16. suffereth violence ^ and the violent take it by force. And if
Prophecy ended loith John.
A twofold Advent.
Just, huckety and have been counted as the turning of a bala7ice, ' arid shall be cou7ited as spittle.
Arid Libanus is not sufficient for a burniny, and the beasts are not sufficient for a burntoffering ; and all nations are as nothing ^ and have been counted as nothing.''
This 51.
V/heii I concluded, Trypho said, "The words of phecy ^^^ whole prophecy are ambiguous, good man, and are falfiiied. 1-iot decisive to prove what you wish."
"If the Prophets,"
I replied, "had not ceased from among you, Trypho, so that there have heen none since this
John, you might certainly think what I now quote of Jesus Christ to be ambiguous.
But if John came before Him to call men to repentance, and Christ came while he was sitting at the river Jordan, and put an end^ to his prophesying and baptizing, and preached the Gospel Himself, saying, that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and that He must suffer many things of the Scribes and Pharisees, and be crucified, and rise again the third day, and appear again at Jerusalem, and eat and drink with His disciples ; and foretold that during His absence, as I have already said, there should be heresies and false prophets in His Name, which is evidently the case ; how is it any longer possible to doubt, since you may be convinced by the fact?
He also said, that there should be no more prophets among you, and that men should acknowledge that the new Covenant, which God had long since foretold that He would establish, was even then present, that is, it was Himself Who was the Christ.
Mat. 11, For He spoke thus; The Law and the Prophets were until Lukeie "^o^Ti the Baptist y from which time the Kingdom of Heaven
16. suffereth violence ^ and the violent take it by force.
And if ye will receive it, this is Elias which was for to come.
He that hath ears to hear^ let him hear.
Jacob 52.
<' The Patriarch Jacob also prophesied that there two Adshould be two comings of Christ; that in the first He vents of should be liable to suffering, and that after His coming your nation should have neither prophet nor king.
Moreover,"
I added, " the Gentiles who believe on the passible Christ, will expect His second appearance.
For this reason did ^ Ben. refers to §. 87. and Tertullian also John 3, 30. Matt.
11, 13. Luke against Marcion, book iv.
Compare 16, I G.
Kings ceased, as Jacob foretold, when the Gentiles came in. 135 the Holy Ghost utter these things hi a parable, and darkly.
Dial.
Thus then, I said, it is written; Judali, thy brethren have'^^^' praised thee : thy hands are on the back of thine enemies ; 8—12.
' thy fathers children shall bow down before thee.
Judah is a lions whelp ,- from a shoot, my son, thou art gone up.
He laid him down, he couched as a lion, and as a lions whelp ,who shall rouse him up ? A prince shall not failfrom Judah, nor a leader from between his feet, until the things laid up for him come ; and he shall be the expectation of the iiations.
Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the tendril of the vine.
He washeth his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes : his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white as milk.
Now that either, prophet or king ever ceased in your nation from the time of its first beginning until this Jesus Christ was born and suffered, you will not be so shameless as to venture to assert, nor can you prove it if you do.
"For although you term Herod, after" whose reign Christ suffered, an Ascalonite, you confess that you still had an high priest of your own nation, so that even then you had one who offered sacrifices according to the law of Moses, and observed the other ordinances ; and you also had a succession of prophets down to the time of John.
So too when your nation was led away to Babylon, and your land conquered, and your holy vessels taken, a prophet ceased not from among you, who became the lord, and leader, and prince of your people ; for the Spirit which was in your prophets used to anoint and institute even your kings.
But since the advent and death of Jesus our Christ amongst you, there has been no where among you nor is there now any prophet.
You have ceased to live under your own king, and moreover your country is desolate and abandoned as a lodge in a garden; but that which is Is. 1,8. spoken by Jacob, He shall be the expectation of the Gentiles, shewed symbolically His two Advents, and that the Gentiles should believe in Him, which now at last you may perceive ; for we who from all nations have been made
B a(p^ 00.
P>eii, nftMs <o §.
SS and tlu; prepo^^ition, but the words are sus- §.
for a sumevvluit similar use of pcotcd ol' being a gloss.
Meanhig of the Ass and Colt in JudaKs blessing.
Just, worshippers of God, and righteous through faith in Christ, ' look for Him to appear a second time.
Christ bS. " And this expression, Binding his foal unto the vi?ie, on'ar?
^^^ ^'^^ ass's colt unto the tendril of the vine, is a foreshewing ass. of the works which He did at His first coming, and of the Gentiles likewise, who should believe in Him; for these were like a foal which had never been harnessed, nor had a yoke on its neck, until this Christ came, and sent His disciples, and converted them.
And they have borne the yoke of His instruction, and submitted their backs to endure all things, because of the good things which they look for, and which He has promised.
And our Lord Jesus Christ verily commanded His disciples to bring Him an ass with its foal, which w^as bound at the entrance of the village of Bethphage, wdien He was about to enter Jerusalem, and He rode upon it into the city.
Which since it had been prophesied expressly that it should be done by Christ, when done by Him and recognised, made Him m.anifest to be the Christ.
And yet although all these things have been done and shewn by the Scriptures, you continue in your hardness of heart.
It was foretold that this should come to pass by Zacharias, one of the twelve prophets, in these Zech. 9, words; Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion ; shout, proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy King shall come unto thee: He is just, and hamng salvation ; lowly and poor, riding upon an ass, and upon the foal of an ass.
Now the Spirit of Prop)hecy, as well as the Patriarch Jacob, specified that He should have in his possession also an ass^^ that was accustomed to the yoke, with her foal ; and His commanding His disciples, as I said before, to bring both, was a presignification of those who should believe on Him, both of your synagogue and of the Gentiles; for as the foal which had never borne the yoke was typical of the Gentiles, so was the ass which had been subject to it typical of your nation for you have the law, which was laid on you by the Prophets.
It was also foretold by Zacharias, that this same '' The Mss. have Krlaei, Sylburgius certainly the natural reading, and in and others would substitute Kriftrei or fact makes better sense, St.
Justin XpM^i'
The Benedictine prefers the regarding the typical meaning more latter, and Otto the former, which is than the literal history.
The ' Shepherd smitten:
The 'Blood of the Grape,'
Christ should be smitten, and His disciples scattered, which Dial. also came to pass.
For after He was crucified, they were "'^^"* scattered until He rose from the dead, and proved to them that it was thus foretold of Him that He should suffer; and being so persuaded, they went into all the world, and taught these truths.
Hence it is that we are grounded in His faith and doctrine, having our persuasion both from the prophets, and from those whom we see throughout the world to have become worshippers of God, in the Name of Him Who was crucified.
These are Zacharias' words ; Awake, sword, Zech. against my shepherd, and against the man of my people, ' saith the Lord of Hosts.
Smite the shepherd, and his sheep shall he scattered.
54.
" And that which Moses has recorded, and which What is was spoken by the Patriarch Jacob, He shall wash His^^^^^^ garments in wine, and His clothes in the blood of the grape, tlie shews that He should wash those who believed on Him in^g^.^
His blood; for the Holy Ghost calls those who received ^i* remission of their sins through Him, His robe ; in whom He is always present in power, as He shall be openly present at His second coming.
And that expression, the blood of the grape, shews by a figure of speech, that the blood which Christ had was not of human generation, but was from the power of God : for as it is not man, but God, Who engenders the blood of the grape, so is it here foreshewn, that the blood of Christ should not be of human generation, but of Divine power.
And this prophecy proves,"
I continued, " that Christ is not a man of men, born like ordinary human beings."
55.
" We shall remember," said Trypho, " this explaTrypho nation of yours also, if by other arguments you can establish pr^of of this question as well ; but now resume your discourse, and a second shew us that the Spirit of Prophecy ever acknowledges any person. other God than the One Creator of all things ; taking care not to call the sun and moon such, which we read that God permitted the Gentiles to worship as gods, in which sense the prophets often use the word.
As, for example, Thy God is God of gods and Lord of lords ; adding, He wDeut. the great, mighty, and terrible, in many places ; which is '
* not said as if they were really Gods, but as Scripture
Proof of a second Divine Person demanded.
Just, teaches us, the true God Who made all things is the only '- Lord of those who are accounted gods and lords.
The proof of which the Holy Ghost says by the holy David, 1 Chron. ^lie gods of the Gentiles, that is, those which are accounted
Ps'.16,5. gods, are idols of devils, and not gods.
And he adds a llo,4-8.^,^j.gg ^j^ those who make and worship them."
" I will not bring, Trypho," I replied, " those proofs by which I know that they who commit these and other like sins are condemned, but such as no one can contradict, and which will seem strange to you, though they are read by you every day.
Whence you may perceive, that God, for your wickedness, has hidden the power of understanding the wisdom of His words from you, with the exception of a few, to whom, according to the grace of His long-sufFerIs. 1,'9. ing. He has left, as Isaiah says, a seed for salvation, that your nation be not wholly destroyed, like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Attend therefore to the passages which I am about to produce from the holy Scriptures, and which need no explanation, but only require to be heard.
God,but SQ. "Moses, therefore, that blessed and faithful servant Father ^f God, declares, that He Who was seen by Abraham at ^Pthe oak of Mamre was God, accompanied by two angels, toAbra-who were sent, for the condemnation of Sodom, by Another,
^^"* namely, by Him Who always remains above the heavens, Who has never been seen by any man, and Who of Himself holds converse with none, Whom we term the Creator of all things, and the Father ; for his words are as follows Gen. 18, And God appeared unto him at the oak of Mamre, as he was ' ^' sitting at the tent-door in the middle of the day.
And lifting up his eyes, he looked, and, lo, three 7nen stood over him : and ivhen he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tentdoor, and bowed himself toward the ground, and said.
And Gen. 19, SO on to the words. And Abraham gat up early in the 7norni7ig 27. 28.
^^ ^j^^ place where he stood before the Lord ; and he looked on the appearance of Sodom and Gomorrah, and on the appearance of the land round about, and saw, and, lo, aflame went up from the earth as the smoke of a furnaceJ"
When I ceased, I asked them if they had understood what had been cited ? they replied that they had, but that it did not at all tend to prove my assertion, that there either was, or that
It is sheion in the Appea7'ances ofGod {the Son) to Abraham. 139 the Holy Ghost makes mention of, any other God and Dial.
Lord besides tlie one Creator of all things.
* "Then," said I, "what I assert I will endeavour to prove to you, who understand the Scriptures; namely, that there both is, and that we read of, another God and Lord under the Creator of all things. Who is also termed an Angel, in that He ^ bears messages to men, whatever the ' a77e\Creator, above Whom there is no other God, wills to be borne to them."
Then repeating my citation, I asked Trypho if he thought that God appeared to Abraham under the oak of Mamre, as Scripture says ?
He answered, " Certainly."
And was He one of those tliree whom the Holy Ghost terms men, and says that Abraham saw ?
He ansvrered, " No ; but God was seen by him before he had sight of those three, and then he saw them, whom the Scripture calls men, and who were angels.
Two of them were sent to destroy Sodom, and the third promised Sarah that she should have a son, for which cause he was sent, and so departed and went his way."
" How is it then," I asked, " that one of the three who was in the tent, and who said, / will return to thee according Geu.18 to the time of life, and thou shalt have a son, returned, and ^^* appeared after the birth of Sarah's son, and the prophecy then declares that He is God?
That you may perfectly understand me, hear the plain words of Moses: And whenGen.^i^
"*^"
Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian bond-woman, which was born to Abraham, playing ivith her son Isaac, she said to Abraham, Cast out this bond-woman and her son : for the son of this bond-woman shall not be heir with my son
Isaac.
And that saying was very grievous in Abraham's sight, because of his son.
And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight, because of the lad, and because of the bo7id-ivoman : in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
" Do you think, then,"
I asked, " that He Who said under the oak that He would return, since He foreknew that it would be necessary for Abraham to agree to all that Sarah advised him, did return according to the Scriptures, and that He is God, as these words declare. And God said Gvn.^i,
"' to Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight, because of the lad, and because of the bond-woman .^"
l40Try2)ho admits that God appeared, hut not a Second Person, Just.
Trypho replied that he did ; " but you have not proved,"
^' he said, " that God is any other than He Who appeared to Abraham, and to the patriarchs and prophets as well, but that we were not right in thinking the three who were in the tent with Abraham to hcive been all angels."
To which I replied, " If I could not have proved from Scripture that one of those three is God, and yet is called an Angel, because, as I before said. He declares the will of God, the Creator of all things, to those to whom He chooses to make it known, and that He, like the two angels who accompanied Him, appeared on earth in the form of a man, and was seen by Abraham, and was also God before the formation of the world, it would be reasonable for you to believe what 3'our whole nation believes."
" Certainly," he replied, ''for we think thus even to this day."
" Then," I said, " to return to the Scriptures, I will endeavour to persuade you, that He Who is said to have appeared to Abraham, to Jacob, and to Moses, and is called God, is other than God the Creator of all things other I mean in number, not in will ; for I assert, that He never did (nor said) any thing but what the Creator of the world, above Whom there is no God, willed Him to do or to say."
Trypho replied, " Prove that it is so, in order that we may agree with you in this also : for we do not supj)ose that you would affirm Him to have done or said any thing contrary to the will of the Creator of all things."
" The Scripture," I re23lied, "which I have already cited, Gen. ]9, shall prove it to you.
This is it :
The sun was risen upon the earth, when Lot entered into Zoar ; and the Lord rained upon Sodom hrimsto7ie and fire from the Lord out of Heaven ; and he overthrew those cities, and all the country round about.'''
The fourth of Trypho's remaining companions then spoke.
" Beside that one of those two Angels, then, who descended to Sodom, whom Scripture also by Moses terms the Lord, we must necessarily think that God Himself appeared to Abraham'."
''Not only,"
I replied, "on this account, ought you certainly to admit what was the case, that besides Him ' He assumes that ' the Lord,' "Who who went to Sodom.
This notion is rained down fire, was one of the two farther discussed presently ; seep. J41.
Two Persons evid'intly shewn in certain Passages.
Whom we confess to be the Creator of the universe, another Dial. is called Lord by the Holy Ghost.
For He is so styled --^^^* not only by Moses, but also by David, who thus speaks The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Ps. no, until L shall make thine enemies thy footstool : and again in another place, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever : a Ps. 45, scej)tre of equity is the sceptre of Thy kingdom..
Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity ; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed Thee ivith the oil of gladness above Thy felloivs.
Tell me then, if you think that the Holy Ghost calls any other God and Lord besides the Father of all things and His Christ : for I undertake to prove to you from the Scriptures themselves, that it is not one of those two Angels who came down to Sodom whom the Scripture calls Lord, but Him who accompanied them, and Who is also termed the God that w^as seen by Abraham."
" Prove it then," said Trypho, '^for the day as you see is advancing, and we are not prepared for making these dangerous answers, having never before heard any one who examined, enquired into, or proved such points; nor should we have endured your remarks, but that you refer every thing to the Scriptures, and endeavour to bring your proofs from them, and declare that there is no God superior to the Creator of the universe."
"Know then," j^aid I, "that the Scripture says. And the ^^^-^-^^y Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying.
Shall I of a surety hear a child, who am old 'i Is any thing impossible with God ^ At the time appointed will I return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
And a little after; And the men rose up from thence, Gen. 18, and looked on the face of Sodom and Gomorrah: and Abraham
' we7it with them to bring them on the way.
And the Lord said, 1 will not hide from Abraham My servant the things which I do.
And thus again soon after; The Lord said. The cry of Gen. W, Sodom and Gornorrah is multiplied, and their sins are very ~ ' great.
I will go down, therefore, and see whether they may be to the full according to the cry wliich is come unto Me : and if not, that I may know.
And the men turnedfrom thence, and went toward Sodom. But Abraham was yet stajiding before the Lord.
And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt Thou also
The Lord stayed with Jbraha^n, two Angels ivent on.
Just, destroy the righteous with the wicked?
^c."
For I do not ^^^' think it necessary to repeat what I have already written, but only to cite those passages from which 1 constructed my proofs for Trypho and his companions;
I therefore passed Gen. 18, on to the following words.
" A7id the Lord went His ivay, as '
* soon as He had left communing with Abraham : and Abraham returned unto his place.
And the ttvo angels came to Sodom at even ; and Lot sat im the gate of Sodom : and so on until ver. 10. you meet what follows.
But the men put forth their hands, and 2yulled Lot into the house to them, and shut the door of ver. 16. fjie house : and then the following ; And the angels laid hold u<pon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hands of his daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him.
And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that they said, Save, save thine own life.
Look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the region round about.
Escape to the mountain, lest thou he taken.
But Lot said unto them, L beseech Thee, Lord, since Thy servant hath found grace in Thy sight, and Thou hast magnified Thy righteousness, which Thou hast done unto me in saving my life, and L cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and L die : behold, this city is there near to flee unto, it is a little one : there L shall be safe, since it is little, and my soul shall live.
And He said unto him. Behold, I have regarded thy person, and 1 will not overthrow the city, concerning ivhich thou hast spoken, for thy word's sake.
Haste, that thou mayest escape thither : for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither.
Therefore he called the name of that city Segor.
The sun was risen upon the earth, and Lot entered into Segor.
And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.
And He overthrew tJiose cities, and all the country round about.'''
When I had concluded these citations, I said, " Do you not now, my friends, understand that one of these three who is both God and Lord, and ministers to Him in the heavens, is Lord of these two angels ? for when they proceeded to Sodom, He was left behind, and held that conversation with Abraham, which is related by Moses: after which He went His way, and Abraham returned to his place.
And wdien He came, the two angels no longer held conversation with Lot, but He Himself, as