abundant occasion for good works but also an opportunity to learn patience.
The same thing happens to the patriarch Abraham. He rejoices that a son is born to him, and he seeks to procure convenient quarters for him. God blesses him and greatly increases his wealth; He adorns him with priestly glory, and the report concerning the promise of the land of Canaan is spread abroad throughout all Palestine. Consequently, envy is stirred up, and, as will follow below, daily quarrels arise because of the water he had to have (vv. 25 ff.). But who could enumerate all the troubles that arose anew every day? For envy is the most prolific of all evils. Therefore he leaves
Gerar. Evidently it is his purpose to get away from the envy. Accordingly, this kind of life is most pleasing to God: doing good to everybody and nevertheless enduring envy, hatred, and the injustices of the devil and of men.
So far as the account is concerned, it does not seem to me that the king addressed Abraham voluntarily or of his own accord. But the leading men at court dinned into the very pious king's ears day and night that he should not snore in the danger at hand and should not permit the exile to deprive him of the kingdom; for, as they said, he was thriving and was aspiring to a kingdom because of some promise. Therefore King Abimelech should make the kingdom secure for himself and for his descendants, but this could not be done more properly than by exacting an oath.
The author of this advice was Phicol, the king's commander in chief; and with high-sounding words, such as are characteristic of courtiers, he urged the king not to appear to be slighting himself and his people. For this is the practice of courtiers: when they seem to be paying special attention to the interests of their rulers, they are serving their own advantage, in order that they may gain power for themselves.65 Because the king does not believe that deceit is involved and that this advice springs from envy and hatred, he talks to Abraham with a guileless heart. "I see," he said, "that you are prospering and that the promise given to you is being fulfilled. Therefore I beg you not to be too harsh toward me and my people. You came to us as an exile, and we have been as kind to you as we could. I demand the same thing from you when the Lord exalts you, namely, that you do not drive out me, my son, and my grandson, and that you confirm this with an oath." The pious king is aware that he cannot resist the promise, but he fears that the promise will be fulfilled at once, because Isaac had already been born. Moreover, the thought that his descendants would deteriorate and that for this reason God would curse the ungrateful despisers of the Word and would transfer the royal honor to others troubled the godly king. Therefore he is satisfied if Abraham spares his son and his grandson.
This account also serves to give comfort and instruction. For today we, too, have our Phicol-like courtiers, who burn with envy and hate against the ministers of the churches and block all ways by which they suppose we are able to prosper. For they say that food and raiment are enough and that for many reasons one must take care that the ministers of the churches do not become rich. But it will surely come to pass that what they are afraid of will happen against their will. Now they want to save the crumbs when they support poor Lazarus, although formerly they poured out all their wealth on him who feasted; for they gave the bishops castles and cities and maintained them in excessive splendor and magnificence. Now, when those who teach truly and faithfully must be supported, they barely grant them the crumbs which otherwise would go to waste.66
This is the perverse wisdom of the world, because of which it not only brings a curse upon itself but also provides the opportunity that, just as the wealth of the papists grew in former times, so it may
- 40 still happen today. For the papacy prospered when those two causes coincided: (1) that those who held ministerial offices in the churches were by nature ambitious and involved themselves in managing secular affairs; (2) that the nobles and the officers of the state were indolent, shunned exertions, indulged in pleasures, and left the care of the government to the ministers of the churches.
Today this will continue to increase the power of the priests. For while the princes hunt, feast, play, dance, and do not want to settle cases, discipline must eventually be in the care of the parish priests. But if they have been burdened with a variety of secular affairs, they of necessity put aside the Bible and the study of sacred matters; for they cannot serve the state and the church at the same time.
Meanwhile, to be sure, we diligently teach that those two offices, the civil and the ecclesiastical, should be kept separate; but we do so to no avail. Therefore the fact that priests are exalted and thrive is the fault not only of the ambitious bishops but also of the lazy magistrates, who indeed want to have glory and honor, as is proper, but do not want to work. Accordingly, when the very men who have been called for this purpose are unwilling to do their duty, and failures or diseases are perpetual in governments and require a physician, if the pastors of the churches then undertake the care of governmental affairs, they will eventually arrive at pontifical honor by this road.
Therefore the officials of the state should have been exhorted to bear the trouble and inconveniences which a careful way of governing brings with it, for the world wants to be governed.
One is treated unfairly, another is beaten, and still another is subjected to shameful abuse. Therefore the world needs a medicine, as in a sickness. But if the people in the government are remiss, the task devolves upon those who are in the church. In this way their activities and the troubles to which they are subjected have raised them to the highest ecclesiastical offices. This not only weakened the churches but caused them to collapse completely. "The Phrygians," they say, "are wise behind the time."67 The same thing is happening to our people. Formerly they spent too much on churches and bishops; now they begrudge Lazarus even the crumbs.
This wickedness will not cease without extraordinary punishment. Pious Abraham does not demand possession of the cities in Palestine; he leaves them to his king and is satisfied with grass and water for himself and his cattle. Indeed, he even gives way to the envy and dwells in nearby Beersheba. But even this the envy of the courtiers cannot tolerate; it wants him crushed and the blessing obstructed. They do not see that the more Abraham helps everybody, the more he is blessed. On the other hand, the more sparingly the courtiers give, the more they are cursed.
For thus it has been ordained: those who do not give to Christ, the beggar, give a superabundance to a glutton; and those who do not feed a hungry man will themselves perish from hunger. I would not readily impose the administration of the state on our necks again; but because the magistrates are sleeping soundly and put their obligation into the hands of others—therefore "If these were silent, the very stones would cry out" (Luke 19:40). They fill the world with many wrongs and injustices.
Accordingly, treatment by a diligent physician is necessary to drive out these ailments.
Therefore I praise King Abimelech and excuse him for not dealing with Abraham voluntarily or of his own accord. He was urged to do so by the commander in chief at his court. It is an indication of his uprightness that he so humbly entreats the foreigner to show kindness to his people. He does not order him to leave the country but respects him as a priest of God.
24. And Abraham said: I will swear.68
The fact that Moses states dearly that Abraham swore seems to be contrary to the meaning of the Gospel and Christ's command (Matt. 5:34–37). But this example is necessary. Abraham does not refuse to take the oath, and by his action he teaches that these moral and civil matters should neither be looked down upon nor neglected by the saints under the pretense of their religion. And we should give thanks to the Holy Spirit for recording the accounts of the saintly fathers in such a way that they are patterns not only of faith and of superior virtues but in civic life also over against the senseless monkish clods, who divest themselves of all friendliness and civility, manifestly because in this manner they are dead to the world and nevertheless very much alive in all kinds of vices. Therefore
Abraham bears living witness against such people, namely, that civic life and actions are not displeasing to God.
- 41 But so far as Christ's command is concerned—"Do not swear at all" (Matt. 5:34)—the reply to this question is very easy if one takes into consideration the causes which Moses points out well in this account. One can truthfully give the simple answer that a righteous man does not sin even when he swears, but that he is rendering a service that is pleasing to God and men. But it is easier to explain the causes. The efficient cause is that Abraham is not swearing thoughtlessly, but because the king ordered him to do so. For here the authority of the civil government must not be lowered in our estimation, as the foolish mob of the Anabaptists raves. Therefore an oath which is imposed by the government is in agreement with the command of God, who has commanded us to obey the government.
The other, final cause is also indicated here, namely, that in this way peace is established between the domestics of the king and those of Abraham. For Holy Scripture says (Heb. 6:16): "An oath is the end of all controversies"; that is, it puts an end to controversies and quarrels. Who would deny that this is a holy and good work?
But this concerns the Second Commandment. For those who swear a true oath to the government honor God's name and adorn the truth. Moreover, they remove suspicions. Accordingly, the godly do a good thing when they bear witness to the truth by means of an oath. On the other hand, the ungodly do nothing right, because they always have this label attached to themselves: "These people err in heart" (Ps. 95:10).
Therefore our answer to the question is as follows: "The oath of those who swear thoughtlessly and do not defend the truth is beyond what is required and evil; but where the oath serves the truth and is useful for preserving goodwill and concord, there proper swearing does not abuse God's name but gives it honor, namely, that God may be feared and peace and quiet may remain."
Thus the Lord guides the patriarch even in his civic relations and defends him against envy by permitting him to take advantage of the laws and civic customs, and to conform to the common practices of men in order to maintain public peace. For in this matter Holy Scripture does not oppose philosophy and the laws but strengthens them and makes an oath a kind of sacrament, inasmuch as it is connected with the name of God and serves to reconcile hearts and to put an end to strife and suspicions.
25. When Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water which Abimelech's servants had seized, 26. Abimelech said: I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.
Here another example of civic life is presented. About the government and its authority we have written extensively enough,69 for it is certain that the Gospel does not do away with civil laws and the obedience one owes to the government. Therefore not only the brazenness of our opponents but also their vicious spite is great when they accuse us of sedition, although our writings say the opposite.
How, then, shall we excuse Abraham, who in this passage appears not to be treating the king in accordance with his rank, inasmuch as he charges him with having violated their agreement, although the godly king, persevering in his godliness, solemnly asserts that he has no knowledge of all the misfortunes that have happened to Abraham? It is possible to say that Abraham implored the king's help, and without any cupidity at that. But this is a weak excuse. Indeed, these are examples from everyday life, in which, although we all stumble in various ways, nevertheless such failings are forgiven the godly. Abraham is deceived by his suspicious thought that, contrary to the agreement, the well had been taken away from him with the king's knowledge and at his command. Thus he also stumbles on a previous occasion, when he says that Sarah is not his wife but his sister. Yet he does not resort to such a plan with the intention of sinning; he does so out of anxiety and fear. It would indeed have been better not to chide the king; but since he is in the clutches of suspicion, he cannot think otherwise than that the king has knowledge of this deed. And certainly a government should not be so neglectful of its duty that it has no knowledge of the wrongdoings of its people. For although even a godly government cannot find out everything its people do but is bound to lack knowledge of many things, it nevertheless is not without fault.
"Therefore," you say, "should both be blamed—Abraham, because of his suspicion and because of his rather harsh behavior toward the king; and the king, because of his neglect of duty?" Yes indeed; for God wants us to consider ourselves sinners, so that we do not become proud but sing with David
(Ps. 19:12): "Clear Thou me of my hidden faults, O Lord," and "Who can discern his errors?" And it is profitable for you to know that you have an office whose requirements it is impossible to meet everywhere. Those who think otherwise become proud, and because of their pride they stumble very seriously. Ordinarily, however, those who are novices at governing do this; for, like inexperienced archers, they miss the mark by very much. Thus it is not the intention of a pious government to do harm, but all its counsels are directed toward benefiting its people. The servants and councillors, however, whose services it is forced to use because it cannot adequately take care of so many affairs, do many things in the name of princes who would not tolerate them if they knew about them.
Similarly, domestics make many mistakes of which the master of the house has no knowledge.
The same thing happens to the saints. They are not only plagued by punishments and many tribulations, but they are also often involved in the offenses of falling and making mistakes. But what one should learn is that they do not perish for this reason, provided that their will is sincere and pure, and that there is no indolence. For if private individuals cannot live without sin, those who are in the government can do so far less. Nevertheless, let everyone see to it that there is no wicked inclination and that there is no pretended lack of knowledge.
Accordingly, Abraham calls upon the government for help, but with a reprimand; for these are his thoughts: "This king should rule in such a manner that he has obedient servants to watch over his agreements." Here there surely was no wicked intention. Moreover, we ourselves experience today that the same thing happens at the courts of the princes. It has frequently happened to me that when I had procured something from a prince by his kind favor, the Phicols at the court interfered and prevented the execution of what the prince had commanded.70 Therefore if we private individuals are unable to avoid all sins, we must pray all the more diligently for the government; for it has a large body, and the members of this body are rebellious and unsound in many ways.
Furthermore, in addition to this little sin which Abraham commits by wrongly suspecting the king, this passage should also be taken note of against the Anabaptists, namely, that one may appeal to the government for help against wrongs.71 It would indeed be fine if the government did its duty of its own accord and did not wait until its aid is implored; but few do this, and not even by repeated entreaties can they be impelled to put an end to wrongs.
Such men are of the number of those of whom I have stated above that they desire glory, respect, and obedience. They delight in being called gods (Ps. 82:6); but if you appraise their morals and life, they are devils and tyrants, who have sins that concern not only the administration of the state but also their persons. Abimelech was not the kind of man who sins out of ignorance. Sins of this kind should be excused, and they should be mitigated through prayer before God. They should not be severely criticized. Far less should insurrections be stirred up because of them. Abimelech sins not only as a man but also as a ruler. He cannot know what is being done everywhere by his people. Nevertheless, this is a sin before God, evidently in order that no one may be haughty. Accordingly, I am in the habit of comparing this sin to the sins against the Law, or rather the Ceremonial Law.
But this is intended to comfort us, lest we think that the saintly men were monkish clods, dumb and without feeling; for these offenses prove that they were men and had passions like those we have.
They were spiritual, to be sure, yet they lived in the flesh.
Accordingly, the fact that Abraham implores the king's help because of the well of which he had been deprived is a clear example that we, too, may implore the help of the government and avail ourselves of its protection, namely, the protection which the laws and the practice of the court allow.
But if the government withholds its help from us, the wrong must be borne. Nevertheless, one should know that even pious officials of the state often sin; for even though the will may not be wanting, yet the knowledge is often lacking, although in many the will, too, is weak. Nevertheless, they should be held in honor, and the inconveniences should be borne. But in the case of those whose will is evil spitefulness should be loathed, and they should be reproved.
Abimelech excuses himself very well. "I did not know," he says, "I did not hear of it, and you did not tell me." A godly government is not offended by an admonition but demands that it be informed by its subjects if there is any fault anywhere. For how can it know what is being done everywhere? But those who are proud and are offended by the disclosures72 and admonitions of their subjects—as - 43 though lack of knowledge about something were a disgrace—are too little mindful of their situation; they never humble themselves before God or call upon God to pardon such sins.
But the government's lack of knowledge, as I have said, is an unavoidable sin—a sin just as inherent in the government as lust is inherent in everybody, without which certainly no one can live.
Therefore let everyone acknowledge his shortcoming, for in this way it will happen that they will humble themselves and will not only implore God's help but will also beg for forgiveness of their hidden sins.
Therefore Bernard writes admirably to Pope Eugenius: "Of necescity you have no knowledge of many things, and of necessity you pretend not to know many things you do know."73 Ignorance is a fault in the will. Because of it we tolerate the things we do not want. To be sure, Abimelech is a king; but he does not know everything his subjects are doing. For this is not man's glory; it belongs to God alone, who knows everything and cannot be deceived. Proud tyrants who do not want to be admonished arrogate this glory to themselves.
Therefore one should know that God Himself and then also the Law itself has demanded that we inform the government if any fault has been committed on the part of the state; for just as the government sins through its ignorance, so the subjects sin by withholding information. Accordingly,
Abimelech flings back upon Abraham the guilt of not having reported the wrongs of the courtiers to him sooner; and to some extent Abraham is really at fault. Nevertheless, his agitation is not altogether unjustifiable. He saw that the minds of kings are peculiar and changeable; for they are in an extraordinary office, and the things they govern are changeable. Therefore since the courtiers had harmed him, he could not be free from the suspicion that the king was aware of this.
Thus both are properly humbled: Abraham, for being suspicious and not informing the king; Abimelech, for not knowing. Abraham should have admonished the king, to prevent him from being in error. This was a duty of love. Therefore Abimelech is right when he complains that Abraham had told him nothing and that he himself had heard nothing from anybody. How evil, therefore, the situation is today, when almost everybody refuses to render this necessary service to the government! If you report somebody's wrongdoing to the government, everybody calls you a traitor. Consequently, this sin of giving the government no information is praised as a noble virtue. For what, should a king do in this situation if you refuse to tell him what it is impossible for him to know? Does he not seem to be innocent and excused?
Nevertheless, God wants him to be involved in the sin of ignorance in order that he may acknowledge that he does not have a universal government—which is an impossibility for a human being because of the sin of ignorance—but only a partial one, and in order that he may acknowledge that God is at the head of the universal government; for it is He who has universal vision and sees and knows everything, while a government, however good it may be, has only partial vision.
Therefore the government must be assisted; and when any public wrong is committed, all people should come running as though to put out a fire that affects all; for everyone should help the community to the extent that he is able to do so.
In this manner the Holy Spirit describes the saints with both active and passive predicates:74 They have conformed to the civil practice of men by swearing an oath to the government and by seeking its help; and they have borne not only wrongs done by others but also, if I may express myself in this way, their own guilt and ignorance. Consequently, there is no lack of opportunity for them to pray:
"Hallowed be Thy name. O God, why dost Thou make me an officer of the state, why a preacher, even though Thou knowest that I cannot satisfy Thy will? But Thou art with me as my Helper, and Thy angels are also with me. Moreover, Thou desirest in this manner to humble my proud stubbornness, in order that I may not make myself equal with Thee, who art just and knowest all things."
This passage, which deals with appealing to the government and informing it of dishonesty, is noteworthy, although few people do the latter. For nobody wants to incur the hatred of neighbors, nobles, and powerful men. Yet one should keep in mind that the government is very much in need of this service from us. Otherwise it cannot do its duty. But if you have reported a wrong and nevertheless are not given any assistance by the government, you should bear the inconvenience and know that you are blameless and have clone your duty. However, an indifferent government will not go unpunished.
27. So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.
28. Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart.
29. And Abimelech said to Abraham: What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set apart?
30. He said: These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that you may be a witness for me that 31. Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba, because there both of them swore an oath.
32. So they made a covenant at Beer-sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines.
The Holy Spirit proceeds with His description of the character of the saintly patriarch. Covenants and pacts are not works toward God—works that He needs. No, they have to do with temporal and human activities, in which the saints also participate. Therefore if anybody desires to know how
Abraham conducted himself in civic affairs, he should carefully consider the account. Abraham does not shun any civic duties, does not refuse to take an oath, honors the king, implores his help, etc.
Because of his affection for the prophet of God the king, too, takes an oath. Eventually both confirm the oath as though by a seal. Abraham presents the king with sheep and oxen, and the king does not disdain his gift. In this way the pact is confirmed as with a seal. No wordy documents are drawn up, as is the custom today. Both are satisfied to swear to what they have expressed in words. Afterwards the gift is added as a tangible sign.
This artlessness of the ancients in making agreements is very delightful. It reminds us how much the morals of our unfeeling age have deteriorated—our age, in which no confidence in compacts, no written agreements, and no seals are adequate. All agreements are eluded by deceit and confused by violence.
But Abraham does two things. In the first place, he presents sheep and oxen. In the second place, he gives as a separate present seven ewe lambs, not because the king needed such a gift, but in this way Abraham wants to bear public testimony among all the king's subjects that this well was produced by his effort.
In the Law such gifts are forbidden, for its text states: "You shall take no gift" (Ex. 23:8) and also "Gifts blind and corrupt judges" (Deut. 16:19). Indeed, even the writings of the heathen condemn gifts as an extraordinary bane of governments.75 How, then, shall we excuse Abraham, who offers them, and the king, who accepts them?
My answer is the same as the one I gave above. Whatever a godly man does, he does rightly, even if he makes a mistake; for he has a heart that is right, and God looks mainly at this. On the other hand, an ungodly man, even if the work he does is good in itself, nevertheless does not please God, because he errs in his heart; that is, he does not know God, does not believe God, and does not fear God.
But here, too, one must consider the final cause. If gifts are given for the purpose of removing suspicions, hatred, and discord, and in order to gain goodwill and peace, they are properly counted among good works. Of what evil can the king suspect Abraham when he gives him such generous gifts? He who is generous toward another person surely does not want to harm him. Therefore it is honorable to accept a gift from a pious man. For he gives with a pure heart, not in order to put you under obligation to him and not to win an unjust cause through you but in order to foster mutual goodwill in this manner. Thus a bridegroom gives gifts to the bride to show his love and to promote goodwill. Therefore to bestow and accept gifts in this manner—these are the greatest acts of kindness and very necessary for this life. But those who kindle discord in this way or corrupt a judge and pervert the courts misuse gifts. Therefore one should follow the rule which the proverb suggests: "Not all, not from all, and not always." For just as it is rude to refuse a friend's gift, so it is honorable not to accept gifts in an evil cause.
It happens for a definite purpose that the text tells about the seven ewe lambs and gives a detailed description of this ceremony. The king is a saintly man. But Phicol and the rest of the crowd of courtiers are wicked, envious, greedy, thievish, rapacious, etc. For all courts are always contaminated by this unfortunate appendage that they have Doeglike people, who prevent carrying out what the king has decided or do the opposite without the king's knowledge. Therefore Abraham, as a diplomat, wants the reconciliation which has been established with the king confirmed by an oath from the king,
- 45 in order that in this way the crowd of courtiers may be deterred from having the audacity later on to do anything of this sort without the king's knowledge.
It is pleasing to observe how politely Abraham conducts himself on this occasion. He does not have the courage to demand in plain words that the king swear; for he is a foreigner, but Abimelech is a king. Therefore because it was impolite to demand an oath from one who is not his peer, Abraham proceeds with extraordinary prudence and politeness. He sets seven ewe lambs apart. The king asks why he is doing this, since the covenant has already been made. Abraham answers and begs him to accept them. "Not on your account," he says, "but on account of your courtiers, Phicol and the rest, who perhaps will again attempt dishonesty and will stir up new disputes. Therefore in order that you may guard against this in the future, I want you to swear to me publicly. Although I do not dare demand this, I nevertheless request it with those seven ewe lambs as with crude letters."
It should be noted in this passage that the Hebrew word עבֶׁשֶׁש ַַ is ambiguous. It has the two meanings—"seven" and "oath"—just as in German the word hutt means both a "hat" and a "guard," and the word rad denotes "advice" and "wheel." Accordingly, in this passage the word עבֶׁשֶׁש ַַ has both meanings: both swore and, if I may express myself in this manner, both "sevened." Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs. Therefore he indicates clearly that even though he does not demand the oath, he nevertheless wants the king to swear.
Accordingly, Abraham wants to exact the oath from the king by means of extraordinary wisdom and a very fine hint, since to demand it openly would be rather impolite. He puts seven sheep before the king, and because the word עבֶׁשֶׁש ַַ has the two meanings "seven" and "oath," Abimelech understands what Abraham wants. It is just as if some mute came to me and pointed to a wheel. In this instance, because of the homonym, it is easy for me to guess that he is seeking advice. For the German word rad has the meanings "wheel" and "advice." Thus by means of the word for the number seven
Abraham puts the king in mind of an oath. For it would have been impudent openly to demand an oath from a person of higher rank. I believe that among the Germans this is the origin of the custom of using seven witnesses when drawing up wills and of employing the word "seven" for trustworthy evidence; for we say: Man musz ims besibnen; that is, he is so skeptical that he does not believe unless he hears seven witnesses.76
Accordingly, when Abraham deals with the king in such a diplomatic manner, this is an outstanding example of respect for the government. The king's forbearance in yielding to the prophet is also outstanding. Reminded by this figurative act, he does not refuse to take the oath.
The Egyptians, more than other nations, had the custom of speaking by means of images or pictures like the hieroglyphics that are found in Philostratus.77 When they intended to say something about Jupiter, they drew a scepter with an eye above it, just as astronomers still write the name
"Jupiter." Because of its straightness the scepter signified justice to them. But the eye signified prudence. For if justice is devoid of the latter, it becomes injustice, as the proverb bears witness: "The height of right is the height of wrong."78 In ancient times people used such written symbols.
Therefore it is the purpose of this careful description to give us instruction, in order that we may learn how the saintly patriarchs conducted themselves in civil affairs, how respectfully they treated the government, and how kindly disposed the government was toward its subjects. And what can this life have that is finer than a just government and subjects who love their ruler? Where this is the case, there is a paradise in the true sense of the word, and there God has given His blessing. But if the government is blind and unjust, and the people are wicked and unruly, what kind of wickedness would you not find there?
Moses states that from this pact the place was named עבר ֶׁשֶׁש ַַאֵֵבְְּּ, that is, "the well of seven," or "the well of the oath"—the oath which was brought about by means of the seven ewe lambs. For עבֶׁשֶׁש ַַ has both meanings: "seven" and "oath." You may call these matters civil or moral; but they should be carefully noted, and they are full of comfort, in order that we may not think—as the Anabaptists do— that Christians must cast aside the common works of civil life. For God did not found the church in order to do away with either the household or the state. No, He founded the church in order to strengthen the household and the state through the church. Therefore Abraham, the father of the - 46 promise and the king of kings in this land, does not refuse to swear and to make a pact with the king and his court.
Therefore one should not refuse or shun civic duties under the pretext of religion, as the monks do.
For this reason they hide in monasteries, in order not to serve anyone. They are a blind kind of men, and they devote themselves to a reprobate frame of mind, and for this reason they care about neither the First nor the Second Table. But they receive a reward befitting their ungodliness. While they avoid the inconveniences connected with the household and the government, they plunge into the worst and most hideous vices, more than any laymen, as they call them.
Let us, then, wisely consider God's ordinances and the examples of the saintly patriarch Abraham, who has given us abundant instruction concerning all matters of the church and has provided the pattern of his godliness not only in the ecclesiastical way of life, as a prophet of God, but also in matters pertaining to the government and the household. There must be rulers in this life, and the church has not been appointed to destroy the household and the government. No, it has been appointed to restore them. Nor should kings forget their duty; they should be just and mild toward their subjects, and the subjects should obey them. At this time, however, one can wish for this, but one cannot have it. I am surprised, however, that the place called Beer-sheba was not made famous by the Jews through some special idolatry, as were other places at which the saintly patriarchs lived. It should be enough for us to be taught to know that the godly also serve God when they undertake civic duties
34. And Abraham planted trees at Beer-sheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.
35. And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.
Whenever this little statement is made—that the patriarchs called or cried out in the name of the Lord, or that they built an altar-it denotes that a certain place was appointed for teaching and hearing the Word of God. For if the church is to be preserved, there must be some pious prince to provide quarters for it and grant it room and peace, so that the doctrine and the Word of God can be spread. At that time Abimelech was such a person. Under him the house of Abraham, in which the church was, had peace and quiet; and the Word was spread among the heathen by Pope or Bishop Abraham, who, wherever he went, took with him the Word, the worship, the religion, and everything.
Here, too, Moses mentions a civic or domestic work, namely, that Abraham planted a grove. For the word ֶׁשֶׁש לאֵֵ, like the noun "tree" among us, is general, in order that you may understand that not only a garden with fruit-bearing trees was planted but also forest trees for the benefit of cattle.
"Why," says a monk, "does Moses write this? Why does he not rather write about fasts and prayers and coarse garments?" But, as I have often said, Moses is doing this against the monastic clods, who disregard God's commands and walk in self-chosen forms of religious worship. Such people do not see the command of God: "Bring the earth under your dominion, and cultivate it" (cf. Gen. 1:28). For it is God's will that the earth be planted and cultivated, not only for the sake of men but also for the sake of food for the beasts.
Accordingly, this, too, is a civic but good and saintly work, which is not only permitted but is even commanded by God, in order that we may provide for ourselves and our descendants—and, in addition, for the beasts—by cultivating the earth, lest we be like the monks, who, like lazy drones and caterpillars, do not work at all but merely devour what others produce and even revile with insults those who work, while they call this work, which was commanded by God, a work of laymen and rustics.
Abraham is saintlier than all the saints in the New Testament. Yet he is engaged in this work of laymen, not only on account of the foreigners who arrive, in order that they may have shade in which to sit, as Lyra explains,79 but on account of the requirements of his household, and especially on account of God's command: "Bring the earth under your dominion, and cultivate it." Besides, there is also a third reason, namely, in order that a more abundant crop may enable him to give alms.
Meanwhile Abraham is busy with his main duty. He builds a sanctuary, not of stone, as we do, but he designates a place where he preaches in the name or through the name of the Lord. When the letter
ב is prefixed, this expression means to teach and preach. When, however, the letter ב is not prefixed to - 47 the noun םשֵׁ, but the expression is simply "to invoke the name of the Lord," then it means to pray or invoke.
Moreover, note should be taken of the name of God in this passage. Moses says: "He called or cried out in the name of the Lord, םלל עֹו ָאֵֵ, the God of the ages or of the world." For the word
םלעֹו ָ is ambiguous, since its meaning is age or eternity and world. Furthermore, לאֵֵ is also applied to creatures, and in Moses it is used to refer to the most excellent and finest fruits and is generally explained as meaning "strength."
Therefore it pleases me that in this passage God is designated as םלל עֹו ָאֵֵ, as though one meant to call Him the force and power of the world, which fills all things in the world, as the poet puts it:
"From Jupiter the Muses have their beginning; of Jupiter all things are full,"80 a saying which he no doubt derived from the ancient tradition of the patriarchs. For whatever the world has, exists and is preserved by the Word of God. God created the world, and He preserves the world; thus this לאֵֵ
םלעֹו ָ, God, is the power of the world through whom the world is and has whatever capacity it has.
Abraham gives this name to God, since he had been taught by his experience. For he saw that God stands by His own with ready help, in such a way that He inclines the heart even of the king and the nobles to whatever He wants, yes, that He fashions the hearts individually, that is, gives counsel and impulse to do what is right and proper. Nevertheless, here sin, of which God is not the author, is excepted. We maintain that God is the Author of all acts that are just. But sin is not an act; it is a privation.81
1. After these things God tested Abraham and said to him: Abraham! And he said: Here am I.
2. He said: Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.
WE have heard that outstanding trial with which Abraham was tested when he cast out his son Ishmael. After Ishmael had been cast out, peace was granted to Abraham under King Abimelech. But then another trial came, by far the greatest, in comparison with which the earlier ones are almost nothing. Thus Holy Scripture is everywhere in agreement with itself. It describes the true children Of God as being continually exercised in both kinds of life—the active and the passive—yet without any display of ceremonies; and it points out the good fruits on a good tree. For they are walking in the obedience which they owe God and in true love toward men, and yet they are overtaken by various trials and perils.
But because Abraham is the foremost and greatest among the holy patriarchs, he endures truly patriarchal trials which his descendants would not have been able to bear. Abraham, now happy and confident, is altogether carefree; for Isaac, the son of the promise, has now grown up and was approximately 20 years old. His body was so strong that he could bear the burden of the wood needed for the burnt offering.
Accordingly, when both parents loved him exceedingly, because he had been born to them in their old age and had the promise of God concerning the future blessing of the entire world, and both were very happy because of this, and peace had been established in the house by the expulsion of Ishmael and outside the house by the reconciliation with the king, and the solicitous parents were now considering the choice of a wife, evidently in order that the Promised Seed might soon be raised up— behold, these very fine plans and very pleasing thoughts of the parents about the marriage of their son are upset and confounded by a single word, namely, by the Lord's command to Abraham to take his son and sacrifice him.
Therefore Abraham's heart was wounded far more deeply now than previously, when he cast out Ishmael. But it is impossible for us to comprehend the greatness of this trial. The reason is that Isaac had the promise of the future blessing. Therefore the command to kill him was all the more painful.
- 48 The verb "to tempt" must be particularly noted, for it is not put here needlessly. Nor should it be treated as coldly as James does (1:13), when he declares that nobody is tempted by God.2 For here
Scripture states plainly that Abraham was actually tempted by God Himself, not concerning a woman, gold, silver, death, or life but concerning a contradiction of Holy Scripture. Here God is clearly contradicting Himself; for how do these statements agree: "Through Isaac shall your descendants be named" (Gen. 21:12) and "Take your son, and sacrifice him"? He does not say that some bandit would come and secretly carry off his son; for in that case Abraham could have continued to have hope concerning the life and return of his son. But he himself is commanded to do the slaying, evidently in order that he may have no doubt that Isaac has actually been killed.
In this situation, then, would he not murmur against God and think: "This is not a command of God; it is a trick of Satan. For God's promise is sure, clear, and beyond doubt: 'From Isaac you will have descendants.' Why, then, does God command that he should be killed? Undoubtedly God is repenting of HIS promise. Otherwise He would not contradict Himself. Or I have committed some extra-ordinary sin, with which I have deeply offended God, so that He is withdrawing the promise"?
By nature we are all in the habit of doing this. When some physical affliction besets us, our conscience is soon at hand, and the devil torments it by assembling all the circumstances. Therefore a troubled heart looks about and considers how it may have offended God most. This leads to murmuring against God and to the greatest trial, hatred of God.
Abraham, too, had thoughts like this: "Behold, the Lord promised and gave me a son. As a result, I became happy and was restored to life, as it were. But perhaps this gift made me too proud, and I was not as thankful to God as I should have been. Therefore He regrets His promise."
This trial cannot be overcome and is far too great to be understood by us. For there is a contradiction with which God contradicts Himself. It is impossible for the flesh to understand this; for it inevitably concludes either that God is lying—and this is blasphemy-or that God hates me—and this leads to despair. Accordingly, this passage cannot be explained in a manner commensurate with the importance of the subject matter.
We are frequently tempted by thoughts of despair; for what human being is there who could be without this thought: "What if God did not want you to be saved?" But we are taught that in this conflict we must hold fast to the promise given us in Baptism, which is sure and clear. But when this happens, Satan does not cease immediately but keeps crying out in your heart that you are not worthy of this promise.
But in this situation there is need of the fervent prayer that God may give us His Spirit, in order that the promise may not be wrested from us. I am unable to resolve this contradiction. Our only consolation is that in affliction we take refuge in the promise; for it alone is our staff and rod, and if Satan strikes it out of our hands, we have no place left to stand. But we must hold fast to the promise and maintain that, just as the text states about Abraham, we are tempted by God, not because He really wants this, but because He wants to find out whether we love Him above all things and are able to bear
Him when He is angry as we gladly bear Him when He is beneficent and makes promises.
Thus Abraham was unable to believe that he was merely being tested. Otherwise he would have remained sure of the promise and would have thought that God is acting as parents are sometimes in the habit of doing when they tempt their children and take away a treat or something of that sort which they soon return to them. But when God commands that Abraham's son should be taken away, He leaves no hope but simply confronts Abraham with a contradiction. And God, who formerly seemed to be his best friend, now appears to have become an enemy and a tyrant.
Accordingly, Abraham is being more severely tried than Mary when she lost her Son at Jerusalem; for even though she, too, thought that she was being punished for not watching over her Son more carefully, she nevertheless still had the sure hope that He was alive. But here God, who had given the son, commands that the son be killed by the father himself. What hope, then, could the father have? He surely could not have been aware of this, that he was only being tried and that God was not speaking in earnest, just as we buoy ourselves up with the thought that God, even though He seems to be angry, nevertheless does not hate us or is casting us aside but sometimes, as Isaiah (28:21) says, does a strange work and simulates anger, in order to kill the mind of the flesh, which is opposed to God, as - 49 Job says: "Even though He slays me, yet will I hope"; for he is sure that God has something else in mind and is not really3 angry.
These events are recorded for our comfort, in order that we may learn to rely on the promises we have. I was baptized. Therefore I must maintain that I was translated from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God. Someone else has entered into marriage, and there, as usually happens, various inconveniences present themselves. Therefore he should turn his attention to the Fourth
Commandment and consider that this kind of life is pleasing to God, for He commands that parents should be honored and thus indicates that this kind of life is pleasing to Him.
One must act similarly in all other trials. Wherever we experience the opposite of a promise, we should maintain with assurance that when God shows Himself differently from the way the promise speaks, this is merely a temptation. Therefore we should not allow this staff of the promise to be wrested from our hands.
Nearly all people are tempted by despair, and the godlier they are, the more frequently they are attacked with this weapon of Satan. What else should you do in this situation than say: "I know that I am baptized and that God, for the sake of His Son, has promised me grace. This promise will not lie, even if I should be cast into utter darkness. Therefore what Satan suggests to me is not God's will; but God is tempting me in this manner, that it may become manifest what is hidden in my heart. It is not that God does not know this, but that I do not know it. He Himself wants to make use of this occasion to crush the head of the serpent in me (Gen. 3:15). For the heart of man is unsearchable; and φρόνημα, or the mind of the flesh, is enmity against God" (Rom. 8:7). Nor does man perceive this except through the word of the Law, through which the head of the serpent is killed, in order that we may be made alive, as Scripture says (1 Sam. 2:6): "God brings down to Sheol and raises up."
I have stated what Abraham's trial was, namely, the contradiction of the promise. Therefore his faith shines forth with special clarity in this passage, inasmuch as he obeys God with such a ready heart when He gives him the command. And although Isaac has to be sacrificed, he nevertheless has no doubt whatever that the promise will be fulfilled, even if he does not know the manner of its fulfillment. Yet he is also alarmed and terrified. For what else could the father do? Nevertheless, he clings to the promise that at some time Isaac win have descendants.
Human reason would simply conclude either that the promise is lying or that the command is not God's but the devil's. For there is a plain contradiction. If Isaac must be killed, the promise is void; but if the promise is sure, it is impossible that this is a command of God. Reason cannot do anything else, as experience shows in less important matters.
The Sacramentarians regard it as a contradiction that Christ says (Matt. 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24): "Take; this is My body," and yet that Christ is sitting at the right hand of the Father.4 From this they conclude that therefore only bread and wine are distributed in the Lord's
Supper, not the body and blood of Christ. Likewise (John 6:63): "The flesh is of no avail." In the Supper Christ gives His flesh; therefore Christ's flesh is not in the Supper. This is truly rushing into Holy Scripture with unwashed feet and following the blind judgment of reason.
Even though there is a clear contradiction here—for there is nothing between death and life— Abraham nevertheless does not turn away from the promise but believes that his son will have descendants even if he dies. Let us, too, learn to do the same thing. Yesterday we buried our very dear friend Dr. Sebald.5 Therefore he is now lamented as though he were dead. But we know that he is living; for inasmuch as he died in the true confession of the Son of God, and God is not the God of the dead but of the living (Matt. 22:32), he, too, lives.
Thus Abraham relies on the promise and attributes to the Divine Majesty this power, that He will restore his dead son to life; for just as he saw that Isaac was born of a worn-out womb and of a sterile mother, so he also believed that he was to be raised after being buried and reduced to ashes, in order that he might have descendants, as the Epistle to the Hebrews (11:19) states: "God is able to give life even to the dead."
Accordingly, Abraham understood the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, and through it alone he resolved this contradiction, which otherwise cannot be resolved; and his faith deserves the praise it receives from the prophets and apostles. These were his thoughts: "Today I have a son; tomorrow I shall have nothing but ashes. I do not know how long they will lie scattered; but they will be brought
- 50 to life again, whether this happens while I am still alive or a thousand years after my death. For the Word declares that I shall have descendants through this Isaac, even though he has been reduced to ashes."
I have said, however, that we cannot comprehend this trial; but we can observe and imagine it from afar, so to speak. Moreover, you see that the passage does not deal with a work, as James says in his letter (2:21), since as yet no work has occurred. It is the faith that we admire and praise.
Therefore one should hold fast to this comfort, that what God has once declared, this He does not change. You were baptized, and in Baptism the kingdom of God was promised you. You should know that this is His unchangeable Word, and you should not permit yourself to be drawn away from it. For although it can happen—as with those who were on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:28)—that He pretends to want to go farther and seems to be dealing with us as though He had forgotten His promises, faith in the Word must nevertheless be retained, and the promise must be stressed—namely, that it is true and dependable—even if the manner, time, occasion, place, and other particulars are unknown. For the fact that God cannot lie is sure and dependable.
When I am being killed, I see the ways and particulars by which my life is destroyed; but I do not see the particulars through which life will return, neither the time nor the place. Why, then, do I believe what I do not see anywhere? Because I have the promise and the Word of God; this does not permit me to discard the hope of life or to have any doubt about the inheritance which is Ghrist's, through whom we have been adopted as children.
Up to this time Abraham had thought that his son Isaac would marry and beget children at the place where he was at that time. All this falls through, for here is God's command that he should kill his son. Therefore even though those particulars of place and time are lost, Abraham does not for this reason have any doubt about the matter itself; for he knows that his son will have descendants, even after a thousand years.
These trials of the saintly patriarch have been set before us in order that we may be encouraged in our own trials and say with Abraham: "Though my son Isaac dies, nevertheless, because he believes in God, the very grave in which his ashes will lie will not be a grave but will be a bedchamber and a sleeping room." "On the contrary," says reason, "the opposite is manifest. The flesh turns to dust, and worms consume it." But this neither hinders nor annuls the Word of God; for these two statements which God makes to Adam—"You are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Gen. 3:19) and "The Seed shall crush the head of the serpent" (Gen. 3:15)—belong together.
Here the Jews speak of four revelations which did not occur at the same time, as Lyra relates for the purpose of showing the greatness of the obedience and the boundless power of faith.6 But there is no need here for such subtlety, for in my opinion these things happened at one and the same time.
"Take not a male servant or a female servant, not Ishmael, but your only son, Isaac, whom you love."
Thus God strengthens His command and makes it harsher and more painful, as though He were saying: "After this you will not be the father of such a son, and you will not have him whom you love so much; for I want you to offer him to Me, not like the other firstborn, who were kept,7 but to kill him. Accordingly, Abraham has now nothing more, so far as the promise is concerned, than he had before Isaac was born; and yet, because of God, he is ready to give up not only his son, Sarah, his inheritance, his house, and his church but even his own life. Isaac's death included all this, inasmuch as the promise was attached to Isaac.
The text says nothing about Sarah, whether she was aware of this command or not. Perhaps— because she was too weak to be able to stand that great shock—Abraham concealed this matter from her. For it is harsh when the text says: "You shall offer your son," not as a gift or as a thanksgiving, as the first-born in Israel used to be offered, but as a burnt offering, so that he is simply reduced to ashes, and the hands of the father had to be defiled with the blood of his son.
What do you suppose the sentiments of Abraham's heart were in this situation? He was a human being, and, as I have stated repeatedly, he was not without natural affection. Besides, the fact that he did not dare divulge to anyone what was happening made his grief greater. Otherwise all would have advised against it, and the large number of those who advised against it would perhaps have influenced him. Therefore he sets out on the journey alone with young slaves and his son. It is a momentous command and far harsher than we are able to imagine. Yet the fact that the text clearly states that God
- 51 was doing this to test him is full of comfort. If Abraham had known this, he would have had fewer worries. But now he is absorbed in the thought that his son has to be sacrificed and that at some time and in some manner or other the promise has to be fulfilled.
The Lord even designates a definite place away from his home, in the land of Moriah.
Furthermore, Moriah is approximately 10 German miles distant from Beer-sheba, unless the cosmographers are mistaken.8 This is a journey of about three days, for he had a donkey along to carry wood and food. Consequently, their progress was rather slow.
Furthermore, as 2 Chron. 3:1 records, Moriah is that hill near Mt. Zion on which Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem where the city slopes down toward the north. But the hill gave its name to the entire land, so that it was called the land of Moriah. To this day the Turks call the hill by that name and regard it with pious reverence. Thus it often happens that an entire land gets its name from one place. Just as all Saxony gets its name from the castle Saxenburg, so at that time that entire region got the name Moriah from Mt. Moriah. Here Jerusalem was located. At that time it was called Salem and also Jehus, and it was governed by the patriarch Shem.
Moriah is written with a double י, and the Hebrews debate very solicitously about its etymology. In this passage Jerome translates it as a common noun: "Go to the land of the vision."9 But this etymology is rejected by all as being too foreign to grammar. Others think that it got its name from myrrh, so that Moriah means "The Lord is my myrrh," because there the Lord should have myrrh, that is, His worship. For myrrh and frankincense, with which offerings of incense were made, used to grow there. And the etymology fits; for רמֹֹ is "myrrh," י is the enclitic pronoun "my," and היָ is the name of God.
Although I do not object to this etymology, I nevertheless am not adopting it, chiefly for the reason that the Jews, as is their habit, understood only the outward form of worship with incense; they neither understand nor perform the true inner forms of worship.
Accordingly, the opinion of those who derive the word from the verb הרָיָ, meaning "to teach," from which is derived הרּתֹוָ, "law" or "instruction," so that the meaning of היָָּּרִמֹֹ, that is, "the Lord who teaches," is that on this mount God teaches and is heard, as the prophets state (Is. 2:3): "Out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem"—this opinion, it seems to me, is preferable and better.
This etymology seems to me to have greater merit and to be more suitable so far as both meaning and grammar are concerned. But I do not claim for myself discernment enough in this language to make a decision. Burgensis, too, agrees with this; for his translation is "The Lord is my Instructor, or He who teaches me."10
The third etymology pleases me most of all. Yet I do not reject the others; for they derive היָָּּרִמֹֹ from the verb ארֵיָ, which meaus "to fear." Everywhere there are testimonies of Holy Scripture that fear of God is worship of God. For just as the terms "man" and "risible" are interchangeable,11 as the dialecticians say, so are fear and worship of God. God does not care for myrrh or incense if there is not present the fear on which Holy Scripture everywhere insists most of all, namely, that we should obey the Word of God, as, for instance, in the Book of Jeremiah (7:22–23): "I did not speak to your fathers concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people; and walk in all the way that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.' "
Accordingly, reverence and fear constitute the true and Godpleasing worship. If Abraham had killed his son because of foolish zeal and with contempt for the Word of God as Ahaz did (2 Kings
16:3), it would indeed have been myrrh, that is, a difficult and painful sacrifice that distresses the heart. But God does not look at the outward work; He looks at the heart itself. If it is right and fears
God, God is pleased with whatever one does.
Therefore it is my opinion that this word היָָּּרִמֹֹ properly denotes υεοσέβεια, or reverence and fear of God. For this reason in Is. 29:13, where the Hebrew has "their fear is a commandment of men," the - 52 Septuagint has "In vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men." Christ, too, quotes the passage this way (Matt. 15:9).
In the same Book of Isaiah (11:2) it is called the spirit of fear, that is, of the worship of God. Thus that land, as well as the hill, got its name from the true worship of God. But this worship is found only where God Himself teaches.
And what the Jews maintain seems to be true, namely, that in that very place Adam, Abel, and Noah brought sacrifices. Certainly Shem had his abode there. By him the true worship of God was spread abroad in the world. Here, too, applies what we stated above, that before the Flood Paradise was near that land, and that Adam dwelt in the neighborhood of Mt. Moriah after he had been driven from Paradise.12 Consequently, even before the Flood it was a famous place because of the worship of God, and it remained famous up to the time of Christ. But after the Holy Spirit was bestowed, the Gospel was spread from there into the entire world; and no longer was either the worship of God or the church confined to that small corner of the Jewish land.
Thus I gladly agree with those who believe that Moriah received its name from the Hebrew word which denotes "to fear, worship, and revere God," as though one called it in German heyltgstat, a holy place, a house of God, because this place was the temple and house of God from the beginning of the world, was venerated by Adam and Noah, and was inhabited by the eminent patriarch Shem, just as today there is a Moriah which extends as far as the world, just as Jerusalem does; that is, God is adored and worshiped not only in one definite place but everywhere in the world, wherever there is a congregation of the godly.
Opinions vary as to how God revealed this command that Abraham should kill his son. The majority say that it was done at night through a vision; others suppose that, as was usual,13 this revelation was made to the patriarch Shem and that he gave this command to Abraham by divine authority. But whatever may be the case, it is certain from what Moses says that it was God's will that Abraham should be put to the test by this command.
As to the translation of Jerome, who made an appellative of the proper noun, he deserves indulgence. For it is characteristic of the Hebrew language that it is entirely etymological even in the case of proper nouns. Therefore just as he allowed the proper name of the place to remain in Chronicles, so he should also have allowed it to remain in this passage. But the verse which comes later, where it is recorded that Abraham called the name of this place The Lord Will See, misled him.
Consequently, here, too, he translates: "Go to the land of the vision."
If there are some who want to look for an allegory, Moriah was the Word of God and faith in the Word. For these two are correlative; there can be neither faith nor worship of God where there is no Word, and wherever the Word is, there must be some who believe. Where, then, these two are, there follows the third, namely, the cross and mortification. These three make up the Christian life. But more about this elsewhere.
In this passage, however, special note should be taken of the adverb of place. "Offer your son to Me there as a burnt offering." It was not permitted to sacrifice or to set up the worship of God everywhere. No, this could be done only in that place which God chose. Therefore the prophets severely rebuke the Jews who sacrificed elsewhere than in the place commanded by God; and in this passage not only the place but also the person and the sacrificer are specifically named. "You,
Abraham, must offer your son, not cattle; you must offer Isaac, not Ishmael." All the details are exclusive.14
For God does not want us to serve Him with our self-chosen works. Therefore He prescribes everything in His command, and so positive and stern a command at that. Consequently, if the person, the place, or the time is different, you are mistaken and not only do not worship at all, but you even irritate Him and provoke Him to hate you and be angry with you.
The Jews were not Abraham; that is, they did not have a command, as Abraham did, about immolating their children. Indeed, the Fifth Commandment forbade in general all kinds of homicide.
Yet Ahaz thought that he was rendering God a splendid service if he made his children pass through fire (2 Kings 16:3). The antecedent was as follows: Even a son must be killed on God's account, as the example of Abraham teaches. "Therefore," he said "I, too, shall kill my son." But this is a false conclusion because of the dissimilarity.15 It was by a special and new command that Abraham was
- 53 ordered to immolate his son; this command Ahaz did not have. Therefore he should have undertaken nothing contrary to the clear commandment of the Decalog.
3. So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac.
This account deserves to have each word carefully examined.Abraham rose early in the morning.
He did not delay; he did not argue. Nor did he ask, as Adam did in Paradise: "Why does God give this command?" He listened neither to his flesh nor to the serpent. Indeed, he did not make the matter known even to Sarah; but when he heard God's command, he hastened without any hesitation to carry it out.
This is an extraordinary example and a description of perfect obedience, when so suddenly and at one and the same time Abraham thrusts out of sight and does away with everything he used to hold dearest in his life: his home, his wife, and his son who had been so long expected and upon whom such grand promises had been heaped. Consequently, we admire in vain the saints of the New
Testament16 and read about their fastings and chastisings without discernment; for no matter what kind of men they were, if they are compared with Abraham, their saintliness and virtues become altogether vile and filthy. They do not know what it means to kill the son of promise-the son on whom rested all the hope and strength of the aged father, all of which perishes so unexpectedly in a single moment with the life of his son. This is truly denying oneself and forsaking everything. Elsewhere we read that some cast aside their gold, silver, and wealth, and that others cast aside wife and children and risked their lives because of their confession; but there never was an apostle, a patriarch, or a martyr who could have shown this obedience so unwaveringly.
Let us remember, however, that in this entire account one should pay special attention to the Word and command of God, which glorifies all the works of believers and makes them grand, no matter how small they are. Similarly, the works done without a command, even though they are most saintly in outward appearance, are nothing but filth, like those of the pope or other fanatics.
Next there is a description of Abraham's ready and eager heart. Moses states that he rose, did not delay, and did not hesitate. When we are sure about God's will and believe that He has commanded what we have under consideration, the matter must be undertaken, not with trepidation or hesitation but with the utmost eagerness, even if one had to expose oneself to a thousand dangers or to death itself. For the Word of God cannot be without effect. But when we obey God's command, the outcome determined in advance surely follows, even though the very gates of hell fight against it. Thus David says in Ps. 119:50: "Thy Word is my comfort in my affliction"; that is, because I had Thy Word, my heart was ready and eager to endure all dangers, and Thy Word gave me life.
For it is most certainly true that when anyone in his vocation is convinced in his heart that God desires and has commanded in His Word what he is doing, he will experience such force and effectiveness of that divine command as he will not find in the oration of any orator, either of Demosthenes or of Cicero. That command states all the details. It tells what is profitable and what is good in the matter; it points out and suggests to the heart that God has in view unlimited designs far above our understanding. And when the heart has been provided with this confidence, it proceeds boldly and is not anxious about the possible or the impossible, the easy or the difficult, as St. Paul has magnificently described this confidence and security of the godly in Rom. 8:35 ff.
If Gideon and Samson had not had the Word of God, they would never have performed such great deeds but would have succumbed to the hardship and the great number of their enterprises. But because they believed the Word, these were their thoughts: "I have been called for this, and I have the command to attack the Philistines, the Midianites, etc.; therefore I shall proceed boldly." It is faith that produces these marvelous works, just as Christ says in John 14:12: "He who believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do."
But we do not find these facts in the heathen accounts; nor do we Christians have sufficient understanding of them, because we are sound asleep and do not believe God when He commands, threatens, punishes, or promises. We lack understanding. Those saintly heroes and fathers—Abraham,
David, etc.—believed, and therefore they performed such difficult things. It is related above how Abraham routed four kings with a small force. He achieved that victory by no other means than faith, which relied on the command and call of God.
- 54 Thus in this account Abraham overcomes his trials by faith. And without a doubt he had very great trials. He knows that God has given him a command. Therefore he hastens to carry it out without regard for a contrary opinion of Sarah or of the domestics or of any other creature. What is stated in the psalm (119:50) is firmly impressed on his heart: "Thy Law is my very great comfort, because it gives me life." In the same way let him who has a sure Word of God, in whatever vocation he may be, only believe and have courage, and God will undoubtedly grant a favorable outcome.
We do not have commands about extraordinary and unique things of this kind, and perhaps we would be incredulous even if we had them, as a similar example concerning incredulous King Ahaz is described in Is. 7. The two very powerful kings of Syria and Israel were waging war against him.
Moreover, Scripture says (Is. 7:2) that "his heart and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forests shake before the wind." Then the Lord sends His prophet to Ahaz with a new command (Is.
7:4): "Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and be not faint. For these two kings are not kings before Me; they are burning firebrands, nay, even stumps of smoking firebrands. Just have confidence, and do not be afraid." What is more, the Lord bids him ask for a sign, so that his heart and faith may become stronger. But what does Ahaz do? "I will not ask," says he (Is. 7:12), "and I will not put the Lord to the test." We, too, would be people of that kind and would not accept it, even if God gave us some new command.
At this time, in the present danger of the plague,17 we are in a state of trepidation. It is as though we did not have the command to live and to call upon God. We have a most dependable Word uttered by the mouth of the Son of God (John 11:25–26): "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die." But who is interested in this Word or pays any attention to it? Similarly, anyone can be certain about his calling from the Word of God, whether it is a calling in civil life or in the church. But there is nothing we neglect more than our duty. The negligence and idleness of the government is familiar to all. The bishops and the pastors remain silent like dumb dogs (cf. Is. 56:10) and do not believe that they are what they are; they strive for riches and honors, but they do not perform their tasks. Meanwhile we complain that we lack the opportunity to do good works.
We have the command that applies to us all, namely, that we should love God and fear no one— not the devil, not the Turk, not the plague—when we walk in our ways, even if our life is in danger, in accordance with the passage (Ps. 27:14): "Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage." But who heeds this? Nobody. For nobody believes that God has commanded confidence and has condemned despair. Therefore this passage deserves careful consideration, in order that we may learn true obedience toward God and how important it is to have the assurance of a command from God and with what great confidence this fills the hearts of the godly. We assuredly should have sought for this in the remotest limits of the world, but there is no need of a long journey or of a painstaking search. Our home, body, and heart are full of commands of God; yet we do not believe. Therefore we feel no joy; nor do we have any light or understanding with regard to that spiritual pride and confidence that is based on the Word of God and His commands.
It is for this reason that the examples of the fathers, in which the efficacy and power of the Word of God and of faith are prominent, should be exalted and carefully emphasized, as David boasts (Ps.
119:50): "These are my comfort, namely, Thy utterances." Relying on these utterances, he killed a bear, a lion, and the Philistine Goliath, and performed other difficult and remarkable feats. When he was driven out of the kingdom by his son, he held fast to the same comfort, and his thoughts were as follows: "I was chosen king by the authority and command of God, not because of my own desire but to the glory of God. Since I am sure of this, I shall not become perturbed; nor shall I be afraid." And with this confidence he appeals to God (Ps. 7:6): "Arise, O Lord God, in the command which Thou hast given me," as though he were saying: "If it is Thy desire to cast me aside, it is good; but if Thou desirest that I be and remain a king, I shall rule even against the win and opposition of the gates of hell." With this word he overcomes and kills both his son Absalom and his wicked counselor.
Thus in this unbelievable trial it was Abraham's sole consolation that he knew he had a command from God. He surely would not have fled from the plague or from many thousands of Turks, because his heart held fast to this confidence: "I believe in God Almighty." But what are 10,000 Turks in - 55 comparison with Almighty God? Therefore he does not delay at this point, but he immediately takes hold of the command and is ready to carry out the sacrifice.
We should learn to understand this power of the Word of God—this power which the Holy Spirit is wont to exalt so much that He makes it greater than every creature, hell, death, and the good and bad angels. Yes, He even makes it equal to God, as it actually is, inasmuch as in Rom. 1:16 Paul calls it
"the might and power of God"; and indeed one should feel the same way about the spoken word.
Abraham understood this very clearly; therefore he had no doubt that Isaac, even if he were to die, nevertheless would be revived and that his progeny would live on, because God does not permit His command and promise to be of no effect.
In Ps. 91:7, 11 it is stated: "A thousand will fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you. For He will give His angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways." He who holds firmly to this promise and meanwhile diligently does his duty in his place, which he knows has been assigned to him by God, even if some dangers or obstacles are put in his way, nevertheless has no doubt about a happy issue and favorable outcome but is convinced in his heart that all the angels will come flying from heaven to help and defend him rather than that any godly undertaking in accord with the Word of God should be in vain and useless. What you undertake on the strength of His Word must succeed, even though there were to be no angel remaining in heaven.18 In this the sacred accounts are therefore superior to the histories of the heathen; for in the former everything happens by God's command, but in the latter it happens by chance and by the plans of men.
And this is the meaning of the words "Abraham rose early in the morning." He did not argue about the outcome, but these were his thoughts: "I am sure that something better will happen than I am now seeing—not through my strength or that of my people but through the power of the command of God.
Therefore I shall obey the Lord, who is giving me the command and is calling me." Thus Joab says to his brother (2 Sam. 10:12): "Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people, and for the cities of our God; and may the Lord do what seems good to Him." Such people are ready for every good work; all the rest are reprobate, because even a slow obedience is no obedience at all.
All these details are so carefully described in order to show that even the delay exercised his faith to no small extent. The father himself had to look for the wood, cut it, and place it upon the ass for the purpose of burning his son. Meanwhile he undoubtedly felt very great trepidation of the flesh. He did not have a heart of iron, but he was of a very tender nature; and in his mind he continually contemplated the thought of the burnt offering at which his only son, who had been promised him as the hope of the future Seed and of progeny, had to be sacrificed, and with the very wood which the father is gathering. Should he not have deliberated further in a matter so sad and astonishing? Should he not have taken counsel with Sarah, the child's mother? These things are indicated by those seemingly useless words; otherwise this could have been described very briefly. But Moses wants to indicate what emotions Abraham felt at every moment—emotions which undoubtedly were accompanied by inexpressible groans, sighs, sobs, and fatherly tears. But he himself saddles the ass and does not assign this task to the slaves. He is so wrapped up and so absorbed, as it were, in reverence and fear of God that he scarcely realizes what he is doing.
And he took two of his young men with him.
The Jews argue about who those two slaves were.19 Ishmael has been east out; yet they maintain that one of the young men was Ishmael and that the other was Eliezer, the overseer of Abraham's house who has been mentioned above (15:2). Whoever they were, they surely were most faithful. For they follow and respect their master without resorting to any subterfuges. But the Saracens have invented horrible lies on the basis of this text. They tell the fictitious story that Ishmael was immolated in the place of Isaac, who, they say, ran away and did not obey his father. Hence they boast that they are the sons of Sarah; for, as they say, Isaac was not sacrificed, but Ishmael was sacrificed in his brother's place.20
It is the perpetual custom of all heretics to transfer to themselves the glory of the church and the people of God, for everybody wants to be nearest to God. And this temptation has existed among men from the beginning of the world. Thus today the heretics and the pope want to be the church. The Turk wants to be the people of God. Christians, however, are deprived of their rightful title and honor. This
- 56 is the course of the world from the beginning to the end. Gain is its originator, and it will persist through all ages. The false church arrogates to itself the title of church of God. Idols seize the name and the honor of God. Therefore almost more sins are committed against the First Table than against the Second. For this reason Isaac, too, is declared to be disobedient and a runaway.
After Abraham has received the command, he sees nothing else. Everything fades out in him:
Sarah, the domestics, his home, and Isaac. This is true mortification; this is sitting in ashes and sackcloth. Away with Antony, Hilarion, and others! Yes, they performed great and difficult works; but not one of these works was the mortification of that head of the serpent—namely, of reason and man's will—which the monks and hypocrites of their kind rather bring to life and strengthen when they are puffed up with their righteousness, merits, and works of supererogation.
It is a great and truly bitter sorrow to lose the son obtained by so many prayers and tears, and to lose the hope and glory through which he had hoped that he would be the father of the Blessed Seed.
In this sorrow he nevertheless comforts himself and maintains that he will have descendants, if not within his lifetime yet after his death, just as Sarah comforted herself (ch. 16) when she thought: "I shall not be the mother of this Seed, for I have not been worthy. Therefore let another be the mother, namely, my slave woman Hagar. Only may the Lord give some offspring!" These are true mortifications. They do not happen in deserts, away from the society of human beings. No, they happen in the household itself and in the government, and from this one can surely form an opinion about Abraham's extraordinary obedience, which extended to his innermost being.
And he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
Everything appears to indicate a delay. Abraham has 318 servants (14:14), yet he himself is a servant of servants. These facts are related in order to bestow praise on his remarkable obedience. He gives no order to anyone but does everything himself, and quickly at that, because he is impelled by the command which rules and lives in him.
4. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off.
It is my opinion that the place of the sacrifice was not more than a quarter of a mile distant from the place Abraham ordered his servants to halt. Jerusalem, or Mt. Moriah, even though it was a rather high place, nevertheless could not be seen from a distance, because the region round about it was mountainous. I am truly surprised that the father did not die from that bitter and persistent grief, for he had to make a journey of three days. If that struggle had lasted one or two hours, he would have prevailed rather easily. Therefore this delay makes his obedience greater. Meanwhile he thought:
"Behold, I am walking along with my son, who is my greatest hope and a young man; he has to die."
During these three days he endured this kind of torture of his flesh and at the same time the darts of Satan. Nevertheless, he had to endure it in silence because of the command, and since he relied on this, he was strengthened and preserved.
5. Then Abraham said to his young men: Stay here with the ass; I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
If the slaves had been present, they would not have allowed the father to do What he intended; or they would have suspected that he was out of his mind. But if they had been unable to prevent him, they would nevertheless have shouted aloud, and by closing their eyes they would have avoided seeing so great a crime.
6. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son.
There is another delay, and Abraham's grief breaks out anew when he places the wood on his son.
"O my son, if you or your mother knew what kind of wood you are carrying! You think that you are carrying it to a sacrifice, but you do not know that you yourself will be the burnt offering."
And he took in his hand the fire and the knife.
It was not a sword, and the picture commonly painted of Abraham about to kill his son is incorrect.22 It was a knife, such as butchers and priests were accustomed to use. Isaac lay on his back on the heap of wood. His face was turned toward heaven, and Abraham wanted to strike his throat, as butchers commonly kill calves. First the ass carried the wood, and the slaves carried the fire. But Abraham took these from them and placed the wood, a burden for asses, on his son, because he was
- 57 not a boy but a young man about 25 years old. He himself carried the fire. Then indeed various ideas must have arisen in the minds of the slaves.
So they went both of them together.
These two were alone as they walked in the desert. The whole world is ignorant of what is going on here, and there was no one at hand to encourage the sorrowful father. The son, however, does not know that he is to be killed. Nowhere else in Holy Scripture is a walk like this described. There were two. Who were they? The very dear father and the dearly beloved son. In what frame of mind were they? This was their frame of mind: Isaac was unaware of the situation. Nevertheless, he was ready to obey. Abraham was fully determined to immolate his son and reduce him to ashes.
7. And Isaac said to his father Abraham: My father! And he said: Here am I, my son. He said: Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8. Abraham said: God will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. So they went both of them together.
At this point there is surely profound emotion, and there is powerful pathos. Moses did not want to pass this over. Isaac, the victim, addresses his father and stirs up his natural love, as though he were saying: "You are my father." And the father says in turn: "You are my son." These words penetrated into and upset the heart of the father. For the son says: "Behold, the wood; but where is the lamb?" It is evident that he is solicitous about the glory of God, for he knows that his father is about to offer a burnt offering at which he himself wants to be the onlooker. Therefore he gives him a reminder lest perchance he forget the sacrifice because of the very great intentness and devotion of his heart.
"Where is the lamb," he says, "for the burnt offering?" Then his father should have answered him:
"You will be the lamb." But he does not say this. Then he adds: "God will provide it"; and in this statement he at the same time included God's command.
Abraham does not want to torment his son with a long torture and trial. Therefore he does not yet disclose that Isaac himself must die. Nor does Moses point out that while they were walking along during these three days Abraham urged his son to become accustomed to thoughts of death. Abraham seems to have said nothing about this and to have waited until the very moment he would put the knife to Isaac's throat.
It is certainly amazing how Isaac was able to cast aside so suddenly all fondness for this life and to forget father, mother, home, the promise, and Finally life itself, which he had barely begun. All this could not be overcome without great sorrow and grief. For the saints are not blocks of wood and devoid of feeling; but they are human beings, and the emotions and affections implanted in human nature are present in them to a higher degree than they are in others. It was surely extraordinary faith through which Isaac was able to turn away so suddenly from life and to hand himself over to death.
For he thought of nothing else, and with his physical eyes he saw nothing else than the destruction that confronted him.
9. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order.
Up to this point Moses has described the example of obedience of both, the father as well as the son, in a long narrative and has kept the reader in suspense to the point of weariness with extraordinary expectation. Now that the altar has been built and the epitasis has come, Moses has nothing to say. He either does not venture to state what took place, because the subject matter is greater than can be expressed by any eloquence, or his tears made it impossible for him to write. He lets the amazement and surprise remain in the hearts of his readers and wants them to form their own idea of a situation which he is unable to describe adequately with words.
Now that the altar was built, the knife ready, and the fire kindled, some conversation between the father and the son must have occurred—a conversation through which Isaac was apprised of the will and command of God. The father said: "You, my dearly beloved son, whom God has given me, have been destined for the burnt offering." Then the son was undoubtedly struck with amazement and in turn reminded his father of the promise: "Consider, father, that I am the offspring to whom descendants, kings, peoples, etc., have been promised. God gave me to my mother Sarah through a - 58 great miracle. How, then, will it be possible for the promise to be fulfilled if I have been killed?
Nevertheless, let us first confer about this matter and talk it over."
All this should have been recorded here. I do not know why Moses omitted it. But I have no doubt that the father's address to his son was extraordinary, and I think that its main topic was the command of God and the resurrection of the dead. He probably said: "God has given a command; therefore we must obey Him, and, since He is almighty, He can keep His promise even when you are dead and have been reduced to ashes." No doubt Isaac was previously instructed in this doctrine, understood it very clearly, and believed it just as much as Abraham did, because they are examples of faith. But faith includes the promise which has been related above (ch. 15).
Thus it was the father's address to his son which reconciled these two contradictory propositions:
Isaac will be the seed and father of kings and of peoples; Isaac will die and will not be the father of peoples. Those contradictory statements cannot be reconciled by any human reason or philosophy. But the Word reconciles these two, namely, that he who is dead lives, and he who lives dies. Thus we live, and yet we die; for even though we are now living, we are reckoned as dead because of sin, and though we have died, we are reckoned as living. On this occasion these statements were treated and discussed between the father and the son, and they were believed not only by Abraham but also by Isaac. For Isaac dies in faith in the promise that he will be a father. Therefore Isaac dies and lives; he becomes ashes and the father of peoples.
The sophists and the rabbis understand nothing in this passage, because they do not see the heart of Holy Scripture, which deals with the resurrection of the dead, life, victory over death, and the destruction of sin, but not with transitory and worthless things. At the same time one can also see here whether there is any faith without works and whether works are condemned when the righteousness of faith is taught. How many very excellent works and how many instances of the saintliest obedience occur at the same time in this one example!
And bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.
10. Then Abraham put forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
Moses sums up that remarkable and amazing account in one short sentence. At this very moment the father is about to cut the throat of his son. The son, with his eyes lifted up to heaven, presents his throat and waits to be reduced to ashes. Thus God brings both into extreme danger of their lives. If on that occasion there had been no faith, or if God had slept for a single moment, the life of the son would have been done for, because the knife is ready, the son is bound and placed upon the heap of wood, and the thrust is aimed at his throat. These are works of God by which He shows that He takes care of us in the greatest dangers and in the midst of death.
The Jews discuss what kind of binding this was.23 I think that Isaac was bound just as a butcher binds a sheep or a goat with a rope and grasps the animal with one hand and holds the knife in the other. At that moment Abraham also wanted to kill his son in this manner.
But why does Abraham bind Isaac? Not because Isaac was thinking of running away and did not want to obey his father, but in order to conform to the rite of the burnt offering. For Abraham had to assume the mood and procedure of a priest who is killing a calf. Therefore he employs a similar procedure and rite. He places Isaac on top of the wood, like a calf that is now to be killed, and at the same time he moves the knife close to the throat. Why is no compulsion or restraint indicated in this passage, but only the rite and procedure of the priest or slayer?
I could not have been an onlooker, much less the performer and slayer. It is an astounding situation that the dearly beloved father moves his knife close to the throat of the dearly beloved son, and I surely admit that I cannot attain to these thoughts and sentiments either by means of words or by reflecting on them. No one else should have expounded this passage than St. Paul. We are not moved by those sentiments, because we do not desire to feel and experience them. The son is obedient, like a sheep for the slaughter, and he does not open his mouth. He thought: "Let the will of the Lord be done," because he was brought up to conduct himself properly and to be obedient to his father. With the exception of Christ we have no similar example of obedience.
11. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said: Abraham, Abraham!
Here you see with what unconcern the Divine Majesty toys with death and all the power of death.
Here God is playing with His patriarch and his son, who together experienced the utmost distress and - 59 won a very great victory over death. For not only was Isaac ready to die, but his father Abraham actually dies seven times because he is wholly preoccupied with thoughts about the sacrifice and death of his son.
Natural death, which is the separation of the soul from the body, is simple death. But to feel death, that is, the terror and fear of death—this indeed is real death. Without fear death is not death; it is a sleep, as Christ says (John 11:26): "He who believes in Me will not see death." For when fear has been removed, the death of the soul has been removed.
Therefore let us agree on this description of death: Death has a soul and a body. The body is the destruction of death for the soul, and the death of the soul is the fear and horror of death. But if the soul of death has died, the death of the body is a sleep. Here in Abraham was the death of the soul, because he had no doubt whatever but was convinced beyond all doubt that Isaac had to be sacrificed and had to be killed at that moment. But whenever a human being stands in fear of death, that is, has the conviction that he must die, then he feels the violence of real death to such an extent that he cannot hold up. Then he dies in the truest sense of the word, not when the separation of the soul from the body takes place.
Two amazing instances of deaths of this kind are combined here in the utmost patience and obedience. It would have been more bearable for Abraham to die a natural death even seven times rather than be an onlooker, yes, the slayer of his son. Thus both are killed, since they see and feel nothing else than death. Nevertheless, they did not die in the sight of God, as we shall hear later on; for they regard death as a sport and a jest, no differently from the manner in which we are in the habit of playing with a ball or an apple.
But the victory of Abraham, Isaac, and all the saints is faith. He who has faith overcomes the fear of death and conquers and triumphs eternally. About this 2 Cor. 1:9 says: "We have set our hope on the living God who raises the dead." Indeed, we have scarcely a single trace of this faith. For we believe so long as we do not feel death; but when death makes its appearance, fear and horror follow at once.
Therefore it is something wonderful and impossible for reason to believe that God can, and wants to, do away with death and change it into life. But it is far more astonishing that Abraham and Isaac were convinced that this entire action was sport and not death. Anyone readily believes that for God indeed death is sport; but if I am to maintain the same conviction for myself and in the case of my body—that death is not death—no physician, no philosopher, and no lawyer will ever convince me of this.
For who will associate and reconcile these statements: Death is not death; it is life? Moses himself asserts the opposite. For if you listen to the Law, it will tell you: In the midst of life we are in death, according to that ancient and pious hymn in the church.24 But this has reference to the Law alone. The Gospel, however, and faith invert this hymn and sing thus: "In the midst of death we are in life. Thee we praise as our Redeemer. Thou hast raised us from death and hast saved us." For the Gospel teaches that in death itself there is life, something which is unknown to and impossible for the Law and reason.
Hence Paul exults in 25Col. 2:15: "He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them." Likewise in 2 Cor. 6:9: "As dying, and behold we live." This is the power of faith, which mediates in this way between death and life, and changes death into life and immortality, which, as faith knows, has been bestowed through Christ.
By this deed, as though by some show, God wanted to point out that in His sight death is nothing but a sport and empty little bugaboo of the human race, yes, an annoyance and a trial, as, for example, if a father sports with his son, takes an apple away from him, and meanwhile is thinking of leaving him the entire inheritance. But this is difficult to believe; and for this reason the heathen, who have no knowledge of this will of God, which He reveals in His Word, are altogether without hope (1 Thess.
But Christians, who have the Word, should hear it with all eagerness and should meditate on it, in order that their hearts may be stirred up, so that, however much they may be weighed down by the burden of sin and the hindrances of Satan, they nevertheless may attain to that glory and knowledge of God's mind and of immortality and be able to believe that this statement is true and unshakable:
"Death is a sport." This is what Abraham believed and felt, and with this confidence he conquered - 60 death. The thoughts of his heart were these: "My son Isaac, whom I am killing, is the father of the promise, and this proposition is absolutely true. Consequently, my son will live forever and will be the heir. Therefore even if he has to die now, he will nevertheless not die in reality but will rise again."
Accordingly, faith reconciles opposites and is not an idle quality, as the sophists say;26 but it has the power to kill death, to condemn hell, to be sin for sin, and a devil for the devil to such an extent that death is not death, even if everybody's reason should bear witness that death is present. Of this
Abraham is very sure. He thinks: "I am reducing my son to ashes. Nevertheless, he is not dying.
Indeed, those ashes will be the heir." Is this not playing in such an important and difficult matter—a matter in which all men are twice as childish as usual?
But these things have not been recorded for the sake of Abraham, who is long since dead, but to encourage and stimulate us, in order that we may learn that in the sight of God death is nothing and may sing: "In the midst of death we are in life. Whom shall we praise except Thee, our God?" This is the evangelical hymn; the other one has to do with the Law. The patriarchs and spiritual men understood these truths clearly. We deal with them daily and with great clarity. But how few there are who believe and heed them! To be sure, such people differ in no wise from those who do not hear.
Indeed, even though they hear, they do not hear, because they are dead in sins and avarice. In the Old Testament the scribes, the priests, and the ungodly, who did not understand these things, are like them; but David, Isaiah, Samuel, and Jeremiah had the understanding of the Holy Spirit and were able to see that Isaac and his father Abraham, even though they die, nevertheless are living. Here Abraham is killed seven times. Nevertheless, he remains alive, and physically at that. In one moment Abraham the father and Isaac the son are killed and live.
We do not understand these things. Yet they must be thought about, in order that we may understand as much as we can. I certainly admit my dullness; my donkey remains standing below and cannot ascend the mountain. Thus all who are not well informed in the doctrine of faith remain asses and cannot grasp these thoughts, namely, that death is life. Thus Peter, who denied Christ when he was in danger of death, was a lazy beast. Indeed, he was not even like an ass; for he not only does not come to a halt at the foot of the mountain, but he leaps back at once and runs away.
Therefore let us remember this sight which Moses has set before us, and let us remember that jesting of the Divine Majesty in the matter of death, in order that we may learn to believe that death is life. For how many, I ask, are there who know this? Consider what we do when we look at or are present with those who are at the point of death, or when our own life is in danger. If we were minded like Abraham and his son, we would say (Ps. 118:17–18): "I shall not die, but I shall live. The Lord has chastened me sorely, but He has not given me over to death."27 Even though I shall be buried and be consumed by worms, nevertheless I shall live. "But you will die," objects the flesh. No, but it is a chastisement.
Abraham and Isaac saw and knew nothing else, and the matter itself and the entire action were in no wise different from their thoughts. Nevertheless, they maintain that it is some sport, not death. In like manner Paul scoffs at death and exults (1 Cor. 15:55): "Death, where is your sting?"
Let us, too, learn this, in order that we may be able to say in the midst of death: "Farewell, leaves and grass! I shall not die; but I shall live, just as Isaac thought when the knife was being aimed at his throat." But if we still fear and tremble at the thought and sight of death, let us acknowledge our ignorance, and let us not boast that we are theologians.
All people can see death, and the heathen and the ungodly realize that death is death. But this is the wisdom of Christians and the unique teaching of the church—the teaching to which Abraham holds fast: "Though I am killing my son, I have him alive." And Isaac: "Though I die, I shall not die when you cut my throat and reduce me to ashes. To be sure, I shall be turned to ashes. Nevertheless, I shall live, and I shall beget heirs of the entire world."
But previously the text has stated correctly: "So they went both of them together." Except in those two, this reflection about death did not exist in the entire world. When Isaac's throat was about to be cut, he thought: "Into Thy hands I commit my spirit (Ps. 31:5). I shall not die, but I shall live; and I shall return, because God will not lie. I am the son of the promise. Therefore I must beget children, even if heaven collapses." Consider whether this is not dying a sure death and nevertheless living a surer life. Hence the prophets in Holy Scripture everywhere proclaim the resurrection of the dead, and - 61 this passage clearly points out a resurrection even into this physical life. How much more into the future life!
But all this has its source in the First Commandment; for in it is contained the doctrine of faith and of the resurrection of the dead. "I, the almighty Creator of heaven and earth, am your God; that is, you must live the life I am living." If He were speaking these words to oxen, they would live forever. But they are said to us—to us, I say. He does not say to them: "You must eat chaff, wheat, and grass." No,
He says: "I am your God."
Furthermore, to be God means to deliver from all evils that burden us, such as sin, hell, death, etc.; for in this manner the prophets regarded and interpreted these words. The heathen know God solely as the Creator; but in the First Commandment you will find Christ, life, victory over death, and the resurrection of the dead into eternal life, and finally the entire Old and New Testament. But only those who have the Holy Spirit and pay attention to what God says and does see this. Even though the others constantly hear these things, yet they do not concern themselves with them.
Therefore let these two, Abraham and Isaac, be examples of this article concerning the resurrection of the dead, because both believe that God is not only able to raise the dead but most assuredly wants to do so, and that He deals with men about the necessity to slay death, which nevertheless is not death for Him but is a sleep, which is a brother28 and blood relative, so to speak, of death; for when a human being is buried, he is not dead for God, but he sleeps.
Thus it can be said about Isaac when he is reduced to the dust from which he was taken: "He is not dead ashes; he is the son of the promise—the son who begets kings." Let us have the same thoughts about our dead and about our bodies. This food of worms will not remain dust; but it will live again, because we hear Scripture saying that in the eyes of God death is some childish sport and is also such for all Christians, who believe in the God who gives life to the dead (Rom. 4:17) and regards the deceased as living.
This is the Christian doctrine and the wisdom of God, the science of the saints, the sublime knowledge beyond the comprehension of the world: "Death, where is your sting? Where is your victory?" (1 Cor. 15:55.) In the midst of death we are in life. "I shall not die" (Ps. 118:17). Let him who has this skill give thanks to God. But we must take pains that we not only speak of it theoretically but cling to it in fact and with our whole heart.
If it is asked from what source the fathers drew this wisdom, Paul answers (1 Cor. 10:4): "From the spiritual Rock which followed the people in the desert," that is, from the knowledge of Christ, the promised Deliverer.
The Law and carnal wisdom do not understand these things, just as at that time that sight of the two was hidden to the entire world but was known and highly pleasing to God and the angels, while for men and devils it was horrible and frightening. For whenever the devil sees a human being acting in faith, he is frightened, in accordance with the statement in 1 Cor. 4:9: "We have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men." If this is understood of the wicked angels, it is a horrible spectacle; if it is understood of the good angels, it is a pleasing spectacle, as is stated in 1 Peter 1:12:
"Into which angels long to look." For God and the angels are glad to look at those wonderful works: the victory over death, the destruction of sin, Isaac returning and restored to life from the ashes, and made the father of nations from nothing.
There was a great light of faith in that young man. He believed in God the Creator, who calls into existence the things that do not exist (Rom. 4:17), and commands the ashes that are not Isaac to be
Isaac. For he who believes that God is the Creator, who makes all things out of nothing, must of necessity conclude that therefore God can raise the dead. "Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?" asks Paul (Acts 26:8).
Hence these examples show that we should learn to believe that life and death are alike for the godly. If they live, they die; if they die, they live, just as is taught and pointed out throughout the entire
New Testament that all the works of Christians are wonders. Ps. 4:3: "The Lord makes His saint wonderful." Christ says (John 14:12): "Greater works than these will he do who believes in Me, and I go to the Father," that I may be almighty in you. These marvelous works terrify the demons, delight the angels, and comfort the godly.
- 62 But away with the ungodly, lest he see the glory of God! For the world does not see the Spirit of truth; nor does it know Him. "You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you" (John
14:17). The Jews indeed saw Christ raising Lazarus (John 11:45), and Peter healing with his shadow (Acts 5:15). Thus our opponents see that we want to take care of all men with the Gospel. They also see our works of love, humility, and patience. But even though they see, they do not see. Even if the Holy Spirit displays such works as unmistakably strike their very eyes and ears, so that they can be grasped with the hands, they nevertheless do not see. Therefore they speak irreverently against us and against the Spirit, who speaks and works in us, and they cry out that all this is the work of the devil.
But the Holy Spirit has been clearly exhibited to their eyes, and His works and wonders are seen in the Word and in the sacraments. Consequently, even the stones, if they were not devoid of reason, could see and bear witness. Yet they do not see. Why? Because Christ says (John 14:17): "The world cannot receive Him."
But he who29 can believe in accordance with the First Commandment that God is the Creator of heaven and earth will not argue or have any doubts about the resurrection of the dead. On the other hand, he who does not believe that God can, and wants to, raise the dead believes nothing at all, just as the pope, the cardinals, and the bishops do not believe in a resurrection of the dead. Therefore one concludes on the basis of an infallible inference that they do not believe that there is a God. Because they deny His works, they believe nothing about His majesty and power, of which one is aware in the resurrection of the dead.
Therefore let him who is able to do so expand upon this account and meditate on it with all his heart, in order that he may have it as an excellent example for the strengthening of faith and then for refuting the foolish ideas concerning the obedience of the papists and concerning the monastic vows on which they bestow high praise. But they regard this account with supreme contempt, because
Abraham was the head of a household, a layman, and a husband. They say: "These are civil and mundane works. We do spiritual works. We forsake the world."
But if someone wanted to persuade the monks that Abraham was a priest and bishop, they would proclaim him a heretic. For they define a priest as one who has a long robe and a shaved head, who reads the canonical hours. Apart from this notion they know of no priest, just as though God approved of those priests who howl in the church. They are priests of the devil; but Abraham is truly a priest, because he sacrifices not only cattle but his son. And here indeed the rite of immolation is described.
Abraham bound Isaac and wanted to kill him like an animal.
To this they give no consideration, nor do they place much emphasis on it. For Abraham does not have a shaved head. He has no chasuble or anointed fingers. He grows a beard and is a husband. Had he had a harlot and illegitimate children, they would have greater praise for him.
But we, in turn, detest them and condemn them as idolatrous and devilish, and we declare that those are true priests who believe the Word of God, offer the sacrifice of praise and of the cross, and do not walk about in long garments but walk about in the gifts and jewels of the Holy Spirit: faith, patience in death, and the expectation of another and better life.
Let these statements be enough about this truly spiritual account which I indeed, being carnal and one of the feet of the ass that does not ascend the mountain, cannot fully comprehend or expound.
Nevertheless, I, insignificant as I am, wanted to present as much as I could consider and understand.
11. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said: Abraham, Abraham! And he said:
Here one can see how the saints are admirable to the angels and God's showpieces. For they themselves are works of God. An angel from heaven was present here and observed Abraham during the entire action. Indeed, God Himself in heaven and all the angels were onlookers. Nor did the angel come flying from afar from the ends of the world, but he stood over Abraham, fixed his eyes on Isaac, and saw how Abraham bound his son and brought the knife close to his throat, and how the son proved his obedience and willingly awaited the thrust.30 Perhaps Abraham shed tears. His son lay on his back with his eyes fixed toward heaven. These things the angel beheld, and when the knife has already been drawn, he cries out and calls Abraham by name. So close do the angels post themselves and direct their eyes toward us when we are godly.
- 63 This obedience gave God extraordinary pleasure. For of all the sacrifices the one most acceptable to God is this: to kill sin, to live in righteousness, holiness, obedience, and mortification of the flesh.
This is indeed painful and difficult for us; but one must learn to accustom oneself, as Paul says (Rom.
12:2), to "what is the good will of God."
We merely talk about these things, but Abraham and Isaac actually did them. And this is the perfect will for God. It has not even begun in us. To God it is well-pleasing and good; to us it is unpleasant and disagreeable. Nothing is more agonizing than the mortification of the flesh and sin. For this reason it seems horrible and impossible, and we shun and hate it. Nevertheless, one must accustom oneself to it and make a beginning, in accordance with the example of Abraham, who does not shun it but waits for it with the utmost readiness. The purpose of his being here is that his son may be killed and that life may follow death.
This is a work done in faith—a work in which the angels are wont to rejoice, even in us, when we are engaged in a Christian office and work. Compared with this, the righteousness and obedience of the papists is not only obscured but seems altogether filthy and loathsome, because these are all selfchosen works. Similarly, many kings and people have imitated the example of Abraham; but they sinned grievously and had no understanding of true mortification.
In The Lives of the Fathers there is a story about a certain hermit who had withdrawn into the desert with his only son. It was his intention to forsake the world. When the boy wept there, he wanted to throw him into a nearby river and drown him.31 The monks greatly exalt and praise this work and liken it to Abraham's work. But it is like the work of the devil in Paradise. And if the hermit had killed his son, he would have been a murderer. So would any others who would have followed his example or approved of it. The reason is this, that without the Word no obedience pleases God.
But the papists, those priests of Baal, do not accept this reason but cry out stubbornly against it and declare that we condemn good works. We, however, assert that a good work is what is done in faith and in obedience to God by a man who believes that God is the Creator, the Preserver, and the One who raises from the dead. But a monk, a priest of Baal, a Turk, and a Jew does not walk in the obedience of God, does he? Not at all, because he has no command of God.
Thus Ahaz did a great work (2 Kings 16:3), but it was contrary to God and His Word. Therefore the statement in Micah 6:7 is correct: "Shall I give my first-born for my transgression?" The answer is no, because there is no command to do so. Abraham had an extraordinary command of God. But others did not have the same command, for God does not say in general that anyone who offers his son to God pleases God.
We cannot all do one and the same work, just as in the case of the human body there must be different functions of its different members. The feet do not make anything; the hands do not walk.
But there is one obedience and one Holy Spirit. But obedience should be certain concerning faith, which does not exist where there is no divine promise. Nor do the works please Him where there is no command of God. The papists and the Turks are full of faith. But it is an invented faith, because they say: "This is how I shall believe; therefore I shall please God in this manner." But this is something self-chosen in accord with one's own imagination. Consequently, it is a devotion that pertains to the devil, not to God.
Accordingly, this extraordinary example of Abraham should not be dragged along as a precedent to be followed; but we should imitate his obedience and his faith in the resurrection, in the killing of sin and death which takes place in Abraham and in his son. Then let everyone, in his own place and station, remain in the same faith, and let everyone obey God. In this manner we shall be partners of the angels, guests and table companions in the kingdom of God.
Besides, at this point the question can be raised why the angels have appeared less frequently among us and generally in the New Testament than in the Old Testament. My answer is that this happens because the Son, the Heir of all things, has appeared and has been sent. Indeed, previously ministers and messengers were sent out in advance, as is customarily done by princes and kings in the world, to remind the people of the coming of the Lord; but when He Himself is present, there is no need of ministers and forerunners.
After God had sent His Son, He revealed all things and filled the earth with heavenly wisdom, to which the signs and wonders performed by Christ bear witness, as St. Paul says 1 Tim. 3:16: "God was
- 64 manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, etc." For this reason appearances of angels should not be wished for.
After Christ's manifestation the devil horribly deluded the world by sending into it apparitions and wicked angels, as the examples of bygone times show. But this was a punishment for the ingratitude of people who despised the Lord when He Himself was present and who sought new revelations out of empty curiosity.
Thus at the beginning of the restoration of the Gospel,32 Münzer, Carlstadt, and the Sacramentarians arose. They abandoned the Gospel, which had been given through the Holy Spirit from heaven, and were on the lookout for extraordinary illuminations. Some arrived at such a degree of folly that they boasted of hearing the voice of God speaking in heaven.
At this point it was imperative that the truth and light of the Gospel be adduced in contradiction, and one had to contend against fanatics of this kind who believed that the will of God is to be investigated apart from the Word. Such people were formerly the enthusiasts, likewise the Manichaeans and all the heretics. They all wanted to be like the patriarchs, to whom the oracles of God were revealed more and more clearly until Christ, the Light Itself, came into this world.
Thus the popes have invented new ravings on the basis of a false understanding of the promise of Christ when He says in John 16:12–13: "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth." They have made up the falsehood that not everything necessary for our salvation was transmitted by Christ and the apostles, but that many pronouncements were held back for the bishops and for themselves— pronouncements to be set forth more and more clearly to the church.33
To all these ravings one should adduce in contradiction the words of Christ (Luke 16:29): "They have Moses and the prophets." Likewise: "The Lord Himself is coming. Here let the gates be lifted up that He may come in" (cf. Ps. 24:7–8). For He is not a servant, as Moses or the ministering spirits are;
He is the Lord Himself.
These things should be taught, and they should also be transmitted to our descendants, in order that they may shun and abhor the revelation of new doctrines and may observe the heavenly command
(Matt. 17:5), "Listen to Him," that is, to the evangelists and the apostles. Let them read and listen to these, likewise to the Old Testament, which bears faithful testimony concerning all these things.
But if anything beyond this is revealed, it must have the analogy of faith and must be a revelation of the understanding of Scripture; otherwise it is of the devil. Satan has indeed often tempted me to demand a sign from God, just as he also tempted Augustine, who prays that no angel appear to him.34
But far be it from me to yield to this temptation. Without an appearance of angels, and strengthened by the Word alone, the martyrs met death for the sake of the name of Christ. Why should we, too, not be satisfied with the same thing? Baptism is a sufficiently manifest and clear appearance. So are the Eucharist, the Keys, the ministry of the Word. They are equal to—yes, they even surpass—all the appearances of all angels, in comparison with which Abraham had only droplets and crumbs.
Hence I am not concerned about angels, and I have the habit of praying God daily not to send any angel to me for any reason whatever.35 But if one were to present himself, I would not listen to him; but I would turn away, unless he were to point out something concerning an exigency of the state, just as all pleasant and happy dreams in civil matters are sometimes wont to make us glad.36 Yet I do not know whether even in such an event I would want to listen to him and believe him.
But in spiritual matters we should not regard the angels as necessary, because God's promise has been amply displayed and made manifest in Christ. He has left me His Word, with which I instruct and strengthen myself. Nor is it the case that I fear that He is so fickle and changeable that sometimes He proclaims one doctrine and sometimes another. Thus Num. 23:19 states: "God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should repent." We have the Word of God, the Eucharist, Baptism, the Ten Commandments, matrimony, ordinances of the state, and the administration of the household.
Let us be satisfied with these and occupy ourselves with them until the end of the world.
Gregory, as can be observed in his dialogs, put faith in absolutely all apparitions.37 Thus, among other things, many things were invented concerning the Festival of St. Michael: that Michael consecrated a church on Mt. Gargarus, that he stabbed an ox which had plowed on that festival day.38 I - 65 would have said: "What do you have to do with Mt. Gargarus, whose lord is the King of Apulia? You are not Michael; you are the devil."
The books of the papists are full of such lies, and this is our own fault. Because we were unwilling to listen to the Lord and demanded angels, revelations, and apparitions, we, to our own great harm, find in abundance what we sought.
This is Paul's opinion in 2 Thess. 2:10–11: "Because they refused to love the truth and so be saved, therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false." We have despised that teacher of whom it was said (Matt. 17:5) "Listen to Him," and also (Luke 4:18), "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, etc." We had itching ears, and when we turned them away from the truth, we wandered into myths (2 Tim. 4:3–4). For this reason we have found people who scratched our ears.
If I were a king and had sent my only son to someone, at the same time offering him the kingdom and all its riches, and he spurned so great a favor, I would send him trouble and all kinds of evil.
Similarly, when we did not accept the Gospel which was confirmed by signs from heaven, did we not deserve to get an entire legion of devils in place of the one good angel Abraham saw?
12. He said: Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him.
At this point another question arises. How was Abraham able to obey the voice of the angel and to refrain from killing his son? What if he had been in doubt and had thought that it was not an angel but a devil? For he had God's explicit command: "Kill your son and offer him as a burnt offering." In spite of this command he is ordered to spare the lad.
The earlier trial was in conflict with the promise of the Seed. But this has been overcome, since Abraham had now made up his mind about being obedient, and Isaac had accepted the comfort that even though he would be reduced to ashes, the promise would nevertheless remain, and God would raise him from the dead. In spite of all this the angel now cries out and says: "Do not do anything to the lad." Here Abraham's trial conflicts with the command, just as his previous trial had conflicted with the promise.
My answer to the question is this: Holy Scripture declares that it was a real angel, not a counterfeit one, who was bringing the real Word of God. Abraham believed that he would not be speaking in vain, and, when he was now determined about killing his son, the Holy Spirit cautioned him within through the word of the angel as though through an external instrument and restrained the spirit and faith in him. But without the external word Abraham would not have believed the opposite; nor would he have changed his mind.
Then it is also credible that by some extraordinary and secret impulse Abraham restrained his hands contrary to the command, just as in the Old Testament the prophets did many things contrary to the Word, as when Elijah builds an altar on Mt. Carmel and kills the prophets of Baal contrary to what
Moses had commanded (Deut. 12:5): "In the place which God will choose, there you shall bring your sacrifices." Elijah did not observe this; neither did Elisha. Likewise there were many prophets in Israel who did not come to Jerusalem to teach there.
All these men had an extraordinary impulse with some prerogative. Thus Samson had a special spirit when he tore the lion to pieces (Judg. 14:6) and without weapons slew a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass (Judg. 15:15). Those extraordinary impulses and heroic spirits are beyond the ordinary rule and conduct, just as we observe some differences among rulers and princes in their direction of state affairs. Some observe the statutes and the common law, but others do not. Alexander, for example, does not allow himself to be bound by any laws but forces his way through by some impulse of his. This could not be clone at all by others.39
We see this in the examples of the heathen. How much more God has reserved heroes for himself among His own people! With 300 soldiers Gideon destroyed the army of the Midianites. Abraham, as related above, overcame the four kings with a small band. These are not ordinary examples; they are miracles which God reserves for Himself. Thus it is possible that God gave to Abraham a hidden and special impulse not to kill his son. It seems that in this manner a simple answer can be given.
But the text adds an outward distinguishing mark, because it states explicitly that the angel came from heaven. He did not come after the fashion of Satan. God has established a wonderful distinction.
The good angels come with terror, that is, with some majesty. Thus Ps. 104:4 calls the angels, or - 66 ministers, a burning fire. Consequently, the people to whom they came are frightened. Mary, for example, is very much afraid when she sees the angel (Luke 1:29). The same thing happens in Dan.
8:17. Accordingly, the angels bring with them a certain majesty.
Thus on this occasion the angel came down from heaven; and heaven undoubtedly was opened, a strange light appeared, lightning and fire were seen, and at the same time there was a multitude of angels. Thoroughly frightened by this majesty, Abraham dropped the knife and at the same time the thought of killing. Similarly, the angels appeared on Mt. Sinai with fire and thunder, so that the people were thrown to the ground. Eventually, however, the good angels depart with joyfulness and leave the hearts serene and cheerful. This is God's procedure when he sends good angels; and by this sign
Abraham, too, was reminded that a real angel was there.
But a wicked angel, like a serpent, creeps along softly and gently until he decoys people into smugness and sin. Then he goes away, leaving horrible fear behind.
In the second place, Abraham has the analogy of faith, because the angel does not bring him a word that is contrary to the promise. No, what he says is in agreement with the statement (21:12),
"Through Isaac shall your descendants be named." For the spirits must be judged by the analogy of faith. When Satan, for example, commands me through the pope to worship Benno, that notorious idol of Meissen, I examine this command in relation to the rule and norm of faith and see whether it is in agreement with it.40
But the analogy of faith is this: "There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Thus there is no analogy between Christ and James of Compostela.41
Therefore I reject James as an idol, even if an angel were to preach a different gospel (Gal. 1:8) or the idol were to raise the dead.
The promises are simply not subject to modification and change. For this reason Abraham also observed what had been commanded previously, but in such a manner that he examined it in relation to the analogy of the promise concerning the Seed that would come. Lastly, the final cause should also be considered. Therefore there follows:
For now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.
The angel wants God to be feared. That final cause the devil does not prescribe. Yet that result, namely, the fear of God, does not exist unless one first has the Word of God. Thus those who have both the discernment of the Spirit and faith can at any time establish the outward difference between the apparitions. For the evil spirit cannot avoid seeking his own glory, just as ungodly and false teachers propose new and unheard-of things, in order that the world may admire their wisdom, not in order that God may be feared.
The second and most certain proof of a good angel is that he comes from heaven. In the third place, there is also agreement with the analogy of faith. Influenced by these considerations, Abraham obeyed the voice of the angel who annulled the command about sacrificing his son. In addition, the Holy Spirit, who is always connected with the Word, undoubtedly had a hand in what took place here.
Passages like this, which seem to be contradictory, give rise to extraordinary debates among clever persons who are vainglorious. For the devil looks for contradictions; and when he gains nothing by them, he invents fallacies: "God would not be contradicting Himself and have lied, would He? First
He commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son; now He forbids it." But we Christians must think and speak about these matters both with respect and with the fear of God, and we must recognize that it is
God's nature to do contradictory things when things are contradictory. Nevertheless, this wonderful guidance of the saints reminds us pleasantly of many things and abounds in comfort. And indeed the godly—if this were possible without violating the majesty and truthfulness of God—could employ these expressions: "God is pretending, lying, simulating, and deceiving us," as we have the habit of saying in our proverb: "If it is true, it is a big lie."42 For when they have to meet death, they can say to God: "It is not death; it is life. Thou art playing with me as a father plays with his son. Thou sayest one thing but hast something else in mind." This is a salutary lie for us.
And how fortunate we would be if we could learn this art from God! He tempts us and proposes a strange work, that He may be able to do His own. Through our affliction He seeks to get His sport and our salvation. God said to Abraham: "Kill your son." How? With playing, simulating, and laughing.
Surely a happy and delightful sport!
- 67 Thus God sometimes pretends to be withdrawing rather far from us and killing us, but who believes that He is pretending? Yet with God it is a sport and—if we were permitted to express it in this way—a lie. It is indeed a real death that all of us will have to meet, but God does not carry out in earnest what He is showing. He is pretending and is testing us whether we are willing to give up the present things and life itself for God's sake.
Thus Moses says in Deut. 13:1 ff.: "If a prophet arises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, etc., you shall not listen; for the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul."
These are not the words of an angry judge, but they are fatherly words which say: "I have given you My Word, that you may accept it with a tranquil heart, etc.; but I shall send false apostles and test you, whether you are willing to love Me and My Word in earnest." Thus a father takes an apple away from his boy under some pretense not because he wants to deprive him of it but merely to make a test whether his son loves him and believes that his father will give it back. If the son gladly gives up the apple, the father is pleased with his sons obedience and love.
Thus God's testing is a fatherly one, for James says in his letter (1:13): "God is not a tempter for evil"; that is, He does not test in order that we may fear and hate Him like a tyrant but to the end that He may exercise and stir up faith and love in us.
Satan, however, tempts for evil, in order to draw you away from God and to make you distrust and blaspheme God. God sports with the children He loves and, as it seems to the flesh, shows Himself angry and dreadful. Hence there arise the well-known laments "I am driven far from Thy sight" (Ps.
31:22) and "Hide not Thy face from me" (Ps. 27:9). But these are merely instances of sporting. God will not deceive or cheat you. Just hold fast to His infallible and unchanging promise. Even though you should lose honors, riches, and life itself, you should nevertheless not maintain that God is angry with you and therefore has cast you aside; but you should expect other far more excellent gifts, honor, and a better life from Him, as Job 13:15 states: "Even though He kills me, I will hope in Him."
As for the rest, the fathers have interpreted the verb "I know" in this passage as "I have caused you to come to know,"43 that is, to realize that you are one who fears God, just as Peter admonishes us to make our call and election sure and firm by doing good works (2 Peter 1:10). If someone has overcome a trial in this manner, he is made more certain of God's help and can say: "This is sure proof that I have been helped by God, because by my own powers I would not have been able to achieve this." Thus the fruits of the Spirit are called evidences of faith which assure us of our election and call.
Furthermore, in this passage the rule concerning God's twofold cognition or vision should be observed. When Holy Scripture says: "God saw," there a twofold cognition is posited: the one, eternal and invisible, by which God sees things before they are in existence; the other, by which he observes things that exist. By means of that second vision, with which He looks at existing things, God did not see Mary before she existed, and yet He saw her from eternity. Thus God saw all the creatures before they were made, and now that they have been made, it is also said that He sees or knows them.
God is speaking in the same manner in this passage: "Now I know"; that is, now I judge and see in fact that you fear God. Augustine's distinction between morning and evening knowledge has reference to this.44
God has some characteristics that are similar to the human power of comprehension. Therefore I think that this expression, "Now I know," must be understood in a simple manner, although I do not reject the explanation of the fathers that God is speaking in human fashion, as though then at last, as a result of that obedience, He had perceived Abraham's godliness and true fear.
Most delightful are the descriptions of this sort, when Scripture speaks about God as if He were a human being and attributes to Him all human qualities, namely, that He converses with us in a friendly manner and about matters similar to those which human beings discuss; that He is glad, is sad, and suffers like a human being because of the mystery of the future incarnation.
Our reason for reading and searching the Old Testament is to see foretold, not only in words but also by means of various figures and deeds, that Christ would become man.
Thus we love those expressions of Scripture when God is described in terms of human form and actions: "Why do You sleep?" (Ps. 44:23); "The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous" (Ps. 34:1);
"Thou openest Thy hand" (Ps. 145:16); and any others like them. They are transferred from human beings to God because of the feebleness of our understanding.
And let us be satisfied with this picture, as it were; and let us shun that inquisitiveness of the human intellect, which wants to investigate His majesty. For God's incarnation was foretold in order that we might have a definite pattern for recognizing and taking hold of God.
Next the question is usually considered at this point whether Abraham was justified on the basis of his works, as James argues in his letter (2:21). Because the text says: "Now I see that you are righteous," he wants to conclude from this that previously Abraham was not righteous. But the answer, which the words themselves point out, is easy. For it is one thing, even grammatically speaking, to be righteous and another thing to know that one is righteous.
Abraham was righteous by faith before God acknowledged him as such. Therefore James concludes falsely that now at last he was justified after that obedience; for faith and righteousness are known by works as by the fruits. But it does not follow, as James raves: "Hence the fruits justify," just as it does not follow: "I know a tree by its fruit; therefore the tree becomes good as a result of its fruit."
Therefore let our opponents be done with their James, whom they throw up to us so often.45 They babble much but understand nothing about the righteousness of works.
Indeed, even the sophists make a distinction between perceived being and substantive being.46 The righteous man does not become righteous by being perceived as such. But he who has been justified by faith, as was stated above about Abraham (ch. 15), is perceived as righteous by the fruits and works.
But one should also note in this passage that when Abraham is praised as one who fears and reveres God, the statement refers not only to his faith but also to his entire worship, to the tree with its fruits, inasmuch as for the Hebrews to fear God is the same as to worship God or to serve God, to love and honor God.
Thus Ps. 14:5—"They feared where there was no fear"—is not speaking of dread because the ungodly have no dread. No, it is speaking of the worship of the ungodly. They worship God where He is not to be worshiped. Their conscience is seared, as Paul calls it (1 Tim. 4:2), that is, artificial or false, unreasonable, not natural, not true, as when the pope forbids marriage and the eating of meat.
Accordingly, the ungodly want to fear God, that is, to worship Him, where there is no true worship of Thus when it is stated (Matt. 15:9): "In vain do they worship Me with the precepts of men," this means the same as saying that they fear Me in vain. For in Holy Scripture the fear of God is the highest form of worship. Hence Jacob (Gen. 31:42) calls the Lord God "Fear" and "Awe." By this he understands nothing else than the Deity Itself.
Accordingly, the ungodly want to be reverent and humble; they walk with their necks bent and their heads shaking like a reed. They desire to appear to be fearing God above all men. Yet they fear and worship in vain.
This is truly a common evil throughout the entire world. Our fear, worship, and esteem equal the worship of the angels (Col. 2:18); but our conscience is false and seared. Thus the priests of Baal endared some extreme tortures; they pricked themselves with knives and awls until they bled (1 Kings
18:28). But those were self-chosen mares and not those of which Paul says (Gal. 6:17): "I bear the mares of my Lord."
On the other hand, where fear should be greatest, the ungodly do not fear at all. Indeed, they are exceedingly bold in despising the true worship and treading the Word of God underfoot.
God should be feared nowhere except in His Word, in accordance with the command which says:
"You shall not worship strange gods, and you shall not make for yourself a graven image, whatever it may be" (cf. Ex. 20:3–4). Where God is revealed in his Word, there worship Him, there exercise your reverence; then you are fearing where you should fear and tremble.
It is for this reason that we tread underfoot the pope and the sects, who establish forms of worship outside, and contrary to, the Word of God. We do not fear or respect them. They, in turn, condemn the true religion and doctrine and call it heretical. Accordingly, they fear where there is no fear; and where they should fear, they do not fear.
- 69 Up to this point Abraham has made ready the sacrifice with his son, although it was not carried out but was merely a preparation for the sacrifice.
13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
It has been stated above that we can believe piously and reverently that the angel came with extraordinary majesty, with wind and flame, and that Abraham, thoroughly frightened, fell on his face, or at least listened on bended knees when the angel said: "You fear God." But after forbidding the killing the angel disappeared. There Abraham remains alone with his son; and when they lift up their eyes and look about, they see a ram behind them. (The emphasis is on the phrase "behind them.") The ram is held fast. He has been caught in the tangled and intertwined briars.
The Hebrew word ךְבָסְְ properly denotes wild branches that are spread out and grow without any definite order. Those branches held the horns of the ram.
In Ps. 74:5 we read: "At the upper entrance they [Thy foes] hacked the wooden trellis with axes."
This means that God's foes stormed against the sanctuary exactly as if a forest or a vineyard planted with trees were being cut down, or as if the temple or sanctuary were a jumbled and tangled forest.
Others have imagined that ךְבָסְְ is the name of the place.47 But it is a common noun. The ram was at the foot of the mountain. He was held back among the briars and bushes.
At this point it is customary to ask where this ram carne from. The Jews say that he was created on the sixth day together with the rest of the animals and that by a divine decree he was preserved up to that time.48 We Christians know that with God creating and preserving are identical. No one who knows the Creator's power will discuss rather inquisitively where the ram came from. Scotus discusses where God will get the fire with which to burn the world on Judgment Day.49 What more stupid question or thought can there be? Evidently the only mistakes wise men make are enormous mistakes.
But in order to say something concerning the question that has been put, let us remember this, that Holy Scripture points out that God is wont to bring forth through the voice of an angel or some servant things that did not exist or to multiply things that do exist.
At the word of the man Moses water flows from the rock and quails are scattered throughout the camp. If God has one quail, He has 100,000 or an unlimited number. Thus He takes five loaves and feeds 5,000 persons.
If we believe that everything was created by God's power out of nothing, why should we not also believe this, that He can multiply and increase what is already in existence? Where do snow and rain often come from so suddenly? Now the sky is clear; one moment later, when He pleases, He sends snow or rain.
In 1 Kings 17:14 Elijah tells the widow of Zarephath: "The jar of meal shall not be spent, and the cruse of oil shall not fail." Through this word the widow and her family are supported during that entire time of famine. Indeed, even her son, who had died, is brought back to life. Thus in 2 Kings
4:42 Elisha commands his servant: "Give the people bread. They shall be satisfied"; and 100 men were satisfied with 20 loaves of barley bread. How much more, therefore, are the angels able to do this! For God it is not impossible to produce—through a power that is, so to speak, ordered and mediated50—a ram from the briars themselves when the angel speaks. How much more could He do so if He wanted to make use of His unmediated power, as when He changes the fire in the furnace into something that cools!51
Therefore I find no fault with saying either that the ram was brought there by the angel or that he was brought into existence at the angel's command. I prefer to believe the latter.
Nevertheless, it does not seem to have been a rash statement on the part of the fathers when they said that the ram was provided from the beginning of the world; for they knew about Christ, the woman's Seed, and understood this ram to be a figure of Him.
For Christ existed before the creation, as Paul says (Titus 1:2): "God, who never lies, promised ages ago." Hence before the ages, from eternity, Christ was destined by divine providence to crush the head of the serpent, to become the sacrifice for the human race, to kill sins, and to give us life. But He
- 70 waited until the predetermined time of His appearance arrived. This is a sufficiently good allegory. I do not disapprove of it.
But after they had seen the ram—no matter how he had been brought there by God—Abraham took him and offered him as a burnt offering in his sons place. There Isaac was the acolyte and assisted his father in bringing the sacrifice. Moreover, that ram was a sign by which Abraham was convinced that the ram was to be offered, not Isaac. Thus some sign is always attached to the Word, for Abraham realized at once that the ram had been provided by God for the sacrifice. Otherwise it would have been useless for him to prepare the altar and the other things necessary for the sacrifice.
14. So Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will See; as it is said to this day: On the mount the Lord will see.
It is the universal opinion of all translators that one should keep the passive voice in this passage and read: "On the mount the Lord will be seen." And I have no doubt that Jerome originally translated it this way. But it was changed because of the error of some wiseacre or scribe who thought that the latter clause should be in harmony with the one that precedes it.52
About the mountain, or rather about the land of Moriah, we have spoken above. It was a place for revering and worshiping God, and on it the fathers brought sacrifices.
But I prefer to follow the opinion of Burgensis, who is both versed in the Hebrew language and scholarly in interpreting the meaning of Scripture.53 He thinks that one should read: "On the mount the Lord will see," and as his reason for this opinion he states that above Abraham had answered his son's question about the sheep: "The Lord will see"; that is, "He will provide." It is as though he meant to say: "Even if we do not know, He knows where we shall get the sheep for the burnt offering. Let Him see to it."
I cannot condemn this explanation. For the Lord did see; that is, He took care that those words of Abraham to his son—"The Lord will provide"—were fulfilled. Because of this the name The Lord
Will See was given to the mountain, as though Abraham were saying: "The Lord is looking at and caring for this place."
And this meaning has reference, as it were, to Mt. Moriah, on which God was worshiped.
Accordingly, this name, The Lord Will See, has a correlative relation, so to speak, to those who are on the mountain and worship God; for God, in turn, has regard for them and hears them. Therefore this mountain, which long ago was sacred because of the religious practice of the fathers—as was stated above–is now also consecrated by God Himself, since He sanctifies and cares for both the place and those who come there as worshipers.
Consequently, the name of the mountain abounds in comfort; for it implies a relation between him who fears—that is, calls upon God and gives thanks—and God, who accepts or hears vows and prayers—between him who adores and Him who is adored.
Inasmuch as the place had been appointed previously for the worship of God, Abraham is now fully assured that God is present there and inclines His eyes and ears toward all who worship and adore at this place.
Therefore even though it is more correct to retain the passive, as the Hebrews want to do, nevertheless the word has commonly been turned from a passive into an active, so as to signify that God is at that place and directs watchful eyes toward those who worship Him.
Thus when Jacob was on his way to Mesopotamia and at night in a dream saw a ladder and the angels of God ascending and descending on it, he said: "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven" (Gen. 28:17); that is, at this place God has to be feared, here thanks must be given to Him and sacrifices brought. Thus this mountain, The Lord Will
See, was regarded as sacred throughout all posterity, and the fathers, because of some feeling of piety and reverence, included it in their worship, so that he who wanted to see God came there because God would not only appear and be seen there but would also see.
It is as though they meant to say: "Now it should be called Epiphany, because God looks, appears, is heard, is seen, and reveals Himself through the Word, through hearing prayers, and through all His other benefits." This is an improper use of the word and a change in the meaning, not, however, with evil intent but rather for giving comfort.
- 71 But because God not only sees, and looks at, this place—which would not be enough for us—but is also seen by us and appears to us, it follows that l"The Lord will be seen" was read where formerly
"He will see" used to be read. Moreover, I think that mountain was the place for oracles. Bebecca later on consulted that "He win be seen" (Gen. 25:22); that is, she sought advice from the patriarch Shem, who was a priest of the Lord and undoubtedly taught and preached at that place.
15. And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said:
This is the last conversation the Lord had with Abraham, and now the account of Abraham will be brought to a conclusion. But at this point I urge again what I have stated repeatedly, namely, that in the Holy Scriptures and the accounts they record one should take note above all of the Word and addresses of God, which one does not hear in legends that do not say anything. Holy Scripture alone has the appearances of the Lord.
Moreover, how impressive Abraham's glory is, since he enters so often into conversation with God! We find that God conversed with him eight times. Our legends in the churches of the Gentiles have nothing like this, and it is an absurd procedure on the part of all men to regard works with greater admiration than that with which they regard the Word of God, who is the Author and Producer of all marvelous and most difficult works. Nevertheless, we turn our eyes toward the works alone; but we suppose that the voice of God is the voice of human beings. For no difference is perceptible between the word of man and the Word of God when uttered by a human being; for the voice is the same, the sound and the pronunciation are the same, whether you utter divine or human words. For this reason we withdraw from the majesty of the Word and are not concerned about that "The Lord will be seen" or the appearance of God. We pay no attention to God when He speaks with us. Meanwhile we admire those revolting works of the Carthusians.
Therefore the Word of God must be given consideration first of all; and if someone were to perform all sorts of miracles, yes, even to raise the dead, and comes without the Word, he must be repudiated. All the apostles and prophets have diligently given this warning, and in Deut. 13:9 ff.
Moses says that a false prophet and inventor of dreams must be killed, "because," as he states, "he has spoken to draw you away from the Lord your God."
We should be disturbed by our danger and be prudent, because the pope has established his tyranny without the Word by miracles of that sort. Thus they make the silly assertion about Pope
Sixtus that when once upon a time he was in peril at sea, he gave an order to the sea and said: "If I am the vicar of Christ, let the boisterous sea be still," and that this suddenly happened.54
By this miracle they have proved that the pope is the vicar of Christ, just as they have deceived the wretched people with many other miracles, either true or invented, and likewise with the piety, abstinence, vigils, and hardships of the monks.
We ourselves should bear this in mind and also impress it on our youth, that they may learn to beware of and hate these hideous works and, on the other hand, to love the Word of God and to esteem it highly. For it is above all things and creates all things: that most beautiful sun, the soul, the body, and whatever this world contains.
Why, then, do we bestow such great praise on the works themselves, no matter how splendid they are? Let us rather marvel at the Performer and Author of the works and first of all be sure whether the things that are praised as miracles were done through the Word of God or not.
But the papists say: "How could those things be done if they were not the will of God?" This is indeed correct. God wants and permits these things to happen as a punishment for the loathing and contempt of the Word. Paul says that God has sent them, not a simple error but a power and ἐνέργεια of error to permeate and overcome them (cf. 2 Thess. 2:10–11).
Therefore let the pope above all prove by the Word of God that Pope Sixtus is the vicar of Christ.
"It is written," they say, "in Matt. 16:18: 'You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church.' "
Very well! But by this very statement Christ wants Peter to be a confessor and minister of the Word, not a tyrant who would burden consciences with human traditions. Nor should he destroy the knowledge of Christ; for this is being the Antichrist, not the vicar of Christ.
Therefore even if either Sixtus or anyone else were to raise the dead, I would spit in his face and say that he is impelled, not by the Holy Spirit but by an unclean spirit, because he does not bring a - 72 Accordingly, we set the Word in opposition to works, just as they, in turn, set works in opposition to the Word. To be sure, they have this advantage, that men are more impressed by the outward appearance and splendor of works than by the Word; but we discuss these accounts so painstakingly in order that consideration may be given to the main point in them. They themselves do not see this; but they say that Abraham was a layman, that he had domestics, and that he wandered about in countries as a poor man and an exile. They do not see that he was full of patience, humility, and love. They pay far less attention to the words God speaks with him. If praise were bestowed on strange and quaint dress, fastings, and pious gestures, they would applaud and commend him. But because he had a wife, domestics, and cattle, they say that he is a carnal-minded man. But away with them and their hideous works!
Let us stoutly maintain and believe that the Word of God is all in all. If you believe this, great and wonderful works will not be lacking; but they will be of such a kind that they do not catch the eyes of the wicked and are not acknowledged by the world.
Through the Word and prayers we have done many difficult things. By means of prayers we are still preserving peace and are thwarting the efforts and plots of our adversaries. But the godly alone see these things. They have the Holy Spirit and esteem highly those truly spiritual and wonderful works: Baptism, the Eucharist, absolution, constant attendance in one's calling, and obedience to parents and superiors. Because all these things are common and done every day, the papists disdain them.
16. By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord.
The majestic God not only promises but also swears, and indeed by Himself, as the words indicate.
If He had a greater one than Himself, He would gladly swear by him; but because He does not, He swears by Himself. Our people have the custom to swear "by their troth" and "upon their soul." This is not a trivial oath, although, if one takes people into consideration, it is a very trivial one, because they are deceitful and untruthful. Actually, however, it is no different from swearing by God Himself.
Just as Christ explains in Matt. 5:34 ff.: "But I say to you: Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black." Hence it will be far55 less permissible to swear by the soul; and the reason is this, that an oath by the hairs, heaven, the earth, etc., is taken by a creature of God, that is, by what is not ours or in our power. Therefore oaths of that kind include God Himself, even though the name of God is not expressed. Thus whenever the Holy Scriptures say: "As my soul lives," this is an oath by God, whose creature the soul is.
Moreover, the fact that God swears by Himself is something great and wonderful. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews saw this here and weighed it carefully (6:13). For it is an indication of a heart burning with inexpressible love and with a desire for our salvation, as though God were saying:
"I desire so greatly to be believed and long so intensely to have My words trusted that I am not only making a promise but am offering Myself as a pledge. I have nothing greater to give as a pledge, because as surely as I am God, there is nothing greater than I. If I do not keep My promises, I shah no longer be He who I am."
This is surely something astounding and worthy of the highest degree of attention. For this is what the divine truth wants to point out: "You, man, are fickle, inconstant, and changeable; therefore I am adding My unalterable oath. With this I want to bear witness that rather than deceive you I shall not be
If God had sworn merely with the words "I shall sooner let heaven, the earth, the sun, the moon, and the very beautiful structure of the entire world perish than permit My promise to become of no effect," it would surely be something of great importance and no less marvelous.
But God adds something else—something of far greater moment, far more sacred: "I, who am God and have the power to destroy or to create heaven and earth, swear and give as a pledge, not a creature, not heaven and earth, but Myself, the Creator of all things."
This sacred oath will condemn all those who do not believe, just as it stirred up and increased the faith of the holy fathers in a marvelous manner. For they thought: "God has promised life and - 73 deliverance from death and the devil, and He has sworn by Himself. This is our יםראּוִ and יםמִִּּתֻּ
(Ex. 28:30). Therefore if we do not believe, we shall be condemned."
Accordingly, let us also bear in mind that God enlarges His promise to such an outstanding extent that it surpasses all thinking and faith; for He strengthens and confirms it by His majesty, in order that we may have no reason whatever to mistrust and doubt.
Surely, this is condescension. God accommodates Himself completely to our weakness. It should be enough if He moved one finger to bear witness of His fatherly goodwill toward us. But now He offers us His Word, and He not only promises but even takes an oath and invokes evil upon and curses
Himself—if one were permitted to speak this way—in order to bless us.
Moreover, we should refrain from debates about predestination and from similar discussions. They are fraught with danger and mischief, because they inquire into the will and hidden counsels of God apart from the Word. They want to investigate and explore too inquisitively why God has revealed
Himself in one way or another, and why He so earnestly endeavors to persuade our will to believe.
The inquisitiveness of Adam is well known. In Paradise he sought God apart from the Word, just as Satan did in heaven. Both found Him, but not without great harm.
Therefore let us learn that God must be apprehended, not with our reason but as He has revealed Himself and has condescended to speak and deal with us in human fashion. Indeed, we should joyfully welcome the Divine Majesty, who comes down to us with such humility that He not only invites us to Himself with promises but by inserting an oath even compels us to accept what the Word offers.
This same doctrine is set forth in an excellent manner in the Epistle to the Hebrews (6:16–18):
"Men indeed swear by a greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of His purpose, He interposed with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God should prove false, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us."
What could be said or thought that is surer and more powerful for increasing and strengthening our faith? And what else are we doing with our incredulity or doubt than accusing God of lying when He promises and swears, and saying, while we defy Him to His face, as it were: "Lord God, Thou art lying!"?
But how many are there who would pay any attention to such an awful and exceedingly common blasphemy—a blasphemy which by nature is firmly established in the hearts of all human beings? For they either smugly despise and hate the words and promises, or if they sometimes hear them, they say that they have doubts and do not know whether God is compassionate to such an extent and whether
He is concerned about and hears those who call upon Him, and especially the unworthy and sinners.
But when the heart has doubts, as that person says,56 it is also driven in a short moment to blasphemy and despair. For this reason St. Paul so often urges us to have full assurance (πληροφορία), that is, a firm and unshakeable knowledge of God's will toward us, which gives assurance to our consciences and fortifies them against all uncertainty and mistrust.
The teaching of the pope is all the more detestable because it not only disregards this but even wickedly maintains that one should have doubts; that is, he publicly declares God a liar, even though
He promises, swears, pledges His majesty, and curses Himself.
But how much evil there is in a wicked and blasphemous dogma the outward sins prove: greed, lust, and shameful acts of every kind, which, like the evil fruits from a corrupt tree, originate from a blasphemous heart which does not think that God is truthful, whether He promises, commands, or threatens those who transgress His commands.
Therefore the Epistle to the Hebrews earnestly reminds us of the immutability of God's counsel and promise, lest we attribute fickleness and untrustworthiness to God.
Thus Paul says in his Epistle to Titus (1:2): "God, who never lies." "What purpose does it serve," you will say, "to give these admonitions so carefully? For who has had the audacity to say that God lies? Do not the pope, the Turks, and the Jews also maintain that God is truthful, just, wise, and good?"
- 74 But when they say this most, they imagine most of all that God is untruthful, unjust, and unwise; for they have no other knowledge of God than a philosophical or metaphysical one, namely, that God is a being separate from the creatures, as Aristotle says—a being that is truthful and contemplates the creature within itself.57 But of what concern is this to us? The devil, too, has such a knowledge of God and knows that He is truthful. But when knowledge is imparted about God in theology, God must be known and apprehended, not as remaining within Himself but as coming to us from outside; that is, we must maintain that He is our God.
That first Aristotelian or philosophical god is the god of the Jews, the Turks, and the papists; but he is of no concern to us. But our God is He whom the Holy Scriptures show, because He gives us His epiphany, His appearance, יםראּוִ and יםמִִּּתֻּ, and speaks with us.
Therefore it is to be deplored that we do not side with and believe this God, who has revealed Himself to us by the Word and by signs. We all have this blasphemy spread through our flesh and blood: "I do not know whether God has such great concern for me as He has promised in His Word. I doubt it." What else is this than to think or say that God is a liar?
If lusts, greed, and other sins alone were ruling in us, God would not be so angry. But this root and source of all evils He detests and punishes in an awful manner. In the sacred accounts many kings are praised because of all sorts of good qualities: moderation, generosity, justice, and the like, which human discipline can bring about. What Scripture complains about in regard to them is that they did evil before the Lord, that is, that they disregarded God, who spoke and promised, and worshiped calves and idols, as Jeroboam and others did. For so great is the perversity of the human heart that it accepts strange gods far more readily and eagerly than it maintains that this God, who has revealed
Himself through His promises and signs, is truthful. How great a kindness it is that He has redeemed us through His Son! But how difficult it is for us to believe this can be seen in the perils of the plague, famine, exile, and punishments in which we, utterly without any confidence, are troubled and alarmed to the point of being virtually without any hope and promise!
What is the reason? Because on account of original sin there is inherent in us this evil which causes our heart to cry out continually against the promises of God and to grumble that familiar charge: "God is lying; His oath is not true."
If we were able to believe firmly that God will keep His promises and that the oath with which He has pledged his Deity and has given His Son as a sign will be sure, then we would regard death, want, shame, and hell as if they were life, riches, glory, and heaven, just as they differ in no wise before God. But because this does not happen, it is a sure proof of our unbelief and mistrust.
Therefore the papists, the Turks, and the Jews believe absolutely nothing at all. Nor do they understand what sin, mercy, righteousness, truth, and grace are; all these are mere puzzles for them.
Yet they want to appear wise, and they are indeed, but in their way, namely, in philosophy, not in the kingdom of heaven, because they have absolutely no understanding of spiritual matters but despise them.
And how would they care about them and be greatly affected by them when we, who want to be godly, find that awful evil in us that we do not rejoice every moment in spirit over that inexpressible mercy of God toward us and do not laugh at and despise death, the world, and the devil?
But this serves to glorify the marvelous patience and mercy of God, who forgives not only past but also present sins and with great tenderness of heart puts up with this common indifference toward His grace.
We have Christ's command. To it a promise is attached. At the same time there is a threat.
"Everyone who acknowledges Me before men," He says, "I also will acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 10:32). "He who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me"
(Matt. 10:38). In John 12:25–26 He says: "He who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant be also."
Those who are not moved by these and similar statements but put the welfare of the body and the goods of this life ahead of acknowledging Christ assuredly do not hold any other opinion than that God is untruthful when He promises or threatens.
- 75 How often it is repeated in the Psalms: "Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!" (Ps. 27:14.) "Love the Lord, all you His saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly requites him who acts haughtily. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!" (Ps. 31:23–24.) We know all this, and it is pointed out to us daily; yet we neither believe nor follow God, who calls us to confess the Word and promises help and deliverance.
There certainly is no reason for us to think that God is pleased with that doubt and mistrust in us.
Indeed, this one sin is by far the gravest of all the sins which will condemn the world and the unbelievers. For the magnitude of the sin can be gauged from the magnitude of God's promise, oath, pledge, and imprecation.
Therefore whoever has either a droplet or a spark of that spiritual trust should know that it is a blessing of God and an extraordinary gift. If we firmly and unquestioningly held promises of this kind as true, there would be given to our hearts strength far greater than our fear of the world or the devil or all the gates of hell.
Accordingly, these things are dealt with rather frequently, in order that we may stir up our hearts and finally begin to learn at least with the abecedarians; for we shall never be doctors and rabbis in this wisdom. Would that we were pupils of Christ!
Secondly, in order that we may remember that Holy Scripture gives instruction concerning other and far loftier matters than the arts and the books of the philosophers, which know nothing about God's boundless mercy and truth and have no understanding of how enormous a sin it is when all men attribute the crime of lying to God. For they are unacquainted with the promises we have because of Hence these words of God's oath should be earefully weighed. God admonishes us like a most compassionate father, spurs us on, and urges us in whatever ways He can; He promises, swears, and pledges Himself with an imprecation of Himself—if it is permitted to speak this way—solely in order that we may believe Him.
But here all the saints had their troubles. It is not without reason that Paul says (Titus 1:2): "God, who never lies." Perhaps he himself was tempted, and perhaps he himself wrestled with that doubt concerning God's mercy and truth. It is as though he were saying: "God has promised, but the world does not want to believe. Indeed, it is difficult for me to overcome my mistrust." For he undoubtedly added this little statement with indignation.
We, too, should acknowledge our wretchedness and weakness. For inasmuch as we are satisfied to some extent with those firstfruits which we have received and do not desire to make progress and advance, we are altogether sluggish with regard to prayer, confession, and giving thanks, and do not maintain that God's oath is true but for the most part have doubts and to that extent think that God is lying and deceiving.
Therefore let us not justify ourselves if God should want to enter into judgment with us, but let us humble ourselves in faith and acknowledge our sin. Let us be sorry that we still have those horrible dregs and remnants of sin through which we make God a liar so far as we are concerned. Furthermore, let us cry: "Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy abundant mercy, etc. Forgive us our debts."
If we boast of our righteousness and despise weak brethren, it is sure that we do not understand anything about this doctrine, just as the Pharisee in Luke 7:36 ff. despises and condemns the woman who was a sinner. But Christ, on the contrary, counters with: "Know yourself. You do not believe Me when I swear and pledge My majesty. That is the greatest sin; you do not regard Me as God, but you make a graven image for yourself out of your own righteousness."
Our trust will be perfect when life and death, glory and shame, adversity and good fortune will be alike to us. But we shall not attain this through speculation; it will have to be learned in trial and prayer. For here there is no argument about the words "God is truth"; but there is an argument about the subject matter, namely, that God does not lie when He swears and when He promises the greatest blessings, life, and deliverance from sin and hell, and when He so firmly assures every one of us:
"You, human being, shall surely live, or I Myself shall not live. Hell has been overcome and destroyed for you, or I Myself shall be destroyed and cease to be God. Indeed, in order that you may have no doubt, you have My Son given to you as a gift."
- 76 To believe these most glorious promises and to expect these blessings from God with firm confidence is true faith. And God wants our hearts to be aroused to this confidence not only by the examples of Abraham and others—and not only by His promises—but also because He has given His own Son for us, to be a gift and a pledge of heavenly blessings.
When we compare this doctrine with the traditions of the Jews and the papists, we observe a horrible darkness among both. They teach nothing at all about these matters. "Why do we need faith?" say the papists. "Good works have to be done." Those poor foolish people know nothing about the power and nature of faith. They understand as much about these five letters—F-A-I-T-H—as this paper does.58 The paper presents five letters to the eyes of the readers. Thus those people know nothing more about faith. They suppose that it is a useless reflection or merely a knowledge such as demons have; they do not know that faith means to believe, and give assent to, God when He promises and swears. To be sure, they are aware that there is a God. So are the demons. But this is not sufficient for us. Indeed, it does not concern us at all, because it is outside us.
True faith draws the following conclusion: "God is God for me because He speaks to me. He forgives me my sins. He is not angry with me, just as He promises: 'I am the Lord your God.'" Now search your heart, and ask whether you believe that God is your God, Father, Savior, and Deliverer, who wants to rescue you from sins and from death. If you become aware that you are wavering or uncertain, consider how to correct that doubt through constant use of the Word of God.
Accordingly, let us strengthen and fortify ourselves against the doubts of the papists, and let us learn that for God the only completely pleasing worship and obedience is faith, that is, to believe and trust our God when He swears so solemnly.
Besides, this one passage is the only place in which Holy Scripture states that God swore.59 From it has flowed everything said in Ps. 110:4 and in Ps. 132:11 about the oath sworn to David. For just as the promise of the Seed of Abraham was transferred to the Seed of David, so Holy Scripture transfers the oath sworn to Abraham to the person of David.
David understood this oath in no other manner than as if it had been given to him; and he bestows great praise on it in Ps. 110, where he speaks about his Lord. For he occupied himself diligently with the study of Holy Scripture, and, since he had the promise concerning the seed and fruit of his body, he drew many conclusions from this passage in an ingenious and godly manner and applied them to himself.
For David thought: "God swore to Abraham in the promise of the Seed. Without a doubt this oath pertains to me too." For this reason he repeats it so many times and comforts himself with it so powerfully in Ps. 89:35 and in Ps. 132:11.
Why does David do this? Because he thinks: "Through the promise given to me I am convinced that the Seed of Abraham, which came down through so many fathers, has come into my tribe, into my line, person, and body. Therefore whatever was said or promised to Abraham must by every right accrue to me."
This was indeed an extraordinary glory and a great distinction. No doubt it puffed up his heart to some extent, and for this reason a humiliation followed. He fell into a hideous sin, lest he become inordinately proud.
Next, because the blessing is attached to the Seed of Abraham, David concluded further that this blessing had to be applied to him and his Seed: "That Seed of Abraham is now my Seed. The Messiah will be my Son and my Lord. And I am he to whom the promise is attached, just as it was attached to the person of Abraham." Moreover, Matthew alludes to this when he speaks of "the Son of David, the Son of Abraham" (1:1).
Furthermore, David concludes that blessing is a mark of priests, not of kings, as Melchizedek blesses Abraham (Gen. 14:19). "But my Seed is the Son of a king," says David. "Yet He is the One who blesses; therefore He will be both King and Priest." In this manner David, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, unfolded, and reflected on, this oath. Consequently, he had no doubt at all—indeed, he even proclaimed in eloquent terms—that the Messiah, his Son, like a son born from a king, would be a King, yet a King who would bless and for this reason would also be a Priest.
But because David was not of the priestly or Levitical tribe, he considered why God did not take the blessing from among the tribe of Levi, namely, for the obvious purpose of pointing out that the - 77 Levitical priesthood was to be abolished, but that Christ's priesthood would be eternal and unchangeable. For the blessing promised to Abraham is eternal. From this David concluded that Christ was a Priest after the order of Melchizedek—a Priest whose beginning and end are unknown.
Thus not only the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews but also the fathers and prophets saw, and marveled at, the abundance of God's grace, which pervades the entire promise and the oath. Therefore they pondered this text with the utmost zeal, and David's most beautiful psalms originated from it. The saints in the New Testament also extol this oath with great joy. Thus Zechariah sings (Luke 1:73):
"The oath which He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us." And Mary says (Luke 1:55): "As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever."
Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17. I will bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
18. And by your Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.
These words are the subject matter and the gushing fountain, as it were, of many of the prophecies and addresses of Isaiah, David, and Paul. Moreover, they agree with the preceding promises, which are found in Gen. 12:3: "In you all the families of the earth will be blessed" and in Gen. 15:5: "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able; so shall your descendants be." But this promise is clearer and more explicit.
Above God said: "In you, Abraham, all the families of the earth will be blessed." There his Seed is included, but it is not expressed. But in this passage it is expressly stated: "In your Seed." In opposition to the nonsense of the Jews, however, Paul declares and explains that this Seed is Christ
Then all nations are mentioned. Hence this promise also pertains to us Gentiles and to all who will ever hear and accept it, not only to the Jews.
To be sure, the promise was not spoken to us, and in this the Jews surpass us; but we are nevertheless the persons of whom God is speaking. The first Person is God, who speaks; the second person is Abraham; and we Gentiles are the third. Therefore we should reverence and sincerely love the passage before us. If the words sounded like this: "In your Seed your people will be blessed," we would have been excluded there; but because He is speaking about the nations and about ourselves, we may certainly rejoice in that blessing.
These words truly deserve to be written in large letters of gold and to be continually before our eyes and in our heart. For this is our glory in the blessing through the Seed of Abraham—the blessing we boast of and praise no less than the Jews.
Of course, God did not speak or swear to us; but He spoke of us. So far there are differences that concern only the person, because the Jews are the second person, and we are the third. But the first
Person, which is God, who is speaking, addresses both. It is His desire that first the Jews and then the Greeks, as Paul is wont to say (Rom. 1:16)—and he leaves the Jews their prerogative—come to faith and enjoy all the good things the Blessed Seed of Abraham brings, that is, Christ Jesus, the Salvation and Blessing of all nations.
Finally, it is certain that we dwell and live at some place on earth, just as the Jews dwelt on earth; for the text adds the words "all nations of the earth." Hence we shall share in the blessings also for this reason.
The verb "to bless" must be carefully noted, because it differs from the one that appears above (ch.
12). Moreover, the exact meaning of the word must be determined on the basis of the Hebrew conjugations, in accordance with which the meanings of verbs vary.60
The first conjugation includes the neutral or absolute verb—as "I run," or when I say "I teach," "I bless"—without the addition of a word which it governs, so that the action is not transitive; for I am not saying that God is blessing a man or anything similar.
But the same verbs in the second conjugation are construed with the accusative, as "he teaches rhetoric," "he blessed a man." Here the act of blessing is directed toward someone else.
The third conjugation is transitive—and it occurs very frequently in the Holy Scriptures—as if I were to say in Latin doctifico, that is, "I cause to teach," or amatifico, that is, "I cause you to love."
Thus benedictifico means "I make you blessed." And this conjugation is appropriate for God alone.
- 78 For He causes to be wise; that is, He gives those good things. Yet it can also be used of human beings, as "Moses causes to teach the people"; that is, he causes Aaron to teach the people in order that the people may learn.
The fourth conjugation includes those verbs which express an action that is not directed toward another but is directed back to the agent, as when I say "I bless myself," although no reflexive pronoun is added. But the nature of the verb includes this reflexive meaning, "toward myself." The Germans and the Latins add a pronoun, because they do not have verbs of that kind. The inchoatives—calesco, for example—resemble them somewhat but do not correspond to them in every respect.
Here belong, then, the transitive reciprocal verbs, or those that are reflexive in their action, as the grammarians call them. For example: "My soul will praise itself in the Lord"; that is, I rejoice, and I exalt myself; or my soul glories, that is, greatly exalts itself and regards itself as worthier than heaven and earth, but in the Lord. The strict meaning is that through the power of another one does something that he is unable to do by his own power.
We express this by means of the passive: "In the Lord my soul will be praised." Likewise: "The nations will be blessed." But it is God who blesses, and Christ is the Seed through whom He blesses, or, in the reflexive conjugation: "They bless themselves"; that is, that blessing of God through Christ, who blesses, comes to the nations when they apply the blessing to themselves, so that they say: "I am blessed, not in myself but in the Seed." Thus, for example, when I say: "I praise and glorify myself, but in the Seed," I am glorying in the glory and power of another, as Paul says in Gal. 2:20: "I live, but Christ lives in me." I am proud of my salvation and of the forgiveness of my sins. But through what?
Through another's glory and pride, namely, Christ's.
Moses employed the same word in Deut. 29:19, where, after recounting the benefits and confirming the divine covenant, he opposes the smugness and hypocrisy of the ungodly with a tacit reproach. He speaks of "one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying: 'I shall be safe, etc.'"; that is, the ungodly will be moved neither by the promise nor by the threats but will say: "Let either God or Moses curse. What do I care? I bless and comfort myself."
Thus in Jer. 9:23–24 we read: "Let not the wise man, the mighty man, the rich man glory, etc,; but let him who glories glory in this, that he knows Me." In this passage there is a reflexive meaning in each part. The wise man, the strong man, the rich man who praises himself should not praise himself in wisdom, etc.; but he who praises should praise himself in the Lord. In German we add the pronoun:
Erneeret sich, beisset, frisset sich, which the Hebrew verb includes by virtue of its nature. Therefore in accord with the idiom of the Hebrew language you will translate more properly as follows: "In your
Seed all nations will bless themselves."61
My purpose in presenting these facts rather carefully and in bringing them to your attention has been to encourage those who want to study the Holy Scriptures to apply themselves to the Hebrew language, in order that they may be able to refute the nonsense of the rabbis even on the basis of grammar. For there is great danger that with their glosses the rabbis will again obscure and falsify the Holy Bible. It has been stated elsewhere, however, that there is a twofold blessing: a blessing in words and a blessing in actuality. The blessing in words consists of praises and commendation. It is with the verbal blessing that the Jews understand this passage to be dealing, since they insist on it alone.
The blessing in actuality is truly divine; for when God blesses the result is the thing itself or that which is said, in accordance with those well-known statements: "For He commanded, and they were created" (Ps. 148:5) and "God said: 'Let there be light'; and there was light" (Gen. 1:3). He is One who blesses with effect and does all things through what He says, because His Word is the thing itself, and His blessing is an abundant blessing, physically as well as spiritually.
Properly, however, a blessing denotes an increase, as the angel says to Hagar (Gen. 16:10): "I will greatly multiply your descendants," and about Ishmael (Gen. 17:20): "I will bless him and make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly." And it is not a verbal blessing but a blessing in actuality— although physical—that Ishmael will beget twelve princes. Hence we repeatedly read in the Holy
Scriptures (Gen. 48:9): "They are my sons, with whom God has blessed me."
The Jews take this passage to mean solely a verbal blessing, namely, that all nations will praise themselves in the people of the Jews and will admire and praise the blessing of this people.62 My
- 79 reason for calling attention to this is that no one should be bothered by the glosses of the Jews. They explain these words as follows: The seed of Abraham will be blessed; that is, everything will be bestowed on them in abundance, so that all nations will marvel, bless themselves and be glad that they can share and have part in these blessings.
Thus the Jews exalt themselves above the Gentiles and want the Gentiles to be subject to them solely because of the physical blessing. But if you consider the historical accounts, you will find that because the Gentiles—the Syrians and the Persians—had a world empire, they surpassed the Jews by far and were much more powerful.
Hence this blessing does not subject the Gentiles to the Jews like slaves. For it would be more correct to call it a curse than a blessing if the Gentiles had no other glory than that which would stem from the arrogant rule of the Jews.
But the Gentiles have been the masters of the Jews and have kept them in subjection by severe bondage. Therefore other good things must be tendered by the blessing, namely, heavenly and eternal ones, which the Gentiles enjoy the same as the Jews do. Thus the true and divine blessing is promised to the Gentiles, not subjection and bondage, as the Jews dream.
Burgensis correctly and piously puts us in mind of the same thing, namely, that the text is not dealing with a human blessing—or, in accordance with the distinction we made above, a verbal one— but with a divine one, that is, with divine favors and with an abundance of heavenly good things, as a result of which the Gentiles will praise themselves in that Seed.63
This is the true and genuine meaning, since St. Paul, too, has the same explanation, namely, that the Gentiles will be highly elated and will call themselves blessed, lords of heaven and earth, as he says in Eph. 1:3: "Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places."
Without a doubt the more intelligent Jews, who believe at least in the resurrection of the dead, will go over to the same way of thinking. For since their fathers did not obtain the promise concerning the physical blessings, they will have to concede to us that this promise must be understood of a blessing different from that which pertains to this wretched and miserable life, in which the ungodly are richer in other respects than the godly.
But after we have made clear the force and exact meaning of the verb, it is now necessary to consider the fact that "in your Seed" is added. All nations will bless themselves, will be proud, and will boast that they are saved, blessed, and richly supplied with all spiritual gifts. But how will they do so? They will not do so in themselves, will they? No. But they will glory in the victory over death, in the abolition of sin, and in the gift of eternal life, not because of their own merits and righteousnesses, but "in your Seed."
All glory and confidence of most wretched sinners will not consist in this, that they are praiseworthy and righteous in themselves. No, they will declare that they are holy, redeemed, and washed with the blood of Christ, and that they have been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light (cf. Col. 1:12–13).
The Jews, on the other hand, want to be conspicuous and to be proud because of their wisdom, fortitude, power, and wealth. But that is not what this blessing promises; it teaches that one should glory in the Lord, just as Jeremiah (9:24) most gravely urges the same thing over against the persistent pride innate in the Jews.
In the same way we repudiate the vain confidence of the work-righteous—the confidence they have in vows, in the cowls of the Carthusians and the Minorites. Not even the saintliest persons, whether Peter or Paul, may flaunt their works, even though they may have raised the dead. Thus Paul is so far from being puffed up on account of his pharisaical righteousness and the other gifts he mentions in his Epistle to the Philippians (3:4 ff.) that he counts "everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, our Lord."
Hence all glowing is excluded by the phrase "in your Seed," which is added to the promise. That Seed sets aside all other blessings and the glory of one's own righteousness and bestows His on us, namely, "that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith" (Phil.
3:9). Therefore all nations will bless themselves in no other than "in your Seed." In Him are all the treasures of wisdom, righteousness, and holiness; and whatever there will be anywhere among them that is praiseworthy they will have in its entirety through this Seed.
- 80 Similarly, St. Paul says (1 Cor. 1:30–31): "Whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption; therefore, as it is written: 'Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord.'" He is our life, salvation, and peace. "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live" (John 11:25).
Abraham was endowed with many extraordinary virtues and gifts which he surely should have acknowledged and praised; but he has no glory before God, because all glorying is excluded. How much more shall we reach the same conclusion about the other saints, no matter how much merit they have, whether of congruity or of condignity!
Because God blesses solely in this Seed of Abraham, He also wants us to be blessed and to bless ourselves in this Seed; that is, we should glory and maintain with assurance that this Seed is ours and belongs to us with all its good things and heavenly treasures.
Burgensis, who, fortunately enough, was converted from Judaism, was aware of the same thing when he said that the verb "to bless" implies, as the author and bestower of the blessing, not the nations but the Seed of Abraham, namely, that He is the principal, effective cause of that blessing.
And He is not only the effective cause; but He is also the formal cause, that is, the blessing itself.
For from Him and in Him we are the blessed of Christ and the anointed, and every one of us can make this boast: "Christ is my formal blessing, anointing, life, and salvation, because I cling to Him; and by this One who blesses I am designated as blessed, and I call myself blessed."
Therefore the Hebrew way of expressing itself in the case of the verb "to bless" should be carefully noted and pondered: "All nations will bless themselves." For it denotes that full assurance
(πληροφορία) and nature of faith that I must maintain with certainty and without any doubt that I am blessed and declare myself truly alive, saved, righteous, and blessed. Otherwise I do wrong to the Seed of Abraham, namely, to Christ, the Author of life and salvation.
For the promise does not depend on my merits or works; it depends on the Seed of Abraham. By Him I am blessed when I apprehend Him in faith; and the blessing clings to me in turn and permeates my entire body and soul, so that even the body itself is made alive and saved through the same Seed.
And that begins in this life through faith when the soul, weighed down by death and sin, is buoyed up and receives the comfort of life and salvation. At some later time, in the resurrection of the dead, the body will follow the soul without any hindrance—not instrumentally but effectively and, as it were, formally64—to the point that our lowly body will be changed "to be like the glorious body of Christ" (Phil. 3:21).
But this confidence and saintly glorying is obstructed in us in many ways. For the evil conceived because of the fault of original sin is born with us. I am speaking of the pride and presumption which cause men to be arrogant in regard to their strength, wisdom, might, and wealth.
Nothing is easier for flesh and blood than to bless itself and to exalt itself before God—but on account of its own righteousness and holiness. But this blessing of the flesh must be mortified and killed like a most deadly poison. And before we apprehend that other blessing, we must consider and recognize the curse through which we have been plunged into sins and horrible corruption, namely, unbelief, blasphemy, smugness, and other maladies and lusts without number.
When God declares that the nations are to be blessed, He points out that they are cursed. For God does not say this in vain, but He indicates that they are without a blessing and that they fall short of the glory of God. This conclusion is unavoidable and cannot be escaped, just as the apostle Paul places himself under this very same judgment in 1 Cor. 4:4: "I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted."
The self-righteous and the hypocrites pay no heed to this; nor do they think that they are cursed, just as the Pharisee proudly boasts (Luke 18:11): "I am not like other men." Therefore the blessing does not apply to them, even though they always have it on their lips and bless themselves—but in themselves, not in the Seed.
But this is a satanic and cursed blessing, and everywhere the prophets contend most sharply against this kind and call the blessings of these people a lie, vanity, an idol, incantations, divinations, etc.65
Paul speaks to this effect in Gal. 3:10. "All who rely on works of the Law," he says, "are under a curse." Hence all nations, because they are without the blessing, are under the curse and sin, that the - 81 entire world may be subject to God. "But the Scripture consigned all things to sin, that what was promised to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe" (Gal. 3:22). These truths, and many like them, had their source in this promise as in a most abundant spring.
But these words of the divine judgment are not so pleasant for flesh and reason, for all men, even those who are openly ungodly and villainous, avoid the confession of sin. Hypocrites in particular resent it very much when they hear that the doctrine of the Gospel censures their sins and wickedness.
They all readily acknowledge the blessing and boast of it, but they never permit it to be said that they are cursed and damned because of sin. Indeed, they even hate those who teach and censure them, and they persecute them in a hostile manner.
Therefore we should know that this passage does not pertain to satisfied and stiff-necked people and those who are inflated by their own righteousness. No, it pertains to those who have been humbled and afflicted; whom sin troubles and torments; who feel the curse and wrath of God which threatens the cursed and the sinners; who, even if they have righteousness, wisdom, and other gifts, nevertheless declare loudly that these are nothing but masks and a shadow, and complain that of all people living they are the most wretched and for this reason implore the mercy and grace of God.
Thus David was very powerful, and he was rich. Yet because he knew that he was under the wrath of God, sin, death, and the power of the devil, he thinks: "Of what advantage are all the riches of the entire world to me, since they do not bless me or bring life and eternal salvation?"
Similarly, all nations which recognize with a troubled spirit that they are condemned and that trust in their own gifts and powers has been killed—even though they walk along in splendor and in the glory of the most excellent gifts of the Spirit, as David and others do—nevertheless regard themselves as most wretched and most cursed, because they feel the power of sin and the terrors of hell and of the wrath of God. To them, therefore, this promise should be pointed out. The prophets drew all their comforting discourses from it.
In the New Testament we have this promise elucidated and explained in an excellent manner. In Gal. 3:16 St. Paul states with beautiful clarity that this Seed is Christ. Undoubtedly the Holy Spirit enlightened and taught him. For the Jews and the entire wisdom of the flesh in no wise understand or concede that this one Seed is Christ.
In the second place, it is also explained that this Seed of Abraham is true man and true God. He is a man because He became flesh and the son of the Virgin. This the Jews do not deny, since He is the son of Abraham. The blessing, however, proves that He is God; for the nations are under the curse, as are all creatures. Therefore He is not a creature and not from the Gentiles. Otherwise He would also be cursed. But He not only blesses others, but He Himself is also formally blessed, so that in this way the entire world is blessed. This can be said of no heathen. No one has ever had the right to claim for himself that he blessed himself and others and delivered from death.
Therefore Burgensis excellently stresses the fact that the blessing fits the Creator alone and not any creature. Hence He who blesses must be true God, because to deliver all nations from the curse is a work of God, not of man or of angels. And so that Seed is true God and man in one Person. He is man because He is of the Seed of Abraham; He is God because He bestows the blessing.
In the third place, He must be the kind of man who was born without sin. In this particular, then, our faith is wonderful. We believe that He is man and yet not born from blood, because He was not conceived in original sin. For the blessing and the curse cannot stand side by side, which would happen if He had been conceived in sin.
Accordingly, Mary did not conceive this Seed in the natural manner. She is not a mother like the mothers of all nations. She had to be a mother and give birth to a new man. But she was a pure mother and a virgin who conceived, not from a man or from an angel, whether good or bad, but from the Holy
Thus Paul, Isaiah, and the other prophets pondered this passage carefully and did not read the promises carelessly and superficially, as we do. For when God speaks, He utters words that are of such importance and so sublime that heaven and earth cannot comprehend them.
These words speak of most weighty matters—matters that surpass all the understanding of the whole world, namely, that all nations are under sin, death, and eternal damnation. To be sure, one may
- 82 conclude this a posteriori and from the effect—for we all feel the perils and countless misfortunes that are more painful than death itself—but we do not know the cause. Far less do we see deliverance.
Consequently, the cause is pointed out in this promise, which bears witness that all nations are under the curse and power of the devil and nevertheless offers deliverance if they recognize their wretched state and do not despair but believe in the Seed and bless themselves because of this Seed, boast of life, and individually apply this deliverance to themselves by faith and say: "I am no longer a sinner; I am righteous. I am not cursed; I am blessed through the Seed of Abraham—the Seed who is true man, born of the descendants of Abraham, and true God."
This blessing is so powerful and efficacious that it is able to destroy and abolish both death and the entire curse which was brought on as a result of original sin.
Moreover, the fact that God, as is stated in the Epistle to the Hebrews (2:16), is concerned with the descendants of Abraham, not with angels, is an incalculably great honor to that wretched mass of the human race. For it was not difficult or impossible for Him to bring His Son into the world without a mother. But He wanted to make use of the female sex.
He could likewise have formed a body suddenly from a virgin, just as He formed Adam from clay and Eve from a rib of Adam. He did not choose to do this, but He adhered to the order which He
Himself had established. For a maiden has been created in such a way that she should conceive, be with child for nine months, and give birth. Therefore He wanted His Son to be conceived, carried and born in the womb of a maiden, not formed from clay and not conceived by a male.
It is surely a great comfort that it did not please God that His Son should become man from any other material than the human race. He wanted His Son to become our brother and to adorn us with the exceedingly great honor of having a God born and made man in our flesh and blood.
These facts are so grand and sublime that they cannot be apprehended and understood in any other manner than by faith, which produces in us that spiritual confidence through which we firmly believe that we have eternal peace in heaven and on earth—not in ourselves, of course, but in the Seed of But here every thought and presumption of one's own righteousness must be put aside. Moreover, that Seed must be carefully separated from all works. For the Seed of Abraham conceived by the Holy
Spirit is not my work. But our righteousness and the Seed are distinct things. Works, of course, are called, and actually are, blessings. Of these John 14:12 says: "Greater works than these will he do."
But they are truly good only if the blessing is there first.
The blessing of the Seed, however, is the work of another; it is not our own. Therefore justification must be ascribed neither to the righteousness of the Law nor to the papistic traditions; but I shall bless myself in Christ Jesus, our Deliverer, so that he who boasts, boasts of the Lord (1 Cor. 1:31). In Ps.
105:3 we read: "Glory in His holy name." Then we shall boast with confidence and everlasting joy.
Up to this point we have concerned ourselves with the affirmative meaning of this passage, that is, with faith in Christ, the Seed of Abraham, and apart from the worthiness and merits of works. For the text states clearly that although in themselves all nations are accursed and without any worthiness and righteousness, yet they will bless themselves with a blessing that belongs to another.
Accordingly, every blessing apart from this one is condemned. So are all wisdom, righteousness, power, and whatever man possesses in accordance with his origin and his birth from Adam. However much we may prosper in the wealth and goods of the entire world, that physical blessing is condemned as long as the curse remains; nor are anyone's prestige and glory great enough to make him an exception here. For "all nations" means all mankind.
These statements agree properly and in a godly manner with our doctrine of justification and faith, which the papists condemn and persecute as false and heretical. They call us "solafideists,"66 because we attribute righteousness to faith alone.
But we are not the originators of this doctrine. Enlightened by the Spirit of Christ, we have drawn it from these and similar promises. Manifestly, every thought of and trust in a righteousness of works is rejected here, and in this one blessing through the Seed of Abraham righteousness, salvation, and life are included.
- 83 But because they so brazenly contradict the plain truth, it is also worthwhile to deal with the point of view which denies or opposes our doctrine—the point of view they maintain together with a new explanation they have recently invented to cover up their error.67
They do not attribute righteousness simply to works. No, they attribute it to works joined with faith, because they see that they have been caught in a manifest and disgraceful error, namely, that they have taught works alone, without faith, and based on human traditions at that. Therefore they are now making a slight change, and instead of their traditions they are demanding the works and the righteousness of the Law for justification.
Since not even this, however, is enough to turn aside the disgrace they deserve, they resort to patching faith on the works and declaring that justification comes neither from works alone nor from faith alone, but that faith together with works justifies because faith without works is dead.
Let us, then, examine this negative proposition. The affirmative proposition we stated above, namely, that we are reckoned and pronounced righteous through faith alone. This is confirmed on the basis of the passage in which it is stated that the nations will bless themselves, not in their own wisdom and righteousness or in the Law but in the blessing of the Seed, that is, in Christ Jesus, "whom
God made our wisdom, our righteousness and santification and redemption" (1 Cor. 1:30).
The negative proposition is this: Faith alone does not justify, but faith does so in conjunction with works. Furthermore, they attach a crafty declaration or restriction to this proposition. They say:
"Although we demand works as necessary for salvation, yet we do not teach that one should put one's trust in works." The devil is sly enough; but he accomplishes nothing, even though he hoodwinks the ignorant and deceives reason.
Since it has been established that trust in works is rejected and condemned, the righteousness of works is altogether nothing. For there can be no true righteousness in men unless at the same time trust is added, according to God's command, by which I am forbidden to lie or to deny that righteousness is what it actually is; for I must not say that it is sin.
Hence if there is any righteousness of works—as they declare, because faith without works is nothing—I must assert and have that righteousness by divine authority; and if I am to be saved, I have to believe that this righteousness avails for salvation and eternal life.
Therefore their teaching that one must not put one's trust in works is a deception and a lie. And the contrary proposition must be maintained, namely, that trust necessarily follows the righteousness of works, because all righteousness and truth brings with it trust, which is the complete reality68 or the prime energy, substance, and factotum of righteousness.
Similarly, righteousness in the administration of the state and the household cannot exist without trust. How, then, can it be taken away from that righteousness which they want to be righteousness before God? In the administration of the household I must be sure that this woman is my wife and that this child is mine. In the administration of the state I must be certain about my officer of the state, who he is, whose subject I am, who my fellow citizens are, who are joined to me by the same laws. I am not permitted to doubt or waver. Yes, even such great constancy and certainty are required that I do not doubt and do not refuse to spend my life and all my goods for the welfare and defense of home, wife, government, and fellow citizens. But if I doubt that this is my wife, my father, my son, my prince, or my fellow citizen,69 then she is not my wife; nor is he my father, my son, my prince, etc.
And thus righteousness in the house-hold as well as in civil life is done away with.
Hence all righteousness and truth, whether in the government or in the household, has trust attached to it as its substantial form.
Therefore when the papists declare that they teach righteousness of works and nevertheless say that one must not trust in works, they contradict themselves, and they themselves admit that the righteousness of works is altogether nothing. It is similar in the household. If you have doubts about your wife, whether she is your wife, then she is not your wife; then she is a harlot. For in any righteousness, not only of Christians but also of the heathen and the Turks, there has to be certainty.
The Turk is sure concerning his wife, family, emperor, etc. Thus a Christian should maintain that his works are pleasing to God and are good, whether they are performed in the church, in the household, or in the government; and it is a deception when they teach that works must be done, but that one should not put one's trust in them.
- 84 Whence come those sermons of the prophets—"They worship the works of their own hands" (Jer.
1:16), etc.—except from the fact that all who want to be justified by their works are in reality idolaters? For they cannot avoid having trust in their works.
Why did I undergo excessive hardships in the monastery? Why did I torture my body with fasts, vigils, and cold? Certainly because I was trying to be sure that through these works I would get forgiveness of sins, etc.
Therefore give this answer: "You are making conflicting statements; you assert a righteousness of works and deny that there is any trust in them, although all righteousness necessarily includes trust.
Lack of trust, however, is conclusive proof that no righteousness is there. But if you put your trust in works, you are an idolater."
Is this not teaching things that conflict and imply a contradiction? Who does not see that they are destroying and consuming themselves with their contradictions? Now they maintain justification; now they deny it. To be sure, they do not deny it in words; but they deny it in fact, because they declare that faith with works justifies, and nevertheless they exclude trust.
Their former prattle about human traditions and works of the Law is condemned even by their own judgment and confession. But after they have seized upon the word "faith" in such a manner that they deny that it alone suffices for salvation and tack on it the merits of works, they lose faith the same time that they lose the works.
But they adduce what is stated in Luke 17:10: "When you have done all, say: 'We are unworthy servants.'"70 With these words they defend their dogma that one must not put one's trust in works. But again they stumble disgracefully. For that which they suppose is supporting them overthrows their entire doctrine. Christ condemns not only trust in works but also all righteousness and merits of works.
For if one must say that works are useless, it follows of necessity that they are not righteousness and do not avail for eternal life but are worthless and amount to nothing at all.
Therefore all trust, righteousness, wisdom, and whatever else has to do with works is rejected, and the statement that we are justified by faith with works is false. The Blessed Seed alone delivers from death and bestows righteousness and the eternal life that is obtained through faith.
We do not deny that works must be done; but when our opponents commingle the faith that justifies and the works of those who have been justified through faith, we disapprove. To be sure, faith and works indeed fit together well and are inseparably joined; but it is faith alone that obtains the blessing. Therefore we declare that faith alone justifies, because it alone is blessed. Works do not bless; they do not have this glory. No, they are the fruits of the person who has been blessed.
This righteousness of ours comes through faith. Concerning it we should have no doubt; nor should we say that it is useless or vain, lest we hear the words: "Woe to those who call good evil" (Is.
5:20). Therefore I should not say: "I have the blessing, and for this reason I am useless." No, I must say: "I am honest, saintly, righteous, and blessed, because I am such through the righteousness of another, not through my own righteousness. This I can set against the wrath and judgment of God, and I am sure that God cannot deny Himself and cast aside His Son, that Seed of Abraham. Therefore I maintain with confidence and without any doubt that I am righteous and an heir of eternal life." This promise embraces almost the entire Christian doctrine, the incarnation of Christ and justification, but not the sacraments, which were revealed later on, when Christ came. Furthermore, it contains a refutation of the papistic doctrine, not only concerning traditions and works but also concerning faith combined with works, which they stress against us "solafideists." This proposition remains unshakable and sure, that faith alone justifies, because all trust of all men is absolutely condemned, and trust is put in the Seed alone.
Therefore we shall conclude in opposition to our opponents: "Your justification, in which you teach that works must be combined with faith, is a lie, because you contradict yourselves, maintain the righteousness of works, and deny trust. When trust is abolished, righteousness itself must be abolished, because certainty and trust are the very life of righteousness."
On the other hand, it is true justification when I am certain through faith that the Blessed Seed, through whom I bless myself, dwells in me. Nor must I have any doubts or suppose that this blessing amounts to nothing or is idle. For the Seed of Abraham does not let me be useless but causes me to abound in fruits. In John 14:12 we read: "e who believes in Me, etc."
- 85 But they object and say that in this passage the text has: "Because you have done this" and "Because you have obeyed." From this it seems to follow that Abraham earned the blessing with his works. Hence our works, too, they say, deserve reward. For it is a causal way of speaking when God says: "I will bless you because you have obeyed My voice," as though He were saying: "I would not bless you and the others if you had not obeyed."
This argument, like an iron wall,71 they oppose to what we have said up to this point, and they easily deceive the unlearned. They say: "What has now become of your statement that all nations will bless themselves in the Seed of Abraham, and also that righteousness through works is condemned?
Here Moses says the opposite: 'Because you have acted, and because you have obeyed.' The inference is clear: The blessing is given to Abraham because he obeys and acts. Obeying and acting are works.
Hence we obtain the blessing through works."
My answer is: Two questions are involved in this discussion: (1) whether we are justified through works, and (2) whether God does great and wonderful works for the sake of the elect because they are already holy and just through faith.
We are now dealing with the first question: whether we earn righteousness through works or receive it through the grace and mercy of God as a gift, without merit on our part.
But the question is not raised whether he who has been justified through grace and faith earns or procures it from God that God for his sake does miracles and extraordinary works, just as He deals marvelously with His saints (Ps. 4:4) and adorns them in sundry and wonderful ways.
With satanic wickedness they mix up and jumble these two questions, and there is a fallacy of composition and division, as the dialecticians call it.72 Teachers of that sort deserve ill will and should be censured, because they lead the people astray with nothing but fallacies and make no distinction among the arguments and matters under discussion.
It is first of all the duty of a teacher and dialectician to define and divide properly, then to bring proofs and reach conclusions. Our opponents are not doing the first two things, but they set down their propositions and their conclusion without any definition and division. Because of this confusion they teach nothing that is sound. Instead, they confuse simple minds and lead them astray.
Our question is this: "an a sinner earn righteousness through good works—either through them alone or through good works in conjunction with faith—or does faith alone justify without works?"
From this question one must distinguish the second: "Does God for the sake of those who are already justified, holy, and appointed heirs of eternal life do the marvelous works of which Ps. 17:7 says: 'Wondrously show Thy steadfast love,' etc.?" They understand this statement as referring to the wonderful works of God that are done in those who already have righteousness and the Holy Spirit, and are sons and heirs of God; and they confuse the works of those who are to be justified with the works of those who have been justified.
Why do they not rather give their answer to this question: "Was Abraham justified, and did he obtain the inheritance of eternal life, through the sacrifice of his son?" To this we say no, and our reason is that he is already justified (Gen. 15:6). And here the text states: "God tested Abraham." It does not say that He justified him, for he had previously received forgiveness of his sins and righteousness through faith when Moses states: "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." There we do not read: "Because you did, because you obeyed."
Hence their argument has no weight at all; but the meaning of these words is this: "You have done a wonderful work, because you are righteous. I, in turn, shall do a wonderful work with you; I shall give a blessing of all nations through your Seed." Abraham is not justified by this. For of what concern to him was the blessing of all nations, to whom everything stated here applies: "By Myself I have sworn"?
Therefore this promise was not made to Abraham in order to justify him; but it is like a reward and some adornment added by God, so that God might make known that He will bestow boundless benefits on believers and those who call upon Him. For it is a great distinction that Abraham is the father of faith, of the blessing, and of Christ. These are incredible gifts; but he is not justified by them, because he has already been blessed before the blessing of all nations is promised.
When God gives great miracles to His saints, this is far different from justifying them and receiving them into grace. Christ promised believers (John 16:28) that they would receive whatever
- 86 they would ask from the Father. Likewise (John 15:5): "He who abides in Me will bear much fruit."
But they are not justified by these works which they receive from the Father, just as the branches of a vine are not produced by their fruits.
Accordingly, we grant that God shows favor to those who have been justified, that He rewards and endows them with great and wonderful works. But all this would not obtain for them forgiveness of sins and the grace of God unless they were previously among the saints. And because the saints are in grace and have the Holy Spirit, they are equipped for every good work.
If Abraham had not been righteous and had not been endowed with that foremost gift of the grace and mercy of God, if he had not abounded in righteousness and faith, he would never have offered his son; nor would he have obtained this glory of which the pasage before us is speaking.
Thus I pray daily that God may put an end to the pope and the Turk; but I am not justified by this prayer. Indeed, if I were not righteous, I would not pray. But I feel and experience that these prayers of mine and of the whole church repulse and curb the Turks, the pope and his accomplices. And it is a great favor that the fury of our adversaries is turned away. Day and night they make use of their power and cunning to shed innocent blood.
But this prayer does not produce the church. On the contrary, the church produces the prayer through which it gains that marvelous victory over the plots of Satan, keeps the ferocity of the evil angels at a distance, and gets the protection of the good angels. These are the works and merits of the saints—the works and merits of which Christ says (John 14:12): "He who believes in Me will do greater works than these."
Thus God is saying to Abraham in this passage: "You have done this outstanding work and have been obedient. Behold, I, in turn, will adorn you with an outstanding miracle, not in order that you may be justified but to have you know that God loves His saints and not only calls and justifies them but also makes them great and glorious."
Accordingly, those who have been justified do wonderful works; but they are not justified by their wonderful works. Thus Paul has the glory that he is the teacher of the Gentiles. We glory in our victory over Satan and his followers, because they can do nothing against us. But we are not justified by this glory; for God so loves His saints that He approves of, adorns, and rewards whatever they do, not because of the works per se but because of their faith in the Seed of Abraham—the faith which exerts its power through virtues of every kind.
But if the works of the righteous and their faith could be detached or separated—which cannot be done—then they would be useless indeed, and one would have to say that we are unprofitable servants
—which the papists say about that righteousness of theirs—because the remnants of sin, which adhere to us, pollute our works. But faith must be involved at the same time as inseparably joined to the works. And if any blemish remains, it is completely blotted out through the blessing of the Seed.
Therefore I commend this passage to all godly people as abounding in spiritual instruction, and of many and sundry kinds at that. If, when I explained the passage, I did not treat everything as it deserved, a reasonable reader73 will attribute this to my inadequate ability. Nevertheless, I think that these are the main points.
In the first place, this passage gives amplest confirmation of the doctrine concerning the righteousness of faith, namely, that we are justified by faith alone. For no blessing is to be hoped for except through the Seed of Abraham. The text is clear. All nations—no matter how righteous and wise they are, and no matter with what outstanding gifts they are adorned—nevertheless are not blessed except through your Seed, O Abraham. Therefore they bless themselves, not in themselves but in your
At the same time the nature of faith is described in this passage. It is the nature of faith to believe with certainty that we are blessed, not through ourselves but through Christ, who is our blessing.
Hence we bless ourselves and maintain that we are the ones to whom that blessing belongs, for it is faith which apprehends the blessing.
In addition to that confirmation there is a refutation of our opponents in regard to the righteousness of works. Because works are not that blessing through the Seed of Abraham, it is clear that whatever righteousness or blessing through works is presumed is idolatry and a curse.
- 87 The main points of our doctrine are these: We maintain that righteousness comes through faith alone, and we refute the idolatry of the pope. But it follows as a corollary that whatever the papists prate about faith and works is not understood by the papists themselves. And they should be censured above all because they teach doubt and take away from righteousness its substantial form, which is trust.
We, however, preach so much about faith in order that we may maintain the trust and certainty because of which we must be persuaded and sure that we are blessed through the Seed of Abraham.
But one should also note that in this promise Holy Scripture implies not only the divinity of Christ but also the distinction of Persons. It is the Father who promises; but the Seed is the Son, who is promised; and He is distinguished from Him who promises. Accordingly, there are two distinct
Persons: the eternal Father, who promises, and the eternal Son, who is promised. This is what the prophets unfolded beautifully on the basis of those words. For they did not read the Holy Scriptures as frigidly as we are accustomed to do, and especially the Jews, who speak foolishly of only a verbal blessing.
Thus Isaiah says (65:16): "Whoever is blessed on earth shall bless himself in God. Amen"; that is, if there will be any blessing on earth, it will be in God. Amen. That is, in the true God. Hence Isaiah is pointing out that the Seed of Abraham is true God and that through this Seed the blessing will come, lest the Jews say that we are worshiping a crucified human being. For Isaiah says clearly: "He will be
God and God. Amen"; that is, the true God, who keeps His promises. Many such statements have flowed from this passage as from a living spring and a well of living waters.
But let us return to the words of the promise, and let us compare them with the previous ones; for there is a repetition with an addition—which is common in Holy Scripture—so that the promises or previous statements are repeated whenever something new is to be added. The same thing happens here.
The difference, however, is not only in the words but also in the facts. There is a difference in the words when God says: "Your offspring shall possess the gates of your enemies." Above He said: "I will curse those who curse you," which amounts to the same thing. But there is an actual difference in the addition of the oath and in the word "to bless," namely, that all nations will bless themselves and will do so in the Seed of Abraham. This makes the promise not only clearer but also more magnificent.
The remaining clauses are easily harmonized. For what the passage before us has—"I will bless you, and I will multiply your descendants"—is stated in ch. 19:2–3: "I will make you a great nation, and I will bless those who bless you, etc."
Thus it is stated in ch. 13:16: "I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth." But in this passage it is expressed in words that are changed a little, namely, "as the sand which is on the seashore." We have pointed out above, however, that a twofold seed of Abraham is indicated.74 The one is compared to the stars of heaven. These are the saints. The other is compared to the sand on the shore of the sea and to the dust of the earth. These are the ungodly.
Whoever is looking for an ampler exposition would do very well if he compared these statements with the addresses of the prophets, especially, however, with the psalms of David, who was very fond of this passage, as appears from Ps. 110, which he wove from this promise as a most beautiful web.
In the first place, David calls Abraham's Seed his Lord. Indeed, he sets Him at the right hand of God: that is, he assigns to Him power equal to that of God. Inasmuch as all nations are to be blessed in Him, He must be distinguished from the nations that are all descended from Adam and for this reason are under the curse. For doing away with sin and death, blessing, and bestowing on men spiritual and eternal benefits are divine works and favors.
Accordingly, David concludes that this Seed, born without the semen of a man, is sitting at the right hand of God. This means that He is equal to God, because He does works equal to the works of But because He is the Seed of Abraham, He must take on human nature; for otherwise God, in His own nature and essence, cannot be called the Seed of Abraham.
In the first place, David drew from this the following conclusion: This Seed is the Son of God and the equal of God, and He is the kind of king who sits at the right hand of the Father.
- 88 In the second place, the promise states that He will not only rule but will also bless. At the same time, therefore, He will be a Priest. For not only royal authority but also a priesthood is dealt with, and the name and office of priest embrace the foremost benefits of Christ. Therefore David, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, adds an oath, not in regard to royal authority but in regard to the priesthood: "The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind. ''You are a priest forever,' etc."; that is, my Lord will sit at the right hand of God, but in such a manner that He will not only rule but will also bless.
This is the excellent knowledge David had about Christ, the Seed who was to come from his tribe and flesh; and he undoubtedly realized and was exceedingly glad that such outstanding glory and honor were being heaped upon him in preference to other kings when Nathan brought him the promise
(Ps. 132:11): "Of the fruit of your body will I set on your throne." Hence he concluded that this promise was being channeled into his body and seed, and that the Son of God would be born from his offspring.
When David heard that the line of Abraham among the people of Israel would be brought down to his person, so that the Seed would come from his body and blood, he received these tidings with joy.
Previously he had never even considered this glory, just as Mary could not hope for the great honor of becoming the mother of Christ.
David thought that the descendants of Abraham had been scattered and that it was not known for sure into which person the promise had been channeled. On this occasion the prophet restricts it to a definite tribe and person, and says: "Of the fruit of your body I will set on your throne."
It was certainly important for David to know that the Son of God would stem from him and that the blessing of all nations would be looked for from his flesh. He congratulated not only himself but also the entire world because of the fact that the promise was repeated and was channeled into his body, so that hearts were no longer uncertain or had any doubts about the source from which the redemption of Israel was to be expected.
We should take careful note of this glory of David, in order that we may learn to differentiate the call, justification, and glorification. Many are called who are not justified; many are justified who are not glorified as Abraham or David were.
Nevertheless, this glory does not affect David's justification; for Scripture itself makes a distinction and teaches that God promises, and bestows on, those who have been justified outstanding and glorious works, which are recounted in Ps. 149:8–9: "To bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute on them the judgment written! This is glory for all His faithful ones." Thus we read that saints have raised the dead.
These are works that invested them with glory. But they were not justified by them, though they were made certain that they were in grace and righteous. For if they had not been previously justified, they would not have performed these works.
I wanted to remind you of these things in passing because of that silly reasoning which I touched on above: "To Abraham it is said: 'Because you have obeyed.' Therefore we are justified by works."
For the works of justification and glorification75 must not be jumbled together.
Furthermore, what is stated in the promise—"Your descendants shall possess the gates of their enemies"—David has expressed in the following words (Ps. 110:1): "Till I make Thy enemies Thy footstool."
This leads to the conclusion that the Seed will have enemies and adversaries, and a variety of them at that, powerful and violent. Yet the victory will be with the sand and the stars, but especially with the only Son. For we see that it happened this way. This people had deadly enemies but many outstanding
—also physical—victories over them.
Thus it is related in the books of Judges and Kings that even the godless kings of Israel, Ahab and Joash, won glorious victories over the Philistines, the Syrians, and the Ammonites on account of this
Seed, for whom God made the enemies a footstool These were victories of the godless, who are compared to the sand on the shore of the sea and to the dust of the earth. But the stars of heaven, that is, the godly, have obtained the true blessing in their spiritual victories, because they have taken possession of the spiritual gates, that is, the bodies and the minds that were subject to the power of Satan. These they have turned to faith; and they have destroyed the gates of hell, the dominion of Satan, of death, of sin, and every kind of affliction of the - 89 soul as well as of the body, and have obtained peace in heaven and on earth, so that they no longer stand in awe of hell and are not filled with horror when sin and the threats of the Law accuse the conscience.
These are victories and defeats far more glorious than those of the Ammonites, the Philistines, and others like them. Moreover, this is in most excellent agreement with the first promise, which was given in Paradise (Gen. 3:15)—the promise that the Seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent, etc. All the other promises are like this one, except that some are clearer than others.
We, too, who believe that this Seed is our blessing, have good reason to glory and act proudly over against all the gates of hell and against Satan himself with all his scales76 and mobs. To be sure, we are compelled to bear the hate and cruelty of our enemies; but "in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Rom. 8:37).
If we are Christians and believe in the Seed who blesses us, what do we care if the devil or the world is angry? For all we care, let them take away what we have, and let them kill the body. They will not for this reason keep us in death, will they? Not at all, for we are blessed and are sure of life over against death and of the grace and favor of God over against the hatred of the world.
Thus David comforted himself with this promise and had good reason to be glad that that Seed had been assigned to his house. He calls Him ינִִדֹֹאֲ and reasons that He will be a King and a Priest. He is a King because He sits at the right hand of God, who has all things in His hand, as is stated in Matt.
11:27: "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father." He is a Priest because He blesses.
From those premises there follows by a very proper and very easy inference all this: "The blessing of the Seed which was promised to Abraham belongs to my house because I heard from the prophet
Nathan: ''f the fruit of your body, etc.'; therefore Christ, who was promised to Abraham, will be born of my seed." And so the line of descent from Abraham is directed into the body of David.
Finally he also perceives that the Levitical priesthood was not established in order to be everlasting, because another One who will bless is promised, and the office of blessing, which previously belonged to the tribe of Levi, is now transferred to the tribe of Judah.
Here the face of Moses was uncovered completely (cf. 2 Cor. 3:14–16). Consequently, David could see that the Levitical priesthood was only a shadow and figure. This is also apparent from the fact that before the time of Moses the promise that the blessing would come from his Seed was made to Abraham.
Therefore he saw that a far more excellent priesthood would follow that of the Levites—a priesthood which would bless both Abraham and the Levites, who themselves are under the curse and for this reason are in need of the blessing of the Seed just as others are. Into this situation he then fitted
Melchizedek and concluded that because of the eternal Seed the priesthood would be eternal.
This reasoning was clear and easy for David, since the premises are sure: "I am of the tribe of Judah. The Levites are not. And to me there is promised a King and Priest who is to be the blessing of all nations. Therefore whatever was ordained by Moses in regard to the tribe of Levi is only a shadow of things to come, because the real One who blesses was promised long before that ordinance."
Likewise, when God says to Moses in Ex. 25:40: "And see that you make them after the pattern which is being shown you on the mountain," he concluded that the warning about that pattern or type was not given so carefully without a purpose; and he decided that Moses surely had before his eyes and in view the future blessing through Christ. For Moses is the shadow or figure that preceded Christ, who was to come. Therefore the true priesthood was in existence from the very beginning of the world, first covertly but later on promised more clearly to Abraham.
Thus David and the other prophets carefully examined and pondered this statement. Therefore they were able to interpret Moses correctly and profitably, namely, that the righteousness and the work of laws do not deliver from the curse, but that this comes about only when one believes and accepts with complete trust the Priest who was promised to Abraham.
To be sure, the Levites had been appointed by God as priests; but they were mortal, and therefore they gave a blessing that was only temporal. For as the priest, so the blessing. They could not do away with sin and death; nor could they purify hearts.
- 90 Hence David says that Another will come, namely, the eternal Blesser, whose kingdom will have no end. Yes, what is more, Moses covertly indicates by all his ordinances that everything must be referred to the house of David.
Therefore the prophets and all the saints before Christ cry out so often and so anxiously: "Come, O Lord!" as people desirous of looking upon His glory and that light of the Seed of Abraham and David which all the godly in the New Testament enjoy by God's great favor.
Moreover, note should be taken of the explanation of the universal principle, "ALL NATIONS SHALL BE BLESSED," which, of course, in Holy Scripture is a common way of saying that not a single one of the nations is blessed except through this Seed. The same thought occurs in John 1:9: "It enlightens every man," and also in 1 Tim. 2:4: "God desires all men to be saved"—not that all are enlightened, but that the universal blessing, scattered abroad among all nations, comes from this Seed.
An exclusive rather than a universal principle is meant,77 as though one said: "Nowhere is there light, life, and salvation except in this Seed."
Thus our doctrine has been clearly proved, and that of our opponents has been refuted. We are blessed in Christ, not in ourselves; that is, we must maintain with assurance that the blessing comes through Christ. Those who oppose this—which the papists are doing—give evidence enough that they have no understanding whatever of the doctrine of godliness.
19. So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.
It is truly amazing that the very saintly patriarch returns from so sacred a place. If such a grand revelation about sacrificing a son were to come to us, and if that glorious promise—"In your Seed shall all the nations be blessed"—were added—likewise the conversation and the presence, not of one angel but of the entire heavenly host—human devotion would surely give the advice that this place should not only be held in reverence but should also be inhabited. Why, then, does Abraham not do this?
In the Books of Kings and in the Prophets one perceives how insane the Jewish nation is in the matter of human religion. They chose mountains, hills, woods, and trees where they could have at least some traces of the deeds of the fathers. Therefore they established forms of worship and sacrifices at Gilgal, Bethel, Dan, and Tabor; for at those places outstanding events took place.
Thus Abraham had very valid reasons for remaining at and venerating this place. He brought a supreme sacrifice at that place of divine worship and reverence. Nevertheless, he did not want to make it renowned by any monument, as we shah hear later about his grandson, the patriarch Jacob, who set up a stone at the place where he had seen the ladder (Gen. 28:18).
Abraham's descendants eagerly visited and venerated places of this kind which were distinguished by the worship of the fathers and their sanctity. For this reason they are so often censured by Moses and the prophets; and with the utmost zeal Moses endeavors to refer all accounts, rites, wonderful deeds, and the entire worship to the place which the Lord chose. "Take heed," he says (Deut. 12:13–
14), "that you do not offer at every place, but only at that place at which there shall be a remembrance of My name."
Therefore he designates for them a definite place and calls it the Tabernacle דעמֹו ֵ, that is, the appointed, definite, and fixed place. This tabernacle God gave to Moses as a sure sign of the place He had chosen, and He added the promise that He would dwell there, be present, and hear the invocations and prayers of those who can upon Him.
But that very people, which most of all had a sure and definite place of worship, wandered and strayed most of all in uncertain and self-chosen places.
Such is the deplorable perversity of our nature that we do not keep what God commands or regard it highly; but whatever the devil prescribes, this we receive and observe with the utmost eagerness and deference. We erect altars, chapels, churches; we run to Rome and to St. James.78 But meanwhile we slight Baptism, the Eucharist, absolution, and our calling.
And the pope has concerned himself with this one purpose: to do away with the fixed place or tabernacle, that is, the ministry of the Word. He does not bother about the Word and the sacraments, nor does he make use of them; but he takes them away and horribly torments the people. He ills the - 91 entire world with his indulgences, and wherever there are places and self-chosen nooks, he dispenses indulgences in order to give support to his errors and his mania for idols.
On the contrary, God calls us back to the place where the memory of His name is, to our tabernacle, which is the ministry of the Word. Where the Word resounds and the sacraments are administered according to Christ's institution, this is the true tabernacle of God.
If the pope had such weighty testimony in his favor that God had spoken with him at Rome as He did with Abraham on Mt. Moriah, who could resist him? Now, however, by his own audacity, without the Word, he gives support to such idolatrous practices in the name of Peter and fills the entire world with his most impudent lies in order to seize for himself the wealth of the world.
Therefore the example of Abraham, who had most valid reasons for instituting something at this place, is something notable. He was called from Beer-sheba to Mt. Moriah by divine authority; he offered a very great and admirable sacrifice because he was ready to immolate his own son; and he heard the Word of God from heaven in fear and faith. Nevertheless, he undertakes nothing; nor does he call the people together to extol or honor this place.
Moses has given us a detailed account of this as an example and as instruction, in order that we may not attempt or venture anything in divine matters. In other matters, whether of the government or of the household, there is abundant opportunity for you to keep busy and to do your duty boldly in accordance with the Word of God. Thus you are commanded to be bold, brave, and undaunted over against the Turks. But in matters of religion all presumption and rashness, all personal endeavors and preferences, are altogether forbidden, just as they are censured again and again by all the prophets.
To his religious practice Abraham adds nothing over and above his calling. Although this place was most holy, and very saintly persons—angels, Abraham, and Isaac—had stopped and tarried there, he nevertheless turned away from all this and departed. He thought: "I have done what I was obliged to do; I have sacrificed my son just as I was commanded to do. But God is not commanding me to set up a form of worship at this place. Hence I shall venture to do nothing." Thus he refrains from every rash and bold action; he abides in the fear of the Lord and waits for His call, ready to obey and to follow wherever God calls him.
Therefore what this passage teaches is that in matters of religion the question above all others must be "Who has given the command?" Seneca says: "Do not consider who is speaking, but consider what is being said."79 This rule has a place in the household and in the state; but in the church and in matters of religion it must be turned around, and one must ask who, not what. In man there is some wisdom as a result of the light of reason, which was implanted by God. But because it is characteristic of man to err and to be deceived, one must consider what is being said, not who is saying it; and one should not rely on the person.
But in the church one must consider who is giving the command, what kind of person he is, and how important he is. If this is not done, the devil very easily changes "Who is giving the command, what kind of person is he, and how important is he?" into "What is being commanded, what is its nature, and how important is it?"
Ahaz is thinking of providing a special form of worship for God, and he immolates his son in accordance with the example of Abraham (2 Kings 16:3). But he commits a grievous sin; for God did not command this. He demanded that a החָנְמִ, or calf, be offered. But Ahaz disregards this and seizes upon the what instead of the who.
These facts should frequently be brought to remembrance and carefully considered in the church, in order that we may be satisfied with the doctrine once delivered (Jude 3). if we had followed it prior to these times, we would never have approved of convents, pilgrimages, indulgences, and sacrifices for the dead. Every pastor would have taught the Word of God in his parish; and the church would have felt satisfied with the Word, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, absolution, and solace in death and life.
Then everyone would have done his duty in his civil and household activities, whether he was a servant or a master, an officer of the state or a subject. Those monstrous papistic abominations would never have crept into the church.
Abraham conducts himself in this manner after he has come away from the religious performance, the angels, and the appearance of God on Mt. Moriah, than which no place was more sacred in the - 92 entire world; for God's voice and promise resounded there. He turned his back on all this, so highly does he esteem his calling and the ministry of the Word. Since God gives him no command, he does not venture to do anything but returns to the works of the household, governs his domestics, his wife, and his servants, where clearly nothing spiritual or ecclesiastical is apparent. He leaves these things behind on Mt. Moriah. Nor does the appearance of the angels detain him, but he returns to the lads and to the ass.
If some devout hermit or monk were to hear this, he would detest Abraham. For, he who leaves so sacred a place, where God dwells with His angels, and goes to his ass and does the common, filthy, and stableboy chores of the household—is he a saintly patriarch? What sort of sanctity is this? It is astonishing how much those fellows despise these chores. The only thing they regard as piety and saintliness is withdrawal into a deserted comer after abandoning the world, that is, father, mother, and civic duties.
In one place Jerome bestows such high praise on this kind of sanctity that he maintains that the father or mother who stands in the way of a monk about to enter a monastery and desires to draw him back should be repulsed and trampled underfoot80 These are wicked and despicable words. Really,
Jerome, we tread you underfoot, together with your Bethlehem, your cowl, and your desert; for through the ministry of the Word of God I am called, not to Bethlehem but to the church, into a parish, to hear the Word of God. There God dwells, there the guardian angels are, and there I hear that I must honor my parents and devote myself in a godly and faithful manner to my calling. If God wants to place me elsewhere, He will call me. Without a call let the devil follow you and others.
Because of the Word and God's command, therefore, I shall honor my parents and not tread them underfoot. But if I renounce Baptism, faith, and obedience to God—which all monks have done—what saintliness or what worship of God can there be?
Christ says (cf. Mark 10:29): "For My sake you will leave brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, and lands." But you should not leave them of your own will or choice when they need your service and support most. Godlessness of this kind had also prevailed among the Jews, since they taught that a sacrifice was a mark of far greater saintliness than obedience to one's parents. Christ inveighs against this in Matt. 15:5. The Jews said: "A ןבָּרְקָ, " that is, a gift and sacrifice, "will be of greater benefit to you than honor"; and thus, under the pretense of saintliness and religious belief, they set aside the position and prestige of parents in order to satisfy their greed.
Just as this doctrine has been treated at great length and carefully explained up to this point, so it must be constantly repeated on account of the adolescents and the tender youth, who are the seedbed of the church, that they may learn that they must stand firmly and remain where God speaks, and that they may accustom themselves to those obligations which are commanded by God, unless they are called elsewhere or driven out, as when tyrants banish and force godly men out of their offices.
To be sure, a free and voluntary choice of a religious life pleases the flesh and seems wholly acceptable to reason. But if you follow its lead, you are doing exactly what those did who forsook the tabernacle and rushed to trees and groves. This is devilish and not a mark of godliness; and Paul also condemns self-chosen acts of religious devotion where there is no Word that calls but only a will that chooses and establishes.
Therefore Moses has carefully recorded that Abraham did not want to remain at that sacred place when he had finished his sacrifice. Instead, he returned to the mean works of a layman and to his forms of worship, which were still unrestricted and not bound to any special place. For he was still wandering about and had no fixed form of worship but brought a sacrifice whenever God commanded him to do so.
Accordingly, Abraham returned to the lads, or servants, and to his ass, and there he undoubtedly prepared a banquet and feasted with his servants and his son; for a sumptuous and merry banquet is an essential part, as it were, of a sacrifice.
Thus the Law prescribed (cf. Lev. 7:28–36) burning the fat and giving the shoulder and breast to the priest when animals were offered. If it was not a burnt offering, the rest of the flesh would belong to those who brought the sacrifice. Then they would sit down before the Lord, feast joyfully, and give thanks to God.
- 93 It was also customary among the heathen to feast at their sacrifices, and as a result of this heathen rite we live and dress more sumptuously on feast days. Thus Abraham also sat at the foot of the mountain near his ass and feasted with his servants and his son.
It is surely amazing that after so great a trial, which involved the sacrifice of his son, Abraham was immediately able to be collected and cheerful. Evidently this was their custom, even though feasts after sacrifices had not yet been prescribed by law, as was ordained later on by Moses. Accordingly, after the son had been restored and the ram had been slaughtered, both the father and his son rejoiced heartily and undoubtedly related everything to the servants with great joy and praised God with grateful hearts. After leaving the extraordinarily holy place where they had sacrificed, where the angels had appeared, and where God had made His presence known, they went back to Beer-sheba, whence they had gone forth. They returned to Sarah.
20. Now after these things it was told Abraham: Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:
21. Uz the first-born, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22. Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.
23. Bethuel became the father of Rebecca. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.
24. Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
Syria and Canaan are adjoining regions; but up to this time Abraham did not know what was happening at the home of his brother Nahor, who had remained in Haran with his wife. Therefore
Moses records that he received a report about the family and children of his brother, namely, that Milcah had borne him eight sons and his concubine four. This makes twelve persons besides Rebecca.
Holy Scripture makes mention of this genealogy because, in the first place, it makes Nahor a father almost like the patriarch Jacob in respect to the correct and exact number of their male and female children—for he begot twelve sons and one daughter, just as Jacob did—and, in the second place, on account of Rebecca and her betrothal to Isaac, which took place a little later.
Furthermore, this passage throws light on an earlier question in the eleventh chapter81 and shows that Nahor is older than his brother Abraham because he had such a large number of children, who are enumerated here. Moreover, Bethuel has a daughter Rebecca, Nahor's granddaughter, when Abraham is 80 years old. Therefore one assumes from this that Abraham is not the first-born.
To be sure, among the Jews Abraham is regarded as the first-born, Haran as the second, and Nahor as the third; but if this is correct, how could Milcah and Sarah, Haran's daughters, marry the two brothers Nahor and Abraham? For it follows that Haran married when he was eight years old and begot Sarah, which is altogether absurd. Lyra alone opposes this opinion of the Jews and concludes that Abraham was born last and was sixty years younger than his brother, and he proves this with the credible conjectures and arguments we have enumerated above.
But Stephen—in Acts 7:4—troubles me more. He says that Abraham departed after his father's death. From this it follows that 60 years have to be added to the age at which Abraham departs, if you consider the account and calculate the years of his father Terah. But if you count from Abraham's seventieth year, as is commonly done in all computations, 60 years are lost, as we also mentioned above, just as in the Books of Kings 20 years are also lost. Thus we lose almost 100 years.
It seems, however, that because of the Last Day, the hour or year of which God has wanted to be unknown, Holy Scripture has hidden these years in accordance with a special plan. For it may be that He is anticipating the thoughts or expectation of the godly by 100, 160, or more years.
The other question—concerning Sarah or Iscah and Milcah—has been dealt with above (Gen.
11:29).82 There were three brothers: Haran, the first-born, who dies at Ur of the Chaldeans and leaves two daughters, Milcah and Iscah, whom Terah takes under his protection and guardianship. Nahor is the middle brother. Abraham is the third.
These two married two sisters who were their nieces or the daughters of their brother Haran, for at that time marriages of that kind were still not subject to any restriction.
Moreover, Moses states that among those 12 fathers Kemuel is the father of the Syrians. But this name has completely disappeared and perished, and no other mention is made of it in the Holy
- 94 Uz gets his name from wood, or from a tree. But he, too, is regarded as the father of the Syrians.
This name is also given to the land of Uz (Job 1:1), in which Job was born, as St. Jerome declares.83
Many maintain that Job was of the family and progeny of Esau, an opinion which I, too, once held.84
But I have changed my mind and prefer to believe that he must have been born in Mesopotamia, in Syria. Hence it is related in the account about Job that the neighboring Chaldeans laid waste his fields, plundered his house, and carried off his cattle. Therefore I am of the opinion that Job was a powerful and rich lord who occupied some part of Mesopotamia close to the Chaldeans and the Babylonians.
Buz, too, was a ruler and had possession of a part85 of Mesopotamia. Hence Elihu, the son of Barachel, is called a Buzite, who discourses against the afflicted Job in so hateful a manner and heaps much abuse upon him. Thus it is apparent that Nahor had a rather large and famous church, in which there were many outstanding men. Abraham did not have men of this kind in his church.
But Jerome writes86 that men very well versed in the Scriptures maintain that this Elihu is Balaam (Num. 23), who was an outstanding prophet and teacher in Mesopotamia to whom87 oracles of God were revealed, as he himself boasts, and many glorious prophecies were entrusted by God. Therefore when he says (Num. 23:7): "The king of Moab has called me, Balaam, from Aram," that is, from Syria, he points out that he had been called from some region where these fathers, who are enumerated in this passage, lived; and it is evident that they certainly were distinguished men and had a kingdom or empire that was flourishing and well established.
Moses records that Balaam was the son of Beor, whom Peter calls Bosor,88 and that he lived beyond the river of the children of Ammon, that is, beyond the Tigris or the Euphrates.
Balaam was a great man; but he fell horribly, as the account of him proves. He had most important prophecies, similar to the predictions of Daniel, about Alexander the Great and about the Roman
Empire, which would lay waste the kingdom of Israel and Judah. Thus this Balaam is said to have descended from Buz, the son of Nahor; and he lived up to the time of Moses. These two men were the greatest prophets of that age. Balaam was summoned from Mesopotamia against Moses, who came from Egypt; and Balaam really had the Word of God and blessed Israel.