Homilies on Leviticus 16.1–16.6

In bodily contests certain grades and distinctions of the various classes are usually observed, so that each is rewarded with the prize of victory according to the quality of the contest. For example, if someone has a contest among boys, or among youths, or among men, the rules of the games themselves lay down what observance must be kept in each class, what is permitted and what is not, what rule of the contest is to be kept, and also what palm of reward the victor deserves afterwards. So now too almighty God, setting before mortals in this world the contest of observing his law, after he has handed down very many things to be observed and written what ought to be done and what ought not, fittingly at the very end of the book of Leviticus, in which the various observances have been established, declares what reward the one who fulfils them will carry off and what penalty the one who has not kept them will undergo. But if the law, as the Jews would have it, and those who think the Scriptures should be understood in their sense, is not spiritual but carnal, there is no doubt that, being kept carnally, it also grants carnal blessings to those who keep it. But if, as the apostle Paul holds, the law is spiritual, without doubt it is both to be kept spiritually and a spiritual reward of blessings is to be hoped for from it. For it is wholly consistent that a spiritual law gives spiritual blessings; and it is no less consistent that the curses and condemnations of a spiritual law are not bodily. But that what we say may be beyond doubt, let us use the voice of the apostle Paul himself, by which, writing to the Ephesians, he speaks thus of spiritual blessings: “Blessed be,” he says, “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Since he knew that some, reading about blessings, might slip into thinking them bodily and earthly, he wished to show them more plainly what the nature of the divine blessings is and where they are to be sought; and therefore he says: “who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” And his adding “with every spiritual blessing” is not idle but full of apostolic force. For since he knew that many things commanded in the law must be fulfilled, and that in each commandment there are particular contests, in which the one who conquered would deserve a blessing for each, he therefore said: “who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing,” so as to show them to be both many and spiritual. In this phrase, “with every spiritual blessing,” this too can be understood: that, for example, every righteous and perfect person receives the blessings of Leviticus, of which we are now speaking; receives also those written in the book of Numbers, and also those contained in the book of Genesis: the blessings of Noah to Shem and Japheth, the blessings of Isaac to Jacob, and again the blessings of Jacob to Joseph and Ephraim and Manasseh, and after this to the twelve patriarchs. Since, then, there are many blessings set down in the divine Scriptures, which seem to be addressed to each of the saints, for example to Shem or Japheth or Joseph, yet are not, as some think, so addressed to them alone that no one else can share in them, the Apostle therefore called them spiritual, so that whoever has been able to become, for example, Shem or Japheth or Joseph or Isaac or Jacob in power and spirit (as John too was in the spirit and power of Elijah) may himself also become a sharer in the blessing of the one whose power and spirit he has borne.

But let us now see what the beginning of the blessings in Leviticus is. “If,” it says, “you walk in my precepts and keep my commandments and do them.” He says three things: walking in the precepts, keeping the commandments, and doing what is commanded. Hence it seems to me that a precept is, for example, when it is ordered that one who has not kept the sabbath be stoned by the whole congregation, or that one who has cursed the Lord be put to death with stones, and any similar orders. But commandments are those by which it is ordered, for example, that tithes be offered to the Levites, or that one appear before the Lord three times a year, or not appear empty-handed in the sight of the Lord. To keep a commandment, then, is to understand or attend to what is ordered; and to do a commandment is to fulfil what is ordered. So, I think, we must understand what he said: “If you walk in my precepts and keep my commandments and do them.” But let us see what the first blessing is for those who have fulfilled what is commanded. “I will give you,” it says, “rain in its season.” Let us first speak, then, to the Jews and to those who think these things are to be understood simply or bodily: if this rain is given as a reward for their labours to those who keep the commandments, how is one and the same rain given in its seasons to those who do not keep the commandments, and the whole world uses the common rains given by God? For he rains on the just and the unjust. And if rain is given to the just and the unjust, it will not be a special reward for those who have kept the commandments. See, then, that even if the Jews do not assent to the words of Jesus our Lord, you who are reckoned by his name and called a Christian must believe him when he says that his heavenly Father rains this common rain on the just and the unjust; and you must not think that he has set apart as a special portion for the just this rain which he has made common even with the unjust. Let us seek, then, in the Scriptures what rain it is that is given to the saints alone, and about which the clouds are commanded not to rain that rain upon the unjust. What this rain is, let Moses himself, the lawgiver of these things, teach us. For he says in Deuteronomy: “Give heed, O heaven, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words from my mouth; let my speech be awaited like rain.” Are these words mine? Are we bending the sense of the divine law violently with rhetorical arguments? Is it not Moses who says that what he speaks is rain? “Let my speech,” he says, “be awaited like rain, and let my words come down like dew, like a shower on the grass, and like snow on the hay.” Attend carefully, hearer, lest you think that we do violence to the divine Scripture when, teaching the church, we say that waters or showers or other things which seem to be spoken bodily are to be understood spiritually. Hear how Moses now calls the word of the law rain, now dew, now a shower, now even snow. And as Moses speaks out varied and diverse things, as speaking from the grace of the manifold wisdom of God, so too Isaiah when he says: “Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken.” And each of the prophets, when he has opened his mouth, brings down showers on the face of the earth, that is, on the ears and hearts of the hearers. The apostle Paul, knowing this, said: “For the land that drinks the rain often coming upon it, and brings forth vegetation useful to those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessings from God; but that which brings forth thorns and thistles is rejected and near to a curse, and its end is to be burned.” Did the Apostle say this of this earth? But this earth does not receive blessings from God when it has drunk showers and produced fruit; nor, if it brings forth thorns and thistles after rain, will it incur a curse from God. But our earth, that is, our heart, if it receives the rain of the teaching of the law often coming upon it and brings the fruit of works, receives blessings from God. But if it has not spiritual work but thorns and thistles, that is, the cares of the world, or pleasures and desires for riches, it is rejected and near to a curse, and its end will be to be burned. Therefore each of the hearers, when he comes together to listen, receives the shower of the word of God; and if he brings the fruit of good work, he will obtain a blessing. But if he despises the word of God he has received and neglects what he has often heard, and subjects himself to the care of worldly affairs and to lust, as one who has choked the word with thorns, he procures a curse instead of a blessing, and instead of the end of blessedness he will find the end of burning. “I will give you,” then, it says, “rain in its season.” Necessarily he added “in its season.” For just as this earthly shower, if it comes untimely, that is, when the harvest is being gathered, when the grain is being threshed on the floors, will seem to harm rather than help, so too those to whom the ministering of the rain of the word of God is entrusted must observe what Scripture says, that they give it in its season: that is, that they do not press the word of God on one who is surfeited and drunk, nor on one whose mind is occupied with other things when he cannot be attentive, or when he is bound by the languor of some vice and gives his inner hearing not to the teacher but to his own disease. Let him judge prudently, then, where the place can be free, where the hearer is sober, watchful, attentive, and there let him minister the rain in its season; as in the Gospel too the faithful and prudent servant is ordered to give his fellow servants their measure of wheat in its season. But we can also understand in another way the command that rain be given in its season. Someone is a child and little in faith; he needs rain, but a rain of milk. For so says he who knew how to dispense rains in their season: “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able.” After this he advanced in faith, grew in stature and wisdom; without doubt he has become fit to receive more solid food. Someone is weak, and not because of his age but because of weakness cannot receive what is strong: for example, he cannot fully receive the teaching about chastity; one must have compassion and measure the teaching by the quality of his strength, and marriage must be conceded to such people. This is to feed the weak with vegetables, and to fit to such measures a thin rain of the word, like dew. But there is another earth which can receive heavy showers, bear even rivers of the word of God, and carry rushing torrents. Of such the prophet says in the Psalms: “And you will give them to drink of the torrent of your delight.”

“I will give you,” it says, “rain in its season, and the earth will give its produce.” After the first blessing of rain, this is the second, in which the earth, having received the rain, is said to give its produce. We find that Isaac too, blessing Jacob, said: “May the Lord give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth abundance of grain and wine.” Do you think Isaac was giving his son Jacob in blessing such grain as sinful men have, and in which even the impious Pharaoh abounded? Was this the blessing of so great a patriarch? Do you want me to show you further how other wicked men have abundance of grain? Look at that man in the Gospel whose field brought forth much fruit, who said: “I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and I will say to my soul: Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; eat, drink, and be merry.” Do we believe that such were the goods handed on by divine blessings to all the saints and faithful? I look, then, for other fruits of the earth, and I see the abundance of produce in another way. For if my earth bears fruit, if it brings forth its produce from the Lord's blessing, my understanding will perceive, and will be able to explain, what and of what kind is this earth which, having received the heavenly rain, brings forth produce of rational crops. Take the testimony from the Gospels: how the sower went out to sow, and some fell along the way, some on rock, some among thorns, and some on good earth. If, then, what fell on good earth bears fruit, the earth has given its fruit and brought forth its produce, a hundredfold and sixtyfold and thirtyfold.

“And the trees of the fields,” it says, “will give their fruit.” We have within ourselves trees of the fields too, which bring forth their fruit. What are these trees of the fields that bring forth their fruit? What are these trees of the fields? Perhaps the hearer will say: “What is this word-hunter up to again? Why is he gathering words from everywhere to escape explaining the reading? How will he show that there are trees and woods within us?” If you do not object rashly, you will hear at once that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree bear good fruit. We have, then, trees within us, either good or bad; and those that are good cannot bear bad fruit, just as those that are bad will not bear good fruit. Do you want me to set out for you the names and designations of the trees that are within us? It is not a fig, nor an apple, nor a vine; but one tree is called righteousness, another prudence, another fortitude, another temperance. And if you wish, learn of a still greater number of trees, with which perhaps the paradise of God will be thought more worthily planted. For there is there a tree of piety, and another tree of wisdom, and another of discipline, and another of the knowledge of good and evil. But above all is the tree of life. Does it not seem to you rather that the heavenly Father, the farmer, cultivates trees of this kind in your soul and sets plantings of this kind in your mind? So, then, the Saviour says: “A bad tree cannot bear good fruit, nor a good tree bad fruit.” This is what he teaches: the tree of modesty is good; it cannot bear the fruits of immodesty. The tree of righteousness is good, and cannot bear the fruits of unrighteousness. So also, on the contrary, if you have the root of a bad tree planted in your mind, it cannot yield good fruit. For if there is a root of wickedness in you, it will not give good fruit. If there is a plant of folly within your heart, it will never bring forth the flower of wisdom. If there is a tree of injustice, of iniquity, such trees can never rejoice in good fruits. If, then, we keep the commandments of God, having received the rain of the word of God of which we spoke above, the trees too which are planted in the fields of our soul and in the breadth of our heart will bear joyful and good fruit of sweetness. Do you want me to show you from the Scriptures that each of the virtues we mentioned above is called a tree or wood? I bring as witness the most wise Solomon, who says of wisdom: “She is a tree of life,” he says, “to all who embrace her.” If, then, wisdom is a tree of life, without doubt there is another tree of prudence, and another of knowledge, and another of righteousness. For it is not consistent to say that of all the virtues wisdom alone has deserved to be called a tree of life, while the other virtues have by no means received names of a like lot. “The trees of the field, then, will give their fruit.” I believe the blessed David also had this in mind about himself when he said: “But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God.” By this he plainly shows that a righteous and holy man is called an olive tree.

“And threshing will overtake the vintage for you.” If good seed has been sown in the soul, and, having received rain from God, it has grown and come to the ear, a harvest will necessarily follow; and if a harvest, threshing will also follow, in which the grain is cleaned. For the soul that sprouts, watered by the word of God and the heavenly rain, brings forth its shoot to harvest, and the very harvest it produces must be cleaned on the threshing floor: that is, the soul must bring into the open the thoughts it has begotten and compare them, whether with other teachers or with the divine books themselves, so that if there is anything empty and superfluous in them, anything like chaff or beards, it may shake it out as the spirit of discernment blows upon it, and keep the pure grain, with which alone it can nourish its fellow servants and dispense the measure of wheat in its season. “And threshing,” it says, “will overtake the vintage.” Since bread, as Scripture says, strengthens man's heart, and wine gladdens it, whatever is said about self-control, about observances and the keeping of God's commandments, can be seen as grain, from which bread is made, and which strengthens the hearts of the hearers. But what pertains to knowledge, and gladdens the minds of the hearers by the explanation of hidden things, will be seen as fitting to wine and the vintage. For gladness is given to the heart when things hidden and obscure are explained. “And the vintage,” it says, “will overtake the sowing.” As if we were to say: First I sowed what belongs to the law, and after it was sown I prayed that the Lord would give rain in its season, and there was a harvest. After this I do not remain idle, but sow again: I take the prophetic Scripture and from it sow the lands and fallows of the hearers. After this I sow other things too from the words of the Gospels. The things sown are diverse; we can sow throughout the whole year. For we can also cast many seeds from the apostolic writings. There is always something to be sown; in our whole life there is no time for idleness: as long as we breathe, let us sow. Only let us sow in the spirit, that from the spirit we may reap eternal life. “And you will eat your bread to the full.” Nor do I take this to be a bodily blessing, as if the one who keeps the law of God would obtain this common bread in abundance. For what? Do not the impious and criminal eat bread not only in abundance but in luxury? Rather, then, if we look to him who said, “I am the living bread who came down from heaven, and whoever eats this bread will live forever,” and notice that he who said this was the Word by which souls are fed, we understand of what bread it is said in God's blessings, “And you will eat your bread to the full.” Solomon too declares similar things in the Proverbs, saying of the righteous: “The righteous man eating will fill his soul, but the souls of the impious will be in want.” If you take this according to the letter, that the righteous man eating fills his soul while the souls of the impious will be in want, it will seem false. For the souls of the impious rather take food greedily and are eager to be filled. The righteous, however, sometimes even go hungry. Indeed Paul was righteous, and he said: “To this very hour we hunger and thirst and are naked and are beaten.” And again he says: “In hunger and thirst, in many fastings.” How, then, does Solomon say that the righteous man eating satisfies his soul? But if you observe how the righteous man always and without ceasing eats of the living bread and fills his soul and satisfies it with heavenly food, which is the Word of God and his wisdom, you will find how from God's blessing the righteous man eats his bread to the full. “And you will dwell safely upon your land.” The wicked man is never safe, but is always moved and tossed and carried about by every wind of doctrine, in the deceit of men, to the deception of error. But the righteous man who keeps the law of God dwells safely upon his land. For his mind is firm, saying to God: “Strengthen me, Lord, in your words.” Strengthened, then, and safe and rooted, he dwells upon the land, grounded in faith, because his building is not set upon sand, nor is his root upon rock; but his house is founded upon the earth, and his plant is rooted in the depth of the earth, that is, in the inner parts of his soul. Rightly, then, is it said to such a soul in the blessings: “And you will dwell safely upon your land, and I will give peace upon the land.” What peace does God give? That which the world has? Christ denies that he gives that. For he says: “My peace I give you, my peace I leave you; not as this world gives peace do I give to you.” He denies, then, that he gives the world's peace to his disciples, for elsewhere too he says: “What, do you think that I came to send peace on the earth? I did not come to send peace, but a sword.” Do you want, then, to see what peace God gives upon our land? If the land is good, the one that bears fruit a hundredfold or sixtyfold or thirtyfold, it will receive from God that peace of which the Apostle says: “And may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds.” This, then, is the peace which God gives upon our land.

“And you will sleep, and there will be no one to frighten you.” Solomon too said in the Proverbs: “For if you sit, you will be without fear; and if you sleep, you will take your sleep gladly, and you will not fear the terror coming upon you nor the onslaughts of the impious coming upon you.” He said this of the righteous and wise man, and this is said in the blessing: “You will sleep, and there will be no one to frighten you.” For if I become righteous, no one will be able to frighten me: I fear nothing else if I fear God. “For the righteous,” it says, “is bold as a lion,” and therefore he does not fear the lion, the devil, nor the dragon, Satan, nor his angels, but says with David: “I will not fear the terror of the night, the arrow flying by day, the thing walking in darkness, ruin, and the noonday demon.” He adds this too: “The Lord is my light and my Saviour; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defender of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” And again: “If armies encamp against me, my heart will not fear.” You see the constancy and strength of the soul that keeps the commandments of God and has the confidence of freeborn liberty. After this, “I will destroy,” it says, “the evil beasts from your land.” These bodily beasts are neither evil nor good, but something in between, for they are dumb animals. But those beasts are evil which are spiritual, which the Apostle calls “spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places.” And that is the evil beast of which Scripture says: “Now the serpent was wiser than all the beasts that are upon the earth.” This, then, is the evil beast which God promises he will destroy from our land if we keep his commandments. Do you want to see another evil beast? “Your adversary,” it says, “the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom to devour; resist him, firm in faith.” And if you wish to learn of still more beasts, the prophet Isaiah will teach you, who, under the vision which he entitled “of the four-footed beasts in the desert,” speaks in the prophetic Spirit of beasts in some such way as this: “In tribulation,” he says, “and distress, the lion and the lion's whelp; from there too the offspring of flying asps, who carried their riches on asses and camels to a nation that will not profit them.” Can these things in any way be thought to be said of bodily beasts, even by those who are great friends of the letter? For how can a lion and a lion's whelp, or flying asps, carry their riches on camels and asses? But plainly the prophet, filled with the Holy Spirit, enumerates the opposing powers of the worst demons, and indicates that they place the riches of their deceptions on foolish and perverse souls, which he compares figuratively to camels and asses. And that the soul that fears God might not be handed over to these beasts, the prophet David prayed, saying: “Do not hand over to the beasts the soul that confesses you.” “And I will destroy,” it says, “the malignant beasts from your land, and war will not pass through your land.” Many are the wars that pass through our land if we do not keep the law of God nor observe his precepts. Let each one return to his own soul and examine himself by inner recollection, and see how our land, that is, our flesh, is pressed now by the spirit of sexual immorality, now by anger and rage, now shaken by the darts of greed, now struck by the weapons of envy, now pierced by the arrows of lust, and in whatever things the flesh desires against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, it is always shaken by inner battles. And what shall I say of the wars of thoughts which the enemy suggests to our heart, to strip us of the faith of Christ and of the hope of our calling? For when he has stirred up for us the afflictions of temptations and the troubles of the world, he then suggests to our thought that it is superfluous and foolish to endure this for Christ, and that it is much better to lead a life secure and without persecutions. Knowing this, the apostle Paul said: “Destroying thoughts and every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ.” Whoever, then, observes the divine precepts and keeps his commandments and does them does not suffer this war and these battles, but God takes them away from his land and does not let them pass through the soul of the righteous. “And you will pursue your enemies.” What enemies, if not the devil himself and his angels and evil spirits and unclean demons? We shall pursue them not only to put them to flight from ourselves but also from others whom they attack, if we observe the divine precepts. “You will pursue,” it says, “and they will fall before you by death.” If God swiftly crushes Satan under our feet, the enemies will fall before us by death. By whose death? I think by ours: for if we put to death our members which are on earth, sexual immorality, uncleanness, if we inflict this death on our members, they will fall before us. How will they fall before us? If you are righteous, unrighteousness has fallen before you; if chaste, lust has fallen; if pious, impiety itself has collapsed before you.