20. Same Subject Continued.

Thus, for example, the Patriarch Jacob was favoured in his flight with many, even divine visions, and remaining quiet himself, he had the Lord on his side, rebuking Laban, and hindering the designs of Esau; and afterwards he became the Father of Judah, of whom sprang the Lord according to the flesh; and he dispensed the blessings to the Patriarchs. And when Moses the beloved of God was in exile, then it was that he saw that great sight, and being preserved from his persecutors, was sent as a prophet into Egypt, and being made the minister of those mighty wonders and of the Law, he led that great people in the wilderness. And David when he was persecuted wrote the Psalm, ‘My heart uttered a good word90    Ps. xlv. 1.;’ and, ‘Our God shall come even visibly, and shall not keep silence91    Ps. l. 3, LXX..’ And again he speaks more confidently, saying, ‘Mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies92    Ps. liv. 7.;’ and again, ‘In God have I put my trust; I will not be afraid what man can do unto me93    Ps. lvi. 11..’ And when he fled and escaped from the face of Saul ‘to the cave,’ he said, ‘He hath sent from heaven and hath saved me. He hath given them to reproach that would tread me under their feet. God hath sent His mercy and truth, and hath delivered my soul from the midst of lions94    Ps. lvii. 3..’ Thus he too was saved according to the dispensation of God, and afterwards became king, and received the promise, that from his seed our Lord should issue. And the great Elijah, when he withdrew to mount Carmel, called upon God, and destroyed at once more than four hundred prophets of Baal; and when there were sent to take him two captains of fifty with their hundred men, he said, ‘Let fire come down from heaven95    2 Kings i. 10.,’ and thus rebuked them. And he too was preserved, so that he anointed Elisha in his own stead, and became a pattern of discipline for the sons of the prophets. And the blessed Paul, after writing these words, ‘what persecutions I endured; but out of them all the Lord delivered me, and will deliver96    2 Tim. iii. 11.;’ could speak more confidently and say, ‘But in all these things we are more than conquerors, for nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ97    Rom. viii. 35, 37..’ For then it was that he was caught up to the third heaven, and admitted into paradise, where he heard ‘unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter98    2 Cor. xii. 4..’ And for this end was he then preserved, that ‘from Jerusalem even unto Illyricum’ he might ‘fully preach the Gospel99    Rom. xv. 19..’

20 Ὁ γοῦν πατριάρχης Ἰακὼβ φεύγων πλειόνων ὀπτασιῶν, καὶ τούτων θείων, κατηξιοῦτο· καὶ μᾶλλον ἠρεμῶν αὐτὸς ἔσχεν ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ τὸν Κύριον τὸν μὲν Λάβαν ἐντρέ ποντα, τὸν δὲ Ἡσαῦ ἐμποδίζοντα. Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα γέγονε τοῦ Ἰούδα πατήρ, ἐξ οὗ κατὰ σάρκα ἀνέτειλεν ὁ Κύριος, καὶ τὰς εὐλογίας τοῖς πατριάρχαις διηκόνησε. Μωσῆς τε ὁ θεοφιλής, ὅτε ἔφευγε, τότε καὶ τὴν μεγάλην ὅρασιν εἶδε, καὶ διασωθεὶς ἀπὸ τῶν διωκόντων, προφήτης εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἀπεστέλλετο, διάκονός τε τῶν τοσούτων σημείων καὶ τοῦ νόμου γενόμενος καθηγήσατο τοῦ τοσούτου λαοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ∆αυὶδ διωκόμενος ἐδίδασκεν· «ἐξηρεύ ξατο ἡ καρδία μου λόγον ἀγαθόν» καὶ «ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ἐμφανῶς ἥξει· ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν καὶ οὐ παρασιωπήσεται»· καὶ μᾶλλον δὲ ἴσχυε λέγων· «ἐν τοῖς ἐχθροῖς μου ἐπεῖδεν ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου», καὶ πάλιν «ἐπὶ τῷ θεῷ ἤλπισα, οὐ φοβηθήσομαι τί ποιήσει μοι ἄνθρωπος». Φεύγων τε καὶ ἀποδιδράσκων ἀπὸ προσώπου Σαοὺλ εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον, ἔλεγεν· «ἐξαπέστειλεν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἔσωσέ με, ἔδωκεν εἰς ὄνειδος τοὺς κατα πατοῦντάς με· ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐρρύσατο τὴν ψυχήν μου ἐκ μέσου σκύμνων». Οὕτω δὲ σωθεὶς κατ' οἰκονομίαν καὶ αὐτὸς γέγονε μετὰ ταῦτα βασιλεύς, καὶ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν ἔσχεν ἐκ σπέρματος αὐτοῦ τοῦ τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν ἀνατεῖλαι. Ὁ δὲ μέγας Ἠλίας ἀναχωρῶν εἰς τὸ Καρμήλιον ὄρος ἐπεκαλεῖτο τὸν Θεόν, καὶ τοὺς μὲν τῆς Βάαλ προφήτας τετρακοσίους ὄντας καὶ πλείους ἀθρόως ἀπήλειψε, τοὺς δὲ πεμφθέντας ἐπ' αὐτὸν δύο πεντηκοντάρχους μετὰ τῶν ἑκατόν, λέγων· «καταβήτω πῦρ ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ», ἐν τούτῳ καὶ τούτοις ἐπετίμησε· τετήρηται δὲ καὶ αὐτός, ὥστε τὸν Ἐλισσαῖον ἀνθ' ἑαυτοῦ χρῖσαι καὶ τύπος εἰς ἄσκησιν γενέσθαι τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν προφητῶν. Παῦλος δὲ ὁ μακάριος γράφων· «οἵους διωγμοὺς ὑπήνεγκα, καὶ ἐκ πάντων με ἐρρύσατο ὁ Κύριος καὶ ῥύσεται» μᾶλλον ἴσχυε λέγων· «ἀλλ' ἐν τούτοις πᾶσιν ὑπερνικῶμεν, οὐδὲν γὰρ ἡμᾶς χωρίσει ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ»· τότε γὰρ καὶ «ἕως τρίτου οὐρανοῦ ἡρπάσθη καὶ εἰς τὸν παράδεισον» ἀπηνέχθη, ἔνθα «καὶ ἤκουσεν ἄρρητα ῥήματα ἃ μὴ ἐξὸν ἀνθρώπῳ λαλῆσαι» διὰ τοῦτο καὶ πεφύλακται, «ὥστε ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ μέχρι τοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ, πληρῶσαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον».