Homilies on Judges 3.1–4.4

When the children of Israel did evil in the sight of God and forgot the Lord their God, and, forsaking him, served the Baals and the groves of the nations, then, "storing up wrath for themselves," they were handed over by the just judgment of God into the hands of their enemies, as the present reading has made plain: into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia. Chusarsathon means "their humiliation." They were handed over, then, into the hands of one who would humble them. And because they themselves were acting impiously against the Most High on the heights of the mountains, they are handed over by him to humiliation. But I do not want you to think that this divine providence applied only to the ancients, handing over to be humbled those who were impiously exalted, so that, by the method of a healing medicine, opposites might be cured by opposites. For even now Almighty God exercises providence of this healing kind toward his church. Even now there is a Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, to whom souls are handed over to be humbled and afflicted, souls that have despised Christian humility and given themselves to pride and arrogance. The vice of pride is quite hateful in the sight of God, because, as Scripture says, "the beginning of departing from God is pride." And again Scripture says elsewhere: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." If, then, anyone despises the humility of Christ, who for our sake, though he was God, was made man and humbled himself even to death, and exalts himself and is carried away and leaps toward the powers and dignities of this world, and does not shrink from or shudder at the arts by which he strives to obtain them, even if they are against faith and religion, provided he gets what he wants, and so does evil in the sight of the Lord: after he has obtained the highest insignia of power and climbed to the very summit of pride, he is cast down from there and handed over to this Cushan-rishathaim, that is, to one of the princes of the air, to humble one who had been exalted too high, to afflict and crush him until he comes to his senses and seeks the Lord; for while he was set in pride and haughtiness he did not know the Lord.

Now, then, let us see what those do who are handed over for sin and placed in tribulation. Surely what is written: "And they cried to the Lord in their tribulation, and he delivered them from their distresses. And he brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chains." But each of us, even if he is small, even the least, even if he holds no rank in the church, can suffer from the vice of pride; and you will find nothing so foul and detestable, as Scripture says, as "a proud poor man and a lying rich man." Sometimes, too, this disease of pride not only gets into the poor of the people, but even assails the priestly and levitical order. You will sometimes find even among us, who have been set as an example of humility and placed around the altar like mirrors for those who look on, some in whom the vice of arrogance stinks, and from the altar of the Lord, which ought to be fragrant with the sweetness of incense, there shines out the foulest odour of pride and conceit. But let this foulest odour, I beg, be cast out of this whole holy church, and especially from those who minister in holy things, so that we may be, as Paul said, "the good fragrance of Christ"; lest perhaps the Lord be angry, and we provoke the Holy One of Israel to anger, and he hand us over into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim, and we learn in the tribulation of our correction the humility which we ought to have taught in the knowledge of Christ. But see how kind the Lord is, mixing mercy with severity and weighing the measure of the punishment itself in a just and merciful balance. He does not hand over sinners for ever, but, it says, for as long as they served the Baals, so long also they serve Cushan-rishathaim, that is, eight years. Learn this too, O hearer, whoever you are who are conscious of some error. For as long a time as you sinned, for just as long humble yourself before God and make satisfaction to him in the confession of repentance. Do not wait for Cushan-rishathaim to humble you and for necessity to wring repentance from you against your will; but forestall the hands of that torturer yourself. For if you amend yourself, if you correct yourself, God is kind and merciful, and tempers the punishment for one who has forestalled it by repenting. But let us consider this: as long as those who had been handed over for their sins served Cushan-rishathaim and did not cry to the Lord, no one was raised up who could save them. But when they cried to the Lord, then the Lord raised up a saviour for Israel, and he saved them.

It calls the saviour Othniel, which means "my time is God." Through this Othniel, then, the people were first rescued from the servitude of humiliation, and peace was restored to the people, which pride and the various crimes of the people had long since driven away. But since we said that Cushan-rishathaim can be understood as a spiritual king, one of the opposing powers and a prince of the air, it seems to me to follow that this Othniel, who was raised up to free the people, is also one of the heavenly host and the ranks of archangels, who are sent to help "those who will inherit salvation"; these are the angels of the Saviour, who are signified under the figure of Othniel or Ehud. For, as we have often shown, not only are we attacked by the opposing powers, but divine and good powers are also sent by the Lord to our aid. Let us see, though, who this Othniel was, of what family, of what nobility. "Son," it says, "of Kenaz, brother of Caleb," of that praiseworthy and admirable man Caleb, who was the companion and ally of the son of Nun, of whom we have spoken in their places as best we could, as it seemed good. What does Scripture say of this Othniel? After saying that the children of Israel cried to the Lord, "the Spirit of the Lord," it says, "came upon Othniel, and he judged Israel." Do you think there is anyone among us who sends up to the Lord so strong and so righteous a cry that he is worthy to be heard, and that the people deserve to receive a judge, and such a judge as the Spirit of God fills, so that he can hold to right judgment? This is why the book itself is called Judges, and the judges who judged the people are described in it. For just as other books are called Kings, or Kingdoms, in which each of the kings is described, how he reigned and what he did, so in this little book the deeds of the judges are related, and not only what they did rightly and usefully is described, but also any blameworthy thing they committed. If you ask why both are described, it is surely so that the leaders and judges of the church now, looking at what those men did praiseworthily, may follow the example of their predecessors, and, if anything in them is blamed, may beware of it and avoid it. Great praise, then, is recorded of this judge Othniel, that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he judged Israel by the Spirit of the Lord; which I do not well remember being said of anyone else. There are, then, in all the churches under heaven today very many judges, to whom has been given the judgment not only of deeds but also of souls. But I do not know whether there are any such judges of the church whom God will make worthy to be filled with the Holy Spirit, so that, as this Othniel was honoured with the testimony of Scripture, so those for whom we wish this may also deserve the testimony of God. It says, then: "And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim the king into his hands." Why so? Because the Spirit of the Lord was in him, "and his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim the king." And after this it says that "the land had rest for forty years." You see how generous the divine mercy is: for eight years the children of Israel had served for the sins of many; for forty years, through the righteousness of one, they continue in peace.

But what is said after this? "And Othniel," it says, "the son of Kenaz, died." I see the danger here. Othniel died. Why? Because the people were already unworthy to have such a judge. In fact, in what follows it says: "When he was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, against Israel." Consider that it is because they were already unworthy to have such a leader that the good judge is taken from them. "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord," and a most wicked enemy, Eglon, king of Moab, is raised up against them. You see that sins give strength to enemies, and when we do evil in the sight of the Lord and sin, then our enemies are strengthened by the Lord, then strength is given to the opposing powers. Whether you look into this according to the letter, you will find that they would not grow strong unless our sins gave them strength; or whether you consider it in spiritual terms, likewise the opposing powers would not grow strong against us, nor would the devil himself prevail at all in us, unless we gave him strength from our vices. He would be very weak against us unless we made him strong by sinning, unless through our sins he found a place in us to enter and to rule. That is why the apostle too warns, saying: "Do not give place to the devil"; as we have just read here too: after the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, they gave place to the devil. "For the Lord strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, and joined to him all the sons of Ammon and Amalek." Not only, it says, was he himself strengthened by the sins of the children of Israel, but wicked allies from the sons of Ammon and Amalek are joined to him, to attack Israel together with him.

"And the children of Israel served," it says, "Eglon, king of Moab, eighteen years." Notice that divine Scripture indicates even the measures of punishment, since earlier it says eight years and here eighteen. It is certain that the periods of chastisement are adjusted according to the measure of the sin and the delay of our conversion. For these eighteen years of servitude also passed, and it is not related that they cried to the Lord or turned from their wickedness; but after eighteen years it says again that "the children of Israel cried to the Lord, and the Lord God raised up for them a saviour, Ehud, son of Gera, son of Gemini, a man ambidextrous." See what sort of man this is who is raised up to save Israel: he has nothing left-handed in him, but has both hands right. For that is what "ambidextrous" means. Worthy, truly, is that leader of the people and judge of the church who does nothing left-handed, whose left hand does not know what his right hand does; he is right-handed on both sides, right-handed in faith, right-handed in deeds; he has nothing in common with those who are placed on the left, to whom it is said: "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I do not know you; go into the eternal fire which God has prepared for the devil and his angels." Why? If one may presume something by analogy in such matters, I think that according to the spiritual understanding all the saints may be called ambidextrous; and on the other hand the devil and his princes, if one may say so, are called "ambi-left-handed." For everything they do is left-handed, everything perverse, everything assigned to the eternal fire with those who are on the left.

But let us see what this ambidextrous judge does. "The children of Israel," it says, "sent gifts to Eglon, king of the Moabites, by the hand of Ehud; and Ehud made himself a two-edged sword, a span long, and Ehud bound it on his right thigh." You see that everything this ambidextrous Ehud does is right-handed: he is right-handed in his hands and right-handed in his feet. For he carries the sword on his right thigh, in order to come to the king and kill him. We said above that these saviours or judges whom God is said to raise up for the people's salvation and the freeing of the children of Israel bear the image of certain princes of the heavenly host and of the powers above, whom God sends to help those who cry to him with their whole heart and have turned the divine mercy toward themselves by the conversion of repentance. But lest this seem to the hearers a presumption of ours, we must confirm it from the authority of the Scriptures. It is written in Exodus that when our fathers, the children of Israel, had served the Egyptians and Pharaoh, a most harsh king, for a long time in making clay and brick, they cried to the Lord, so that the Lord himself said: "The cry of the children of Israel has come up to me"; and, Moses having been sent, he brought them out visibly. But Scripture relates that a destroying angel was sent, who laid waste all the firstborn of the Egyptians but touched none of the Israelites. And so it is made clear that it was a heavenly power which, after the Egyptians had been laid waste and laid low, led the children of Israel out from the yoke of servitude. Something similar is also related in the histories: under Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, an angel of the Lord is sent who, slaying and laying low a hundred and eighty-five thousand of the enemy in a single night, freed both the city from siege and the people from imminent destruction. So, then, by the same reasoning we must take heed now too that, if ever we are handed over into captivity for our sins, we cry to the Lord. And let us cry not with the mouth but with the mind, so that grief of heart draws a fountain of tears from the eyes, like the one who said: "Every night I will wash my bed; I will water my couch with my tears." If we so turn from evil that we no longer touch evil, if we so cease from pride that we no longer think anything proud or arrogant, the Lord will send his heavenly power too, through which we may be freed from the yoke of servitude to the devil. May that power do all things right-handed and prosperous for us, make us leave the left-hand way that leads to destruction, and call us back to the true way, to him who says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

The leadership of Shamgar is joined to the leadership of the ambidextrous Ehud. But let us see how he whose name means "praise" ended his leadership. The history has taught us what is written about King Eglon: how this most wise Ehud, using a certain art and, so to speak, a cunning but praiseworthy deception, killed the tyrant Eglon, whose name means "rounded" or "a wheel-track." The judges of our people, then, ought to be like this Ehud, whose name means "praise," so as to cut away all fickle motions and the wheel-tracks of the evil road, and to slay the king of the Moabites. The Moabites are interpreted "a flowing" or "an outpouring." Who, then, can be seen or understood as the prince or leader of this loose and dissolute people, if not the teaching of that philosopher who judges pleasure to be the highest good? Should not the word of the Gospel, which is compared to a sword, kill and destroy him, and the prophetic word itself be driven into their belly, into the depths of their inmost parts, by the arguments of the ambidextrous teacher, so that, shutting them in by the assertion of truth, he may extinguish every notion of perverse doctrine and gross understanding that exalts and raises itself against the spiritual knowledge of Christ? So that each judge of the church, doing these things and fighting with the word of God, may himself become a praiseworthy Ehud, to whom the Lord may say: "Well done, good and faithful servant; because you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many."

Having briefly gone back over these points from the previous reading, that is, about Ehud's end, let us now see what the beginning of Shamgar is like, whose name means "a stranger there." For it is true that all who are men of God are strangers in this world and sojourners on earth, like the one who said: "For I am a sojourner with you on the earth, and a stranger, as all my fathers were." And so the Holy Spirit calls this Shamgar a stranger "there," that is, here; for what is "there" for the Holy Spirit, who is in heaven, is "here" for us. What, then, is said of Shamgar? "He struck," it says, "the Philistines with six hundred men with the handle" (or "the foot") "of the plough." I see in Shamgar another kind of praise: this man fights with a plough; Ehud fought with a sword. This man conquers with a plough. Yet he too conquers and overcomes and lays low the Philistines. It may be, then, that a judge of the church does not always bring out the sword, that is, does not always use severity of speech and the sharpness of rebuke, but sometimes also imitates the farmer, and, as though furrowing the soil of the soul with a plough and often breaking it up with a gentle stirring, prepares it to receive the seeds. The Philistines too are slain in this way, when we use not arguments and sharpness against opponents, but drive sins out of the hearers' souls by a simple, rustic admonition. But you yourself too, O hearer, be the farmer of your own soul; use this plough which Shamgar uses. But when you have put your hand to the plough, do not look back; that is, after you have taken up your cross and followed Christ, after you have renounced the world and the things in the world, do not look back, do not seek again the things which for Christ's sake you counted as dung. For if you always keep your hand on this plough, so that you say with confidence, "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world," then as you say this, "ten thousand will fall at your right hand and a thousand at your left, but they will not come near you." And the very fact that it said that Shamgar struck down the Philistines with six hundred men does not seem to me said idly. For what need was there to state the number too? Unless perhaps in the number itself he indicated more clearly what we spoke of above. For the number six, which multiplied comes to six hundred, bears the figure of this world, which is said to have been completed in six days. He who was crucified to the world through the cross of the Lord, then, is said to have struck down six hundred with the plough.

But what is added after this? "And the children of Israel," it says, "again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and Ehud died." Here too, evidently, the observation we pointed out above holds good: that for the sins of the people the good leader of the people dies. For when they have become unworthy and have done evil in the sight of the Lord, the man of God will be taken from them. But perhaps our people say: "When is the church of God without a judge? Even if the first fails, another is appointed." Perhaps what we say is bold, yet what we say is what is written. The leader of the people and judge of the church is not always given by God's choice, but as our merits demand. If our deeds are evil and we do evil in the sight of the Lord, leaders are given us according to our heart; and I will prove this to you from the Scriptures. Hear what the Lord said: "They made a king for themselves, and not through me, and a ruler, and not by my counsel." And this seems to have been said of Saul, whom the Lord himself had certainly chosen and had ordered to be made king; but since he had been chosen not according to God's will but according to the deserts of a sinful people, he denies that he was appointed by his will or counsel. Let us understand that something like this happens in the churches too: according to the people's merits, either a ruler of the church powerful in word and deed is granted by God, or, if the people do evil in the sight of the Lord, such a judge of the church is given under whom the people suffer hunger and thirst, "not a hunger for bread nor a thirst for water, but a hunger to hear the word of the Lord." Let us so act, then, and so pray, that divine indignation may never condemn us to hunger and thirst for the word, that he who instructs us in word and deed, who in his character and integrity, in patience and gentleness, gives the people a perfect example in himself, may never be taken from us. For if we do evil in the sight of the Lord, that is, if we act wickedly, if we do our own will and not God's, Ehud dies for us too, Shamgar too is taken away, our praise is darkened, and we are handed over into the hands of Jabin, king of Canaan. Jabin means "sense" or "prudence." If, then, we have not seen fit to acknowledge God, God hands us over "to a reprobate mind, filled with iniquity, wickedness, sexual immorality, avarice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit; whisperers, slanderers, hateful to God, insolent, proud, haughty, disobedient to parents, unruly, without affection, without mercy." You see who and what kind of people are handed over to a reprobate mind, who are handed over to Jabin, prince of the Canaanites.

"And the commander," it says, "of Jabin's army was Sisera, and he lived in Harosheth of the Gentiles, and he had nine hundred iron chariots. And the children of Israel cried to the Lord." Here too the same observation we pointed out above is kept: the children of Israel do not know how to cry to the Lord except when they have been handed over into the hands of Jabin, or are afflicted through the commander of his army, Sisera, who had, it says, nine hundred iron chariots, with which, of course, the stiff-necked people were afflicted. Sisera means "vision of a horse." For he is natural, not spiritual, and sees only the things that are natural. That is his vision, that is always his gaze. And so the natural man, and the one who is according to the flesh, always persecutes the one who is according to the spirit, until the spiritual man understands and "examines all things," and understands where he must look for his help, and cries to the Lord; until, for the soul that has cried to the Lord, prophecy is raised up, which is in the figure of Deborah, and according to the grace and understanding of prophecy either the people of the church is governed, or else the sense of each one's mind and soul is ruled, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.