Origen, Homilies on Jeremiah — Homily 4
Greek source: Origen, Homilies on Jeremiah (Ὁμιλίαι εἰς τὸν Ἰερεμίαν), from the public-domain critical text of Erich Klostermann, GCS 6 = Origenes Werke III (Leipzig, 1901); digital text accessed via the First1KGreek project. This English translation is released into the public domain.
[§1] The very wording of the passage that has been read has something obscure in it, which must first be understood; and after this, if God grants it, we shall come to know his mystical intent. Now he wants us to know this: that, as is written in the books of Kingdoms, the people were divided in the times of Rehoboam into the kingdom of the ten tribes under Jeroboam and into that of the two tribes under Rehoboam; and those under Jeroboam were called Israel, but those under Rehoboam Judah. And this division of the people has remained, so far as concerns the historical record, down to the present; for we know of no historical account that has gathered Israel and Judah together into one. Now Israel sinned first and more grievously — the people under Jeroboam and his successors — and sinned so much beyond Judah that they were condemned by Providence to become captives "into Assyria," as the Scripture says, "unto this day." After this the sons of Judah also sinned and were condemned to captivity into Babylon, not "unto this day" as Israel, but for "seventy years," concerning which Jeremiah prophesied, and which Daniel also mentioned. If we understand these things as spoken with reference to that people of that time, look at the words of the prophet, whether they do not indicate something of this sort. For he accuses, as it were, the sins of Israel, and says that, when so many sins had been committed by Israel, the congregation of Judah, having heard of their transgressions and in what manner I made them come to be in captivity, was not instructed but added to its sins, so that, because of this addition of sins when compared with the sins of Israel, righteousness was found in Israel over against Judah. Then, upon these things, the prophet is commanded to prophesy, since Judah had become worse than Israel, in order that after its sins it might turn back. So after the prophecy addressed to Israel commanding it to turn back, the prophet prophesies that Israel and Judah are going to come together and that there is at some time to be one kingdom of them both. Let whoever is concerned with the readings take up the words of the whole of today's reading, and then he will see that these meanings have been made plain.
"And the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king: Have you seen what the house of Israel has done to me" — not Judah, but Israel first? "She went up upon every high mountain and beneath every leafy tree and there played the harlot; and I said, after she had committed all this fornication: Turn back to me; and she did not turn back. And the faithless Judah saw her faithlessness," the faithlessness of the congregation of Israel. "And they saw" — those of Judah — "that for all the things in which the house of Israel had been caught, in which she committed adultery, I also sent her away and gave her a bill of divorce." Judah ought to have been instructed — for I sent away Israel, the congregation of Israel, I cast them out into the Assyrians "and gave her a bill of divorce into her hands" — "and the faithless Judah did not fear." But after so many things as I did to Israel, sending her away, giving her a bill of divorce, when the congregation of Judah ought to have been instructed by what those others suffered, they not only were not instructed but added to their sins, so that the sins of the congregation of Israel, by comparison with the sins of the congregation of Judah, seemed to be righteousness. "And I gave her a bill of divorce into her hands; and the faithless Judah her sister did not fear, and she went and played the harlot herself also, and her fornication became as nothing to her, and she committed adultery with wood and stone. And in all these things the faithless Judah did not turn to me with her whole heart, but in falsehood" she turned to me. She was not ashamed before me for what I had done to Israel, so as to turn completely; but though she ought to have turned in truth, she instead turned in falsehood. "And in all these things the faithless Judah did not turn to me with her whole heart, but in falsehood. And the Lord said to me: Israel has justified his soul as against the faithless Judah." The sins of Israel, compared with the transgressions of Judah, have become a justification of the soul of the congregation of Israel.
[§2] "Go," therefore, "and read these words toward the north."
If the wording has been understood, let us see what it means to make plain in these things. The calling of the Gentiles took its beginning from the transgression of Israel, and the apostles, when they preached to the synagogues of the Jews, say: "To you the word of salvation was sent; but since you judge yourselves unworthy, behold, we turn to the Gentiles." And the apostle, knowing what he knows about these matters, says: "By their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy." So then the many sins of that people brought about that they were forsaken and that we came to the hope of life — we who were strangers to the covenants, aliens to the promises. For how does it come to me, who wherever I chanced to be born was a stranger to what is called the holy land, now to discourse about the promises of God, and to believe in the God of the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and by the grace of God to receive Jesus Christ who was proclaimed beforehand by the prophets? If you understand these two peoples, the one from Israel and the one from the Gentiles, consider for me the deportation of Israel with regard to that people of Israel, and understand it written concerning that people: "I have sent her away and given her a bill of divorce"; for God sent away that people and gave it a bill of divorce. This is something of the following sort in the case of those who have married: if the wife is displeasing to the husband, the law of Moses says, a "bill of divorce" was made out from the husband and the wife was sent away, and it was permitted to the one who had sent away his former wife, because she seemed to have behaved unseemly, to marry another woman. Thus in the spiritual sense behold those people receiving a bill of divorce. And since they received the bill of divorce, therefore they were utterly forsaken. For where are there prophets any longer among them? Where are signs any longer among them? Where is the manifestation of God? Where is the worship, the temple, the sacrifices? They were cast out from their own place; so he gave Israel a "bill of divorce."
Then we, being Judah (and Judah because of the Savior who arose from the tribe of Judah; for it is plain that our Lord has arisen out of Judah), have turned to the Lord, and our last state — which may it not now already be — seems to be becoming much like their last state, if indeed it is not even worse.
[§3] For that such things will be also in our own case at the consummation of this age is plain from what was said by the Savior in the Gospel, in which he says: "Because iniquity is multiplied, the love of the many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end, he shall be saved"; and: "He will do signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect." Such will our own case be, so that the Savior says concerning his own coming, since among so many churches a faithful one is scarcely to be found: "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he indeed find faith upon the earth?" And truly, if we judge matters by truth and not by crowds, and if we judge matters by moral choice and not by seeing many gathered together, we shall see that now we are not faithful. But they were faithful then, when the noble martyrdoms were taking place, when, having escorted the martyrs from the burial-places, we came to the assemblies, and the whole church attended, unafflicted, and the catechumens were catechized amid the martyrdoms and amid the deaths of those confessing the truth "unto death," "not frightened" nor troubled "before the living God." Then we know that they had also seen paradoxical signs and marvels. Then there were faithful — few indeed, but truly faithful — journeying the narrow and afflicted way that leads "unto life." But now, when we have become many, since it is not possible for the elect to be many (for he does not lie who said, Jesus: "Many are called, but few are chosen"), out of the multitude of those who profess godliness exceedingly few are those who attain to the election of God and to blessedness.
[§4] If, then, he says that first I sent away Israel because of its sins and sent it into deportation, but Judah, hearing what had happened to Israel, did not turn back, he speaks concerning our own sins. Since the things that befell Israel are read, and the transgressions concerning that people, we ought to fear, and: "if he did not spare the natural branches, how much more will he not spare us either; if that One who is both kind and at the same time loving to mankind, God, did not spare but cut off those who boasted to be a 'cultivated olive tree,' those rooted in 'the root' of the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, how much more will he not spare us." For he is not kind and yet not severe, nor severe and yet not kind. For if he were only kind but not severe, we would to a greater degree despise "his kindness." If he were severe but not kind, perhaps we would even despair over our sins. But as it is, as God — for we human beings need his kindness when we repent, but his severity when we persist in our sins — God is both kind and severe, and he speaks to us through the prophets and says: "Have you seen what the house of Israel has done to me?" Understand that Israel to be that people of mine: "She went up upon every high mountain and beneath every shady tree." If you see the Pharisee going up into the temple boastfully and not beating his own breast nor being anxious about his own evils, but saying: "I thank you that I am not as the rest of mankind, robbers, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax-collector; I fast twice on the sabbath, I tithe my possessions" — you will see that he has gone up "upon every high mountain" in a blameworthy manner, having loved high-mindedness, and, according to his boasting and according to his arrogance, upon every high hill, and he has come to be "beneath every tree" that is not fruitful, but "leafy"; for the leafy tree is one thing, and another is the tree that men plant into groves. When they plant trees into groves, they plant not the fruit-bearing ones, not a fig tree nor a vine, but only barren trees for the sake of delight. Such you will find the words of the heterodox and the beauties of their persuasive arguments, which do not turn back those who hear. Whenever, then, someone gives himself over to such words, he has gone "beneath every leafy tree." He did not say "every tree" and fall silent, nor again did he add: every fruitful tree, but he said "beneath every leafy tree." Because of this you will understand what indeed the lawgiver means when he says: "You shall not plant any tree beside the altar of the Lord your God, and you shall not make a grove"; for you have also the very name of the grove forbidden.
[§5] "And she played the harlot there. And I said, after she had committed all this fornication: Turn back to me; and she did not turn back, and the faithless Judah saw her faithlessness." We too have been reproached — I mean those of us who sin and do not keep the covenants of God, nor look to the fact that those others destroyed the covenant though they were nobly born, being of Abraham, having received the promise. We ought, then, to reckon that, since those others fell out of the blessings and the promises and it profited them nothing to be from the fathers, how much more shall we, when we sin, be forsaken. "If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham," the Savior says to them. And again John: "Do not begin to say among yourselves, We have Abraham as father; for I tell you that God is able out of these stones to raise up children to Abraham" — hinting by "stones" at us who have the stony heart and are hardened against the truth. And truly the powerful God has raised up children to Abraham from the stones, if we remain in the childbearing and keep the spirit of adoption. So the "faithless Judah" saw "her faithlessness," the faithlessness of the house of Israel — she who did not keep the covenants toward God — and she saw "that for all the things in which that one had been caught" (for we, who are Judah, behold all these things, if we read the Scripture): that concerning the things in which the house of Israel had been caught, in which she committed adultery, God sent her away and gave her a bill of divorce. We ought to be instructed by what he did to those others when he judged them according to their sins, forsaking them and delivering them into captivity and delivering them to slaughter and delivering them to their enemies; from these things we ought to turn back, and each of us ought to reckon that, if God did not spare the natural branches, how much more will he not spare us. If he thus drove out those from the fathers when they became sinners, what shall we who have been called from the Gentiles suffer — we who reckoned none of these things, though we were called in order that that people might be provoked to jealousy, seeing the slave honored, beholding the base-born one drawn near? And if those others suffered so many things, how much more, if we sin, shall we be forsaken?
"In the things in which the house of Israel committed adultery, I sent her away and gave her a bill of divorce into her hands; and the faithless Judah did not fear" the things I had done to the house of Israel, namely that "I sent her away and gave her a bill of divorce." She "did not fear" because of what had happened to those others. Someone entered into the house of a master of a household; he is newly bought, he inquires which of the former household servants the master honored and why, which of the servants he dishonored and why. Having carefully considered, if he wishes to remain in the house of the master, he guards against falling into those things which the former slaves did who sinned and were cast out and delivered over to punishment. Then, having learned what the former slaves did who were well approved, and upon what terms they obtained their freedom, he emulates those. And we too were not slaves of God, but of idols and demons, Gentiles; yesterday and the day before we drew near to God; let us read the Scripture, let us see who was justified, who was condemned, let us imitate those who were justified, let us guard against falling into those things into which those fell who were taken captive, who were cast out from God.
[§6] "And the faithless Judah did not fear, and she went and played the harlot herself also." Israel having played the harlot first, Judah too played the harlot afterward. "And her fornication became as nothing, and she committed adultery with wood and stone." Whenever we sin, we do nothing else than, becoming stony-hearted, commit adultery with "the stone." Whenever we sin and play the harlot "beneath every leafy tree," we too commit adultery with "the wood." "And the faithless Judah did not turn to me with her whole heart, but in falsehood." If we turned to God, but deficiently, we are charged as not having turned "with the whole heart." Therefore "the faithless Judah did not turn to me with her whole heart." He did not say: and the faithless Judah turned, and stood firm, but: "and the faithless Judah did not turn to me with her whole heart, but in falsehood" she turned. The true conversion, then, is to read the things of old, to know those who were justified, to imitate them, to read those things, to see those who were blamed, to guard against falling into those blames, to read the books of the New Testament, the words of the apostles, and after reading to write all these things upon the heart, to live according to them, so that a bill of divorce may not be given to us also, but that we may be able to come to the holy inheritance, and, when the fullness of the Gentiles has been saved, then Israel may be able to enter in; for if the fullness of the Gentiles enters in, then all Israel shall be saved, "and they shall become one flock, one shepherd," teaching us to glorify God the Almighty in Christ Jesus himself, to whom be the glory and the might unto the ages of the ages. Amen.