First, the WORD of Jesus went from the EAST to the WEST.
Then there the WORD took hold and became the CHRISTIAN religion in the west.
Then the WEST went to the EAST to PLANT the Western Christian worldview to the countries of the EAST.
These were the crusades of the west to the east, which had the PURPOSE of enslaving the eastern lands and peoples.
And for a long time the east lived in slavery to the west until new times came.
Now the EAST IS RELEASED from the slavery of the West and the teachings of the Western Roman Catholic Church.
This liberation occurs through the planting of the peace-making good news by the Americans.
This good news is heretical teaching, which is not accepted in the EAST.
Therefore, today the whole east is at war with the west and America.
The general picture in the world today is this: the Catholic Church, which was born in Rome during the Roman Empire from the first Christian Apostles of the disciples of Jesus Christ and went west, is now crashing from the Protestant Church of the USA of American heretical teaching and goes east, where it is COLLAPSE in WARS with Muslims and Muslim creeds.
Muslim creeds are called heretical only by the Protestants themselves and their creeds.
The entire Bible gives the knowledge that Muslim teachings are also teachings from God.
Because of the different CLINGS in the creeds, enmity is planted between Christians and Muslims.
God does NOT teach this.
God teaches the whole world to live in peace and good neighborliness.
But according to the laws of each state and the peoples of this state.
Therefore, states have borders that are drawn along the ground by the people themselves and are guarded by the armies of these states.
Periodically there is a redistribution of borders in wars and enmities.
The redistribution of borders between states takes place at the will of God in order to SHOW a person how WEAK a person is before the POWER and POWER of God.
The whole land of God and only God to decide what the boundaries will be between states and peoples.
No NATO alliances can stand before the POWER of God and His protection.
God will crush all heretics, as he crushed the borders of the Roman Empire, which the EU Union is trying to establish in the world today, since it has lost the power to be SLAVE-OWNING states, so today the EU Union will lose the power to be a POLITICAL SLAVE-OWNING Union of military NATO.
God has already found that strength in the Christian union in the state of Russia.
That is why the deeds of Russia are so marvelous in the eyes of the entire political union of the West.
Name at least one Western state today, on whose territory there is a legitimate Muslim state, living within this state according to the customs of Muslims and in commonwealth with Christians.
This is the state of Tatarstan and Buryatia in the state of the Russian Federation and
Jewish Autonomous Region as a COMPOSITION of the Far East of the Russian State.
I used to think that this phrase is the most striking evidence of the trinity of God in the Old Testament literature. After all, it is not said like this: Behold, Adam became like We (here "We" can also be understood in the sense of the royal "We"). It says, "Behold, Adam became like one of us." Those. It's definitely a multiplicity.
But among the Fathers, this phrase did not seem to be evidence of the trinity of God (or was it?). I saw only in St. Anastassy of Sinai the triadological interpretation of "as One from Us", and even then, more in the Christological, and not in the purely triadological sense. But Anastasia the Sinai is younger than both Chrysostom and Maximus the Confessor. His interpretation was probably innovative and unconventional for its time (?)
I'll give you quotes.
St. John Chrystostom. Conversations on the book of Genesis, 18.2:
"But let's move on to what follows next. And God said: behold, Adam was as one of us, if you understand good and evil, and now let not when he stretch out his hand, and take from the tree of life, and carry it down, and he will live in And the Lord God drove him out of paradise of sweetness, to make the earth, from which he was taken (Gen. III, 22, 23). Look again at God's condescension. understand the good and the evil. You see what simple words? Let us understand all this in a godly manner. With these words (Scripture) wants to remind us of the deceit by which the devil deceived (the first people) through the serpent. The devil said to them that if you eat, you will be like Bosi, and they, hoping to equal God, dared to taste, therefore God, wishing to enlighten them, bring them to the consciousness of sin and show how great their listening and excessive deceit, says: Behold, Adam was, as one from us. These words express a great shame that can strike a transgressor. Therefore, says God, you disregarded my commandment, that he dreamed of being equal to God? Here you have become what you hoped to be, or, better, not what you hoped to be, but what you deserved to be, behold, Adam was, as if one from us, if you understand good and evil. This is what the devil, the deceiver, said to them through the serpent, that your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, seeing good and evil.
St. Maximus the Confessor interprets this phrase in the same spirit. Re-read the entire 28th chapter of the Questions to Thalassius. There are these words:
"the reason for many changes in Divine manifestations is the spiritual disposition of those who are under [God's] care. Since those who built the tower first moved from the east - the area of \u200b\u200blight (I mean [the area] of the only and true knowledge of God), and [then] came to the land of Shinar (Gen. 11:2-4), which is interpreted as “blasphemous lips”, then they fell into the diversity of opinions about the Godhead and, stacking like bricks, the speeches of each opinion, began to build, like a tower, polytheistic atheism. Of course, God, destroying the confession of the vicious consonance of erring people, calls Himself in a plural way based on the spiritual disposition of the warded, scattered and divided into countless opinions, and thereby shows that, being One, He is divided into many in them. Adam, saying: Behold, Adam was as one of Us (Gen. 3:22)."
Further, the divine Maxim deduces the principle: “when Holy Scripture is pious and [addressing] the pious uses the plural of God, then It reveals the all-holy Trinity of Hypostases, mysteriously denoting the mode of existence of the all-holy and beginningless One, since the all-revered, worshiped and all-sacred Trinity of Hypostases is in essence One. And when [Holy Scripture] speaks of God in the plural, [referring] to the ungodly, then I think It refutes their reprehensible idea of the Deity. For they believe that the difference in properties is natural, and not hypostatic , and, thinking in this way about the Deity, they undoubtedly introduce the lie of polytheism.
According to this principle, the words spoken before the fall of Adam: “Let us make man in our image and likeness,” indicate the plurality of hypostases in God. And the words "Behold, Adam became like one of Us," said after the fall of Adam, do not indicate the trinity of God, but are irony, a reproach to God and, as it were, even a quotation of the devil.
“I have already said in the chapter on the erection of the [Babylonian] tower that the Scriptures describe God, according to the spiritual disposition of [each] of those who are under [God's] care, and by means of our natural ways [of perception] allude to the Divine will. From here, the Scripture shows God not simply saying: behold, Adam was as if one of Us, but (of course, after the transgression [of the commandment]) also adds [pointing to] the reason for (such) saying, which you, without including in the question, missed and which However, it makes the whole thought clear. For the Scripture, saying, Behold, Adam was as one of Us, also adds: even understand good and evil. for ever (Genesis 3:22) For since the devil, together with [his] counsel, taught man [already] polytheism, saying: in that day, if you take away from the tree, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, leading good and evil (Gen. 3:5), insofar as God, as if playing along, ironically scolding and reproaching, in order to denounce the person who believed the devil, he says in the plural: as if he were one from Us, [speaking out] regarding the thought of the Godhead, inspired by Adam by the deception of the serpent.
And one cannot think that the kind of ironic statements is usually alien to Scripture ...
Scripture, presenting God as having mastered the passion of Adam, refutes Adam, [heeding] the advice of the serpent, leading him to the realization of the absurdity of polytheism, which is destructive for him, which has a lie as its source.
But another Church Father, St. Anastasius of Sinai - as if objecting to those who interpret this place in the same way as Chrysostom and Maxim, saying: "The words: Behold, Adam became - after the crime [of the commandment] - like one of Us (Gen. 3, 22) clearly and unambiguously represent the bodily flesh of the Incarnation of God the Word, One of the [Holy] Trinity. It should be noted that [only] when [Adam] became material and corruptible, he was told: as one of Us. Those who claim that God spoke this, mocking to him, deceived by the serpent, let them pay attention to the fact that the voice of God is not in tune with the counsel of the serpent. but says: Behold, Adam has become like one of Us. If you be the serpent with words, as the gods teach our forefathers polytheism, then God addresses Adam not on behalf of the multitude, but on behalf of the one [God], and says: He became like one of Us, that is, as One of the Holy Trinity. If this utterance were reproving, then the reproach would have to be made to both, and especially to the wife, vv who led Adam astray. However, one way or another, but in the dispensation of the complex Adam, the sacrament of the Incarnation of Christ was clearly destined, and therefore he is called as having become one [of the Holy] Trinity (II, 2, 5)."
Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow follows Chrysostom and Maxim, saying: "These words obviously correspond to the promise of the tempter, you will be like gods, knowing good and evil (Gen. 3, 5), and therefore, without a doubt, they have a damning sign."
And then follows a thought reminiscent of the interpretation of Anastasius of Sinai: “So, here is an internal, so to speak, conversation of the Holy Trinity and a new solemn Council about the fate of fallen man, similar to the first Council about his creation. Since the majesty of this action and the majesty of the speaking God does not allow take the words of His advice as a simple stinging reproach, then under the image of mockery one should seek the truth pure and impassive.
[Filaret of Moscow, St. Notes that guide to a thorough understanding of the book of Genesis, which includes the translation of this book into the Russian dialect: In 3 hours, Part 1: The Creation of the World and the History of the First World. - M .: Moscow Society of Spiritual Enlightenment Lovers, 1867. - S. 74.]
- Moscow city
- Religion: Catholicism
Blessed Theodoret of Cyrus. Abbreviated Statement of Divine Dogma, Chapter 3:
“Therefore, it is clear that both the Son and the All-Holy Spirit have an uncreated nature. Therefore, we learn to believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and we are baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Since the first man was created not only by the Father, but also by the Son and the Holy Spirit, for he said: “Let us make man in our image and after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26), then when recreating, when making a new creation, it is fair to have participation with the Father and the Son and the All-Holy Spirit; and the invocation of the Trinity renews each of those who are baptized."
Interestingly, even Blessed Theodoret (together with Chrysostom) does not cite the words "as one of us" as evidence of the trinity of God, but cites the words "Let us make man in Our image and in Our likeness."
- Charcovia city
- Religion: Russian Orthodox Church
I think that in the words of God "Behold, Adam became as one of Us" really sounds ironic. It should be noted that in translation into colloquial French, this place sounds as follows: "Behold, a man has become like a god (un dieu) ...".
- Moscow city
- Religion: Catholicism
Or, as Chrysostom and Maxim interpret the meaning of God's words: behold, Adam and Eve became gods, as the devil promised them. Now their glory is their nakedness. Good gods.
The fact that Adam and Eve fell into polytheism is also said by (Pseudo)-Justin in "Exhortation to the Hellenes":
“21. Indeed, God cannot be called by any proper name. For names exist to designate and distinguish things in their multitude and variety, but there was no one before who would give God a name, and He had no need to give Himself a name, being only one (43), as He Himself testifies through His prophets saying: I am the first and last God, and besides Me there is no other God (44). Therefore, - as I said above - God, sending Moses to the Jews, does not mention any of His names, but mysteriously designates Himself through the sacrament (Sy), and thereby makes it known that He is one. I am He who is, He says, contrasting Himself, as being, with those who do not exist, so that those who were previously mistaken would know that they were attached not to those who exist, but to those who do not exist. For he knew that among people that ancient error of the forefathers had not yet disappeared, into which the demon-hater wanted to involve them, saying: if you obey me, transgress the commandment of God, you will be like gods (45), calling gods that do not exist, so that people thinking that there are and other gods, believed that they too could become gods; that is why God said: I am who I am, in order to show the difference between the existing God and the non-existent by means of the participle "He who is". When people, believing in the seduction of the demon, dared to disobey God and left paradise, they remembered that they were told about the gods, and God had not yet revealed to them that there are no other gods (besides Him); for it was unjust for those who did not keep the first commandment, which it was so easy to keep, still to teach, but it was necessary to subject them to righteous punishment. So, expelled from paradise, thinking that they were expelled only for disobedience to God, and not also because they believed that there are gods who do not exist, they passed on this thought about gods to their descendants. This is the origin of the false thought about the gods, which originated from the father of lies. God, seeing that the false thought of polytheism, like some kind of illness, burdened the soul of people, wanted to destroy it; therefore He, appearing first to Moses, said to Him: I am this. For, I think, it was necessary that the future chief and leader of the Jewish people be the first of all to call on the living God. Therefore, appearing to him first, as far as it is possible for God to appear to a man, he said to him: I am who I am. Then, sending him to the Jews, he commanded him to say to them too: Siy sent me to you.
(43) Cf. Iust. 2 apol. ch. 6.
(44) Isaiah XLIV, 6.
(45) Cf. Gen. III: 5.
Number of users reading this topic: 1
0 users, 1 guests, 0 anonymous
JEHOVAH'S WORDS: "LOOK, ADAM BECAME AS ONE OF US"
John Gill
And the Lord God said, Behold, Adam has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, no matter how he stretched out his hand, and took also from the tree of life, and ate, and began to live forever.
Gen.3.22
In the first three chapters of the Book of Genesis we see the story of the creation and fall of the world and of human nature. The first chapter gives us a concise account of the creation of the universe, of the many stages in which the Creator of everything was pleased to complete it, and especially of the creation of man, this crown of all God's works in this world below. The second chapter describes to us the happiness that man enjoyed during his stay in the state of innocence, namely, that he was the favorite of heaven, the lord of this world, all beings were subject to him, he was blessed with all the pleasures of the comforts and charms of nature, because it is in the most pleasant and fruitful place in the world; he had great knowledge of God and fellowship with Him. Nevertheless, "man did not remain in honor; he became like animals that die", because in the third chapter we hear about his flight from God, about who was the main instrument of this, by what cunning methods he carried it out, and also about the terrible things that followed, namely, the guilt and condemnation of all who took part in this great rebellion, and the judgment pronounced on each of them by God, the Judge of all. This exposition continues almost to the words which I have read and which God Himself spoke concerning His fallen creation, man, in whom He can observe these two things:
1. His present and fallen condition;
2. Preventing the possibility of him eating from the tree of life.
I. Here is a statement made by Jehovah Himself concerning either the present man or his past state. "And the Lord God said, Behold, Adam has become like one of us." Here we should consider: 1) Who says it, 2) why it is said and what "us" means, 3) to whom it is said, that is, a person or Adam; 4) the way it is said.
1. It is necessary first of all to consider Who is speaking and of whom it is said that this is Jehovah Elohim, the Lord God. "And the Lord God said": I understand that this is the Second Person of the Trinity, the promised Messiah, Who continues to speak from verse 8. This was the general agreement of the ancient Jewish Church, as is clear from the Targums, that is, the paraphrases of this book. Onkelos paraphrases v. 8 thus: "And they heard the voice of the Word of the Lord God"; also at r. Jonathan ben Uziel st.9 according to the Jerusalem Targum sounds like this: "And with the Word the Lord God called to Adam." v. 10 both in Onkelos and in Jonathan it sounds like this: And he said: I heard your voice, your word in the garden. "We are talking about no other than the Person whom the evangelist John, at the beginning of his Gospel, calls the Word, when he says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In the same way, the Jerusalem Targum paraphrases the words of our text: And the Lord God said to the Word: Behold the man whom You created: and this is said of the same Person.
In addition, the Person in question has a character that clearly reveals that this is the Messiah, for here the image of all three of His ministries is given - King, Prophet and Priest. He judges by calling a person to account, legally examining the accusation of treason and then passing judgment, and this is part of the royal ministry of Christ: "For the Father does not judge anyone, but has given all judgment to the Son." He also appears as a prophet, proclaiming the future life and salvation of fallen man through the promised Seed, and therefore instructing man how it will come about. The Son of God, who was initiated into all God's counsels and decisions concerning man, to be carried out in him, was the one who was to become a great prophet in Israel, and through whom grace and truth were to come. He also appeared as a Priest, making garments of leather and giving them to Adam and his wife. These were the skins of slain animals, which, in all probability, were killed as a sacrifice, and were a type for Christ, the great Sacrifice, for He, as the great High Priest, made reconciliation for sin and brought eternal righteousness, in which all His people are clothed.
Moreover, I have no doubt that this glorious Person then appeared in human form, so that our first parents in paradise, when the message of grace was proclaimed to them, would not simply hear His voice; and when it is said that he passed between them, why can't we suppose that he appeared to them in the form of a man, as a prelude to his future incarnation and to confirm their faith in him, as he did to Abraham in the valley of Mamre, and to Jacob, as Someone he fought until dawn, and many others? Perhaps it can be called a rule that recognizes few, if any, exceptions, that wherever, in the Old Testament, we read that God speaks in a loud and distinct voice, or appears in any visible form, then this is the Son of God , the promised Messiah, and most likely, our Lord speaks precisely about this to the Jews about His Father: "But you never heard His voice, nor saw His face" (John 5.37). And in fact, it is appropriate to say that only the Word could then appear in a visible way, which was to become flesh and dwell among us. From here you can specify:
First, the existence of Christ before the incarnation. The followers of Socin deny this, and claim that He did not exist before His incarnation from the Virgin. But this truth is evident from many indisputable facts. He existed in the days of Moses and the prophets, and before Abraham, as He Himself says: "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8.58). He existed at the beginning of all things, for in the beginning was the Word, and He was before all things, and everything stands by Him.
Secondly, to the true and authentic divinity of Christ. That the person here spoken of is wholly and truly God is clear from the reverence and fear of his majesty that fell on our first parents; from His perfect knowledge of the works of Adam, and the state which he brought to himself and to his posterity, from the authority which He exercised in testing and accusing man, and in revealing the Seed of the woman, which had hitherto been a mystery hidden in the heart of God from time immemorial; to all this we can add that He is directly called in the text as the Lord God, that is, a name that belongs to none but God Most High (cf. Ps. 83:18 KJV).
Thirdly, what is said in these words: behold, Adam became as one of us, whatever is meant by them (to this we will devote further study), is certainly said on behalf of God, who further prevents the possibility of man eating from the tree of life, which would now be not for the benefit of man, but to his detriment; knowing this, the Lord, who brought the message of mercy, clothed Adam and his wife with skins that would prevent them from doing so.
2. It is often asked: who is "We", one of which is man?
First, some Jewish interpreters, who are also followed by some Christians, say that these words are used as a sign of royal power, after the custom of kings, who designate themselves in the plural in their decrees and proclamations. But this courtly manner of speaking is not known in antiquity among the Eastern peoples, and was perhaps first introduced by the Romans. In Scripture, no person, no matter how great, proud and arrogant he may be, does not speak of himself in the plural. Those readings that insist on the opposite are rejected by Jewish scholars, like Ibn Ezra in his commentary on Genesis 1:26, as false. Moreover, when kings and princes thus issue their decrees and proclamations, they have in mind only their secret council, which is meant in this expression; so in essence this trick serves as an antitrinitarian.
Secondly, others are compelled to understand by this expression the angels to whom the Lord speaks thus. But they are not His companions and do not have equal dignity and power with Him. They have never been initiated into His secret council, He does not consult with them, and they were not His help in the formation of man; nor is any of them created in His image and likeness, like man. They are only servants of God, doing His will, "ministering spirits sent to minister to those who have to inherit salvation."
Thirdly, I believe that we should understand this text as designating the Three Persons of the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Spirit, for the same Triune God said: Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. The same expression is used by the Lord in John 14:23: "Jesus said to him: whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him." At least two Persons are mentioned here - the Father and the Son. This direct meaning of the text shows that the doctrine of the Trinity is not a Roman doctrine. This is not only the teaching of the New, but also of the Old Testament, and though it is found more clearly in the New Testament than in the Old, even there we have abundant evidence of it. Nowhere is it expressed more fully and concisely than in the words intended for use in the baptismal formula: "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:19). There is also no stronger proof of it than the description of our Lord's baptism in Matt. 3:16-17. But although this was more explicitly revealed in the New Testament, yet it was not unknown to Moses and the prophets, and moreover, it was revealed to our first parents in the Garden of Eden.
3. He Who says this is the Man we read about in the Scripture teaching about the two Adams, the first and the second. The first Adam is earthly and earthy, while the second Adam is the Lord from heaven, the True Messiah, sent from there to be the Redeemer of lost sinners. It may be noted that some Jewish authors have the concept of two Adams, one of which is simply a man, and the other is with God from eternity, but they reject the concept that the Second Adam is God Himself.
Now the question is which of the two Adams is meant here. When the Jews speak of the heavenly Adam, they also understand the Lord's words as directed to the angels; but we know that after the unfortunate fall of man, the mystery of his redemption was revealed to him, and who was its Author, namely, that Adam who was with God from eternity and who is one with God, and also with all whom God loves. The last part of the text is sometimes interpreted as preventing this heavenly Adam from immediately entering the work of redemption, which was postponed to a more distant time, and at the same time an angel was sent, as a messenger, to acquaint the fallen Adam with this mystery, so that he would not be crushed by excessive sorrow about that destroyed himself and all his offspring. While there is something fabulous here, it shows that the ancient Jewish Church had some concept of the Messiah Redeemer as the Second Adam. Here, however, we are not talking about this Man, but we want to understand how this applies to our forefathers Adam and Eve, who were called man: “Male and woman he created them, and blessed them, and called their name: man, on the day they were created" (Gen. 5.2). Both of them were created after the image of God and His likeness, and both fell into crime.
4. The essence of what is contained in these words, and how it is transmitted to us, follow from this. Many interpreters understand them as irony or sarcasm, mockery or mockery at the deception of man by Satan, who told our first parents that they would have to become like gods, knowing good and evil; and falling for this deceitful lure, they were involved in crime and destroyed themselves. This hidden meaning may have been meant for them by Satan, who broadcast it through his oracles to the pagan world, and we can be sure that our forefathers understood his words as their equality with the Most High God, which lured them into a snare and led to destruction. . It may indeed be meant here that they must be like the angels called Elohim, gods or higher powers, in Ps. 8:5, and so Jonathan paraphrases Gen. 2:5 in his Targum. Perhaps Satan wanted to project this onto his angels who supported him, in which he could be sure. Indeed, by virtue of their sin, they received the bitter experience of the knowledge of good and evil, albeit as apostates. However, I say that it is clear that Adam and his wife understood this differently. The Lord here, reproaching man, really says with irony: Behold, Adam has become like one of us. As if He said: look at the man to whom Satan falsely promised equality with God and he expected it in vain; now he stands in robes of leather, forced to sew fig leaves to make a girdle and cover his nakedness. He is ashamed and disgraced for his stupidity; And this person is similar to God? He was promised this, and he did not achieve it; he was called to a higher position than that in which he was created, but what baseness he sank into! This is very similar, although with a different sign, to the words of Pilate, spoken when Christ was brought to him in the crown of thorns, and he said to the Jews with sarcasm: here is a Man! (John 19.5). It is not that we should imagine that the Lord God rejoices here at the sufferings of the man who offended Him, for He took pity on him, remembers him in his meanness, and, in His love and pity, delivered him. He speaks in such a way as to lead a person to a clear vision of his sin, to shame and true repentance in it, in order to fully expose the meanness of the devil and the insidious machinations that he used to deceive mankind, so that our forefathers simply did not understand his tricks. I must admit that I can hardly imagine that these words were not spoken seriously, for it is difficult to think that our great Messiah, when proclaiming the Gospel for the first time, as one author put it, "jokes at the sufferings of man," especially since these words refer to the members of his Church. Thus, I am inclined to think that this was said seriously and expresses the real essence of things, and can be understood as such.
Or it is a proclamation of the real state of man, and the state of those who, though fallen from the state of innocence, are now to be regarded as believers in Christ, restored and quickened by grace, so that they may well be designated as "one of Us." For:
1. Adam stood before Him clothed in the righteousness of Christ, which was typified in garments of leather, which the Lord had done for him, because in His design he was to be considered within the Trinity, as was the Lord Jesus, whose righteousness was given to him, for he, to whom it is imputed, there is a righteous man, just as He is righteous. Therefore there is so much likeness between Christ and believers through His completed work, so that He and His Church are called by the same name (Jer. 23:6,16).
2. Adam and Eve were now regenerated by grace to become like the image of Christ, who is the firstborn among many brethren; this is the lot of all the elect, predestined for this by God, and therefore he is one of Us. It is a process of new creation in the image of God, called forth by the Spirit, and through regeneration growing in us everything that gives us the glory of the Person of Christ, and it will be completed in the other world when the saints become like Him and see Him as He is.
3. Adam could now believe that he was in union with the Father, Son, and Spirit, like all believers. This union is very strict and complete, so that the words "one of Us" imply Christ, Who had to be fully manifested in these conditions: "Let them all be one, as You are the Father in Me, and I in You ... so they will be one in Us." This will be fully revealed when we are removed from our present imperfect state.
4. Adam was now in a state of friendship with God. It is true that sin divided and destroyed this former friendship between God and man, but now man was reconciled to God through the intended death of the Son of God, which, according to Adam's faith, was available to him in promise and type, and also through the work of the Spirit of God he was put on the path of salvation to the promised Seed.
Or these words must be considered as expressing the state of Adam before the fall, for they can be interpreted as follows: Behold, this man was like one of Us; this, I believe, is the truest reading and the true meaning of the words. This concept, I believe, is given and affirmed by many Jewish scholars in relation to the share of man in his first creation, for he was in the image and likeness of God, which consisted:
First, in the form and constitution of his body. The body of Christ, which was prepared for Him by God, is undeniably the glory of human nature. It should be noted with what care it was created in the depths of the depths of this world, that is, in the womb of the Virgin, by the power of the blessed Spirit, according to the secret plan of God's eternal mind. Indeed, in the book of His eternal purpose all His members were written, and in the fullness of time they "were fashioned when there was not one of them." It now seems that, in accordance with the idea of the human body of Christ, in the vision of God from time immemorial, the body of Adam was also formed. Christ indeed, as it is said, appeared in the likeness of sinful flesh to taste the same flesh and blood as His children, in order to become like the brethren in everything, who, as it is also said, are of His flesh and of His bones. It may well be that the body of Adam was formed in accordance with the idea of the body of Christ, which was in God's mind from the beginning, and it is certain that the bodies of the saints in the resurrection will be molded in the likeness of the glorious body of Christ (Phil. 3.21). I see no reason why the body of Adam cannot be formed according to the idea of the body of Christ in the mind of God. Therefore it can be said very well of him, especially in his state of innocence, before he sinned and his body began to fall into weakness, sickness and mortality, that he was one of Us. But this is not all that contained the image and likeness of God in him.
Secondly, they also showed up in the rightness of his mind, because God created him right. Man emerged from the hands of his Creator as a holy being. God put in him the image of His holiness, so that he was, to some extent, holy like the Creator. Therefore, in the restored state, he is called a new man, who was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of truth (Eph. 4.24).
Thirdly, this image of God in which man was created manifested itself in the wisdom and knowledge with which he was endowed and which in some cases are revealed to us: he could give names to all creatures, he knew about his wife as soon as she was brought to him, who she is and where she was taken from, and also knew good and evil, as it is said in some readings: behold, this man was like one of Us, knowing good and evil. I know that this is raised as an objection to the given meaning of these words, and it is claimed that Adam did not know good and evil before the fall. It is true that he did not know evil in the same sense as it is said of Christ, that He did not know sin (2 Cor. 5.21), that is, did not know in such a way as to commit it, but knew the nature of this disaster, the clear will of God and its disastrous consequences, and Adam knew this too. But I venture to say that in this sense Adam had a more refined and complete knowledge of good and evil before his fall than afterwards.
Fourthly, this is so because this image also consisted in his power over all beings. In his first creation he was created as their master (Gen. 1:26). It seems that the most important similarity with the Divine majesty is that all creatures had to obey his words, as is very specifically and beautifully described in Ps. 8.5-8. Thus, man was like one of Us, and what words can compare his past with his present state? This man was like one of us, but what is he now? He has changed terribly; he is no longer the man he was; his body, which had been strong, dependable, and free from all disease, now became weak and frail, subject to all sorts of disorders and death itself. Now it is just a house of clay, which has its foundation in the dust, and will soon have to return to its source. His soul, which was created right, is now deprived of its original righteousness and is full of all unrighteousness. His mind, which abounded in all wisdom and knowledge, is now clouded. Man, who was the favorite of heaven and had friendship with his Creator, is now estranged from Him, and he who was the ruler of this world, to whose word every creature obeyed, is now a slave to his own lust, and is afraid of those creatures that were created to his advantage! A strange and sudden change, indeed! Thus, a man in a fallen state no longer possessed that free will that the Jews ascribe to him, as the same Targum of Onkelos says: and the Lord God said: behold, man is the only one in the world who knows good and evil. We have finished with the first part of the text, which speaks of everything relating to the past or present state of man.
II. What does this fence from the tree of life mean: "And now, lest he stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever." Is this a hint that there is such a danger, or, We must take care that he does not, and therefore the person was expelled from paradise, as described further? The meaning may be that man in his original state was like one of Us, but now, due to his sin, he has brought himself into a deplorable state. He has completely changed, he is not the same person that he was before, and seeing that he has become so corrupted, following what a corrupt heart tells him, and a violent fantasy warms up - so that he does not stretch out his hand to eat from the tree of life in order to live forever , it is highly expedient to cast him out of Eden, lest he make such an attempt.
Two things that are important here: I. What was this tree of life. II. Why Adam was forbidden to eat from him after the fall.
I. First of all, consider what the tree of life was. That it was real in the Garden of Eden, and not just an image or an allegory, I have no doubt. It is highly probable that it could be beneficial to Adam's body, preserving it and continuing to live in it in its state of innocence. I will not claim that I can describe this tree, its qualities and fruits, but there can hardly be any doubt that it was also a symbol.
1. It was a sign and a symbol of the dependence of his life on God. When a person saw this tree and could eat from it, he knew that God had given him life, and His presence preserved his soul. He owed his life entirely to God; in Him he lived, moved, and existed.
2. It was a sign and a symbol confirming that a person's life will continue as long as he is obedient to the Divine will. I will not say that this was a confirmation that after some time man was to be introduced into heavenly and supernatural life if he continued to obey the Divine will, for I am convinced that God never intended that man should attain eternal life. simply through obedience to the covenant of works. For, as the apostle said: "If a law had been given that could give life, then truly righteousness would have been from the law" (Gal. 3.21). But that was never God's intention. He gave another way of salvation in His eternal covenant.
3. It could also be a type of Christ, or at least an allusion to His coming in the Old Testament (Prov. 3.18, Rev. 2.7, 22.2, 14), for He is the Author and Master of spiritual and eternal life. As Mediator He was called by His Father in the counsel and covenant of the world. He redeemed Adam with His Blood, and united him to Himself, for "our life is hid with Christ in God."
II. Why was Adam, after his fall, protected from this tree? Some believe that the natural or supernatural forces in the tree could have extended its life after the fall for many centuries or indefinitely, and the reason why God did not give him access to the tree was either compassion for Adam so that he could not live a long and weary life, accompanied by sorrows and sorrows, to which he was now subject, or as a punishment, so that he would not be able to evade the death sentence that was passed on him.
But none of these explanations seem to be correct. Not the first, the former, because it can be concluded that if this tree has the power to prolong life, then it can also save from all the sorrows of the body and the torments of the soul; and not the last, for it is impossible that one could escape from the judgment of God in such a simple way in the wilderness of sin, for this would cast doubt on the veracity and goodness of the words of God. If such a power had been placed in this tree by God that He would deign to remove the consequences of the fall through it, then this would not make any sense for God, and He never set such a goal. We eat every day, and if God withholds the blessing, or takes away the natural power, He will not give any food for our body. So there was no such reason for this tree to be guarded like "a cherub and a flaming sword that turns" to protect it. The real reason for this warning is therefore different.
Adam was not to have any hope of life extension, much less forever, except for Christ, the promised Messiah. Adam might have thought that if this tree was useful to him, in his state of innocence, to keep him alive, then it would be so now, and thus fell into the temptation to forget the promised Seed, from which only he had reason to expect life and salvation. . And now, so that he could not be defeated by this temptation, the Lord saw fit to expel him from paradise and protect the tree. For there is nothing more characteristic of man than to seek life anywhere but in Christ. He has a natural distaste for it. You do not want to come to Me, says Christ, so that you may have life. No, people are ready to go to Mount Sinai or to this world rather than go to Christ, hoping that they can receive life in some other way. But God gave them Christ as the only way of life and salvation, and a person should not come to Him with his works of righteousness, as many want. And therefore the tree is still guarded in such a way that he who strives for righteousness and life, by his own deeds, falls under the flaming sword of justice, and while he seeks to insure his own salvation, he attracts only death to himself. On the whole, I do not consider these words to be related to an imaginary event, that is, what would happen if Adam ate from this tree, but to a vain opinion and foolish expectation that he could achieve life in this way, that is, by himself.
Having explained these words, we will draw some conclusions from them.
1. Let us know, therefore, the miserable and vile nature of sin. How soon man, the crown of God's work in this world, destroyed himself and it! The whole world was under a curse because of him, for "sin entered the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned" (Rom.5.12).
2. Consider the vanity we seek in life on our own. It is not only what God did not create, but also what He is against always and in everything.
3. Let us see the grace of God providing a Savior for fallen man, and the revelation of this was immediately given to him. The Savior was provided before the sin was committed, and was revealed before the man was cast out of the garden, so that he cannot have reason to despair in life.
4. Let's not hold on to the vain meaning of living, what are our deeds, aspirations and what we are trying to show from ourselves, but let's look only at Christ, for He is the Tree of Life for those who hold on to Him, and blessed are those who are kept by Him (Prov. 3.18).
Translation (C) Inquisitor Eisenhorn
In his "Words" Rev. Anastasius interprets the words of God, difficult for exegesis, spoken by the Creator after the fall of the forefathers:The words: Behold, Adam has become- after the crime [commandment] - like one of us(Gen. 3:22) clearly and unambiguously represent the bodily fleshliness of the Incarnation of God the Word, One from the [Holy] Trinity. It should be noted that [only] when [Adam] became material and corruptible, he was told: like one of us. Those who claim that God spoke this, mocking him, the deceived serpent, let them pay attention to the fact that the voice of God is not in tune with the advice of the serpent. For the serpent says: you will be like gods(Gen. 3:5), but God does not say: “Behold, you have become like gods,” but says: . If the serpent with words you will be like gods teaches our forefathers polytheism, then God addresses Adam not on behalf of the multitude, but on behalf of the one [God], and says: Become like one of us, that is, as One of the Holy Trinity. If this utterance were reprehensible, then both should be reproached, and especially the wife who led Adam astray. However, one way or another, but in the dispensation of complex Adam, the sacrament of the Incarnation of Christ was clearly destined, and therefore he is called as if he had become One [of the Holy] Trinity (II, 2, 5).
This Christological interpretation of the verse is quite original in patristic literature. Usually this place is interpreted in a completely different way, and precisely in connection with the words of the serpent. Yes, St. Filaret of Moscow sums up the patristic heritage of the exegesis of words Behold, Adam became like one of Us as follows: "These words obviously correspond to the promise of the tempter you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.(Gen. 3, 5), and therefore, without a doubt, they have a accusatory sign ... So, here is an internal, so to speak, conversation of the Holy Trinity and a new solemn Council about the fate of fallen man, similar to the first Council about his creation. Since the majesty of this action and the majesty of the speaking God does not allow the word of His advice to be taken as a simple stinging reproach, then under the image of mockery one should seek the truth pure and dispassionate, which here can be as follows: a person, having listened to the tempter, not only internally desired to be God, but and by the very deed he fulfilled this desire as much as he could; he can do nothing more for himself; he himself decided his fate: Paradise, a place of trial, is no longer needed for one who has completed his trial. In this vein, this place is interpreted by St. John Chrysostom, and St. Maxim the Confessor.
Rev. Anastasius, as we see, argues that Adam became material and corruptible only after the fall. Before eating the forbidden fruit, he had another - imperishable, immortal and close to insubstantial - body, and only after the seduction of the serpent was he dressed in "leather robes", that is, real flesh:
Adam reflects and pre-impresses the Incarnation and the bodily flesh of the human birth of the incorruptible and immaterial God the Word, and in the fact that instead of the imperishable, immortal and close to the immaterial body that he possessed [before the fall], he was re-clothed by God in the current body - more stout and passionate . This example, I mean the nakedness and dressing of Adam, shows, as it also appears to the divine Gregory, that the naked and uncovered God the Word will be covered and clothed in some not made by hands and God-created, leather and carnal robes of our nature. Therefore, man was created naked and was not self-clothed like cattle and birds, which have [naturally] their own cover due to feathers, thick skin, wool and hair. And the man, being [initially] naked, incorruptible and immortal, [then] was clothed in seedless leather vestments in the image and likeness of the naked Word (II, 3, 1).
St. Gregory the Theologian in Word 45 “On Holy Pascha”: “When, because of the envy and seduction of the wife, to which she was subjected as the weakest and which she carried out as skilled in persuasion ..., the man forgot the commandment given to him and was defeated by a bitter taste; then, through sin, he becomes an exile, removed at the same time from the tree of life, and from paradise, and from God, clothed in leather robes (perhaps in the coarsest, mortal and opposing flesh), for the first time he knows his own shame and hides from God. However, even here it acquires something, namely death - in the suppression of sin, so that evil does not become immortal.
If from the words of St. Gregory, it can be assumed that these robes were really removed from the animals slain by God, mortal by nature, why Adam became mortal, then St. Anastassy insists on the divine nature of these robes. Our stout body is also a creation of God (albeit after the fall), for it symbolizes the human nature of Christ:
God [clothed Adam] without stripping off and taking away [these garments] from any livestock, but seedlessly and divinely placed him over [every other] nature. Hence, these robes are not bestial, do not originate in an unreasonable nature, but, like man himself, were created by the hand of God. After all, [thus] the God-created and seedless flesh of God the Word is clearly and undoubtedly destined, which God [Himself] made for Him, just as Jacob created a motley robe for his own son Joseph (Gen. 37, 3). And if garments of skin did not ordain the Incarnation of the naked second Adam, why did not God clothe him in garments of fine linen, linen, or [woven] of some other material? (II, 3, 1).
So, we again encounter in the "Words" of St. Anastasia with the possibility of revealing some meanings in the likeness in time, not immediately at creation, but later, perhaps even after the fall. Let us recall our reasoning in Chapter III about the image of the Trinity in the division of mankind into hypostases. That meaning in the likeness prompted us to think that Sinai assumed the possibility of the birth of children and Adam and Eve even before the fall. We now see that his interpretation of the leather vestments rules out this possibility. Such a contradiction can be explained not only by the fact that the figurative thinking of the Reverend Father is characterized by enthusiasm and some inaccuracy and inconsistency. As well as there, here Sinai admits the possibility of revealing the image of God in man in time. After all, even those Holy Fathers who used the anthropological analogy in Christology thereby admitted that a person acquires the image of Christ not immediately at creation, but after the Incarnation of God the Word:
Some argue that man was created in the image of God when the image of God the Word began to dwell in him, and [created] in the likeness he was when he rose from the dead with Christ and sat down with Him on the throne of the Cherubim, becoming the co-throne of God the Father and Holy Spirit. [Only] then, [in their opinion], the words spoken by God truly befit Adam: “Behold, Adam has become like one of Us” (Gen. 3, 22) (II, 4, 1).
Christmas for us is like an outstretched hand. For us, this holiday is symbolized for us with the darkness of the night, parted by the light of the fire in the den, angelic singing and the evergreen symbol of the tree of paradise, but simply a Christmas tree. We are in the family circle. We are like the Trinity. But for God, this holiday did not begin so joyfully at all. From the first minutes of His life there was a danger of being killed and rejected.
Never say:
Nobody loves me!
God is ready to insert each of us, like a great jewel, like a pearl, into a diadem that adorns the created world. We can see the visible ideal image of love in the Trinity.
The culmination of the icon is the bowl of the sacrifice of love. Thus, the ideal of love is mutual dissolution in something else, the formation of the likeness of the Trinity between people. The Russian language is not rich in theological terms, and therefore, if the purpose and meaning of our life can be most briefly outlined, then it can be expressed as a sacrifice of Divine love, leading to lost communion with God, in the fullness of all mankind. We are created in His image.
-And God said: Let us make man in Our image [and] in Our likeness...
“And the Lord God said, Behold, Adam has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil…
We are like the Trinity. If there is a misunderstanding between loved ones, then the strongest will be the first to meet and give a hand. Christmas is a clear example of this and proof that no matter what happens to us, he is the only one who is ready to see a bright image in us again and again and endlessly wait for our reciprocal love. Christmas for us is like an outstretched hand. For us, this holiday is symbolized for us with the darkness of the night, parted by the light of the fire in the den, angelic singing and the evergreen symbol of the tree of paradise, but simply a Christmas tree. We see this holiday both in a large family - the temple, and in a small one - in the family. We are in the family circle. We are like the Trinity.
But for God, this holiday did not begin so joyfully at all. It is we who come out of the darkness into the light, and He had to enter the world frozen from sin and cruelty. From the first minutes of the incarnation, the question arose of the joint work of God and man, of synergy. From the first minutes of his life, Christ was in danger of being killed and rejected.
The birth of Jesus Christ was like this:
... after the betrothal of His Mother Mary to Joseph, before they were combined, it turned out that She was pregnant with the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, being righteous and not wanting to publicize her, wanted to secretly let her go ...
Righteous Joseph the Betrothed, having accepted into his house a maiden, almost a child, was obliged to keep her clean. Seeing her not idle, he had to go with her to the court of the elders. They were obliged to condemn her to death. Such as:
About three months passed, and they said to Judah, saying: Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has fallen into fornication, and, behold, she is pregnant from fornication. Judas said, bring her out and let her be burned. Judas (Gen. 38)
That is, Mary and the fetus of her womb had to be killed in the first days of His incarnation. This could be called a miracle if it were not actually the norm. It's just that we forget about the basics of the structure of this world, and such incidents seem like a miracle to us. Righteousness, the soul open to God easily hears His voice! Such people easily hear the sky. Joseph - this fortress and decoration of the Law, rejected the Law of right for the sake of the Law of love, easily accepting the words of an angel with a pure soul. Righteousness revealed to him the will of God clearly and simply:
“O Joseph, why do you not want to accept Mary as your wife? »
Just as subtly and delicately, Mary, piously loving the righteous, Mary did not strain Joseph
Together with Joseph, the Blessed Virgin also suffered in soul: She could not help but notice his heartache, at a time when he, by his silence, tried to alleviate Her predicament and looked for means to end his difficulty.
How many kinds of love intertwined in them. How subtly delightful is the nobility of loving souls!
And then the quivering protection of the Magi Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, who risked their lives in the face of the insidious Herod, extends over the Divine Infant. They continue the line of human complicity in God's providence. The hospitality of the people who let the Holy Family into the cave, the touching sacrifice of the poor shepherds, who brought their simple sacrifice to the Infant - a bow, also falls into the canvas. The angels brought singing. We see three types of human activity: pragmatics bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh, creativity - angelic singing and just a bow, as the embodiment of love with your whole life. The three gifts of God, developed by labors, brought their special sacrifice as a prototype of the vast and diverse ministry of people.
We see a marvelous chorus of love that engulfed heaven and earth in this impulse of sacrifice from God to people and from people to God. And this again brings to mind the peculiarity of the graphics of the icon of the Trinity Rublev - the intersection of circles - as the basis of its composition.
In Ukraine, one can often see nativity scenes built in full size. For us, Russians, it is a wonder to stand next to the figures of shepherds, the Magi, at the shoulder of the righteous Joseph and at arm's length from the Virgin Mary. In our culture, closeness is symbolic and is expressed as a maximum closeness to the highly conventional images of characters that we are used to seeing on the icon. We even welcome some detachment of the participants in the plot of the icon through the deliberately conditional and transformed language of the transformed reality. When I stood next to such a den in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, I shuddered in surprise. A baby resembling a doll, hay over a manger, painted magi at first repulsed me, but in addition to the head, the heart turned on ... and it was happy.
The childish faith of the author of this den cannot be overlooked. It is impossible not to notice the love that is invested in these dens throughout Europe. I see how my child rejoices, meeting with the eyes of angels over the manger, the blue eyes of Christ, lights and little animals. There is something of truth in this. There is something from the understanding of faith, according to the word of the Apostle Paul, as "the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." That is, faith is such a state when the realities of the heavenly world are perceived as clearly as visible life.
The only thing that these installations may lack is a more conscious and responsible understanding that we are not spectators behind the glass of these figurative compositions, but real participants. Companions not to a matinee, but to the real cycle of love in the Universe. Perhaps we lack sobriety and determination to enter this harsh and beautiful world by accepting the strengthening grace of God and lavishing our love.
The star shone brightly from the sky.
The cold wind raked the snow into a snowdrift.
Rustling sand. The fire crackled at the entrance.The smoke was like a candle. The fire curled up.
And the shadows got shorter
then suddenly longer. Nobody around knew
that the account of life will begin from this night.The wolves have arrived. The baby was fast asleep.
Steep vaults surrounded the manger.
The snow swirled. White steam swirled.
The baby lay, and the gifts lay.
“What can be more shameful than death on the cross? What could be more humiliating, more shameful than being born in a den? There, the Son of God was counted among the “villains”, but in the den, a child of shame is usually born, and foundlings are left in the manger. These are the children among whom the Son of God was pleased to “see the light”! (...) birth in a den and reclining in a cattle manger was necessary ... so that everyone who has to be “ashamed” of their birth, all children of dens, dens, flophouses, foundlings, adopted children, feel like children of God, so that not a single person, through the fault of fate, circumstances of birth, was not excluded from the kingdom of God"
arch. Alexander Tuberovsky.
For many of us, within ourselves, Christmas never happened. For many, Christ remained the Heavenly Council
It is very important and easy to understand the essence of Christmas: why did God need such a sacrifice of love? Why was He born not to a royal family, but to a carpenter's family? Why, instead of negotiating with Pilate, the Jewish kings and priests, on the contrary, he behaved defiantly defiantly. Why was He born to be crucified? All these events have one important denominator, which we must understand, because only after this we become Christians not in name, but in essence. Only after understanding the meaning of Christ's mission are we ourselves able to become His disciples and follow Him. If for us Christmas is just a night service or a hut in Kiev, then we did not understand anything. We, as first-graders, will be given this lesson again and again, until we clearly understand with all the fullness of our being that life is love in God. And love is about sacrifice. Being a Christian means following Christ to enter this world filled with ice of cruelty and calculation, carrying your little cross - the key to the Kingdom of Heaven. And it is impossible to do this if there is no love. As Yesenin wrote:
We all loved during these years,
But that means they loved us too.
From the Nativity Apostle:
And since you are sons, God has sent into your hearts the Spirit of His Son, crying out: “Abba, Father!” Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Jesus Christ.
That is, if it seems to us that we are not loved, then first of all, this is a symptom of the fact that we ourselves do not love anyone. And most importantly, this means that not only do we not love God, we do not even know who He is.
The first steps with God are not so difficult. Christmas took place not in sea foam and not from the womb of the earth, but in a quiet family. Let the simplest steps we, as well as the first minutes of the life of Christ, begin in our family. Our heart must become a new manger for Christ, and we must become His new helpers. Someone, like the Magi, with the gifts of the mind, bringing Him frankincense, gold and myrrh. Some are like angels - singing and doxology and other creativity. And someone, like sensitive-hearted and poor shepherds, with an open heart to God, witnessing his sacrifice with a simple bow before the splendor of Love.
The Lord loves us! Teach me, O Lord, Thy love.
PRIEST KONSTANTIN KAMYSHANOV
Loading...