glory to God those who do things contrary to the glory of God through their sins. 12.12 “Give glory to the Lord our God before it grows dark, before your feet stumble on dark mountains.” There are certain dark mountains, <there are certain bright mountains>; but since both are mountains, both are great. The bright mountains are the holy angels of God, the prophets, Moses the servant, the apostles of Jesus Christ. All these are bright mountains, and concerning these I think it has been said in the Psalms: “His foundations are in the holy mountains.” But what are the dark mountains? Those who raise up lofty things against the knowledge of God. The devil is a dark mountain, the rulers of this age who are being brought to nothing are dark mountains, and the demon of lunacy was a mountain, and it was a dark mountain, concerning which the Savior said: “You will say to this mountain.” For when the account of the lunatic was being discussed and the disciples were saying, “Why could we not cast it out?,” the Savior answers that “if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain”—concerning which you proposed, concerning which you inquired—“you will say to this mountain: ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.” “From here” means from the man, “to there” means to its own place. Those who stumble, therefore, do not stumble on bright mountains, but on dark mountains, when they come to be with the devil and his angels, the dark mountains. “And you will wait for light.” However, “and you will wait for light” can be connected with “give glory to the Lord our God.” <If you give “glory to the Lord our God> before it grows dark, before your feet stumble on dark mountains,” it is clear that, even if it grows dark, “you will await the light” and the light will receive you. But another might say (I do not know whether thinking soundly or not) that even those who stumble “on dark mountains” will wait among the dark mountains, awaiting the light of mercy; for this will seem to be “and you will wait for light.” But when one comes to the dark mountains, let us see what is there: “the shadow of death.” Where the dark mountains are, there is the shadow of death, born from the dark mountains themselves; 12.13 “and they will be put into darkness.” “But if you do not listen in secret, your soul will weep because of insolence.” Of those who listen, some listen in secret, but others, even if they listen, do not listen in secret. What then is it to listen in secret, but “we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages for our glory”? And again it is said elsewhere that “most of the works of God are in secret.” If I listen to the law, I either listen in secret or I do not listen in secret. The Jew does not listen to the law in secret; for this reason he is circumcised openly, not knowing that “he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.” But he who listens to circumcision in secret will be circumcised in secret; he who listens to the laws concerning the Passover in secret, eats from the lamb, Christ (for “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed”), and knowing what the flesh of the Word is, and knowing that “it is true food,” he partakes of it; for he listened to the Passover in secret. But this common Jew for this reason killed the Lord Jesus and is guilty even today of the murder of Jesus, since he did not listen in secret to either the law or the prophets. If you read concerning the unleavened bread, it is possible to listen in secret, it is possible to listen openly to the commandment. As many of you (for the Passover is near) who keep the unleavened bread, the physical unleavened bread, you are not listening to the commandment that says: “If you do not listen in secret, your soul will weep.” And concerning the Sabbath, women not having listened to the prophet do not listen in secret, but listen openly. They do not wash on the Sabbath day, they return “to the weak and worthless elemental things,” as if Christ had not come, who perfects us and transfers us from the legal elements to the perfection of the gospel. For this reason let us pay attention when reading the law and
δόξαν τῷ θεῷ οἱ τὰ ἐναντία τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ θεοῦ ποιοῦντες διὰ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων. 12.12 «∆ότε δόξαν κυρίῳ. τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν πρὸ τοῦ συσκοτάσαι, πρὸ τοῦ προσκόψαι τοὺς πόδας ὑμῶν ἐπ' ὄρη σκοτεινά». ἔστι τινὰ ὄρη σκοτεινά, <ἔστι τινὰ ὄρη φωτεινά>· πλὴν ἐπ<εὶ> ὄρη ἑκάτερα, μεγάλα ἑκάτερα. φωτεινὰ ὄρη οἱ ἅγιοι ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ, οἱ προφῆται, Μωσῆς ὁ θεράπων, οἱ ἀπόστολοι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. ταῦτα πάντα ὄρη ἐστὶ φωτεινά, καὶ περὶ τούτων νομίζω λελέχθαι ἐν τοῖς Ψαλμοῖς· «οἱ θεμέλιοι αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι τοῖς ἁγίοις». ποῖα δὲ ὄρη σκοτεινά; οἱ τὰ ὑψώματα ἐπαίροντες κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ. ὁ διάβολος ὄρος σκοτεινόν ἐστιν, οἱ ἄρχοντες τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου οἱ καταργού μενοι ὄρη εἰσὶ σκοτεινὰ καὶ τὸ δαιμόνιον ὁ σεληνιασμὸς ὄρος ἦν, καὶ σκοτεινὸν ὄρος ἦν, περὶ οὗ ἔλεγεν ὁ σωτήρ· «ἐρεῖτε τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ». περὶ γὰρ σεληνιασμοῦ τοῦ λόγου ζητουμένου καὶ λεγόντων τῶν μαθητῶν· «διὰ τί οὐκ ἠδυνήθημεν ἐκβαλεῖν αὐτό», ἀποκρίνεται ὁ σωτὴρ ὅτι «ἐὰν ἔχητε πίστιν ὡς κόκκον σινάπεως, ἐρεῖτε τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ», περὶ οὗ προετείνατε, περὶ οὗ ἐζητήσατε, «ἐρεῖτε τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ· μετάβα ἔνθεν ἐκεῖ, καὶ μεταβήσεται». «ἔνθεν» ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, «ἐκεῖ» ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον τὸν οἰκεῖον αὐτοῦ. οἱ οὖν προσ κόπτοντες οὐ προσκόπτουσιν ἐπὶ ὄρη φωτεινά, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ ὄρη σκοτεινά, ὅταν γένωνται μετὰ τοῦ διαβόλου καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ, τῶν σκοτεινῶν ὀρέων. «Καὶ ἀναμενεῖτε εἰς φῶς». δύναται μέντοι συνάπτεσθαι τῷ «δότε κυρίῳ τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν δόξαν» <τὸ «καὶ ἀναμενεῖτε εἰς φῶς». ἐὰν δῶτε «κυρίῳ τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν δόξαν> πρὸ τοῦ συσκοτάσαι, πρὸ τοῦ προσκόψαι τοὺς πόδας ὑμῶν ἐπὶ ὄρη σκοτεινά», δῆλον ὅτι, κἂν συσκοτάσῃ, «ἀνα μενεῖτε τὸ φῶς» καὶ τὸ φῶς ὑμᾶς διαδέξεται. ἄλλος δὲ εἴποι ἄν (οὐκ οἶδα πότερον ὑγιῶς νοῶν ἢ μή), ὅτι καὶ οἱ προσκόπτοντες «ἐπ' ὄρη σκοτεινὰ» ἀναμενοῦσι παρὰ τοῖς ὄρεσι τοῖς σκοτεινοῖς ἀναμένοντες τὸ τοῦ ἐλέου φῶς· τοῦτο γὰρ εἶναι δόξει τὸ «καὶ ἀναμενεῖτε εἰς φῶς». ἐπὰν δὲ ἔλθῃ τις ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη τὰ σκοτεινά, ἴδωμεν τί ἐστιν ἐκεῖ· «σκιὰ θανάτου». ὅπου τὰ σκοτεινὰ ὄρη, ἐκεῖ σκιὰ θανάτου ἀπ' αὐτῶν τῶν σκοτεινῶν ὀρέων γεννωμένη· 12.13 «καὶ τεθήσονται εἰς σκότος». «Ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀκούσητε κεκρυμμένως, κλαύσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ὑμῶν ἀπὸ προσώπου ὕβρεως». τῶν ἀκουόντων οἱ μὲν κεκρυμμένως ἀκούουσιν, οἱ δέ, κἂν ἀκούσωσιν, οὐ κεκρυμμένως ἀκούουσι. τί οὖν ἐστι τὸ κεκρυμμένως ἀκούειν ἢ τὸ «ἀλλὰ λαλοῦμεν θεοῦ σοφίαν ἐν μυστηρίῳ τὴν ἀποκεκρυμμένην, ἣν προώρισεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων εἰς δόξαν ἡμῶν»; καὶ πάλιν ἀλλαχοῦ λέγεται, ὅτι «τὰ πλείονα τῶν ἔργων τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν ἐν ἀποκρύφοις». ἐὰν ἀκούω τοῦ νόμου, ἤτοι κεκρυμμένως ἀκούω ἢ οὐκ ἀκούω κεκρυμμένως. ὁ Ἰουδαῖος οὐκ ἀκούει κεκρυμμένως τοῦ νόμου· διὰ τοῦτο φανερῶς περιτέμνεται, οὐκ εἰδὼς ὅτι οὐχ «ὁ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ Ἰουδαῖός ἐστιν, οὐδὲ ἡ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ ἐν σαρκὶ περιτομή». ὁ δὲ ἀκούων τῆς περιτομῆς κεκρυμ μένως, ἐν κρυπτῷ περιτμηθήσεται· ὁ ἀκούων τῶν περὶ τοῦ πάσχα νενομοθετημένων κεκρυμμένως, ἐσθίει ἀπὸ τοῦ προβάτου Χριστοῦ («τὸ» γὰρ «πάσχα ἡμῶν ἐτύθη Χριστός»), καὶ εἰδὼς τὴν σάρκα τοῦ λόγου ὁποία ἐστί, καὶ εἰδὼς ὅτι «ἀληθής ἐστι βρῶσις», μεταλαμβάνει ταύτης· κεκρυμμένως γὰρ ἤκουσε τοῦ πάσχα. ὁ δὲ πολὺς οὗτος Ἰουδαῖος διὰ τοῦτο τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν ἀπέκτεινε καὶ ἔνοχος καὶ σήμερόν ἐστι τῷ φόνῳ Ἰησοῦ, ἐπεὶ μὴ κεκρυμμένως μήτε τοῦ νόμου μήτε τῶν προφητῶν ἤκουσεν. ἐὰν ἀναγινώσκῃς περὶ τῶν ἀζύμων, ἔστιν ἀκοῦσαι κεκρυμμένως, ἔστιν ἀκοῦσαι φανερῶς τῆς ἐντολῆς. ὅσοι ἐν ὑμῖν (ἐγγὺς γάρ ἐστι τὸ πάσχα) ἄζυμα ἄγετε, τὰ ἄζυμα τὰ σωματικά, οὐκ ἀκούετε τῆς λεγούσης ἐντολῆς· «ἐὰν μὴ ἀκούσητε κεκρυμμένως, κλαύσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ὑμῶν». καὶ περὶ σαββάτου γυναῖκες μὴ ἀκούσασαι τοῦ προφήτου οὐκ ἀκούουσι κεκρυμμένως, ἀλλὰ ἀκούουσι φανερῶς. οὐ λούονται τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ σαββάτου, ἐπανέρχονται «ἐπὶ τὰ πτωχὰ καὶ ἀσθενῆ στοιχεῖα», ὡς Χριστοῦ μὴ ἐπιδεδημηκότος, τοῦ τελειοῦντος ἡμᾶς καὶ διαβιβάζοντος ἀπὸ τῶν νομικῶν στοιχείων ἐπὶ τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν τελειότητα. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο προσέχωμεν ἀναγινώσκοντες τὸν νόμον καὶ