Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- text:demonstration_of_the_gospel_book_7 [2013/09/07 16:46] – created fredmond
+++ text:demonstration_of_the_gospel_book_7 [2014/01/15 11:56] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
@@ Line 119: / Line 119: @@
 And after this literal prediction the prophecy passes to a figurative and generally more spiritual form of revelation, and it understands two ranks of invisible enemies and hostile daemons, warring in different ways against humanity, one active always and everywhere in promoting idolatry and false beliefs among mankind, the other occasioning the (c) corruption of morals. And taking the type of idolatrous error in the king of Damascus, and of the decline of the pure and healthy life in the king of Samaria, it says that the earth, meaning thereby the men who inhabit it, will only be released from their power, when God appears on earth as Emmanuel. When He has shone forth and ruled over the soul of man, none of the old tyrants will be left. Thus, then, you will understand that here it refers to the (d) same beings, when it says: "He will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria," for our Saviour Jesus Christ's power conquers completely all our unseen |69 enemies, who for long ages besieged all men with their aforesaid godless and harmful activities. And in the literal sense as well you may see the power of Damascus destroyed concurrently with the Birth and appearance of our Saviour, and the spoils of Samaria taken, that is to say their kingdoms, which continued up to the time stated, but in the fulfilment of the divine prediction have ceased from then till now. (331)
-Some say, interpreting otherwise, that the Magi, who came from the East to worship Christ, the young Child, are meant by the "power of Damascus": and you might say more universally that all who have rejected godless, polytheistic idolatry, and obeyed the word of Christ, especially if they be furnished with this world's reason and wisdom, are those meant by the "power of Damascus." And by the "spoils of Samaria" you will in this case understand our Saviour's Jewish apostles and disciples, (b) whom as it were He took as His spoils from the hostile Jews who attacked Him, and armed for the conflict with the king of the Assyrians, by whom again the Prince of this world is figuratively meant. But as Aquila has translated more clearly: "The adversary of the king of the Assyrians" by "In the face of the king of the Assyrians,'' it is worth considering whether here the Roman Empire is not meant, if the translation given a little before of "Assyrians" as "rulers or ruled" be correct. As then (c) here, also, the king of the Assyrians is connected with the appearing of our Saviour, it is probable that here also the Roman Empire is intended, through their being directed by God to subject the nations to themselves. It is therefore prophesied that the child that is born will take the power of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria, and will deliver them against the face of the Assyrians, and before the eyes of those ruled by God, and that He will do this at the time of His Birth, directing the fate of humanity with secret divine power, while physically still a babe. (d)
+Some say, interpreting otherwise, that the Magi, who came from the East to worship Christ, the young Child, are meant by the "power of Damascus": and you might say more universally that all who have rejected godless, polytheistic idolatry, and obeyed the word of Christ, especially if they be furnished with this world's reason and wisdom, are those meant by the "power of Damascus." And by the "spoils of Samaria" you will in this case understand our Saviour's Jewish apostles and disciples, (b) whom as it were He took as His spoils from the hostile Jews who attacked Him, and armed for the conflict with the king of the Assyrians, by whom again the Prince of this world is figuratively meant. But as Aquila has translated more clearly: "The adversary of the king of the Assyrians" by "In the face of the king of the Assyrians," it is worth considering whether here the Roman Empire is not meant, if the translation given a little before of "Assyrians" as "rulers or ruled" be correct. As then (c) here, also, the king of the Assyrians is connected with the appearing of our Saviour, it is probable that here also the Roman Empire is intended, through their being directed by God to subject the nations to themselves. It is therefore prophesied that the child that is born will take the power of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria, and will deliver them against the face of the Assyrians, and before the eyes of those ruled by God, and that He will do this at the time of His Birth, directing the fate of humanity with secret divine power, while physically still a babe. (d)
 The prophet commands all this to be delivered in a new and great book in the writing of a man, by which is meant the new Covenant. And he adds as witnesses of his sayings a priest and a prophet: his word thus teaching us, of the necessity of using in Christian evidences the witness of the sacrificial system in the law, and of the prophets who |70 succeeded it; and he desires, for other reasons, that there should be eye-witnesses of the Child's birth, that we might be able to understand what is prophesied of Him. For it was said above: "For if ye will not believe, neither will ye understand," and (he writes) that the one should have (332) "the Light of God" (this is the meaning of Uriah), and that the other being "the Son of Blessing" should bear the "memory of God in himself" (this is the meaning of Zachariah son of Barachiah).
@@ Line 252: / Line 252: @@
 This prophecy agrees with the preceding in stating that the God about whom the prophecy is made will come forth from Bethlehem. And it is about this place that David first prays God to teach him, since he does not know it, (347) and then after his prayer he is taught. For when he has received the oracle addressed to him in the Psalm which said: "Of the fruit of thy body I will set upon thy seat," and, "There will I raise up a horn for David, I have prepared a lantern for my Christ," he rightly falls down before God, and there fallen to the earth worships, and with yet greater intensity of prayer swears that he will not enter the tabernacle of his house, nor allow his eyes to sleep, nor his eyelids to slumber, nor ascend the couch of his bed, (b) but will lie on the ground worshipping and adoring, until he finds a place for the Lord, and a tabernacle for the God of Jacob—that is, until he learns by the Lord's revelation to him the birthplace of the Christ.
-So having prayed and desired to learn it, not long after he beholds by the Holy Spirit what will be in the future; for God has promised to His people that he will hear them even while they speak. So his prayer being heard he (c) is favoured with an oracle which cries "Bethlehem," that being the place of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the God of Jacob. And so when the Holy Spirit prophesied that this was within him, he, listening to his inner voice, adds: "Lo, we heard of it in Ephratha." And Ephratha is the same as Bethlehem, as is clear from Genesis, where it is said of Rachel, "And they buried her in the Hippodrome of Ephratha,'' and this is Bethlehem. And the previous prophecy ran: "And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha." |83 "Behold," he says, "we have heard it! "—evidently (d) meaning the birth of Christ and the entering of the God of Jacob into His tabernacle. For what else could the tabernacle of the God of Jacob be but the Body of Christ, which was born at Bethlehem, in which, as in a tabernacle, the divinity of the Only-begotten dwelt? And the habitation is not said to be simply of God, but is qualified as of the God of Jacob, that we may know that it is the God that dwells therein, Who was seen by Jacob in human form and shape, wherefore he was deemed worthy of the name, Seer of God, f6r such is the translation of his name. And I have established in the early part of this work that He that was seen by Jacob was none other than the Word of God. Bethlehem was therefore revealed to David when he prayed and desired to know the place and the habitation of the Lord and God of Jacob, wherefore he said: "Behold, we heard it at Ephiatha," and added: "Let us worship at (348) the place where his feet stood." Therefore in these words the Lord God of Jacob Himself foretold that His own place and habitation would be in Ephratha, which is Bethlehem, agreeing with the prophecy of Micah, which said: "And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, out of thee shall come a governor, and his goings forth are from eternity," which, when we lately examined, we found could only apply to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who was born at Bethlehem according to the predictions. For (b) it is certain that no one else can be shewn to have come forth from there with glory after the date of the prophecy: there was no king, or prophet, or any other Hebrew saint who can be shewn to have been of David's seed, and also born at Bethlehem, except our Lord and Saviour, the Christ of God. We must, therefore, own that He, and no one else, is the subject of this prophecy, and (c) for the additional reason that further on the same Psalm proves it, calling Him Christ by name, where it says: "For the sake of David thy servant, turn not away the face of thy Christ." And again: "There will I raise up a horn for David, I have prepared a lantern for my Christ, his enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon him my holiness shall flower." Where else does he say: "I will raise up a horn for David," but in Bethlehem—Ephratha? (d) For it was there the horn of David, the Christ according |84 to the flesh, arose like a great light, and there the God of the Universe prepared the lantern of the Christ. And the human tabernacle was the lantern as it were of his spiritual light, through which, like an earthen vessel, as if through a lantern, He poured forth the rays of His own light on all who were oppressed by ignorance of God and thick darkness.
+So having prayed and desired to learn it, not long after he beholds by the Holy Spirit what will be in the future; for God has promised to His people that he will hear them even while they speak. So his prayer being heard he (c) is favoured with an oracle which cries "Bethlehem," that being the place of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the God of Jacob. And so when the Holy Spirit prophesied that this was within him, he, listening to his inner voice, adds: "Lo, we heard of it in Ephratha." And Ephratha is the same as Bethlehem, as is clear from Genesis, where it is said of Rachel, "And they buried her in the Hippodrome of Ephratha," and this is Bethlehem. And the previous prophecy ran: "And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha." |83 "Behold," he says, "we have heard it! "—evidently (d) meaning the birth of Christ and the entering of the God of Jacob into His tabernacle. For what else could the tabernacle of the God of Jacob be but the Body of Christ, which was born at Bethlehem, in which, as in a tabernacle, the divinity of the Only-begotten dwelt? And the habitation is not said to be simply of God, but is qualified as of the God of Jacob, that we may know that it is the God that dwells therein, Who was seen by Jacob in human form and shape, wherefore he was deemed worthy of the name, Seer of God, f6r such is the translation of his name. And I have established in the early part of this work that He that was seen by Jacob was none other than the Word of God. Bethlehem was therefore revealed to David when he prayed and desired to know the place and the habitation of the Lord and God of Jacob, wherefore he said: "Behold, we heard it at Ephiatha," and added: "Let us worship at (348) the place where his feet stood." Therefore in these words the Lord God of Jacob Himself foretold that His own place and habitation would be in Ephratha, which is Bethlehem, agreeing with the prophecy of Micah, which said: "And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, out of thee shall come a governor, and his goings forth are from eternity," which, when we lately examined, we found could only apply to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who was born at Bethlehem according to the predictions. For (b) it is certain that no one else can be shewn to have come forth from there with glory after the date of the prophecy: there was no king, or prophet, or any other Hebrew saint who can be shewn to have been of David's seed, and also born at Bethlehem, except our Lord and Saviour, the Christ of God. We must, therefore, own that He, and no one else, is the subject of this prophecy, and (c) for the additional reason that further on the same Psalm proves it, calling Him Christ by name, where it says: "For the sake of David thy servant, turn not away the face of thy Christ." And again: "There will I raise up a horn for David, I have prepared a lantern for my Christ, his enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon him my holiness shall flower." Where else does he say: "I will raise up a horn for David," but in Bethlehem—Ephratha? (d) For it was there the horn of David, the Christ according |84 to the flesh, arose like a great light, and there the God of the Universe prepared the lantern of the Christ. And the human tabernacle was the lantern as it were of his spiritual light, through which, like an earthen vessel, as if through a lantern, He poured forth the rays of His own light on all who were oppressed by ignorance of God and thick darkness.
 Yes, indeed, I think that it was clearly revealed here that the God of Jacob, from the beginning the Eternal, would dwell among men, and that He would be born nowhere else but in the place at Bethlehem, near Jerusalem, in the spot that is even now pointed out, for there no one is witnessed to by all the inhabitants as having been (349) born there in accordance with the Gospel story, no one remarkable or famous among all men, except Jesus Christ. And Bethlehem is translated, "House of Bread," bearing the name of Him Who came forth from it, our Saviour, the true Word of God, and nourisher of spiritual souls, which He Himself shews by saying: "I am the Bread that came down from heaven." And since it was David's mother-town as well, the Son of David according to the (b) flesh rightly made His entrance from it according to the predictions of the prophets, so that the reason is clear why He chose Bethlehem for His mother-town.