As if one should tell an old man, you shall become young again, and receive such a desire and lust as when you wert young. At this, nature would laugh, and think, yes indeed, would that were true; as if doubt and hope were coupled together. Thus it was also with Sarah: for the world-spirit understands not the Mysteries of God. It is before God only as a beast; and seeing the world- spirit did now hear that it should so come to pass, then it thought, you shall be the work-master; oh that you could, you would very fain; and laughed at itself, that it should become young again.
31. The natural man understands even as much of God, as a beast; when it sees the hay, then it thinks, now there is somewhat for me to eat; but if it sees nothing, then it hopes for it out of custom. But Sarah had now hoped until she was ninety years old; and thought it to be very wonderful, that God would do somewhat unto her above the ordinary and usual course of nature; and imagined it unto herself after the manner of human pleasure.
32. But the Lord said, Wherefore did Sarah laugh at it? And she was afraid, and said, I laughed not. But the Lord said, It is not so, thou didst laugh; should any thing be too impossible for the Lord to do? Here is the type of Eve; when she had turned her vain curiosity into self lust, to eat of the forbidden tree, and God afterwards asked her wherefore she had done so, she denied also her own lust, and laid it upon the Serpent.
33. And seeing that now God had here alluded with Abraham concerning the new birth, he also does the like with Sarah concerning the lust of Eve, which this woman's seed should slay as a lie. For Sarah must here therefore tell a lie, that she did not laugh, in that Eve also lied. God did here represent before him the lie of Eve, and that he would confound it with the eternal truth, and reclaim her;
as he did to Sarah, and convinced her so of her lie, that she must be ashamed of it.
34. And here we are to understand that God has represented or delineated the whole process, how he would regenerate anew the true man which he created; and how the same should come to pass, and how he would burn the Serpent's ens in the eternal fire, and how he would put the lie of the poor soul to open shame and death on the cross; for we see this here very excellently in the type.
35. After that God had set forth the process of the new birth, the~e three men went towards Sodom; and would burn Ham, viz. the evil Ham-like fleshly property, with fire from the Lord, as it also came to pass; so that we see it very emphatically, how the judgement of God begins at the house of Israel; how Christ is set to be a Judge of the devil's ens and will, who shall burn the devil's essence with fire; as this following figure signifies.
The Forty-Third Chapter
Of the Ruin and Destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah, how the same was foretold of
God unto Abraham
1. And the Lord spoke to Abraham, 1 when he had blessed Abraham, and had said that he would command his children to walk in the ways of the Lord, and that he would also bless them, as is before mentioned: Behold! there is a cry of Sodom and Gomorrah, which is Great, and their sin is exceeding grievous; therefore I will come down, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry which is come unto me; and if not so, I will know. And the men turned their faces from thence, and went towards Sodom. God said, How can I hide from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that he shall become a great and mighty nation. And there- upon showed him what he would do.
2. The un-illuminated reason looks upon this figure very wonderfully, that God said: He would come down and see if the cry were true, that he might know whether it were so or no. Reason supposes with itself: Is he then circumscriptive, 2 or dwells he aloft alone and above, does he not know all things before? Does not the Scripture also say of him, Am not I he who fills all things? Also, the heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool. Would he then first come down like unto a circumscriptive 3 being, which was separate from time and place?
As if one should tell an old man, you shall become young again, and receive such a desire and lust as when you were young. At this, nature would laugh, and think, yes indeed, would that were true; as if doubt and hope were coupled together. Thus it was also with Sarah: for the world-spirit understands not the Mysteries of God. It is before God only as a beast; and seeing the world- spirit did now hear that it should so come to pass, then it thought, you shall be the work-master; oh that you could, you would very fain; and laughed at itself, that it should become young again.
31. The natural man understands even as much of God, as a beast; when it sees the hay, then it thinks, now there is somewhat for me to eat; but if it sees nothing, then it hopes for it out of custom. But Sarah had now hoped until she was ninety years old; and thought it to be very wonderful, that God would do somewhat unto her above the ordinary and usual course of nature; and imagined it unto herself after the manner of human pleasure.
32. But the Lord said, Wherefore did Sarah laugh at it? And she was afraid, and said, I laughed not. But the Lord said, It is not so, you did laugh; should any thing be too impossible for the Lord to do? Here is the type of Eve; when she had turned her vain curiosity into self lust, to eat of the forbidden tree, and God afterwards asked her wherefore she had done so, she denied also her own lust, and laid it upon the Serpent.
33. And seeing that now God had here alluded with Abraham concerning the new birth, he also does the like with Sarah concerning the lust of Eve, which this woman's seed should slay as a lie. For Sarah must here therefore tell a lie, that she did not laugh, in that Eve also lied. God did here represent before him the lie of Eve, and that he would confound it with the eternal truth, and reclaim her;
as he did to Sarah, and convinced her so of her lie, that she must be ashamed of it.
34. And here we are to understand that God has represented or delineated the whole process, how he would regenerate anew the true man which he created; and how the same should come to pass, and how he would burn the Serpent's ens in the eternal fire, and how he would put the lie of the poor soul to open shame and death on the cross; for we see this here very excellently in the type.
35. After that God had set forth the process of the new birth, the~e three men went towards Sodom; and would burn Ham, viz. the evil Ham-like fleshly property, with fire from the Lord, as it also came to pass; so that we see it very emphatically, how the judgement of God begins at the house of Israel; how Christ is set to be a Judge of the devil's ens and will, who shall burn the devil's essence with fire; as this following figure signifies.
The Forty-Third Chapter
Of the Ruin and Destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah, how the same was foretold of
God unto Abraham
1. And the Lord spoke to Abraham, 1 when he had blessed Abraham, and had said that he would command his children to walk in the ways of the Lord, and that he would also bless them, as is before mentioned: Behold! there is a cry of Sodom and Gomorrah, which is Great, and their sin is exceeding grievous; therefore I will come down, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry which is come unto me; and if not so, I will know. And the men turned their faces from thence, and went towards Sodom. God said, How can I hide from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that he shall become a great and mighty nation. And there- upon showed him what he would do.
2. The un-illuminated reason looks upon this figure very wonderfully, that God said: He would come down and see if the cry were true, that he might know whether it were so or no. Reason supposes with itself: Is he then circumscriptive, 2 or dwells he aloft alone and above, does he not know all things before? Does not the Scripture also say of him, Am not I he who fills all things? Also, the heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool. Would he then first come down like unto a circumscriptive 3 being, which was separate from time and place?
No commentary for this page.
There is commentary on page 1.