held that it speaks only of the evil generation before the flood, and
that now men are better, at least some who make good use of their
freedom of will. Such wretched interpreters do not see that the
passage speaks of the human heart in general, and that a particle is
plainly added, _Rak_, which signifies "only." In the third place, they
fail to see that after the flood the same declaration is repeated in
the eighth chapter in almost precisely the same terms. For God says,
"The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth," Gen 8, 21.
Here evidently he does not speak only of the antediluvians. He rather
speaks of those to whom he makes the promise that henceforth another
general flood of water shall never come, that is, of all the offspring
of Noah. These are words of universal application: "The imagination of
man's heart is evil."
142. We draw, therefore, the general conclusion that man without the
Holy Spirit and without grace can do nothing but sin, and thus he
unhaltingly goes forward from sin to sin. When in addition, he will
not endure sound doctrine but rejects the word of salvation and
resists the Holy Spirit, he becomes an enemy of God, blasphemes the
Holy Spirit and simply follows the evil desires of his heart.
Witnesses of this are the examples of the prophets, Christ and the
Apostles, the primeval world under Noah as teacher, and also the
example of our adversaries today, who cannot be convinced by anything
that they are in error, that they sin, that their worship is ungodly.
143. Other declarations of Holy Scripture prove the same thing. Is not
the statement of the fourteenth Psalm, verse 3, sweeping enough when
it says: "Jehovah looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to
see if there was any that did understand, and did seek after God. They
are all gone aside?" Thus, Ps 116, 11, "All men are liars;" and Paul,
"God hath shut up all unto disobedience," Rom 11, 32. These passages
are most sweeping, and emphatically force the conclusion that we all,
without the Holy Spirit, whose dispenser is Christ, can do nothing but
err and sin. Therefore, Christ says in the Gospel, "I am the vine, ye
are the branches: ... apart from me ye can do nothing," Jn 15, 5.
Without me you are a branch cut off, dry, dead and ready for the
burning.
144. And the very reason the Holy Spirit performs the office of
reproving the world is that he may call the world back to penitence
and the recognition of its derangement. But the world remains
consistent with itself; it hears not and believes it can please God
with forms of worship of its own choosing and without the sanction of
the divine Word, and does not permit itself to be undeceived.
145. If ever a council should be held, the final declaration and
conclusion with reference to this very point, the freedom of will,
will be that we should abide by the decisions of the pope and the
fathers. We may clamor until we are hoarse that man in himself without
the Holy Spirit is evil, that everything he does without the Holy
Spirit or without faith is condemned before God, that his heart is
depraved and all his thought; we shall effect nothing.
146. Therefore, the mind is to be grounded in this, and we are to hold
fast the doctrine which lays before us our sin and condemnation. This
knowledge of our sin is the beginning of salvation; we must absolutely
despair of ourselves and give glory for righteousness to God alone.
Why does Paul elsewhere complain, and in Romans 7, 18 freely confess
that there is nothing good in him? He says plainly, "in my flesh;" so
that we understand that the Holy Spirit alone can heal our infirmity.
When this has been fixed in our hearts, the foundation of our
salvation is largely laid, inasmuch as subsequently clear testimonies
are given that God will not cast away the sinner, that is, one who
recognizes his sin and desires to come to his senses and thirsts after
righteousness and the remission of sin through Christ.
147. Let us, therefore, take care not to be found among those
Cyclopeans who oppose the Word of God and proclaim their freedom of
will and their own powers. Though we often err, though we fall and
sin, still, upon yielding to reproof on the part of the Holy Spirit
with an humble confession of our depravity, the Holy Spirit himself
will be present, and not only not impute to us the sin we acknowledge,
but the grace of Christ shall cover it and he will shower upon us
other gifts necessary to this life as well as the future one.
148. But the words of Moses are to be more closely considered, for
with a definite purpose he has used here a peculiar expression; he has
not merely said, "The thoughts of man's heart are evil," but "the
imagination of the thoughts of his heart." Thus he expresses the
highest that man can achieve with his thoughts or with his reason and
free will. "Imagination" he calls that which man with his strongest
effort devises, selects, creates like a potter, and believes to be
most beautiful.
But such imagination is evil, he says, and that not once, but always.
For our reason without the Holy Spirit is altogether without knowledge
of God. Now, to be without knowledge of God means to be entirely base,
to dwell in darkness and to deem that very good which, in reality, is
very bad.
149. But when I speak of good, I do so from the standpoint of
theology, for we must distinguish between the theological and the
civil standpoints. God approves also the rule of the ungodly; he
honors and rewards virtue also among the ungodly: but only in regard
to the things of this life and in things grasped by a reason which is
upright from the civil standpoint; whereas the future life is not
embraced in such reward. His approval is not with regard to the future
life.
150. When we dispute about the freedom of the will, the question with
us is what it may do from the theological standpoint, not in civil
affairs and in those subjects to reason. We believe that man, without
the Holy Spirit, is altogether corrupt before God, though he may stand
adorned with all heathen virtues, inasmuch as there are certainly
distinguished examples of moderation, of liberality, of love of
country, parents and children, of courage and humanity, even in the
history of the Gentiles. We maintain that man's best thoughts
concerning God, the worship of God, the will of God, are worse than
Cimmerian darkness; for the light of reason, which has been given to
man alone, understands only bodily blessings. Such is the wicked
infatuation of our evil desires.
151. This declaration, therefore, should not be construed frivolously,
as the Jews and sophists do, who believe that the lower part of man
only is here meant, which is bestial, and that the reason longs for
better things. "The imagination of the thoughts" they apply
accordingly to the second table, like the Pharisee who condemns the
publican and says that he is not like the other persons. The words the
Pharisee uses are very fine, for to give thanks to God for his gifts
is not a sin; and yet we declare this same thing to be ungodly and
wicked, because it proceeded from gross ignorance of God, and it is
truly prayer turned into sin, tending neither to the glory of God nor
to the welfare of men.
152. You may observe that philosophers have at various times quite
cleverly discussed God and the providence with which he rules all
things. To some, such words have seemed so pious that they almost have
placed Socrates, Xenophon and Plato in the same rank with the
prophets; yet, because in these discussions the philosophers are
ignorant of the fact that God has sent his only Son into the world to
save sinners, these beautiful utterances are, according to the
declaration of this passage, consummate ignorance of God and mere
blasphemies, for the passage states unequivocally that all imagination
and effort of the human heart is only evil.
153. The text speaks, accordingly, not only of the sins before the
flood, but it speaks of the whole nature of man, his heart, his reason
and his intellect, even when man pretends to righteousness and desires
to be very holy, as do today the Anabaptists when they purpose in
their heart so to excel as to fail in nothing, when for a show they
attempt to attain the fairest virtues. The truth is that hearts
without the Holy Spirit are not only ignorant of God, but naturally
even hate him. How, then, can anything be aught but evil that proceeds
from ignorance and hatred of God?
154. Another question is here raised. Moses speaks thus: "When Jehovah
saw that every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was only
evil continually, it repented him that he had made man on the earth."
If God foresees everything, why does the text say that he now first
sees? If God is wise, how can regret for having created anything
befall him? Why did he not see this sin or depraved nature of man from
the beginning of the world? Why does Scripture thus attribute to God
such things as a temporary will, vision and purpose? Are not the
purposes of God eternal and unalterable, incapable of being regretted?
Similar instances are found also in the prophets, where God threatens
penalties, as for instance to the Ninevites, and yet pardons the
penitent.
To this question the sophists have no other reply than this, that the
Scripture speaks after the manner of men, that such things are
ascribed to God accordingly through the use of a figure of speech.
Hence they contend concerning a double will of God, the will expressed
by signs (_voluntas signi_) and the will of his good pleasure
(_voluntas beneplaciti_). The will of his good pleasure, they say, is
constant and unchangeable, while the expressed will is subject to
change. For the signs through which he expresses himself, he changes
when he pleases. Thus he has abolished circumcision and instituted
baptism, whereas the will of his good pleasure, fixed from eternity,
abides.
155. While I do not condemn this interpretation, a simpler meaning of
the Scripture seems to be that the Holy Scriptures express the thought
of men in the ministry. For when Moses says that God sees and regrets,
this is really done in the hearts of those who have the ministry of
the Word. Thus he said above: "My Spirit shall not strive with man,"
but he does not say this simply of the Holy Spirit as existing in his
own nature, or of the divine majesty, but of the Holy Spirit in the
hearts of Noah and Methuselah, that is, the Holy Spirit as officiating
and administering the Word through the saints.
156. In this manner God saw the wickedness of man and repented; that
is, Noah, who had the Holy Spirit and was a minister of the Word, saw
the wickedness of men and, seeing such things, he was moved by the
Holy Spirit to grief. So Paul says in Ephesians 4, 30, that the Holy
Spirit in the righteous is grieved by the ungodliness and malice of
the wicked. Inasmuch as Noah is a faithful minister of the Word and an
organ of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is said to grieve when Noah
grieves and wishes that man rather did not exist than to be thus
iniquitous.
157. The meaning, therefore, is not that God did not see these things
from eternity; he saw everything from eternity; but inasmuch as this
wickedness now manifests itself in all its fierceness, God now first
reveals the same in the hearts of his ministers and prophets.
From eternity, therefore, God is firm and constant in his purpose. He
sees and knows everything. But only in his own time does God reveal
this to the righteous so that they, also, may see it. This seems to me
the simplest meaning of this passage, nor does Augustine differ from
it much.
158. However, I constantly follow the rule to avoid, whenever
possible, such questions as draw us before the throne of the highest
majesty. It is better and safer to stand at the manger of Christ, the
man. To lose one's self in the labyrinths of divinity is fraught with
greatest danger.
159. To this passage belong also other similar ones in which God is
pictured as having eyes, ears, mouth, nose, hands and feet, as Isaiah,
Daniel and other prophets saw him in their visions. In such passages
the Bible speaks of God in the same manner as of a man. In
consequence, the Anthropomorphites stood condemned of heresy because
they attributed to the divine essence a human form.
160. Because the Anthropomorphites fancied such gross things, they
have rightly been condemned. Their fancy is manifestly erroneous, for
a spirit, as Christ says (Lk 24, 39), has not flesh and bone. I am
rather of the opinion that the Anthropomorphites intended to adapt the
form of their doctrine to the plainest people. For in his substance,
God is unknowable, indefinable, inexpressible, though we may tear
ourselves to pieces in our efforts to discern or portray him.
161. Hence, God himself condescends to the low plane of our
understanding and presents himself to us with childlike simplicity in
representations, as in a guise, so that he may be made known to us in
some way. Thus the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove; not
because he is a dove, but in this crude form he desired to be
recognized, received and worshiped, for it was really the Holy Spirit.
No one, to be sure, will say that the same passage defines God as a
voice speaking from heaven, yet under this crude image, a human voice
from heaven, he was received and worshiped.
162. When Scripture thus ascribes to God human form, voice, actions
and state of mind, it is intended as an aid only for the uncultivated
and feeble; we who are great and learned and of discernment in
reference to Scripture, should likewise lay hold of these
representations, because God has put them forth and revealed himself
to us through them. The angels likewise, appear in human form, though
it is certain that they are only spirits; spirits we cannot recognize
when they present themselves as such, but likenesses we do recognize.
163. This is the simplest way of treating such passages, for the
nature of God we cannot define; what he is not we can well define--he
is not a voice, a dove, water, bread, wine. And yet in these visible
forms he presents himself to us and deals with us. These forms he
shows to us that we should not become wandering and unsettled spirits
which dispute concerning God, but are completely ignorant concerning
him, since in his unveiled majesty he can not be apprehended. He sees
it to be impossible for us to know him in his own nature. For he
lives, as the Scripture says in 1 Timothy 6, 16, in an inaccessible
light, and what we can apprehend and understand he has declared. They
who abide in these things will truly lay hold of him, while those who
vaunt and follow visions, revelations and illuminations will either be
overwhelmed by his majesty or remain in densest ignorance of God.
164. Thus the Jews also had their representations in which God
manifested himself to them, as the mercy-seat, the ark of the
covenant, the tabernacle, the pillars of smoke and fire. God says in
Exodus 33, 20, "Man shall not see me and live," therefore he gives a
representation of himself in which he so manifests himself to us that
we may lay hold of him. In the new covenant we have Baptism, the
Lord's Supper, absolution and the ministry of the Word.
165. These are what the scholastics call _voluntas signi_, the will
expressed through signs, which we must view when we desire to know the
will of God. Another is the _voluntas beneplaciti_, the will of his
good pleasure, the essential will of God, or his unveiled majesty,
which is God himself. From this our eyes are to be turned away. It
cannot be laid hold of; for in God is nothing but divinity, and the
essence of God is his infinite wisdom and almighty power. These are
absolutely inaccessible to reason: what he has willed according to the
will of his good pleasure, that he has seen from eternity.
166. Into this essential and divine will we should not pry, but should
absolutely refrain from it as from the divine majesty, for it is
inscrutable, and God has had no desire to declare it in this life. He
desires to show it under certain tokens or coverings, as Baptism, the
Word and the Lord's Supper. These are the images of the deity and are
his will as expressed through signs, by which he deals with us on the
plane of our intelligence. Hence, we should look to these alone. The
will of his good pleasure is to be left entirely out of contemplation,
unless you happen to be Moses, or David, or some similarly perfect
man, although even they so looked to the will of the divine good
pleasure as never to turn their eyes from the will expressed by signs.
167. This will of God is called his activity (_effectus Dei_), wherein
he comes out to us and deals with us garbed in the drapery of things
extraneous to himself; these we can lay hold of--the Word of God and
the ceremonies instituted by himself. This will of God is not that of
his omnipotence, for though God in the ten commandments enjoins what
ought to be done it is yet not done. Thus, Christ has instituted the
Lord's Supper to strengthen in us faith in his mercy, and yet many
receive it to their condemnation, that is, without faith.
168. But I return to Moses. He says that God sees man's wickedness and
repents. The scholastics explain this: He sees and repents, namely,
according to the expressed will, not that of his good pleasure, or the
essential will.
169. We say that Noah's heart is moved by the Holy Spirit to
understand that God is wroth with man and desires his destruction.
This interpretation commends itself to our intelligence and does not
draw us into discussions concerning the absolute will or majesty of
God, which are very dangerous, as I have seen in many. Such spirits
are first puffed up by the devil so that they believe themselves to be
in possession of the Holy Spirit, neglect the Word to the point of
blaspheming it and vaunt nothing but the Spirit and visions.
170. This is the first degree of error--that men, paying no heed to
the Deity as imaged and incarnate, seek after the unveiled God.
Afterward, when the hour of judgment comes, and they feel the wrath of
God, God himself judging and searching their hearts, the devil ceases
to puff them up and they despair and die. They go about in the
untempered sunlight and forsake the shade that delivers from the heat,
Is 4, 6.
171. Let no one therefore meditate upon divinity unveiled, but flee
from such thoughts as from the infernal regions and the very
temptations of Satan. But let us take care to abide in these symbols
through which God has revealed himself to us--the Son, born of the
Virgin Mary, lying among beasts in the manger, and the Word, Baptism,
the Lord's Supper and absolution. In these images we see and find God
in a way wherein we can endure him; he comforts us, lifts us up into
hope and saves. Other thoughts about the will of the good pleasure, or
the essential and eternal will, kill and damn.
172. However, to name this the will of "good pleasure" is a misnomer.
For that deserves to be called the will of good pleasure which the
Gospel discloses, concerning which Paul says, "that ye may prove what
is the good will of God," Rom 12, 2. And Christ says, "This is the
will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son should have
eternal life," Jn 6, 40. Also, "Whosoever shall do the will of my
Father who is in heaven, he is my brother," Mt 12, 50. Again, "This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," Mt 3, 17. This will of
grace is correctly and properly called the will "of the divine good
pleasure" and it is our only remedy and safeguard against that other
will, be it called the "expressed will" or the "will of good
pleasure," about the display of which at the flood and the destruction
of Sodom the scholastics dispute.
173. On both occasions a terrible wrath is in evidence, against which
no soul could find protection, except in that gracious will, keeping
in mind that the Son of God was sent into the flesh to deliver us from
sin, death and the power of the devil.
174. This will of the divine good pleasure has been determined from
eternity, and revealed and published in Christ. It is a quickening,
gracious and lovable will, and consequently it alone merits to be
called "the will of good pleasure." But the good fathers almost pass
the promises by; they do not press them, though they could properly be
called "the will of the good pleasure."
175. Therefore, as they enjoin looking to the will expressed by signs,
they do well, but this is in no wise sufficient; when we consider the
ten commandments, are we not frightened by the sight of our sins? When
those terrible examples of wrath are added which are also divine will
as expressed by signs, it is impossible for the soul to be lifted up
except by looking back to the will of the good pleasure, as we call
it, that is, the Son of God, who portrays for us the spirit and the
will of his Father, who does not hate sinners but desires to have
compassion upon them through his Son. Christ says to Philip, "He that
hath seen me hath seen the Father," Jn 14, 9.
176. The Son of God, therefore, who became incarnate, is that sign or
veil of God in which the divine majesty with all its gifts so offers
itself to us that no sinner is so wretched but he dare approach him in
certain confidence of obtaining forgiveness. This is the only vision
of Deity which in this life is expedient and possible. However, those
who have died in this faith shall on the last day be so illumined by
power from on high as to behold the majesty itself. In the meantime,
it behooves us to approach the Father through the way, which is Christ
himself. He will lead us safely and we shall not be deceived.
177. The additional statement of the text, "It repented Jehovah that
he had made man on the earth," I believe to be meant to bring out the
antithesis, that God has in mind not the earthly man, who is subject
to sin and death, but the heavenly man, who is lord over them. He
expresses his love for the latter, while he hates the former and plans
his destruction.
B. THE GRIEF OF GOD.
1. This is not to be understood of the divine nature, but of the
hearts of the patriarchs 178-179.
2. Abraham, Samuel and Christ grieved in like manner 180.
3. By whom such grief is awakened in the heart 181.
4. The cause of this grief 182.
* The character of the children of God and of the world in the
face of the approaching calamity 183-184.
* How the patriarchs and the Church were walls of defense 185.
5. What made the grief of the holy patriarchs greater 185.
6. Moses describes this grief very carefully 186.
* How we see the grief of God in his saints 187.
* How all is ruined on account of sin 187.
* Why Noah did not dare to reveal the great wrath of God to the
world 188.
* What prevents the world from believing God's threatenings
188-189.
* To whom God's promises do and do not apply 190.
* Why the old world did not believe the threat of the deluge 191.
* The fate of true doctrine in our day is the same as it was in
Noah's 192.
B. THE GRIEF OF GOD.
V. 6b. _And it grieved him at his heart._
178. Such was the regret of God that he was pained in his heart. The
word here is _azab_, which was used before when he said (Gen 3, 16),
"In pain shalt thou bring forth children"; also in Psalm 127, 2, "the
bread of toil." This expression must be understood according to the
usage of Scripture. We must not think that God has a heart or that he
can suffer pain, but when the spirit of Noah, Lamech or Methuselah is
grieved, God himself is said to be grieved. We may understand such
grief not of his divine nature, but of his conduct. Noah, with his
father and grandfather, feels in his heart, through a revelation of
the Holy Spirit, that God hates the world because of sin and desires
its destruction; therefore they are grieved by this impenitence.
179. This is the simple and true meaning. If you refer these words to
the will of the divine essence and hold that God has resolved this
from eternity, a perilous argument is employed to which are equal only
men who are spiritual and tested by trial, like Paul, for instance,
who has ventured to argue concerning predestination. Let us take our
stand on an humbler plane, one less open to danger, and hold that Noah
and the other fathers were most grievously pained when the Spirit
disclosed to them such wrath. These inexpressible groanings of the
best of men are accordingly attributed to God himself, because they
emanate from his Spirit.
180. An example of such groanings we see later in the case of Abraham,
who interposed himself like a wall in behalf of the safety of the
Sodomites and did not abandon the cause until they came down to five
righteous ones. Without a doubt the Holy Spirit filled the breast of
Abraham with infinite and frequent groanings in his attempts to effect
the salvation of the wretched. Likewise Samuel--what does he not do
for Saul? He cries and implores with such vehemence that God is
compelled to restrain him: "How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing
I have rejected him from being king over Israel?" 1 Sam 16, 1. So
Christ, foreseeing the destruction of Jerusalem within a few years by
reason of its sins, is most violently moved and pained in his soul.
181. Such promptings the Spirit of prayer arouses in pious souls.
Present everywhere, he is moved by the adversities of others, teaches,
informs, spares no pains, prays, complains, groans. Thus Moses and
Paul are willing to be accursed for the sake of their people.
182. In this manner Noah, the most holy man, and his father and
grandfather are consumed with pain at the sight of such terrible wrath
of God. He is not delighted at this overthrow of the whole human race,
but is filled with anxiety and the most grievous pain, while at the
same time the sons of men live in the greatest security, mocking,
boasting and taunting. Thus Psalms 109, 4, "For my love they are my
adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer." Thus Paul, "I tell you
even weeping." Phil 3, 18. And what else could holy men do but weep
when the world would in no wise permit itself to be corrected?
183. It is always the appearance of the true Church that she not only
suffers, not only is humiliated and trampled under foot, but also
prays for her tormentors, is seriously disturbed by their dangers; on
the contrary, others play and frolic in proportion as they approach
their doom. But when the hour of judgment comes, God in turn closes
his ears so completely that he does not even hear his own beloved
children as they pray and intercede for the wicked. So Ezekiel laments
that no one is found who will stand for Israel as a protecting wall,
saying that this is the office of the prophets, Ezek 13, 5.
184. It is impossible for the ungodly to pray; let no one, therefore,
entertain the hope concerning the papists, our adversaries, that they
pray. We pray for them and plant ourselves like a wall against the
wrath of God and, without doubt, it is by our tears and groanings that
they are saved, if, perchance, they will repent.
185. It is a terrible example, that God has spared not the first
world, for which Noah, Lamech and Methuselah set themselves like a
wall. What, then, shall we expect where such walls do not exist, where
there is no Church at all? The Church is always a wall against the
wrath of God. She feels pain, is tormented in her soul, prays,
intercedes, instructs, teaches, exhorts, as long as the judgment hour
is not here but coming. When she sees these ministrations to be
unavailing, what else can she do but feel grievous pain at the
destruction of the impenitent? The pain of the godly fathers was
augmented by the sight of so many relatives and kindred at one time
going to destruction.
186. This pain Moses could not express in a better and more graphic
description than to say that God repented of having made man. Before,
when he describes man's nature as having been formed in God's image,
he says that God beheld all that he had made and it was very good.
God, then, is delighted with his creatures and has joy in them. Here
he absolutely alters that statement by one altogether at variance with
it--that God is grieved at heart and even repents of having created
man.
187. It was Noah and the other fathers who felt this through the
revelation of the Holy Spirit; otherwise, they would have shared those
thoughts of joy and would have judged according to the earlier
prophecy that God had delight in all his works. Never would they have
thought that the wrath of God was such as to destroy not only the
whole human race, but also all living flesh of sky and earth, which
surely had not offended, yea, the very earth also; for the earth,
because of man's sin, had not retained after the flood its pristine
excellence. Some have written, as Lyra reminds us, that by the flood
the surface of the earth was washed away three hands deep. Certain it
is that paradise has been utterly destroyed through the flood.
Therefore, we possess today an earth more deeply cursed than before
the flood and after the fall of Adam; though the state of the earth
after the fall could not compare with the grandeur of its primeval
state before sin.
188. These disasters, therefore, the holy fathers saw through the
revelation of the Holy Spirit a hundred and twenty years before. But
such was the wickedness of the world that it put the Holy Spirit to
silence. Noah could not venture to reveal such threats without risk of
the gravest dangers. With his father and grandfather, with his
children and wife, he would discuss this great wrath of God. The sons
of men, however, had no more inclination to hear these things than the
papists today have to hear themselves called the church of Satan and
not of Christ. Accordingly, they would vaunt their ancestors and over
against Noah's proclamations they would plead the promise of the seed,
believing it to be impossible for God, in this manner, to destroy all
mankind.
189. For the same reason, the Jews did not believe the prophets nor
even Christ himself when called to repentance, but maintained that
they were the people of God, inasmuch as they had the temple and
worship. The Turks today are inflated with victories which they
believe to be the reward for their faith and religion because they
believe in one God. We, however, are viewed as heathen and reputed to
believe in three Gods. God would not give us such victories and
dominions, they say, if he did not favor us and approve our religion.
This same reasoning blinds also the papist. Occupying an exalted
position, they maintain they are the Church and hence they have no
fear of divine punishment. Devilish, therefore, is that argument
whereby men take the name of God to palliate their sins.
190. But if God did not spare the first world, the generation of the
holy patriarchs, which had the promise of the seed as its very own--if
he saved only a very small remnant--the Turks, Jews and Papists shall
boast in vain of the name of God. According to Micah 2, 7, the Word of
God promises blessings to those who walk in uprightness. But those who
do not walk in uprightness are cursed. Those he threatens, those he
destroys. Neither does he take account of the name "Church", nor of
their number, whereas he saves the remnant which walks in uprightness.
But never will you convince the world of this.
191. In all probability the descendants of the patriarchs who perished
in the flood abused quite shamefully the argument of the dignity of
the Church, and condemned Noah for blasphemy and falsehood. To say,
they argued, that God was about to destroy the whole world by a flood
is equal to saying that God is not merciful, nor a Father, but a cruel
tyrant. You proclaim the wrath of God, O Noah! Then God is not such a
being as to promise deliverance from sin and death through the seed of
woman? The wrath of God, therefore, will not swallow the whole earth.
We are the people of God. We have from God magnificent gifts; never
would God have given these to us if he had resolved to act against us
with such hostility. In this fashion the wicked are in the habit of
applying to themselves the promises and trusting to the same. All
warnings, however, they neglect and deride.
192. It is profitable to contemplate this diligently so that we may be
safeguarded against such vicious heedlessness of the wicked. For what
happened to Moses, now happens also to us. Our adversaries ascribe to
themselves the name of God's people, true worship, grace and
everything holy; to us, everything devilish. Now, when we reprove them
for blasphemy and say that they are the church of Satan, they rage
against us with every kind of cruelty. Hence we mourn with Noah, and
commend the cause to God, as Christ did on the cross--what else could
we do?--and wait till God shall judge the earth and show that he loves
the remnant of those that fear him and that he hates the multitude of
impenitent sinners in spite of their boast of being the Church, of
having the promises, of having the worship of God. When God destroyed
the whole original world, he manifested the promise of the seed to
that wretched and tiny remnant, Noah and his sons.
V. NOAH ALONE WAS RIGHTEOUS; THE WORLD DESTROYED.
A. NOAH ALONE WAS FOUND RIGHTEOUS.
1. What comfort was offered Noah by his righteousness in the
midst of his suffering 193.
* To find grace before God leads to faith and excludes works
194.
2. For what was righteous Noah especially praised by God 195.
* Many great men lived in the days of Noah 196.
3. How righteous Noah had to contend against so much all alone
197.
* By what means the Papists contend against the Evangelicals
198.
4. With what the world especially upbraided righteous Noah 199.
* People then were wiser and more ingenious than now 200.
5. Noah may be called both just and pious 201.
6. Righteous Noah led a godly life, possessed great courage and
was a marvelous character 202.
7. By his piety Noah was a confessor of the truth 203-204.
* It is very difficult for one man to withstand the united
opposition of many 204.
8. Being a preacher of righteousness Noah was in greater danger
205.
9. Noah an example of patience and of all virtues 206.
10. How he traveled and preached everywhere in the world, and
preserved the human race temporally and spiritually 207-208.
11. The world takes offense at righteous Noah's marrying, and
adds sin to sin 209.
12. The order of the birth of Noah's sons 210.
B. THE WHOLE WORLD DESTROYED.
1. Whether, as Lyra teaches, birds and animals were destroyed
211.
* Why the punishment of sin was visited also upon the animals
212-213.
2. The meaning of "the earth was corrupt before God" 214-216.
* The sins against the first table of the law can easier be
concealed than those against the second table 214.
* Where false doctrine is taught, godless living follows 215.
3. How the earth was corrupt in the light of the first table of
the law 215-216.
4. How the earth was corrupt in the light of the second table
217-218.
* The meaning of "violence" in Scripture 218.
* The greatest violence can obtain under the appearance of
holiness, as among the Papists and Turks 219-221.
* Moses beautifully traces the course God takes in his
judgments 222.
* Who can pass the right judgment upon the pope that he is
Antichrist 223.
* How Antichrist strengthens the courage of the godly, and
whether they can check him 223.
5. Noah laments this corruption 224.
* Godlessness cannot be remedied when it adorns itself with the
appearance of holiness 225.
6. How God views this corruption 226.
* Luther laments the wickedness of the enemies of the Gospel
227.
* How we should view God's delay in punishing the wickedness of
his enemies 228.
* God's delay is very hard for believers 229.
7. The first world, although corrupt, was much better than the
present world 230.
V. HOW NOAH ALONE WAS FOUND RIGHTEOUS, AND HOW THE WHOLE WORLD WAS
DESTROYED.
A. Noah Alone Was found Righteous.
V. 8. _But Noah found grace in the eyes of Jehovah._
193. These are the words through which Noah was lifted up and
quickened again. For such wrath of the divine majesty would have
killed him, had not God added the promise of saving him. It is likely,
however, that his faith had a struggle and was weak. We cannot imagine
how such contemplation of God's wrath weakens courage.
194. This novel expression of the Holy Spirit the heavenly messenger
Gabriel also uses when speaking to the Blessed Virgin Lk 1, 30, "Thou
hast found favor (grace) with God." The expression most palpably
excludes merit and commends faith, through which alone we are
justified before God, made acceptable and well pleasing in his sight.
V. 9. _These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man,
and perfect in his generations; Noah walked with God._
195. With this passage the Jews commence not only a new chapter, but
also a new lesson. This is a very brief history, but it greatly extols
our patriarch Noah; he alone remained just and upright while the other
sons of God degenerated.
196. Let us remember many most excellent men were among the sons of
God, of whom some lived with Noah well nigh five hundred years. Man in
that age before the flood was very long-lived; not only the sons of
God, but also the sons of men. A very wide and rich experience had
been gathered by these people during so many years. Much they learned
from their progenitors and much they saw and experienced.
197. Amid the corruption of all these stands Noah, a truly marvelous
man. He swerves neither to the left nor to the right. He retains the
true worship of God. He retains the pure doctrine, and lives in the
fear of God. There is no doubt that a depraved generation hated him
inordinately, tantalized him in various ways and thus insulted him:
"Art thou alone wise? Dost thou alone please God? Are the rest of us
all in error? Shall we all be damned? Thou alone dost not err. Thou
alone shalt not be condemned." And thus the just and holy man must
have concluded in his mind that all others were in error and about to
be condemned, while he and his offspring alone were to be saved.
Although his conviction was right in the matter, his lot was a hard
one. The holy man was in various ways troubled by such reflections.
198. The wretched Papists press us today with this one argument: Do
you believe that all the fathers have been in error? It seems hard so
to believe, especially of the worthier ones, such as Augustine,
Ambrose, Bernard and that whole throng of the best men who have
governed Churches with the Word and have been adorned with the august
name of the Church. The labors of such we both laud and admire.
199. But surely no less a difficulty confronted Noah himself, who
alone is called just and upright, at a time when the very sons of men
paraded the name of the Church. When the sons of the fathers allied
themselves with these they, forsooth, believed that Noah with his
people raved, because he followed another doctrine and another
worship.
200. Today our life is very brief, still to what lengths human nature
will go is sufficiently in evidence. What may we imagine the condition
to have been in such a long existence, in which the bitterness and
vehemence of human nature were even stronger? Today we are naturally
much more dull and stupid, and yet men singularly gifted rush into
wickedness. It is afterward said that all flesh had corrupted its way
upon the earth, only Noah was just and upright.
201. From these two words we may gather the thought that Noah is held
to be "just" as he honored the first table and "upright" as he honored
the second. "Just" he is called, because of his faith in God, because
he first believed the general promise with respect to the seed of
woman and then also the particular one respecting the destruction of
the world through the flood and the salvation of his own offspring. On
the other hand he is called "upright" because he walked in the fear of
God and conscientiously avoided murder and other sins with which the
wicked polluted themselves in defiance of conscience. Nor did he
permit himself to be moved by the frequent offenses of men most
illustrious, wise and apparently holy.
202. Great was his courage. Today it appears to us impossible that one
man should oppose himself to all mankind, condemning them as evil,
while they vaunt the Church and God's Word and worship, and to
maintain that he alone is a son of God and acceptable before him.
Noah, accordingly, is a marvelous man, and Moses commends this same
greatness of mind when he plainly adds "in his generation," or "in his
age," as if he desired to say that his age was indeed the most wicked
and corrupt.
203. Above, in the history of Enoch, we explained what it means to
walk with God, namely, to advocate the cause of God in public. To be
just and upright bespeaks private virtue, but to walk with God is
something public--to advocate the cause of God before the world, to
wield his Word, to teach his worship. Noah was not simply just and
holy for himself but he was also a confessor; he taught others the
promises and threats of God, and performed and suffered all that
behooves a public personage in an age so exceedingly wicked and
corrupt.
204. If it were I who had seen that so great men in the generation of
the ungodly were opposed to me, I surely in desperation should have
cast aside my ministry. For one cannot conceive how difficult it is
for one man to oppose himself alone to the unanimity of all churches;
to impugn the judgment of the best and most amicable of men; to
condemn them; to teach, to live, and to do everything, in opposition
to them. This is what Noah did. He was inspired with admirable
constancy of purpose, inasmuch as he, innocent before men, not only
regarded the cause of God, but most earnestly pressed it among the
most nefarious men, until he was told: "My spirit shall not further
strive with man." And the word "strive" finely portrays the spirit
with which the ungodly heard Noah instruct them.
205. Peter also beautifully sets forth what it means to walk with God
when he calls Noah a preacher, not of the righteousness of man, but of
God; that is, that of faith in the promised seed. But what reward Noah
received from the ungodly for his message Moses does not indicate. The
statement is sufficient, that he preached righteousness, that he
taught the true worship of God while the whole earth opposed him. That
means the best, most religious and wisest of men were against him.
More than one miracle, in consequence, was necessary to prevent his
being waylaid and killed by the ungodly. We see today how much wrath,
hate, and envy one sermon to the people may create. What shall we
believe Noah may have suffered who taught not a hundred, not two
hundred, but even more years, down to the last century, when God did
not desire the wicked to receive instruction any longer lest they
become still fiercer and more depraved.
206. Therefore we may conjecture from the condition and nature of the
world itself, and of the devil, from the experience of the apostles
and the prophets, and likewise from our own, what a noble example of
patience and other virtues Noah has been, who was just and
irreproachable in that ungodly generation and walked with God--that
is, governed the churches with the Word--and who, when the one hundred
and twenty years were determined upon, after the lapse of which the
world was to be destroyed by a flood, in face of such a terrible
threat, entered into matrimony and begot children.
207. It is very probable that he traveled up and down the earth; that
he taught everywhere; that everywhere he exhorted to worship God in
truth; that he, hindered by many labors, refrained from matrimony on
account of abundance of tribulations and in the expectation of the
advent of a better and more religious age. But when he recognized this
hope as unfounded and by a voice divine was warned that a time had
been set for the world's destruction, then and not before, prompted by
the Spirit, did he make up his mind to marry, in order to transmit to
the new age seed out of himself. And thus the holy man preserved the
human race, not only spiritually, in the true Word and worship, but
also bodily, by begetting children.
208. As in paradise a new Church had its beginning, before the flood,
through Adam and Eve's faith in the promise, so also here a new world
and a new Church arise from the marriage of Noah--a nursery of that
world which shall endure to the end.
209. I stated above (para 88) that this marriage was an occasion of
great offense to the ungodly and that they made the most extraordinary
sport of it. How inconsistent that the world is to perish so soon,
when Noah, five hundred years old, becomes a father! They deemed his
act the surest evidence that the world was not to perish by a flood.
Hence, they began to live even more licentiously, and in the greatest
security to despise all threats. Christ says in Matthew 24, 38, that
in the days of Noah they ate, they drank, etc. The world does not
understand the plans of God.
210. Concerning the order of the sons of Noah, I said above that
Japheth was first, that Shem was born two years afterward when Noah
commenced to build the ark, and Ham two years later. This has not been
clearly explained by Moses, but still it has been carefully noted.
B. Destruction of the Whole World.
V. 11. _And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled
with violence._
211. Lyra, perhaps under the influence of rabbinic interpretation,
contends here that even the birds and other animals forsook their
nature and mixed with those of another species. But I do not believe
it, for the creation or nature of animals remains as it was fashioned.
They have not fallen through sin, like man, but are, on the contrary,
fashioned for this bodily life alone. In consequence they neither hear
the Word, nor does the Word concern them. They are absolutely without
the Law of the first and the second tables. Accordingly, this passage
refers only to man.
212. But that the beasts bore the penalty of sin and perished at the
same time with man through the flood was the result of God's purpose
to destroy man altogether; not alone in body and soul, but with the
possessions and dominion which were his at creation. Instances of
similar retribution occur in the Old Testament. In the sixth chapter
of Daniel we see the enemies of Daniel cast into the lions' den,
together with their wives, children and whole families. In the
sixteenth chapter of Numbers a like incident is narrated in connection
with the destruction of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Similar is also an
instance spoken of by Christ when the king commands to sell the
servant together with wife, children and all his substance.
213. In this manner, evidently, not only men but all their goods were
destroyed, so that punishment might be full and complete. Beasts,
fields and the birds of heaven were created for man. They are man's
property and chattels. Therefore, the animals perished, not because
they had sinned, but because God wanted man to perish amid all his
earthly possessions.
214. In this passage Moses' specific statement that "the earth was
corrupt before God," is made to show that Noah was treated and
esteemed in the eyes of his age as a stupid and good for nothing
character. The world, on the contrary, appeared in its own eyes
perfectly holy and righteous, believing it had just cause for the
persecution of Noah, especially in regard to the first table of the
Law and the worship of God. The second table is not without its
disguise of hypocrisy, but in this respect it bears no comparison to
the former. The adulterer, the thief, the murderer can remain hidden
for a while, though not forever. But the sins of the first table
generally remain hidden under the cloak of sanctity until God brings
them to light. Godlessness never wishes to be godlessness, but chases
after a reputation for piety and religion; and trims its cult so
finely that in comparison with it the true cult and the true religion
appear coarse.
215. The verb _shiheth_ is very frequent and conspicuous in Holy
Scripture. Moses uses it in the thirty-first chapter of Deuteronomy,
verse 29: "For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt
yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you."
And David says, "They are all gone aside; they are together become
filthy," Ps 14, 3. Both passages speak particularly of the sins
against the first table; that is, they accuse the apparently devoutest
saints of false worship and false doctrine, for it is impossible for a
righteous life to follow teaching that is false.
216. When Moses says the earth was corrupt before God, he clearly
points out the contrast--the hypocrites and oppressors judged Noah's
teaching and practise as wholly wrong, and their own as altogether
holy. The reverse, Moses says, was true. Mankind was assuredly corrupt
measured by the first table. They lacked the true Word and the true
worship. This distinction between the first and the second tables
commends itself strongly to my judgment and was doubtless suggested by
the Holy Spirit.
217. The additional statement--"and the earth was filled with
violence"--points to this unfailing sequence. With the Word lost, with
faith extinct, with traditions and will-worship--to use St. Paul's
phraseology (Col 2, 8)--having replaced the true cult, there results
violence and shameful living.
218. The correct significance of the word _hamas_ is violence force,
wrong, with the suspension of all law and equity, a condition where
pleasure is law and everything is done not by right, but by might. But
if such was their life, you may say, how could they maintain the
appearance and reputation of holiness and righteousness? As if we did
not really have similar instances before our eyes today. Has the world
ever seen anything more cruel than the Turks? And they adorn all their
fierceness with the name of God and religion.
219. The popes have not only seized for themselves the riches of the
earth, but have filled the Church itself with stupendous errors and
blasphemous doctrines. They live in shocking licentiousness. They
alienate at pleasure the hearts of kings. Much is done by them to
bring on bloodshed and war. And yet, with all such blasphemies and
outrages, they arrogate to themselves the name and title of the
greatest saints and boast of being vicars of Christ and successors of
Peter.
220. Thus the greatest wrong is allied to the names of Church and true
religion. Should any one offer objection, immediately is he put under
the ban and condemned as a heretic and an enemy of God and man.
Barring the Romans and their accomplices, there is no people which
plumes itself more upon religion and righteousness than the Turks. The
Christians they despise as idolaters; themselves they esteem as most
holy and wise. Notwithstanding, what is their life and religion but
incessant murder, robbery, rapine and other horrible outrages?
221. The present times, therefore, illustrate how those two
incompatible things may be found in union--the greatest religiousness
with abominations, the greatest wrong with a show of right. And this
is the very cause for men becoming hardened and secure without
apprehending the punishment they merit by their sins.
V. 12. _And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all
flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth._
222. Inasmuch as the wrath of God is appalling and destruction is
imminent for all flesh except eight souls, Moses is somewhat redundant
in this passage, and uses repetitions, which are not superfluous but
express an emphasis of their own. Above he said the earth was corrupt;
now he says that God, as if following the customary judicial method,
saw this and meditated punishment. In this manner he pictures, as it
were, the order in which God proceeds.
223. The judgment of spiritual people concerning the pope at the
present day is that he is the Antichrist, raging against the Word and
the kingdom of Christ. But they who censure it are unable to correct
this wickedness. Wickedness is growing daily and contempt for
godliness is becoming greater every day. Now comes the thought: What
is God doing? Why does he not punish his enemy? Does he sleep and care
no longer for human affairs? The delay of judgment causes the
righteous anguish. They themselves cannot come to the succor of a
stricken religion and they see God who could help, connive at the fury
of the popes, who securely sin against the first and the second tables
of the Law.
224. Just so Noah sees the earth filled with wrongs. Therefore, he
groans and sighs to heaven in order to arouse God from the highest
heaven to judgment. Such voices occur here and there in the Psalms
(10, 1): "Why standest thou afar off?"; (13, 1): "How long, O
Jehovah?"; (9, 13): "Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah; consider my
trouble"; (7, 6-9): "Arise, judge my cause, etc."
225. What Moses here describes comes at length to pass, that God also
sees these things and hears the cry of the righteous who are able to
judge the world; for they who are spiritual judge all things (1 Cor 2,
15), though they cannot alter anything. Wickedness is incorrigible
when adorned with a show of piety, and so is oppression when it
assumes the disguise of justice and foresight. It is nothing new that
they who seize the wives, daughters, houses, lands and goods of others
desire to be just and holy, as we showed above in respect of the
papacy.
226. This is the second stage then: When the saints have seen and
judged the wickedness of the world, God also sees it. He says of the
Sodomites: "The cry of them is waxed great before Jehovah" (Gen 19,
13); and above (ch 4, 10): "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth
unto me." But always before the Lord takes note, the sobs and groans
of the righteous precede, arousing, as it were, the Lord from slumber.
What Moses desires to show in this passage through the word, "saw" is
that God finally perceived the afflictions and heard the cries of the
righteous, filling at last all heaven. He who hitherto had winked at
everything and seemed to favor the success of the wicked, was awakened
as from slumber. The fact is he saw everything much sooner than Noah;
for he is the searcher of hearts and cannot be deceived by simulated
piety as we can. But not until now, when he meditates punishment, does
Noah perceive that he sees.
227. Thus we are afflicted today by extreme and unheard of wickedness,
for our adversaries condemn from sheer caprice the truth they know and
profess. They try to get at our throats and shed the blood of the
righteous with a satanic fury. Such blasphemous, sacrilegious and
parricidal doings against the kingdom and name of God, manifest as
such beyond possibility of denial, they defend as the acme of justice.
While contending for the maintenance of their tyrannical position they
go so far as to arrogate to themselves the name of the Church. What
else can we do here but cry to Jehovah to make his name sacred and not
to permit the overthrow of his kingdom nor resistance to his paternal
will?
228. But so far the Lord sleeps. He apparently does not observe such
wickedness, because he gives no sign as yet of observing it. Rather he
permits us to be tormented by such woeful sights. We are, therefore,
thus far in the first stage and this verse, stating that the whole
earth is corrupt, applies to our age. But at the proper time the
second stage will be reached, when we can declare in certainty of
faith that not only we but God also sees and hates such wickedness.
Though God, in his long-suffering, has continued to wink at many
things, he shall retain the name of One who in righteousness shall
judge the earth.
229. How bitter and hard such delay is for the righteous, the
lamentations of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 12, 1ff., and 20, 7ff, show.
There the holy man almost verges on blasphemy until he is told that
the Babylonian king should come and inflict punishment upon the
unbelieving scoffers. Thereupon Jeremiah recognizes that God looks
down on the earth and is Judge upon the earth.
230. The universal judgment which follows is terrible in the extreme,
namely that all flesh upon the earth had corrupted its way and that
God, when he had begun to examine the sons of men, did not, from the
oldest to the youngest of the fathers, find any he could save from
destruction.
This strikes our ears as still more awful when we take into
consideration the condition of the primitive world, not judging by the
miserable fragments we have today. As the physical condition of the
world at that time was infinitely ahead of this age, so we may
conclude that the majesty and pomp of our rulers and the show of
sanctity and wisdom on the part of the popes are not to be compared to
the show of religion, righteousness and wisdom found among those
renowned men of the primitive world.
And yet the text says that all flesh had corrupted its way, save Noah
and his offspring. That means all men were wicked, lived in idolatry
and false religion and hated the true worship of God. They despised
the promise of the seed, and persecuted Noah, who proclaimed
forgiveness through the seed and threatened to those, who should fail
to believe his forgiveness, eternal doom.
VI. GOD DECIDES TO PUNISH THE FIRST WORLD; COMMANDS NOAH TO BUILD AN
ARK; THE COVENANT.
A. HOW GOD DECREED TO PUNISH THE OLD WORLD IN HIS WRATH.
1. How punishment finally comes when God has suffered sin long
enough 231.
* Luther's hope that God's judgment may soon break upon the
last world 231.
2. Whether reason can grasp the wrath and punishment of God 232.
3. How God's promises stand in the midst of his wrath and
punishment 232.
4. The first world thought itself secure against God's wrath
233.
* The Papal security and boldness against the Evangelicals 234.
5. By what means God punished the first world 235.
* The Holy Spirit must reveal that God's wrath and punishment
do not violate his promises 236.
6. The causes of this wrath and punishment 237.
* By what may it be known that God will visit Germany with
punishment 238.
* God complains more of the violence shown to the neighbor than
to himself 239.
* The damages of the deluge 240.
* The ground of the earth was in a better state before the
flood than now 240.
* The colors in the rainbow signs of the punishment of the
first and the last world 241.
VI. GOD DECIDES TO PUNISH THE FIRST WORLD; COMMANDS NOAH TO BUILD AN
ARK; THE COVENANT.
A. God Decides to Punish the Old World.
V. 13. _And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before
me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I
will destroy them with the earth._
231. After Noah and his people had for a long time raised their
accusing cry against the depravity of the world, the Lord gave
evidence that he saw the depravity and intended to avenge it. This,
the second stage, we also look for today, nor is there any doubt that
men shall exist, to whom this coming destruction of the world is to be
revealed, unless the destruction be the last day and the final
judgment, which I truly wish. We have seen enough wickedness in these
brief and evil days of ours. Godless men, as in Noah's time, adorn
their vices with the name of holiness and righteousness. Hence, no
penitence or reformation is to be hoped for. This stage having been
reached in the times of Noah, sentence is finally passed, having been
previously announced by the Lord when he gave command that striving
should cease and issued the declaration that he regretted having made
man.
232. Reason is incapable of believing and perfectly understanding such
wrath. Just consider how different this is from what had been. Above
we have read (ch 1, 31) that God saw everything he had made and
behold, it was very good; that he gave man and beast the additional
blessing of propagation; that he subjected to man's rule the earth and
all the treasures of the earth; that as the highest blessing, he added
the promise of the woman's seed and life eternal and instituted not
only the home and the State, but also the Church. How, then, is it
that the first world, called into being in this way through the Word,
should, to use Peter's expression, perish by water?
233. There is no doubt that the sons of the world threw all this up to
Noah as he preached the coming universal destruction, and publicly
charged him with lying, on the ground that home, State and Church had
been instituted by God; that God surely would not overturn his own
establishment by a final destruction; that man had been created for
propagation and dominion upon the earth, not for the rule of water
over him to his destruction.
234. Just so the Papists press us with the one argument that Christ
will be with the Church to the end of the world (Mt 28, 20); that the
gates of hell will not prevail against it (Mt 16, 18). This they vaunt
in a loud-voiced manner, believing their destruction to be an
impossibility. Swept by the waves Peter's ship may be, they say, but
the waters cannot overwhelm it.
235. Quite similar was the security and assurance before the flood;
notwithstanding, we see that the whole earth perished. The scoffers
boasted that God's regulations are perpetual, and that God had never
completely abolished or altered his creation. But consider the outcome
and you will see that they were wrong, while Noah alone was right.
236. Unless the additional light of the Holy Spirit is vouchsafed, man
will surely be convinced by such argument; for is it not equivalent to
making God inconstant and changeable, to maintain that he will
completely destroy his creature? Yet God gives Noah the revelation
that he will make an end of flesh and earth, not in part, but of all
flesh and all the earth. Would it not be awful enough to partition the
earth into three parts and to threaten destruction to one? But to rage
against the whole earth and against all mankind seems to be in
conflict with God's government and the declaration that everything is
very good. These things are too sublime to be understood or
comprehended by human reason.
237. What is the cause of wrath so great? Surely, the fact that the
earth is filled with violence, as he here says. Astonishing reason! He
says nothing here concerning the first table; he mentions only the
second. It is, as if he said: I shall say nothing of myself that they
hate, blaspheme and persecute my Word. Among themselves how shamefully
do they live! Neither home nor State are properly administered;
everything is conducted by force, nothing by reason and law.
Therefore, I shall destroy at the same time both mankind and the
earth.
238. We see also in our age that God winks at the profanation of the
mass, a horrible abomination that fills the whole earth, and at
ungodly teachings and other offenses which have hitherto been in vogue
in religion. But when men live so together that they disregard both
State and home, when huge covetousness, graft of every description and
manifold iniquity have waxed strong, does it not become clear to every
man that God is compelled, as it were, to punish, yea to overturn
Germany?
239. It is the fullness of his mercy and love that prompts God rather
to make complaint concerning the wrongs inflicted upon his members
than those inflicted upon himself. We observe he maintains silence
respecting the latter, while he threatens punishment, not to man
alone, but even to the very earth itself.
240. A twofold effect is traceable to the flood; a weakening of man's
powers and an impairment of his wealth and that of the earth. The
latter-day fruit of trees is in nowise to be compared with that in the
days before the flood. The antediluvian turnips were better than
afterward the melons, oranges or pomegranates. The pear was finer than
the spices of today. So it is likely that a man's finger possessed
more strength than today his whole arm. Likewise man's reason and
understanding were far superior. But God, because of sin, has brought
punishment to bear, not alone upon man, but also upon his property and
domain, as witness to posterity also of his wrath.
But how is the destruction to be effected? Assuredly, by his seizing
the watery element and blotting out everything. The force with which
this element is wont to rage is common knowledge. Though the
atmosphere be pestilential, it does not always infect trees and roots.
But water not only overturns everything, not only does it tear out
trees and roots, but it also lifts the very surface of the earth. It
alters the soil, so that the most fertile fields are marred by the
overflow of salty earth and sand (Ps 107, 34). This was therefore
equal to the downfall of the primitive world.
241. The penalty of the present world, however, will be different, as
the color of the rainbow shows. The lowest color the extent of which
is well defined, is that of water. For the fury of the water in the
deluge was so great that limits were set to its havoc, and the earth
was restored to the remnant of the godly after the destruction of the
evil-doers. But the other arch of the rainbow, the outer, which has no
clearly defined bounds, is of the color of fire, the element which
shall consume the whole world. This destruction shall be succeeded by
a better world, which shall last forever and serve the righteous. This
the Lord seems to have written in the color of the rainbow.
B. GOD COMMANDS NOAH TO BUILD AN ARK.
* That Noah had only three children is a sign of God's mercy 242.
1. The kind of wood used in building the ark 243.
2. Its various rooms 244.
3. The pitch by which it was protected 245.
4. Why God instructed Noah so particularly how each part was to be
constructed 246.
5. The form of the ark, and how teachers differ on this point 247.
6. The place Noah occupied in the ark, and that of the animals 248.
7. Whether the ark had the proportions of a human body 249.
8. How the ark was a type of the body of Christ--of the Church 250.
9. The windows of the ark:
a. Whether it had more than one window 251.
* The Latin version is not clear here 252.
b. What kind of a window it was, and how it could stand the rain
253.
c. Luther's opinion of the Jews' ideas about the window 253.
10. The door of the ark 254.
11. How to meet the various questions about the ark 255-256.
* The deluge was a new method of punishment, hence the non
incredible 257-258.
* God was in earnest in the threatening of this flood 259.
B. GOD COMMANDS NOAH TO BUILD AN ARK.
V. 14. _Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the
ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch (bitumen)._
242. God's first thought was to save a remnant through that tiny seed,
the three sons of Noah, for Noah ceased henceforth to beget children.
This strongly attests the mercy of God toward those who walk in his
ways.
243. _Gopher_ some make out to be pine, others hemlock, still others
cedar; hence, a guess is rather difficult. The choice appears to have
been made owing to its lightness or its resinous quality, so that it
might float more easily upon the water and be impervious to it.
244. _Kinnim_ signifies "nests" or "chambers"; that is separate spaces
for the various animals. Bears, sheep, deer and horses did not dwell
in one and the same place, but the several species had their
respective quarters.
245. But what is meant by _bitumen_, I do not know. With us vessels
are made water tight with pitch and tow. Pitch, it is true, withstands
water, but it also invites the flame. There is no bitumen with us
which resists water, hence we raise no objection to "bitumen" being
rendered "pitch."
246. You may ask: Why does God prescribe everything so accurately? The
injunction to build the ark should have been sufficient. Reason could
determine for itself the rules concerning dimensions and mode of
construction. Why, then, does God give such careful instruction with
reference to dimensions and materials? Certainly that Noah, after
undertaking all things according to the Lord's direction (as Moses
built the tabernacle according to the model received on the mount),
should with the greater faith trust that he and his people were to be
saved, nor entertain any doubt concerning a work ordered by the Lord
himself, even how it should be made. This is the reason the Lord gives
his directions with such attention to detail.
V. 15. _And this is how thou shalt make it: the length of the ark
three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height
of it thirty cubits._
247. A nice geometrical and mathematical exercise concerning the form
and dimensions of the ark is here presented. The views of writers
vary. Some claim it was four-cornered, others that it was gabled like
nearly all our structures in Europe. As for myself, I hold it was
four-cornered. Eastern people's were not acquainted with gabled
buildings. Theirs were evidently of four-cornered form, as the Bible
mentions people walking on roofs. Similar was the shape of the temple.
248. There is a difference of opinion also concerning the arrangement
of the animals in their quarters, which occupied the upper, which the
central and which the lower places, this being the distinction
warranted by the text. No certainty, however, can be arrived at. It is
likely that Noah himself and the birds occupied the upper part, the
clean animals the central and the unclean animals the lower one. The
rabbis assert the lower part served the purpose of storing dung. But I
think the dung was thrown out of the window, for its removal was
necessitated by such a multitude of beasts abiding in the ark for over
a year.
249. Augustine quotes Philo against Faustus in stating that on
geometrical principles, the ark had the proportions of the human body,
for when a man lies on the ground his body is ten times as long as it
is high and six times as long as broad. So three hundred cubits are
six times fifty and ten times thirty.
250. An application is made of this to the body of Christ, the Church,
which has baptism as the door, through which clean and unclean enter
without distinction. Although the Church is small, she rules the earth
notwithstanding, and it is due to her that the world is preserved,
just as the unclean animals were preserved in the ark. Others stretch
the application so far as to point to the wound in the side of Jesus'
body as prefigured by the windows in the ark. These are allegories
which are not exactly profound, but still harmless because they harbor
no error and serve a purpose other than that of wrangling, namely,
that of rhetorical ornamentation.
V. 16. _A light shalt thou make to the ark, and to a cubit shalt thou
finish it upward; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side
thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it._
251. Behold, how diligent an architect God is! With what care he
interests himself in all the parts of the structure and their
arrangement. Furthermore, the word _Zohar_ does not properly signify
window, but southern light. The question may be raised here whether
the ark had only one window or several. For the Hebrew language
permits the use of the singular for the plural, or of the collective
for the distributive term, as for instance: "I will destroy man from
the face of the ground." Here evidently not one man but many are
spoken of. But to me it seems there was only one window that shed
light upon man's domicile.
252. The Latin interpreter is so strangely obscure as to fail to make
himself understood. My unqualified opinion is that he was unable to
divest himself of the image of a modern ship, in which men are
commonly carried in the lower part. Nor is it quite intelligible what
he says about the door, inasmuch as it is certain that the ell-long
window was in the upper part, and the door in the center of the side
or in the navel of the ark. Thus, also, Eve was framed from the middle
portion of man's body. The whole structure was divided into three
partitions, a higher, a central and a lower one, and it was the upper
one which, according to my view, was illuminated by the light of day
through the window.
253. You may say, however: What kind of a window was it, or how could
it exist in those frequent and violent rains? For rain did not fall
then as it does ordinarily, since the water in forty days rose to such
proportions as to submerge the highest mountains by fifteen
arm-lengths. The Jews claim that the window was closed by a crystal
which transmitted the light. But too curious a research into these
matters appears to me useless, since neither godliness nor Christ's
kingdom are put in jeopardy from the fact of our remaining in
ignorance concerning some features of this structure of which God was
the architect. It seems to me sufficiently satisfactory to assume that
the window was on the side of the upper partition.
254. As to the door, it is certain that it was about thirteen or
fourteen cubits from the earth. The ark, when it floated, sank about
ten feet into the water with its great weight of animals of every kind
and provender for more than a year. This may suffice as a crude
conception of the ark; for, besides height and length, Moses merely
indicates that it had three partitions, a door and a window.
255. We will dismiss innumerable other questions such as: What kind of
air was used in the ark? for such a stupendous mass of water,
particularly falling water, must have produced a violent and
pestilential stench; whence did they draw their drinking-water? for
water cannot be preserved a whole year, hence mariners often call at
ports in their vicinity for the purpose of drawing water; again, how
could the bilge-water with its obnoxious odor be drawn up?
256. Such questions and other subordinate points related to the
experience of the mariner we may pass by. Otherwise there will be no
end of questions. We will be content with the simple supposition that
the lower part probably served the purpose of securing the bears,
lions, tigers and other savage animals; the middle part, that of
housing the gentle and tractable animals, together with the provender,
which cannot be kept in a place devoid of all air-currents; the upper
that of accommodating human beings themselves, together with the
domestic animals and the birds. This should be enough for us.
V. 17. _And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth,
to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under
heaven; everything that is in the earth shall die._
257. Above God has threatened in general the human race with
destruction. Here he points out the method; namely, that he intends to
destroy everything by a new disaster, a flood. Such a punishment the
world hitherto had not known. The customary punishments, as we see
from the prophets, are pestilence, famine, the sword and fierce
beasts. Men and beasts perish of pestilence. The earth is laid waste
by war, for it is deprived of those who till it. The sufferings of
famine, though they seem to be less cruel, are by far the most
terrible. With the fourth class of penalties, our regions have almost
no experience at all. Although these are severally sufficient for the
chastisement of the human race, the Lord desired to employ a novel
kind of punishment against the primeval world, through which all flesh
having the breath of life was to perish.
258. Because this punishment was unheard of in former ages, the wicked
were slower to believe it. They reasoned thus: If God is at all angry,
can he not correct the disobedient by the sword, by pestilence? A
flood would destroy also the other creatures which are without sin;
surely God will not plan anything like this for the world.
259. But in order to remove such unbelief from the mind of Noah and
the righteous, he repeats with stress the pronoun, "And I, behold, I
do bring." Afterward he clearly adds that he will destroy all flesh
that is under heaven and in the earth; for he excludes here the fishes
whose realm is widened by the waters. This passage tends to show the
magnitude of the wrath of God, through which men lose, not only body
and life, but also universal dominion over the earth.
C. GOD'S COVENANT WITH NOAH.
* The way God comforted Noah in announcing the flood, and why such
comfort was needed 260.
1. The nature of this covenant.
a. The views of Lyra, Burgensis and others 261.
b. Luther's views 262-263.
2. Whether the giants or tyrants were embraced in this covenant and
how received by them 262-263.
3. Why it was made only with Noah 264.
4. How this covenant was made clearer from time to time, and why it
was needed at this time 265.
5. How a special call was added to this covenant 266.
* God's judgment upon the first world terrible 267.
* Why Ham was taken into the ark, who was later rejected 267.
* Foreknowledge and election.
a. Why we should avoid thinking and disputing on this subject
268.
b. To what end should the examples of Scripture on this theme
serve 269.
c. How consideration of the same may help and harm us 270.
C. GOD'S COVENANT WITH NOAH.
V. 18. _But I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt
come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons'
wives with thee._
260. To this comfort Moses before pointed when he declared that Noah
had found grace. Noah stood in need of it, not only to escape despair
amid such wrath, but also for the strengthening of his faith in view
of the raging retribution. For it was no easy matter to believe the
whole human race was to perish. The world consequently judged Noah to
be a dolt for believing such things, ridiculed him and, undoubtedly,
made his ship an object of satire. In order to strengthen his mind
amid such offenses, God speaks with him often, and now even reminds
him of his covenant.
261. Interpreters discuss the question, what that covenant was. Lyra
explains it as the promise to defend him against the evil men who had
threatened to murder him. Burgensis claims this covenant refers to the
perils amid the waters, which were to be warded off. Still others
believe it was the covenant of the rainbow, which the Lord afterward
made with Noah.
262. In my opinion, he speaks of a spiritual covenant, or of the
promise of the seed, which was to bruise the serpent's head. The
giants had this covenant, but when its abuse resulted in pride and
wickedness, they fell from it. So it was afterward with the Jews,
whose carnal presumption in reference to God, the Law, worship and
temple led to their loss of these gifts and they perished. To Noah,
however, God confirms this covenant by certainly declaring that Christ
was to be born from his posterity and that God would leave, amid such
great wrath, a nursery for the Church. This covenant includes not only
protection of Noah's body, the view advocated by Lyra and Burgensis,
but also eternal life.
263. The sentiment, therefore, of the promise is this: Those insolent
despisers of my promises and threats will compel me to punish them. I
shall first withdraw from them the protection and assurance which are
theirs by reason of their covenant with me, that they may perish
without covenant and without mercy. But that covenant I shall transfer
to you so that you shall be saved, not alone from such power of the
waters, but also from eternal death and condemnation.
264. The plain statement is, "With thee." Not the sons, not the wives,
does he mention, whom he was also to save; but Noah alone he mentions,
from whom the promise was transmitted to his son Shem. This is the
second promise of Christ, which is taken from all other descendants of
Adam and committed alone to Noah.
265. Afterward this promise is made clearer from time to time. It
proceeded from the race to the family, and from the family to the
individual. From the whole race of Abraham it was carried forward to
David alone; from David to Nathan; from Nathan down to one virgin,
Mary, who was the dead branch or root of Jesse, and in whom this
covenant finds its termination and fulfilment. The establishment of
such a covenant was most necessary in view of the imminence of the
incredible and incalculable wrath of God.
266. You will observe here, however, a special call when he says:
"Thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, etc." If Noah had
not received this special call, he would not have ventured to enter
the ark.
267. How terrible is it that from the whole human race only eight
persons should be selected for salvation and yet from among them, Ham,
the third son of Noah, be rejected! By the mouth of God he is numbered
here among the elect and saints. Yea, with them he is protected and
saved. Nor is he distinguished from Noah. If he had not believed and
prayed for the same things, if he had not feared God, he would in
nowise have been saved in the ark; and yet, afterward he is rejected!
268. The sophists wrangle here concerning an election that takes place
according to the purpose of God. But often have I exhorted to beware
of speculations about the unveiled majesty, for besides being anything
but true, they are far from being profitable. Let us rather think of
God as he offers himself to us in his Word and sacraments. Let us not
trace these instances back to a hidden election, in which God arranged
everything with himself from eternity. Such doctrine we cannot
apprehend with our minds, and we see it conflicts with the revealed
will of God.
269. What, then, you will ask, shall we declare with reference to
these examples? Nothing but that they are pointed out to inspire us
with the fear of God, so that we believe it is possible to fall from
grace after once receiving grace. Paul warns, "Let him that thinketh
he standeth take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor 10, 12. We should heed such
examples to teach us humility, that we may not exalt ourselves with
our gifts nor become slothful in our use of blessings received, but
may reach forth to the things which are before, as Paul says in
Philippians 3, 13. They teach us not to believe that we have
apprehended everything.
270. Malignant and most bitter is our enemy, but we are feeble,
bearing this great treasure in earthen vessels. 2 Cor 4, 7. Therefore,
we must not glory as if we were secure, but seeing that men so holy
fell from grace, which they had accepted and for a long time enjoyed,
we should look anxiously to God as if in peril at this very moment. In
this manner these examples are discussed to our profit; but those who
give no attention to them and chase after complex high thoughts on an
election according to the purpose of God, drive and thrust their souls
into despair, to which they naturally incline.
VII. ANIMALS AND FOOD IN THE ARK; NOAH'S OBEDIENCE.
A. THE ANIMALS NOAH TOOK INTO THE ARK.
1. The number and kinds of animals 271-272.
2. The differences in the animals 273.
a. What is understood by the "Behemoth" 274.
b. By the "Remes" 275.
c. Whether this difference is observed in all places 276.
3. Whether wild and ferocious animals were in paradise, and if
created from the beginning 276-277.
4. How Noah could bring the animals, especially the wild ones,
into the ark 278-279.
* The animals at the time felt danger was near 278-279.
5. The animals came of themselves to Noah in the ark 280.
B. THE FOOD NOAH TOOK INTO THE ARK.
1. Why necessary to take with them food 281.
* The kind of food man then had, and if he ate flesh 282.
2. God's foreknowledge shines forth here 283.
3. Why God did not maintain man and the animals in the ark by a
miracle 284.
* The extraordinary ways and miracles of God.
a. Why man should not seek miracles, where ordinary ways and
means are at hand 285.
b. The monks seek extraordinary ways and thus tempt God 286.
* Whether we should use medicine, and if we should learn the
arts and languages 286.
c. Why God did not save Noah in the water without the ark,
when he could have done so 287.
d. When does God use extraordinary means with man 288.
C. NOAH'S OBEDIENCE.
1. In what respect it was especially praised 289.
* Obedience to God.
a. How one is to keep the golden mean, and not turn to the
right or left 290.
b. How man can by obedience or disobedience mark out his own
course 290-291.
c. Why most people shun obedience 291.
d. How we are here not to look to the thing commanded, but to
the person commanding 292-296.
e. How sadly they fail who look at the thing commanded 293.
* How the Papists neither understand nor keep God's
commandments 294.
* What we are to think of the holiness of the Papists 295.
f. All God commands is good, even if it seems different to
reason 296.
* How the Papists do harm by the works of their wisdom, and
only provoke God to anger, as king Saul did 297.
g. How in his obedience Noah held simply to God's Word and
overcame all difficulties 298.
VII. THE ANIMALS AND THEIR FOOD, AND NOAH'S OBEDIENCE.
A. THE ANIMALS NOAH TOOK INTO THE ARK.
Vs. 19-20. _And every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort
shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they
shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, and of the
cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after
its kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive._
271. Here again a dispute arises, as is the case when in historical
narratives one proceeds to the application and incidental features.
Our text appears to vindicate the view that here two and two are
spoken of; but in the beginning of the seventh chapter seven and
seven. Hence, Lyra quarrels with one Andrea, who believed fourteen
specimens were included in the ark, because it is written: "Of every
clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and seven." But I approve
Lyra's interpretation, who says seven specimens of every class were
inclosed in the ark, three male and three female, and the seventh also
male, to be used by Noah for purposes of sacrifice.
272. When Moses says here that two and two of the several species were
brought into the ark, we must necessarily understand the seventh
chapter as speaking only of the unclean animals, for the number of
clean animals was the greater. Of the unclean seven of every species
were inclosed in the ark.
273. It is also necessary that we here discuss the signification of
terms as "all life," "beasts," "cattle." Though these are often used
without discrimination, still at various places the Scripture employs
them discriminatingly; for instance, when it says, "Let the earth
bring forth living creatures." Gen 1, 24. "Let the waters swarm with
swarms of living creatures." Gen 1, 20. In those places the words of
the genus stand for all living beings on the earth and in the waters.
Here the constituent species are named--_chayah_, _remes_, and
_behemah_--though frequently used without discrimination.
274. The cattle he calls here _behemoth_, though in Ezekiel, first
chapter, those four animals are called by the common name,
_hachayoth_, a word by which we commonly designate not so much animals
as beasts, subsisting not on hay or anything else growing out of the
earth, but flesh; as lion, bear, wolf and fox. _Behemoth_ are cattle
or brutes which live on hay and herbs growing from the earth; as
sheep, cows, deer and roe.
275. _Remes_ means reptile. The word is derived from _ramas_, which
means to tread. When we compare ourselves with the birds, we are
_remasian_, for we creep and tread upon the earth with our feet like
the dogs and other beasts. But the proper meaning is, animals which do
not walk with face erect. The animals which creep and which we term
reptiles have a specific name, being called _sherazim_, as we see in
Leviticus from the word _sharaz_, which means to move, hereafter used
in the seventh chapter. The word _oph_ is known, meaning bird.
276. Such are the differences among these terms, although, as I said
before, they are not observed in some places. The interpretation must
be confined, however, to the time after the flood; otherwise the
inference would be drawn that such savage beasts existed also in
paradise. Who will doubt that before sin, dominion having been given
to man over all animals of earth, there was concord not only among men
but also between animals and man?
277. Though the first chapter clearly proves that these wild beasts
were created with the others, on account of sin their nature was
altered. Those created gentle and harmless, after the fall became wild
and harmful. This is my view, though since our loss of that state of
innocent existence it is easier to venture a guess than to reach a
definition of that life.
278. But, you ask, if because of sin the nature of animals became
completely altered, how could Noah control them, especially the savage
and fierce ones? The lion surely could not be controlled, nor tigers,
panthers and the like. The answer is: Such wild animals went into the
ark miraculously. To me this appears reasonable. If they had not been
forced by a divine injunction to go into the ark, Noah would not have
had it within his power to control such fierce animals. Undoubtedly he
had to exercise his own human power, but this alone was insufficient.
And the text implies both conditions, for at first it says: "Thou
shalt bring into the ark," and then adds: "Two of every sort shall
come unto thee." If they had not been miraculously guided, they would
not have come by twos and sevens.
279. That two by two and seven by seven came of their own accord is a
miracle and a sign that they had a premonition of the wrath of God and
the coming terrible disaster. Even brute natures have premonitions and
forebodings of impending calamities, and often as if prompted by a
certain sense of compassion, they will manifest distress for a man in
evident peril. We see dogs and horses understand the perils of their
masters and show themselves affected by such intelligence, the dogs by
howling, the horses by trembling and the emission of copious sweat. As
a matter of fact it is not rare that wild beasts in danger seek refuge
with man.
280. When, therefore, there is elsewhere in brute natures such an
intelligence, is it a wonder that, after having been divinely aroused
to a sense of coming danger, they joined themselves voluntarily to
Noah? For the text shows they came voluntarily. In the same manner
history bears witness, and our experience confirms it, that, when a
terrible pestilence rages or a great slaughter is imminent, wolves,
the most ferocious of animals, flee not only into villages, but, on
occasion, even into cities, taking refuge among men and humbly asking,
as it were, their help.
B. THE FOOD NOAH TOOK INTO THE ARK.
V. 21. _And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and gather
it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them._
281. Inasmuch as the flood was to last a whole year, it was necessary
to remind Noah of the food to be collected from the herbs and the
fruits of trees in order to preserve the life of man and of animals.
Though the wrath of God was terrible, to the destruction of everything
born on earth, the goodness of the Lord shines forth, notwithstanding,
in this an awful calamity. He looks to the preservation of man and the
animals, and through their preservation to that of the species. The
animals chosen for preservation in the ark were sound and of
unblemished body, and through divine foresight, they received food
suitable to their nature.
282. As for man, it is established that, as yet, he did not use flesh
for food. He ate only of the vegetation of the earth, which was far
more desirable before the flood than at present, after the remarkable
corruption of the earth through the brackish waters.
283. We observe here the providence of God, by whose counsel the evil
are punished and the good saved. By a miracle God preserves a portion
of his creatures when he punishes the wicked and graciously makes
provision for their posterity.
284. It would have been an easy matter for God to preserve Noah and
the animals for the space of a full year without food, as he preserved
Moses, Elijah and Christ, the latter for forty days, without food. He
made everything out of nothing, which is even more marvelous. Yet God,
in his government of the things created, as Augustine learnedly
observes, allows them to perform their appropriate functions. In other
words, to apply Augustine's view to the matter in hand, God performs
his miracles along the lines of natural law.
285. God also requires that we do not discard the provisions of
nature, which would mean to tempt God; but that we use with
thanksgiving the things God has prepared for us. A hungry man who
looks for bread from heaven rather than tries to obtain it by human
means, commits sin. Christ gives the apostles command to eat what is
set before them, Lk 10, 7. So Noah is here enjoined to employ the
ordinary methods of gathering food. God did not command him to expect
in the ark a miraculous supply of food from heaven.
286. The life of the monks is all a temptation of God. They cannot be
continent and still they refrain from matrimony; likewise they abstain
from certain meats, though God has created them to be received with
thanksgiving by them that believe, and by those who know the truth,
that every creature of God is good, and nothing to be rejected, if it
be received with thanksgiving, 1 Tim 4, 3-4. The use of medicine is
legitimate; yea, it has been created as a necessary means to conserve
health. The study of the arts and of language is to be cultivated and,
as Paul says, "Every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be
rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified
through prayer." 1 Tim 4, 4-5.
287. God was able to preserve Noah in the midst of the waters. They
fable of Clement that he had a cell in the middle of the sea. Yea, the
people of Israel were preserved in the midst of the Red Sea and Jonah
in the belly of the whale. But this was not God's desire. He rather
willed that Noah should use the aid of wood and trees, so that human
skill might thereby have a sphere for its exercise.
288. When, however, human means fail, then it is for you either to
suffer or to expect help from the Lord. No human effort could support
the Jews when they stood by the sea and were surrounded in the rear by
the enemy. Hence, a miraculous deliverance was to be hoped for, or a
sure death to be suffered.
C. NOAH'S OBEDIENCE.
V. 22. _Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did
he._
289. This phrase is very frequent in Scripture. This is the first
passage in which praise for obedience to God is clothed in such a form
of words. Later we find it stated repeatedly that Moses, the people,
did according to all that God commanded them. But Noah received
commendation as an example for us. His was not a dead faith, which is
no faith at all, but a living and active faith. He renders obedience
to God's commands, and because he believes both God's promises and
threats, he carefully carries out what God commanded with reference to
the ark and the gathering of animals and food. This is unique praise
for Noah's faith, that he remains on the royal way--adds nothing,
changes nothing and takes nothing from the divine command, but abides
absolutely in the precept he has heard.
290. It is the most common and at the same time most noxious sin in
the Church, that people either altogether change God's commands or
render something else paramount to them. There is only one royal road
to which we must keep. They sin who swerve too much to the left by
failing to perform the divine commands. Those who swerve to the right
and do more than God has commanded, like Saul when he spared the
Amalekites, also sin even more grievously than those who turn to the
left. They add a sham piety; for, while those who err on the left
cannot excuse their error, these do not hesitate to ascribe to
themselves remarkable merit.
291. And such error is exceedingly common. God is wont sometimes to
command common, paltry, ridiculous and even offensive things, but
reason takes delight in splendid things. From the common ones it
either shrinks or undertakes them under protest. Thus the monks shrank
from home duties and chose for themselves others apparently of greater
glamour. Today the great throng, hearing that common tasks are
preached in the Gospel, despises the Gospel as a vulgar teaching,
lacking in elegance. What noteworthy thing is it to teach that
servants should obey their master and children their parents? Such a
common and oft-taught doctrine the learned papists not only neglect
but even ridicule. They desire rather something unique, something
remarkable either for its reputed wisdom or for its apparent difficult
character. Such is the madness of man's wisdom.
292. In general it is wisdom to observe not so much the person that
speaks as that which he says, because the teacher's faults are always
in evidence. But when we consider precepts of God and true obedience,
this axiom should be reversed. Then we should observe not so much that
which is said, but the person of him who speaks. In respect to divine
precepts, if you observe that which is said and not him who speaks,
you will easily stumble. This is illustrated by the example of Eve,
whose mind did not dwell upon the person who issued the command. She
regarded only the command and concluded it to be a matter of small
moment to taste the apple. But what injury was thereby wrought to the
whole human race!
293. He who observes him that gives the command will conclude that
what is very paltry in appearance is very great. The Papists estimate
it a slight thing to govern the State, to be a spouse, to train
children. But experience teaches that these are very important
matters, for which the wisdom of men is incompetent. We see that at
times the most spiritual men have here shamefully fallen. When we,
therefore, remember him who gives the command, that which is paltry
and common becomes a responsibility too great to discharge without
divine aid.
294. The Papists, therefore, who look only at the outward mask, like
the cow at the gate, can make light of duties toward home and State,
and imagine they perform others of greater excellence. In the very
fact that they are shameless adulterers, blasphemers of God, defilers
of the sanctuary and brazen squanderers of the Church's property, they
powerfully testify against themselves that they can in no wise
appreciate the paltry, common and vulgar domestic and public duties.
295. In what, therefore, consists the holiness they vaunt? Forsooth,
in that on certain days they abstain from meat, that they bind
themselves to certain vows, that they have a liking for certain kinds
of work. But, I ask you, who has given command to do those things? No
one. That which God has enjoined or commanded, they do not respect.
They render paramount something else concerning which God has given no
command.
296. Hence, the vital importance of this rule, that we observe not the
contents of the command but its author. He who fails to do this will
often be offended, as I said, by the insignificance or absurdity of a
task. God should receive credit for wisdom and goodness. Assuredly
that which he himself enjoins is well and wisely enjoined, though
human reason judge differently.
297. From the wisdom of God the Papists detract when they consider
divinely enjoined tasks as paltry and attempt to undertake something
better or more difficult. God is not propitiated by such works, but
rather provoked, as Saul's example shows. As if God were stupid,
dastardly, and cruel in that he commanded to destroy the Amalekites
and all their belongings, Saul conceived a kinder plan and reserved
the cattle for the purpose of sacrifice. What else was such action but
to deem himself wise and God foolish.
298. Hence Moses rightly commends in this passage Noah's obedience
when he says that he did everything the Lord had enjoined. That means
to give God credit for wisdom and goodness. He did not discuss the
task, as Adam, Eve and Saul did to their great hurt. He kept his eye
on the majesty of him who gave the command. That was enough for him,
even though the command be absurd, impossible, inexpedient. All such
objections he passes by with closed eyes, as it were, and takes his
stand upon the one thing commanded by God. This text therefore is
familiar as far as hearing it is concerned, but even as to the
performance and practice of it, it is known to very few and is
extremely difficult.