It seems good to me to attempt to explain why the prescriptions, judgments^[1] and commandments of the law have been given. The text says, In order to put them to the test [to see] if they would listen to the voice of the Lord and keep his commandments.^[2] In fact, what was there about the commandments that was so good and perfect if the former people of God were found still murmuring and rebelling? Shortly thereafter, in fact, they even returned to the idols and forgot all about the benefits and wonders that God had done, erecting the statue of a year-old calf.^[3] This therefore is why the precepts were given, in order to put them to the test. This is also why, through the mouth of Ezekiel the prophet, the Lord says to them, I gave you ordinances and prescriptions that were not good, in which you cannot live.^[4] Notice how when they were put to the test in the precepts of the Lord they were not found faithful. Therefore the commandment that was ordained for life was found to be death for them.^[5] The same commandment, if it is observed, generates life, but if it is not observed, it generates death. In so far, therefore, as the commandments generate death for those who do not observe them, they are called commandments that are not good, in which they cannot live.^[6] But since the wood of the cross of Christ has been mixed in with them and has changed them into sweetness^[7] and they are observed, being understood in the spirit, those same commandments have come to be called commandments of life, as it also says elsewhere, Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life.

But let us see what it promises if they are observed. It says, If you will observe my ordinances, I will not bring on you all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians.^[8] What does he mean to say? That if one observes the commandments he will not suffer disease, that is, he will not have a fever or suffer other pains of the body? I do not believe that these are the kinds of promises given to those who observe the divine commandments. In another place there is the example of Job, the most just and observant of every religious act of mercy who is struck by malignant ulcers from head to foot.^[9] Therefore one cannot say that those who keep the commandments are free from diseases but that they will not have the diseases that the Egyptians have; in fact, the world is figuratively called Egypt.

This is the beginning of Baruch’s prophecy. All of the preceding words are part of the letter of the deportees to Babylon and are in the form of a confession.

When the children of Israel had been taken captive by Necho, king of Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Assyria, came up and brought them back from the borders of Egypt to the land of Palestine, not meaning to restore them to their former liberty and their native land but meaning to carry them off to his own land and to transport them to a still more distant country than the land of Egypt in which they had been prisoners.^[1] And this illustration exactly applies to the case before us. For though there is less harm in yielding to the sin of pride than to fornication, still it is more difficult to escape from the yoke of pride. In the same way, in fact, the slave who is carried off to a greater distance will have more difficulty in returning to his native land and the freedom of his ancestors. The prophet’s rebuke will be deservedly aimed at him, Because you are grown old in a strange country, since one is rightly said to have grown old in a strange country if he has not gotten rid of the yoke of his passions.

The Father is called source and light: They have abandoned me, the source of living water.^[1] And in Baruch, How is it, Israel, that you are in the land of your enemies? You have abandoned the source of wisdom. And according to John, Our God is light.^[2] The Son, in relation to the source, is called a river: The river of God is full of waters.^[3] In relation to light, he is called splendor, as Paul says, He is the splendor of the glory and the imprint of his being.^[4] The Father is thus light and the Son his splendor (we need not fear repeating the same things often, especially in these matters). Now, it is possible to see in the Son also the Spirit, in whom we are enlightened, that he would give you, it is said, the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation, in the knowledge of him, by enlightening the eyes of the heart.^[5] Enlightened then by the Spirit, it is Christ who enlightens in him. It is said, in fact, that he was the true light that enlightens every person who comes into the world.^[6] Analogously, then, if the Father is the source and the Son is called river, we drink of the Spirit, as it is written, We have all been given to drink of the one Spirit.^[7] But, at the same time, drinking of the Spirit we drink of Christ: They drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.^[8]

IF GOD IS AND IS CALLED THE FOUNTAIN OF WISDOM AND LIFE^[1]. . . as in the book of Baruch it is written, You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom, this implies that life and wisdom are not foreign to the essence of the fountain but are proper to it. Nor were they at any time without existence but always existed. Now the Son is all this, who says, I am the life,^[2] and, I Wisdom dwell with prudence.^[3] Is it then irreligious to say, Once the Son was not,^[4] for it is the same thing as saying, Once the fountain was dry, destitute of life and wisdom. But then it would cease to be a fountain.

As the deer longs for springs of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.^[1] It is characteristic of deer that they do not fear the poison of serpents, so much so that, blowing into their lairs through their noses, they force them out so as to kill and eat them.^[2] And when the poison they have thus swallowed begins to burn their insides, though it is not fatal, it nevertheless ignites a fire in them that creates a tremendous thirst. They then go in search of springs, and in the pure waters they extinguish the fire of the poison. In the same way, then, that deer desire springs of water, so also our deer—those who, fleeing the Egypt of this world, have killed Pharaoh and have drawn out all of his army^[3] with the waters of baptism—after having killed the devil desire nothing but the springs of the church: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That the Father is a spring is written Jeremiah, They have abandoned me, the spring of living water, to dig for themselves leaky cisterns, unable to hold water.^[4] About the Son, it is written somewhere, They have abandoned the source of wisdom.^[5] Finally, of the Holy Spirit it is written, From the one who drinks the water that I will give him, a fountain will spring up, welling up to eternal life,^[6] and the Evangelist immediately provides an explanation, saying that the Savior’s words here referred to the Holy Spirit.^[7] This is the clearest proof that the three springs of the church are the mystery of the Trinity. And it is these springs that the soul of the believer longs for.^[8] The soul of the believer is interiorly drawn to them, so much so as to say, My soul thirsts for God, the living spring.^[9] Indeed, it is not merely foolish ambition to want to see God but an intense desire, a thirst that burns all. Before receiving baptism these souls spoke to themselves asking, When can I come into the presence of God?^[10] Now their desire is fulfilled: they have arrived, they are in God’s presence, they have been presented before the altar, face to face with the sacrament of the Savior.

And still another form of instruction is benediction. And blessed is he, he says by David, who has not sinned; and he shall be as the tree planted near the channels of the waters, which will yield its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not wither—which is an allusion to the resurrection—and whatever he will do will prosper with him.^[1] This is what he wants us to be so that we may be blessed. Again, showing the opposite scale of the balance of justice, he says, But not so the ungodly—not so; but as the dust that the wind sweeps away from the face of the earth.^[2] By showing the punishment of sinners and how easily they are dissipated and carried off by the wind, the Teacher^[3] dissuades us from crime by means of punishment. And, by holding up the penalty we deserve, he shows the goodness of his beneficence in the most skillful way in order that we may possess and enjoy its blessings. He invites us to knowledge also when he says by the mouth of Jeremiah, If you had walked in the way of God, you would have lived forever in peace. Thus, when he exhibits the reward of knowledge here, he invites those who are wise to its love. And, granting pardon to him who has erred, he says, Turn, turn, as a grape gatherer to his basket.^[4] Do you see the goodness of justice, in that it counsels to repentance?

The Lord says, I am the way.^[1] The one who walks in imitation of him^[2] follows his way.

Obviously, in the Lord, the one who believes in me, will never die.^[1] In fact, the Lord says, I am the light of the world.^[2] And the apostle, He indeed is our peace.^[3]

As soon as souls have left this world, it is said that the angels meet them with much rejoicing and conduct them to those very pastures to which they were longing to come, imagining them from far away when, still dwelling in their bodies, they dreamed of the divine world. When, therefore, they have come there, they see wonderful and glorious and blessed things of beauty, and such as cannot be spoken to humanity. They see there righteousness, prudence, love, truth, temperance and other flowers and plants of wisdom, equally splendid. We see here only the shadows and apparitions of them, as in dreams, and think that they consist of human actions because there is no clear image of them here but only dim copies that themselves we often see when making dark copies of them. No one, in fact has been able to contemplate with his own eyes the greatness, the magnificence and the beauty of the justice, the intelligence or the peace. But there, in him whose name is I AM,^[1] they are seen perfect and clear as they are. For there is a tree of temperance and of love and of understanding, just as there are plants of the fruits that grow here—as of grapes, pomegranates and apples. And so, too, the fruits of those trees are gathered and eaten and do not perish and wither. Instead, those who gather them grow toward immortality and a likeness to God. Just as he from whom all are descended, before the fall and the blinding of his eyes, being in paradise, enjoyed its fruits, God appointing man to dress and to keep the plants of wisdom.^[2] For it was entrusted to the first Adam^[3] to cultivate those fruits. Now Jeremiah saw that these things exist in a certain particular place, removed a great distance from our world, where, deploring the state of those who have fallen from that good state, he says, Learn where wisdom is found, where strength is, where understanding is so that you may also know where length of days, life, the light of the eyes and peace are. Who has found her place or who has come on her treasures?

The leaders of the nations are the wise of this age who ruled over human beings who behaved like beasts.

They are those who look for omens in the birds. Or, they are called this because their wisdom is earthly, beastly, diabolical.

Those who followed the letter of the law were judged like the pagans who had not received the law. In fact, seeing, they see not, and hearing, they hear not.^[1]

He calls them merchants because they have no experience with cultivation. Asked to make wine, they gathered wild grapes instead of domestic grapes.^[1] Merran and Teman are barbarous peoples. They represent the uncouth manners of those who remain entangled in the vanity of this life.

They are those who esteemed ablutions of cups and bowls instead of the commandment and judgments of God.^[1] And having violated justice, mercy and faith, they paid tithes of rue and mint.^[2]

The elements have been given to all for their common use. The splendid ornaments of the world are enjoyed by the rich and poor alike. Are perhaps the gilded ceilings of the palaces of the wealthy more beautiful than the glistening stars that gild the sky? Are perhaps the estates of the rich more expansive than the surface of the earth? For this is what was said to those who were adding house to house, villa to villa: Will you alone dwell over the earth?^[1] You, though poor, have a larger house in which when you raise your voice it is heard and listened to. O Israel, says the prophet, how great is the house of God and how vast the place of his possession! It is large and has no end, immense and high. The house of God belongs to the rich and poor alike; it is difficult, however, for the rich to enter into the kingdom of heaven.^[2]

This treats of the church and of the nature of the mystery, since now our knowledge is imperfect,^[1] and the perfection of knowledge has not yet arrived.^[2] He refers to compassion as territory, which increases as one grows toward the good.

Not the Trinity but Christ, who is God above all things, who ascended to heaven in the flesh under the gaze of the disciples and who will come from heaven in the flesh.^[1] He who did not leave heaven when he took on flesh on earth and did not leave his own on earth when he ascended into heaven in the flesh, because of his divinity. Indeed, he promised this, saying, See, I am with you all days, until the end of the world.^[2] He is that God, therefore, who according to the prophecy of blessed Jeremiah is great and without limits, sublime and immense in the divine nature and of whom a little later the same prophet says, He is our God, and no other can be compared with him. He has searched every way of knowledge and has given it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. It is this God who made himself for a little while lower than the angels,^[3] taking on the nature of a servant,^[4] as the same prophet says, After these things he appeared on the earth and lived among human beings. The faithless thought he was a mortal and changeable human being, but he is precisely the same one that those who truly believe in him will see—now that their hearts have been cleansed from sin—as the immortal and unchangeable God according to his own nature.

This refers to demons, who in the beginning were part of the ranks of angels and were cast down from the highest heaven for their lack of respect. They are famous because their condition was foretold. They were tall in stature, though proud. Experts in war, since demons, or rather heretics, being unworthy of the peace of Christ,^[1] are committed to fighting him.

It is ordained that not only we human beings but also the angels, the archangels, the celestial nations and all we who are on earth give praise. Bless the Lord, it says, all you works of his.^[1] His good works are no small achievement; rather, they exceed all speech, intellect and human understanding. The prophets announce these things every day, each in various ways publishing this splendid triumph. One says, You have gone up on high, you have led captivity captive, and you have received gifts among people.^[2] And, The Lord strong and powerful in battle.^[3] And another says, He will divide the spoils of the strong.^[4] For this is why he came, in order to announce freedom to the prisoners and the recovery of sight to the blind.^[5] And raising aloud the cry of victory against over death, he said, Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O grave, is your sting?^[6] And another, in its turn, announcing good news of the most profound peace, said, They will forge their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.^[7] And while one invokes Jerusalem, saying, Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion, because your king comes to you, meek, riding on a beast of burden, a young colt,^[8] another proclaims his second coming, thus saying, The Lord, whom you seek, will come, and who will abide the day of his coming? Leap as calves set free from their bonds.^[9] And another again, amazed at such similar events, said, This is our God; no other will be compared with him.

They speak who obeyed the apostolic calling without delay and have the desire to be set free from the body so as to be with Christ,^[1] preferring nothing to the fulfillment of the commandments.

Listen now to Jeremiah: This is our God, and there shall be no one else like him who has found out all the way of knowledge and has given it to Jacob his servant and to Israel his beloved. Afterward he showed himself on earth and dwelled among people. For previously he had said, And he is human, and who shall know him?^[1] Thus you have God seen on earth and dwelling among people. Now I ask you what sense you would assign to no one has seen God at any time, except the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father,^[2] when Jeremiah proclaims God seen on earth and dwelling among people? The Father most assuredly cannot be seen except by the Son. Who then is this who was seen and lived among us? He must be our God, for he is God visible in human form, whom human beings can handle.

The prophets, receiving the prophetic gift from the same Word, announced his advent according to the flesh, by which the blending and communion of God and man took place, according to the good pleasure of the Father, the Word of God foretelling from the beginning that God should be seen by human beings and interacting with them on the earth; that he would confer with them and be present with his own creation, saving it and becoming capable of being perceived by it, and freeing us from the hands of all who hate us, that is, from every spirit of wickedness; and causing us to serve him in holiness and righteousness all of our days,^[1] in order that humanity, having embraced the Spirit of God, might pass into the glory of the Father. . . .

Inasmuch, then, as the Spirit of God pointed out by the prophet what would happen in the future, forming and adapting us beforehand for the purpose of our being made subject to God—but it was a future thing that humanity, through the good pleasure of the Holy Spirit should see God—it was necessarily the case those who were used as instruments for announcing the future events should themselves see God, whom they intimated was to be seen by human beings. This was so that God and the Son of God, and the Son and the Father, should not only be prophetically announced but also that he should also be seen by all of his members who are sanctified and instructed in the things of God.

The prophet David says, He sent his word and healed them.^[1] And Jeremiah, He is our God, and there is no other but him, who has searched all the ways of wisdom and given it to Jacob, his beloved. After that he appeared on earth and dwelled among human beings. And the prophet Habakkuk says, The word will depart and go out into the fields.^[2] And the prophet Isaiah, Their heart is completely weighed down. He is a man, and who will know him?^[3] John the Evangelist confirms this, saying, The Word became flesh and dwelled among us.^[4] Paul also attests this: He, being by nature equal to God, did not consider it a good to be equal to God but made himself nothing, taking the nature of a servant, becoming like human beings and being as a man.^[5] And the Sibyl confesses, Certainly to judge the flesh and the world with his presence.^[6]

He clearly calls us to goodness by Solomon when he says, Blessed is the one who has found wisdom and the mortal who has found understanding.^[1] For goodness is found by him who seeks it and is likely to be seen by him who has found it.^[2] By Jeremiah, too, he sets forth prudence when he says, Blessed are we, Israel; for what is pleasing to God is known by us—and it is known by the Word, by whom we are blessed and wise. For wisdom and knowledge are mentioned by the same prophet when he says, Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life, and listen to know understanding.^[3]

He urges the Israelites to be the first to take hold of grace. In fact, it was necessary that the Word of God first be announced to them.^[1] The spiritual Israel speaks in this way, to whom the Savior addresses himself, saying, Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear.^[2]