The Bible for beginners for 6 October 2017

Nova Vulgata (lat)

Nova Vulgata (lat)

Liber Isaiae, Caput 63, versus 19

¹⁹Facti sumus a saeculo,
cum non dominareris nostri,
neque invocaretur nomen tuum super nos.
Utinam dirumperes caelos et descenderes!
A facie tua montes defluerent.

Read more:Liber Isaiae, Caput 64

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63 Christ's victory over his enemies, Isaiae 63:1-6.
and mercy towards his church: in judgment remembering mercy, Isaiae 63:7-14.
The church's prayer and complaint in faith, Isaiae 63:15-19.

63:19 Thine - We continue so; we are in covenant, which they never were; and thus it is an argument they use with God to look upon them.Never - Not in that manner thou didst over us. They - Neither owned thee, nor were owned by thee.

64 The church's prayer continued, for the illustration of God's glory, Isaiae 63:19-64:4.
With a confession of their sins, and complaint of their afflictions, Isaiae 64:5-11.

63:19 Rent - A metaphor taken from men, that when they would resolutely help one in distress, break and fling open doors and whatever may hinder.Flow down - That all impediments might be removed out of the way: possibly an allusion to God's coming down upon mount Sinai, in those terrible flames of fire.

Liber Isaiae, Caput 64

¹Sicut ignis succendit sarmenta,
aquam ebullire facit ignis,
ut notum facias nomen tuum inimicis tuis,
a facie tua gentes turbentur,

²cum feceris mirabilia,
quae non sperabamus.
Descendisti, et a facie tua montes defluxerunt.

³A saeculo non audierunt, neque aures perceperunt;
oculus non vidit Deum, absque te,
qui operaretur pro sperantibus in eum.

⁴Occurris laetanti, facienti iustitiam
et his, qui in viis tuis recordantur tui.
Ecce tu iratus es, et peccavimus;
in ipsis a saeculo nos salvabimur.

⁵Et facti sumus ut immundus omnes nos,
et quasi pannus inquinatus universae iustitiae nostrae;
et marcuimus quasi folium universi,
et iniquitates nostrae quasi ventus abstulerunt nos.

⁶Non est qui invocet nomen tuum,
qui consurgat et adhaereat tibi,
quia abscondisti faciem tuam a nobis
et dissolvisti nos in manu iniquitatis nostrae.

⁷Et nunc, Domine, pater noster es tu,
nos vero lutum; et fictor noster tu,
et opera manuum tuarum omnes nos.

⁸Ne irascaris, Domine, nimis
et ne ultra memineris iniquitatis;
ecce, respice: populus tuus omnes nos.

⁹Urbes sanctitatis tuae factae sunt in desertum,
Sion deserta facta est,
Ierusalem desolata est.

¹⁰Domus sanctitatis nostrae et gloriae nostrae,
ubi laudaverunt te patres nostri,
facta est in exustionem ignis,
et omnia desiderabilia nostra versa sunt in ruinas.

¹¹Numquid super his continebis te, Domine,
tacebis et affliges nos vehementer?

Read more:Liber Isaiae, Caput 65

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64 The church's prayer continued, for the illustration of God's glory, Isaiae 63:19-64:4.
With a confession of their sins, and complaint of their afflictions, Isaiae 64:5-11.

64:1 Fire - Come with such zeal for thy people, that the solid mountains may be no more before thy breath, than metal that runs, or water that boils by the force of a vehement fire. Known - That thine enemies may know thy power, and that thy name may be dreaded among them.

64:2 Terrible things - This may relate to what he did among the Egyptians, tho' it be not recorded, and afterward in the wilderness.Looked not for - Such things as we could never expect.Mountains - Kings, princes, and potentates, may metaphorically be understood by these mountains.

64:3 Besides thee - This is to be applied to all the wonderful works, that God at all times wrought for his people: and thus they are a plea with God, that they might well expect such things from him now, that had done such wonderful things for their fathers. Waiteth - This may be taken with reference both to the state of grace and glory, those incomprehensible things that are exhibited through Christ in the mysteries of the gospel.

64:4 Meetest - As the father the prodigal. Worketh - That rejoices to work righteousness. Continuance - To those that work righteousness.Be saved - In so doing, in working righteousness.

64:5 Unclean - Formerly there were some that feared thee; but now we are all as one polluted mass, nothing of good left in us by reason of an universal degeneracy. And all - The very best of us all are no better than the uncleanest things. Taken - Carried away to Babylon, as leaves hurried away by a boisterous wind.

64:6 That calleth - That call upon thee as they ought.Take hold - Either to stay thee from departing from us, or to fetch thee back when departed.

64:7 Our father - Notwithstanding all this thou art our father both by creation, and by adoption, therefore pity us thy children.

64:8 Thy people - Thou hast no people in covenant but us, and wilt thou not leave thyself a people in the world?

64:10 Pleasant things - The king's palace, and the houses of the nobles, and other pieces of state and magnificence.

64:11 Wilt thou - Do none of these things move thee to take vengeance?Thy peace - Wilt thou be as one that regards not?

NOTES

Today's reading brings us back to one of the central themes of both the Old and New Testaments: the theme of righteousness. To...

Today's reading brings us back to one of the central themes of both the Old and New Testaments: the theme of righteousness. To understand the meaning of the chapter offered to us today, it is important to remember that the traditional idea of righteousness in the Jewish community, both before the exile and partly after the exile, was formed in the context of traditional religious ideas.

Every religion presupposes that righteousness is in principle attainable, provided certain religious norms are observed. In other words, righteousness is attained by a person with God's help, but through the person's own human efforts. And God rewards the righteous person for his efforts by easing and simplifying the external circumstances of his life so that the righteous person can devote more time and attention to his religious life. After all, the more time he has left for fulfilling his religious duties, the more good deeds he will manage to do for God, reaching an even greater degree of righteousness.

The prophet, however, speaks about something else. He understands perfectly well that a person's righteousness is worth nothing without God's support: it is enough for God to turn away, to "hide His face," and all human righteousness scatters like smoke (vv. 6-7). The Hebrew text of v. 7 implies just this meaning: where the Russian text has "therefore," the Hebrew text has "because."

Such an understanding of righteousness ran counter to established views. It made human righteousness only a shadow of God's righteousness. But, on the other hand, only with this understanding of righteousness did the fate of the people of God become intelligible. God wanted His people in His hands to be like clay in the hands of a potter (v. 8). Yet achieving such complete obedience from the people was far from simple. They had to pass through a historical catastrophe in order not only to understand in words, but also to feel in reality their absolute dependence on God. And only now, when the lesson had been given and learned, could they ask God to intervene (vv. 9-12). For the people had truly become different, and the plea for help meant help for this different, new people, a people ready to take the next step on the path to the Kingdom.

Today's reading continues the theme of the people's redemption and renewal, and in a somewhat unusual aspect...

Today's reading continues the theme of the people's redemption and renewal, and in a somewhat unusual aspect. It is no surprise that the people's fate changes only when God Himself intervenes in events. No one else cares about the people of God, and so God acts alone (vv. 1-6). It is quite logical that, in connection with this divine intervention, the prophet turns his thoughts to the history of the Jewish people, which provided more than enough material for analogies (vv. 7-14). But the conclusion of his reflections is rather unexpected: he comes to the conclusion that the people whom God saves from destruction are, in a certain sense, strangers to the former Israel (vv. 15-16).

Of course, this also means that a people who have turned away from God, as sadly happened more than once before the exile, in fact cease to be the people of God. Spiritually they are truly alien both to Abraham and to the Israel that was born at Sinai on the day the covenant was made. But the matter is not only this spiritual discrepancy. Apparently the prophet understands perfectly well that the renewal of the people, which happened solely by God's mercy and completely changed their fate, made them qualitatively different. Post-exilic Jewry is different; it cannot be regarded simply as the descendants of Jerusalem's inhabitants deported several decades earlier.

The history of pre-exilic Jewry really had ended. The former people no longer existed; they had traveled their path and lived out the span of natural historical life allotted to them, a span that every people has just as each individual person has a natural span of life. And what was happening before Isaiah's eyes was plainly a true miracle: God gave His people another, new life, one that by no natural, social, or historical laws could or should have existed.

Isaiah has no illusions about the spiritual condition and historical fate of his own people (vv. 17-19). And he understands that all the coming centuries of his people will be one continuous miracle. The miracle of God's redemption and God's love.

Perhaps it is in prayer that the essence of a person is revealed most deeply. In this prayer of Isaiah is the heart...

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