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I come to the fig tree seeking fruit on it, and I do not find any. Cut it down. Why does it even make the ground useless? But he said this, provoking the farmer to care for it, and stirring up the fruitless soul to produce the fruits proper to it. What we are saying can be found more clearly in Jeremiah: For behold (he says), as the clay of the potter, so are you in my hands, O house of Israel, says the Lord. At one moment I will speak concerning a nation, or concerning a kingdom, to pluck them up and to destroy them. And if that nation turns from their evil, I will repent of the evil which I thought to do to them. And at another moment I will speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it. And they will do evil before me, so as not to hear my voice; and I will repent of the good things which I spoke of doing for them. Thus, therefore, here also we understand the prophecy not as a decree of what will certainly come to pass, but as a threat bringing about a turning from sin. What then are the things he threatens? 5.145 I will take away its hedge, and it shall be for plundering; and I will break down its wall, and it shall be for trampling. And I will let my vineyard go, and it shall not be pruned, nor shall it be dug; and thorns shall come up on it as on barren land. And I will command the clouds not to rain rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel, and a man of Judah a beloved new plant. I waited for it to bring forth judgment, but it produced lawlessness; and not righteousness, but a cry. Taking up, therefore, and examining each of the threatened things and testing their meaning, let us investigate whether what is said applies also to us. I will break down (he says) its hedge. It is fitting to understand the commandments of the law as a hedge, that is Israel, from the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, who says that He is the one who broke down the middle wall of the hedge, having abolished the law of commandments in ordinances. For the same thing seemed to be both a protection for Israel, and a hindrance to the mingling and union of the peoples, who shrank from accepting the word of piety because of the heavy yoke of the law. He, therefore, who abolished in ordinances, that is, in lofty contemplations, the carnal and humble observance of the legal letter, he himself broke down the middle wall of the hedge, not leaving his own people without a hedge, but enclosing them in one fold, that there might be one flock, one shepherd. Now therefore the word threatens to tear down the hedge, that is, to remove every protection of Israel. And perhaps since the law was given through Angels in the hand of a Mediator, it hints that he will remove the guard of the Angels, who watch over the boundaries of Israel. Lest perhaps each of us also (having a holy Angel encamping round about those who fear the Lord), being examined in our sins, should become liable to the threatened blow, and be stripped of the wall of safety from the holy Powers, which, as long as they are present, preserve indestructible those who are guarded by them. But every soul stripped of this safety is exposed to plunder by the enemies, that is, to the opposing energies, and to the trampling of him who boasts and says, 'Having walked through the inhabited world, I am present.' The Psalm also says something like this about a vine: Why have you broken down its hedge? And the boar from the wood has ravaged it. For those not hedged in by reason and angelic power are given over to irrational movements, and, because of the overwhelming stench of sin in them, they are fit for the reception of swine, which stir up the mire of sin even more and wallow in it. The Apostle also says something similar: And as they did not see fit to have God in their knowledge, God gave them over to dishonorable passions, to do things that are not proper. That is: those who the protection from the word

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ἔρχομαι ἐπὶ τὴν συκῆν ζητῶν καρπὸν ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ οὐχ εὑρίσκω. Ἔκκοψον αὐτήν. Ἵνα τί καὶ τὴν γῆν καταργεῖ; Τοῦτο δὲ ἔλεγεν, ἐρεθίζων μὲν τὸν γεωργὸν εἰς τὴν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς ἐπιμέλειαν, διεγείρων δὲ τὴν ἄκαρπον ψυχὴν εἰς τὸ ποιεῖν τοὺς ἐπιβάλλοντας αὐτῇ καρπούς. Ὃ δὲ λέγομεν, σαφέστερον παρὰ τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ ἐστὶν εὑ ρεῖν· Ἰδοὺ γὰρ (φησὶ) ὡς ὁ πηλὸς τοῦ κεραμέως, οὕτως ἐστὲ ὑμεῖς ἐν ταῖς χερσί μου, οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ, λέγει Κύ ριος. Πέρας λαλήσω ἐπὶ ἔθνος, ἢ ἐπὶ βασιλείαν, τοῦ ἐξᾶραι αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀπολλύειν. Καὶ ἐπιστρέψει τὸ ἔθνος ἐκεῖνο ἀπὸ τῶν κακῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ μετανοήσω περὶ τῶν κακῶν, ὧν ἐλογισάμην τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτοῖς. Καὶ πέρας λαλήσω ἐπὶ ἔθνος καὶ ἐπὶ βασιλείαν, τοῦ ἀνοικοδομεῖσθαι καὶ τοῦ καταφυτεύεσθαι. Καὶ ποιήσουσι τὰ πονηρὰ ἐναντίον μου, τοῦ μὴ ἀκούειν τῆς φωνῆς μου· καὶ μετανοήσω περὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν, ὧν ἐλάλησα τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτοῖς. Οὕτως οὖν καὶ ἐνταῦθα δεχόμεθα τὴν πρόῤῥησιν, οὐκ ἀπόφασιν τοῦ πάντως ἐκβησομένου, ἀλλ' ἀπειλὴν ἐπιστροφὴν ἐμποιοῦντος ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Τί οὖν ἐστιν ἃ ἀπειλεῖ; 5.145 Ἀφελῶ τὸν φραγμὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔσται εἰς διαρ παγήν· καὶ καθελῶ τὸν τοῖχον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔσται εἰς κατα πάτημα. Καὶ ἀνήσω τὸν ἀμπελῶνά μου, καὶ οὐ μὴ τμηθῇ, οὐδὲ μὴ σκαφῇ καὶ ἀναβήσεται εἰς αὐτὸν ὡς εἰς χέρσον ἄκανθα. Καὶ ταῖς νεφέλαις ἐντελοῦμαι τοῦ μὴ βρέξαι εἰς αὐτὸν ὑετόν. Ὁ γὰρ ἀμπελὼν Κυρίου, οἶκος τοῦ Ἰσραήλ ἐστι, καὶ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ Ἰούδα νεόφυτον ἠγαπημένον. Ἔμεινα τοῦ ποιῆσαι κρίσιν, ἐποίησε δὲ ἀνομίαν· καὶ οὐ δικαιο σύνην, ἀλλὰ κραυγήν. Ἀναλαβόντες τοίνυν καὶ καθ' ἕκαστον τῶν ἠπειλημένων ἐξετάσαντες καὶ βασανίσαντες αὐτῶν τὸν νοῦν, ἐρευνήσω μεν μήτι καὶ ἡμῶν ἅπτεται τὰ λεγόμενα. Καθελῶ (φησὶ) τὸν φραγμὸν αὐτοῦ. Προσήκει μὲν τὰς νομικὰς ἐντολὰς φραγμὸν ὑπονοῆσαι, ἤτοι τὸν Ἰσραὴλ, ἐκ τῆς πρὸς Ἐφεσίους Ἐπιστολῆς τοῦ Παύλου, λέγοντος, ὅτι Αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ τὸ μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ λύσας, τὸν νόμον τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐν δόγμασι καταργήσας. Τὸ γὰρ αὐτὸ ἐδόκει καὶ φυλακτήριον εἶναι τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ κωλυτικὸν τῆς ἐπιμι ξίας καὶ τῆς ἑνώσεως τῶν λαῶν, διὰ τὸν βαρὺν ζυγὸν τοῦ νόμου ἀποκνούντων εἰς τὴν παραδοχὴν τοῦ λόγου τῆς εὐ σεβείας. Ὁ οὖν ἐν δόγμασι, τουτέστιν ἐν θεωρήμασιν ὑψηλοῖς τὴν σαρκίνην καὶ ταπεινὴν τοῦ νομικοῦ γράμματος παρατήρησιν καταργήσας, αὐτὸς ἔλυσε τοῦ φραγμοῦ τὸ με σότοιχον, οὐκ ἀπερίφρακτον καταλιμπάνων τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λαὸν, ἀλλὰ μιᾷ περιλαμβάνου αὐλῇ, ἵνα γένηται μία ποίμνη, εἷς ποιμήν. Νῦν οὖν ἀπειλεῖ ὁ λόγος καθαιρήσειν τὸν φραγμόν, τουτέστι πᾶν φυλακτήριον τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ περιαιρήσειν. Καὶ τάχα ἐπειδὴ ∆ι' Ἀγγέλων ἐδόθη ὁ νόμος ἐν χειρὶ Μεσίτου, καὶ τὴν τῶν Ἀγγέλων φυλακὴν, τῶν φρουρούντων τὰ ὅρια τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, περιαιρήσειν αἰνίττεται. Μήποτε δὲ καὶ ἡμῶν ἕκαστος (ἔχων Ἄγγελον ἅγιον τὸν παρεμβάλλοντα κύκλῳ τῶν φοβουμένων τὸν Κύριον) ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ἐξετασθεῖς, ὑπόδικος γένηται τῇ ἀπειληθείσῃ πληγῇ, καὶ γυμνωθῇ τοῦ τείχους τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων ∆υνάμεων ἀσφαλείας, αἵτινες, ὅσον ἂν παρῶσι χρόνον, ἀκαθαιρέτους διασώζουσι τοὺς παρ' αὐτῶν φρουρουμένους. Γυμνωθεῖσα δὲ πᾶσα ψυχὴ τῆς ἀσφαλείας ταύτης, ἔκκειται εἰς διαρπαγὴν τοῖς ἐχθροῖς, τουτέστι ταῖς ἀντικειμέναις ἐνερ γείαις, καὶ εἰς καταπάτημα τοῦ ἐγκαυχωμένου καὶ λέγοντος, ὅτι Ἐμπεριπατήσας τὴν οἰκουμένην, πάρειμι. Τοιοῦτόν τι καὶ ὁ Ψαλμὸς περὶ ἀμπέλου φησίν· Ἵνα τί κα θεῖλες τὸν φραγμὸν αὐτῆς; Καὶ Ἐλυμήνατο αὐτὴν ὓς ἐκ δρυμοῦ. Οἱ γὰρ μὴ πεφραγμένοι λόγῳ καὶ δυνάμει ἀγγελικῇ, ἔκδοτοί εἰσι τοῖς ἀλόγοις κινήμασι, καὶ, διὰ τὴν πλεονάζουσαν ἐν αὐτοῖς τῆς ἁμαρτίας δυσωδίαν, ἐπιτήδειοί εἰσι χοίρων ὑπο δοχῆς, ἐπὶ πλέον τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὸν βόρβορον ἀνακινούντων καὶ ἐγκαλινδουμένων αὐτῷ. Τοιοῦτόν τι καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος λέ γει· Καὶ καθ' ὣς οὐκ ἐδοκίμασαν τὸν Θεὸν ἔχειν ἐν ἐπιγνώσει, παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεὸς εἰς πάθη ἀτιμίας, ποιεῖν τὰ μὴ καθήκοντα. Τουτέστιν· οἱ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ λόγου φυλακὴν ἀπο