Anathoth

“ Therefore thus said Iahvah Sabaoth: Behold I am about to visit it upon them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by the famine. And a remnant they shall have none; for I will bring evil unto the men of `Anathoth, (in) the year of their visitation." It is natural to see in this wicked plot against his life the reason for the prophet's departure from his native place (but cf. p. 265) . ”

“ He began his work at Anathoth, but v. 1-5 (as Duhm points out) seems to come from one who has just now for the first time “run to and fro in the streets of Jerusalem,” observing and observed. And what is the result of his expedition? That he cannot find a single just and honest man; that high and low, rich and poor, are all ignorant of the true method of worshipping God (“the way of Yahweh,” v. 4) . ”

“ For were He to reward us according to our works, we should cease to be. For “if Thou, Lord, shalt mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” [67] Let us therefore prove ourselves worthy of that name which we have received. For whosoever is called by any other name besides this, he is not of God; for he has not received the prophecy which speaks thus concerning us: “The people shall be called by a new name, which the Lord shall name them, and shall be a holy people.” [68] This was first fulfilled in Syria ”

“ Before the death of Adam, Enoch began his holy walk of three hundred years, and then he was translated that he should not see death. This testimony to the piety of Enoch was a powerful testimony to the antediluvians in behalf of truth and righteousness. Moreover the Spirit of God strove with mankind; but the perversity [34] of man triumphed over all the gracious restraints of the Holy Spirit. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Even the sons of God joined in the general apostasy. ”

“ I do not glory in the world, but in the Lord. I exhort Hero, my son; "but let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord." [24] May I have joy of thee, my dear son, whose guardian may He be who is the only unbegotten God, and the Lord Jesus Christ! Do not believe all persons, do not place confidence in all; nor let any man get the better of thee by flattery. For many are the ministers of Satan; and "he that is hasty to believe is light of heart." [25]
Chap. vii.—Solemn charge to Hero, as future bishop of Antioch. ”

“ By day, Adonai commands His kindness, and at night, His song is with me, a prayer to the God [who guards] my life. 10. I will say to God, my Rock, "Why have You forgotten me? Why should I walk in gloom under the oppression of the enemy?" 11. With murder in my bones, my oppressors have reproached me by saying to me all day long, "Where is your God?" 12. Why are you downcast, my soul, and why do you moan over me? Hope to Elohim, for I will yet thank Him for the salvations of my countenance and my God. ”

“ And Enoch continued his speech, saying, The Lord which spake with me, the same is the God of heaven, and He is my God, and your God, and ye are my brethren, and why counsel ye yourselves, and deny the God of heaven?
The heavens hath he made: the earth is his footstool, and the foundation thereof is his: Behold he hath laid it, an host of men hath he brought in upon the face thereof. And death hath come upon our fathers: nevertheless we know them, and cannot deny, and even the first of all we know, even Adam. ”

“ He says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I am the Lord thy God." [9] And of doing good He said: "Honour thy father and thy mother; that it may be well with thee, and that thy days may be long in the land which I the Lord God give thee." Again, concerning righteousness: "Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal. ”

“ Many may think that Enoch and his whole city were taken from the earth directly into the presence of God. That is a mistaken idea. If, within three hundred and sixty-five years, I can see a people capable of surmounting every sin, of overcoming every evil and effect of sin to such a degree as to be separated in the flesh from the sinful portion of the world and from all the effects of the fall—a great people as pure and holy as were the people of Enoch, I should not complain, and, perhaps, have no cause to. ”

“ The doubting spirit in our first parents and in Cain was felt in all; but there was also the strong and manly faith which resisted the sin of doubt, which looked from the seen to the unseen, from the temporal to the eternal, from sin and folly to God, and which established itself firmly on His promise of unchangeable love. Therefore Enoch "pleased God." Faith presupposes reverence, love, obedience, and man never pays a higher tribute to another than to trust him implicitly and for all in all. Such faith God accepts and delights in. Such faith builds a noble character and a lofty life. ”

“ I entreat of you not to be [affected] towards me with a love which is unseasonable. Leave me to become [the prey of] the beasts, that by their means I may be accounted worthy of God. I am the wheat of God, and by the teeth of the beasts I shall be ground, [4] that I may be found the pure bread of God. Provoke ye greatly [5] the wild beasts, that they may be for me a grave, and may leave nothing of my body, in order that, when I have fallen asleep, I may not be a burden upon any one. Then shall I be in truth a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world seeth not even my body. ”

“ The last echoes of that voice die away, and there ensues a period of silence during which men lived and the world made progress, in the sense in which it always does, until the silence was broken, and Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying : " Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among men, of all their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly men have spoken against Him." ”

“ If any one affirm that the Spirit is part of the Father and of the Son, let him be anathema. If any one say that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three Gods, let him be anathema. If any one say that the Son of God was made as one of the creatures by the will of God, let him be anathema. ”

“ God will lead you. If you are burned to-morrow, ’twill be but the fiery gate to the Unseen Kingdom and service there. If you are not burned, God will lead you to service here. I shall be whipped from the city at day dawn and go to Timothy, a child in years like yourself, at Derbe and Lystra; but at Antioch is the Brotherhood, where holy men and women plan our warfare against the Adversary—the World, the Flesh and the Devil; but hard by Antioch are the Gardens of Daphne, where many maids like you are forced to barter love for carnal gain. ”

“ What more could mortal man on earth desire? All these can Antioch boast of, besides the many pleasant reminiscences connected with the spot. Its primitive Christian Church, the great success that crowned the early efforts of those two devout and indefatigable apostles, Paul and Barnabas;—the city, the birthplace of St. Luke, the beloved physician, where originated the name of that faith, which is our pride, our boast, and the source of all our hope; these are ties which render Antioch, in the devout Christian’s estimation, second only to Jerusalem. ”

“ Let no one among you be idle; for idleness is the mother of want. I do not enjoin these things as being a person of any consequence, although I am in bonds [for Christ] ; but as a brother, I put you in mind of them. The Lord be with you!
Chap. x.—Salutations.
May I enjoy your prayers! Pray ye that I may attain to Jesus. I commend unto you the church which is at Antioch. The churches of Philippi, [37] whence also I write to you, salute you. Philo, your deacon, to whom also I give thanks as one who has zealously ministered to me in all things, salutes you. ”

“ The Blessing of Enoch 1 These are the words of the blessing of Enoch; according to which he blessed the chosen and righteous who must be present on the day of the distress, which is appointed, for the removal of all the wicked and impious. 2 And Enoch began his story and said: - There was a righteous man whose eyes were opened by the Lord, and he saw a Holy vision in the Heavens, which the Angels showed to me. And I heard everything from them, and I understood what I saw: but not for this generation, but for a distant generation that will come. ”

“ Anathema goes to the door. Silence.
DAVID.
The spirit of God has come over me. Adenoi. Adenoi.... Who was the terrible one that spoke through the voice of old Nullius, when he spoke about my little children who died? Only an arrow out of the bow of the Omniscient strikes the very heart with such good aim. My little birds.... Verily, You have saved me upon the edge of the abyss, and You have torn my spirit away from the clutches of the Devil. He who looks straight at the sun may grow blind, but with the lapse of time the light may come back to the revived eyes ”

“ Why can’t they let one come quietly, and see what people really are. I dare say there are some good fellows here as elsewhere; but all these ceremonies and speech-making and fine clothes tire me to death. [pg 28] Well, we shall find a chance of having some talk together before long. Anyhow, you will come and see me at Antioch. I will make you court-poet, or general-in-chief, or high priest of Aphrodite! I know that you can do anything that you choose to turn your hand to. ”

“ Enoch and God walked together, by the simple exercise of the faith that fills the Invisible with one great, loving Face. By a continuous, definite effort, as we are going through the bustle of daily life, and amid all the pettiness and perplexities and monotonies that make up our often weary and always heavy days, we can realise to ourselves that He is of a truth at our sides, and by purity of life and heart we can bring Him nearer, and can make ourselves more conscious of His nearness. ”

“ Athanasius and Anastasius have embraced each other, righteousness hath appeared in the land of Egypt, and truth hath sprung up out of the East. Egypt and Syria have become one Faith, and the cities of Alexandria and Antioch one church, and there is one virgin to one holy man, our Lord Christ, the Only Son, the Word of God the Father.” And Saint Athanasius lived with Saint Anastasius in the same monastery for a period of thirty days, and they taught each other, and discussed together, and searched out the roots of the Faith ”

“ What a striking picture of early Church life is here presented! How full of teaching, of comfort, and of warning! How corrective of the false notions we are apt to cherish of the state of the primitive Church! There we behold the Church of Antioch rejoicing one day in the tidings of a gospel free to the world, and on the next day torn with dissension as to the points and qualifications necessary to salvation. For we must observe that the discussion started at Antioch touched no secondary question, and dealt with no mere point of ritual. ”

“ The church of Antioch, having been planted and taught by men of a more catholic spirit, had gathered within itself a large number of heathen from that Gentile city, who, led by their convictions of the truth and spirituality of the Christian faith, had renounced entirely all the idolatries in which they had been brought up, giving themselves, as it would seem, with honest resolution, to a life of such moral purity, as they considered alone essential to the maintenance of their new religious character. ”

“ Do not accept it as a thing fixed that you are to be one of the graceless and ungodly, always feeble, always vacillating, always without a character, always in doubt about your state, and whether life might not be some other and better thing to you.
“Enoch was not, for God took him.” Suddenly his place on earth was empty and men drew their own conclusions. He had been known as the Friend of God, where could he be but in God’s dwelling-place? No sickness had slowly worn him to the grave, no mark of decay had been visible in his unabated vigour. ”

“ If any one confesses the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and praises the creation, but calls the incarnation merely an appearance, and is ashamed of the passion, such an one has denied the faith, not less than the Jews who killed Christ. ”

“ And Enoch said unto the Lord, How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity? And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea and millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of Thy creations ”

“ And as Enoch spake forth the words of God, the people trembled, and could not stand before his presence: and he said unto them, because that Adam fell we are: and by his fall came death; and we are made partakers of misery and woe. Behold Satan hath come among the children of men, and tempteth them to worship him: and men have become carnal, sensual, and devilish, and are shut out from the presence of God. But God hath made known unto my fathers, that all men must repent. ”

“ I cannot forbear another reference to those recent authors who have so brilliantly illustrated and depicted the Antioch of the early Christians; [3] because, if we wish to understand Autolycus, we must feel the state of society which at once fascinated him, and disgusted Theophilus. The Fathers are dry to those only who lack imagination to reproduce their age, or who fail to study them geographically and chronologically. ”