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having crossed the Red Sea, those who were at the same time being freed from demons and from countless plagues, he took these to destroy them. But, if we are watchful, we too have a pillar of fire, the grace of the Spirit; the same both gives light and gives shade; we have manna; or rather, not manna, but we have much more than manna; a spiritual drink, not water that will come out of a rock. We also have a camp, inhabiting the wilderness even now. For truly, truly the earth has become a wilderness of virtue even now, and more so than that one. Why was that wilderness to be shunned? Was it not because it had in it scorpions and vipers? in which, he says, no man passed through. But that wilderness is not, is not so barren of fruits, as is human nature. 3. Now how many scorpions, how many vipers are in this wilderness, how many serpents, how many offspring of vipers are these, whom we have now described? But let us not be afraid; for of this exodus the general is not Moses, but Jesus. How then may we not suffer the same things? Let us not do the same things, and we shall not suffer the same things. Those men murmured, those men were ungrateful; let us not therefore experience 62.167 these things. How did all those men fall? They despised the desirable land. How did they despise it? And yet they marveled at it. By becoming soft, and not being willing to undertake labors for it. Let us not therefore despise heaven; for this is to despise it. A fruit was brought to us also from heaven, not a cluster of grapes carried in vessels, but the earnest of the Spirit, the citizenship in heaven, which Paul taught, which the whole choir of the apostles, the wonderful husbandmen. Not Caleb the son of Jephunneh, nor Joshua the son of Nun brought these fruits, but Jesus, the Son of the Father of mercies, the Son of the true God, brought all virtue, He brought down to us all the fruits from thence, I mean the heavenly hymns. For what the Cherubim say above, this He has commanded us also to say, Holy, holy, holy. He brought us the way of life of the angels; The angels do not marry, nor are given in marriage; this good thing He planted here also; they do not love money, nor other things; and this He sowed in us; they do not die; this also He granted to us; for death is no longer death, but sleep. For hear Him saying: Our friend Lazarus is asleep. Have you seen the fruits of the Jerusalem which is above? And what is more wonderful, is that the war has not yet been decided, but before the promise all these things have been given to us. For they, even when they came into the land of promise, labored; or rather they did not labor; for if they had been willing to obey God, without arms and battle-array they would have taken all the cities; at least Jericho they overthrew, having the appearance of dancers rather than of warriors. But we do not war after we have entered into the land of promise, that is, into heaven, but as long as we are in the wilderness, that is, in the present life. For he who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Let us not therefore grow weary in doing good; for in due season we shall reap, 62.168 if we do not lose heart. Do you see how as He led them, so also He leads us? There in the case of the manna and the wilderness, he says, He that gathered much had nothing over; and he that gathered little had no lack. And we have been commanded this, not to lay up treasure on earth. But if we do lay up treasure, it is no longer the physical worm that destroys it, as in the case of the manna, but the one that abides forever with the fire. Let us therefore accomplish all things, that we may not prepare food for the worm; For he that gathered much, he says, had nothing over. For this also happens in our case every day; for we all fill the same measure of the belly; but what is superfluous is an addition of foolish cares. For what He was about to deliver afterwards, saying, Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, this He taught from the beginning, and even so they did not receive it. But let us not be insatiable, not ungrateful, let us not seek splendid houses; for we are on a journey, we are not dwelling. So that if anyone knows that the present life is a kind of journey and a campaign, and as it were

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Ἐρυθρὰν θάλασσαν διαβάντας, τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν δαιμόνων καὶ τῶν μυρίων πληγῶν ἅμα ἀπολυομένους, τούτους λαβὼν ἀπολέσαι. Ἀλλ', ἐὰν νήφωμεν, ἔχομεν καὶ ἡμεῖς στῦλον πυρὸς, τὴν τοῦ Πνεύματος χάριν· ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ φωτίζει, καὶ σκιάζει· ἔχομεν μάννα· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐ μάννα, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ πλέον τοῦ μάννα ἔχομεν· πόμα πνευματικὸν, οὐχ ὕδωρ ἀπὸ πέτρας ἔξεισιν. Ἔχομεν καὶ παρεμβολὴν, τὴν ἔρημον οἰκοῦντες καὶ νῦν. Ὄντως γὰρ, ὄντως ἔρημος καὶ νῦν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἡ γῆ γέγονε, καὶ μᾶλλον ἢ ἐκείνη. ∆ιὰ τί ἐκείνη ἡ ἔρημος φευκτὴ ἦν; ἆρ' οὐχ ὅτι σκορπίους εἶχεν ἐν ἑαυτῇ καὶ ἔχεις; ἐν ᾗ, φησὶν, οὐ διῆλθεν ἄνθρωπος. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔστιν, οὐκ ἔστιν οὕτως ἄφορος ἐκείνη καρπῶν, ὡς ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις. γʹ. Νῦν πόσοι σκορπίοι, πόσαι ἔχεις κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον ταύτην, πόσοι ὄφεις, πόσοι γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν οὗτοι, οὓς νῦν διήλθομεν; Ἀλλὰ μὴ φοβηθῶμεν· τῆς γὰρ ἐξόδου ταύτης στρατηγεῖ, οὐ Μωϋσῆς, ἀλλὰ Ἰησοῦς. Πῶς οὖν μὴ τὰ αὐτὰ πάθωμεν; Μὴ τὰ αὐτὰ δράσωμεν, καὶ οὐ πεισόμεθα τὰ αὐτά. Ἐκεῖνοι ἐγόγγυζον, ἐκεῖνοι ἀγνώμονες ἦσαν· μὴ τοίνυν ταῦτα πά 62.167 θωμεν ἡμεῖς. Πῶς ἔπεσον ἐκεῖνοι πάντες; Ἐξουθένησαν τὴν γῆν τὴν ἐπιθυμητήν. Πῶς ἐξουθένησαν; καὶ μὴν ἐθαύμαζον. Τῷ μαλακισθῆναι, καὶ μὴ θελῆσαι πόνους ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς ἀναδέξασθαι. Μὴ τοίνυν ἡμεῖς ἐξουθενήσωμεν τὸν οὐρανόν· τοῦτο ἐξουθένησίς ἐστιν. Ἠνέχθη καὶ παρ' ἡμῖν καρπὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, οὐκ ἐν ἀμφορεῦσι βασταζόμενος βότρυς, ἀλλ' ὁ ἀῤῥαβὼν τοῦ Πνεύματος, τὸ πολίτευμα τὸ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ὃ Παῦλος ἐπαίδευσε, ὃ πᾶς τῶν ἀποστόλων χορὸς, οἱ θαυμάσιοι γεωργοί. Οὐ Χάληβ ὁ τοῦ Ἰεφονῆ, οὐδὲ Ἰησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ναυῆ τοὺς καρποὺς ἤνεγκε τούτους, ἀλλ' ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Πατρὸς τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν, ὁ τοῦ ὄντως Θεοῦ Υἱὸς, ἤνεγκε πᾶσαν τὴν ἀρετήν, πάντας τοὺς ἐκεῖθεν καρποὺς ἡμῖν κατήνεγκεν, τοὺς ὕμνους λέγω τοὺς ἐπουρανίους. Ἃ γὰρ τὰ Χερουβὶμ ἄνω λέγει, ταῦτα καὶ ἡμῖν προσέταξε λέγειν, Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος. Ἤνεγκεν ἡμῖν τῶν ἀγγέλων τὴν πολιτείαν· Οὐ γαμοῦσιν, οὐδὲ γαμίζονται οἱ ἄγγελοι· τοῦτο καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἐφύτευσε τὸ καλόν· χρημάτων οὐκ ἐρῶσιν, οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἐκεῖνοι· καὶ τοῦτο ἡμῖν ἐγκατέσπειρεν· οὐκ ἀποθνήσκουσιν ἐκεῖνοι· τοῦτο καὶ ἡμῖν ἐχαρίσατο· οὐκέτι γὰρ θάνατος ὁ θάνατος, ἀλλ' ὕπνος. Ἄκουε γὰρ αὐτοῦ λέγοντος· Λάζαρος ὁ φίλος ἡμῶν κεκοίμηται. Εἶδες τοὺς καρποὺς τῆς ἄνω Ἱερουσαλήμ; Καὶ τὸ δὴ θαυμαστότερον, ὅτι οὔπω ὁ πόλεμος ἐκρίθη, ἀλλὰ πρὸ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας πάντα ταῦτα ἡμῖν δεδώρηται. Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γὰρ καὶ εἰς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἐλθόντες, ἐπόνουν· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐκ ἐπόνουν· εἰ γὰρ ἐβούλοντο πείθεσθαι τῷ Θεῷ, χωρὶς ὅπλων καὶ παρατάξεως πάσας ἂν εἷλον τὰς πόλεις· τὴν γοῦν Ἱεριχὼ, χορευόντων μᾶλλον ἢ πολεμούντων τὸ σχῆμα ἔχοντες, ἐτροπώσαντο. Ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐ πολεμοῦμεν μετὰ τὸ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν γῆν ἐπαγγελίας, τουτέστιν, εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, ἀλλ' ἕως ἂν ὦμεν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, τουτέστιν, ἐν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ. Ὁ γὰρ εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν αὑτοῦ, κατέπαυσεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων αὑτοῦ, ὥσπερ ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων ὁ Θεός. Μὴ τοίνυν ἀποκάμωμεν τὸ καλὸν ποιοῦντες· καιρῷ γὰρ ἰδίῳ θερίσομεν, 62.168 μὴ ἐκλυόμενοι. Ὁρᾷς πῶς καθάπερ ἐκείνους ἤγαγεν, οὕτω καὶ ἡμᾶς; Ἐκεῖ ἐπὶ τοῦ μάννα καὶ τῆς ἐρήμου, φησὶν, Ὁ τὸ πολὺ, οὐκ ἐπλεόνασε· καὶ ὁ τὸ ὀλίγον, οὐκ ἠλαττόνησε. Καὶ ἡμεῖς τοῦτο προστετάγμεθα, μὴ θησαυρίζειν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ἂν δὲ θησαυρίζωμεν, οὐκέτι σκώληξ ὁ αἰσθητὸς λυμαίνεται, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ μάννα, ἀλλ' ὁ τῷ πυρὶ συνδιαιωνίζων. Πάντα οὖν κατεργασώμεθα, ἵνα μὴ τῷ σκώληκι τροφὴν εὐτρεπίσωμεν· Ὁ τὸ πολὺ γὰρ, φησὶν, οὐκ ἐπλεόνασε. Καὶ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἐφ' ἡμῖν γίνεται ἐφ' ἑκάστης· πάντες γὰρ τὸ αὐτὸ μέτρον πληροῦμεν τῆς γαστρός· τὸ δὲ περιττὸν, προσθήκη φροντίδων ἀνοήτων ἐστίν. Ὅπερ γὰρ ἔμελλε μετὰ ταῦτα παραδιδόναι, λέγων, Ἀρκετὸν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἡ κακία αὐτῆς, τοῦτο ἄνωθεν ἤδη ἐπαίδευσε, καὶ οὐδὲ οὕτως ἐδέξαντο. Ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς μὴ ἄπληστοι ὦμεν, μὴ ἀγνώμονες, μὴ οἰκίας ζητῶμεν λαμπράς· ὁδεύομεν γὰρ, οὐκ οἰκοῦμεν. Ὥστε εἴ τις οἶδεν ὅτι ὁ παρὼν βίος ὁδός τίς ἐστι καὶ στρατεία, καὶ ὡς ἂν