How then does the prophet say, You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived? Can God deceive? I am at a loss how I can accommodate the word. For if through God and his Word I do see something in it, what will be said requires suitable accommodation. . . .

It suffices to express a single useful example for what has been presented. When guiding children, we speak to children; and we do not speak to them as we do to mature people, but we speak to them as children who need training, and we deceive children when we frighten children in order that it may halt the lack of education in youth. And we frighten children when we speak through words of deceit on account of what is basic to their infancy, in order that through the deceit we may cause them to be afraid and to resort to teachers both to declare and to do what is applicable for the progress of children.

We are all children to God, and we need the discipline of children. Because of this, God, since he cares about us, deceives us, even if we do not perceive the deceit beforehand, lest as those who have gone beyond the infant we may no longer be trained through deceit but through acts. In one way the child is led into fear, in another way into progressing in age and crossing beyond the age of childhood.

Perhaps then, as a father wishes to deceive a son in his own interest while he is still a boy, since he cannot be helped any other way unless the boy is deceived, as a healer makes it his business to deceive the patient who cannot be cured unless he receives words of deceit, so it is also for the God of the universe, since what is prescribed has to help the human race. Let the healer say to the patient, It is necessary that you have surgery, you must be cauterized, but you must suffer severely, and that patient would not continue. But sometimes he says another thing, and he hides that surgery, the cutting knife, under the sponge, and again he conceals, as I shall call it, under the honey, the nature of the bitter and annoying drug, wanting not to mislead but to heal the one who is cured. With such remedies the whole divine Scripture is filled, and some of what is concealed is pleasant, but some of what is concealed is bitter. If you see a father who threatens as if he hates the son, and who says to the son frightful things and who does not show affection but who conceals love for the son, one knows that he wants to deceive the child. For it is not fitting for the son to be assured of the love of the father, the goodwill of his devotion. For he will be set free and will not be disciplined. That is why he hides the sweetness of the affection and exhibits the bitterness of deceit.

By analogy to the father and the healer, such is something of what God does. There are certain bitter things with which he cures the most righteous and wise. For it is necessary to punish every sinner for his sins. Do not be misled, God is not mocked,^[1] neither the immoral nor the adulterer nor homosexual nor thief nor drunkard nor reviler nor robber will inherit the kingdom of God.^[2] If this was understood and viewed carefully by those who cannot see the surgical knife beneath the sponge, by those who are unable to understand the bitter medicine beneath the honey, a person would become faint-hearted. For who among us has not been conscious of himself drinking without purpose and getting drunk? Who among us is pure from theft and from the desire to take what is necessary, not as one ought? But see what the Word says, Do not be misled, for these persons will not inherit the kingdom of God. It is necessary that the mystery in this passage be concealed, so that most people may not become faint-hearted lest when learning the facts they may expect the final departure not as a rest but as a punishment. . . . For I know that if I leave, it is necessary that my wood^[3] be burned in me, and I have reviler wood, and I have the wood of drunkenness, the wood of theft and many other woods built up in my building. You know that all of these things escape the notice of many of those who have believed, and it is good it escapes the notice. And each of us thinks, since he has not been an idolater, since he has not been immoral—would that we were pure in such areas—that after he has been set free from this life, he will be saved. We do not see that all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive either good or evil according to what he has done in the body.^[4]

So since the healer sometimes keeps hidden the surgical knife under the tender and soft sponge, and also the father conceals the affection through the appearance of threat, and the deceits—some of which take away the tumors and varicose veins and whatever else weakens the condition of the body . . . something then such as this is what the prophet has understood that God does in mystery, and he says, when he sees in what ways he was deceived for good reason by God, You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived. It brought him to so great a grace that he prayed and said to God, Deceive me, if this is beneficial. For the deceit from God is one thing, the deceit from the Serpent another. See what the woman says to God, The serpent deceived me, and I ate,^[1] and the deceit from the serpent caused Adam and his woman to leave the paradise of God. But the deceit that happened to the prophet, who said, You have deceived me, and I was deceived, brought him to a very great grace of prophecy, by increasing in him power, by bringing him maturity and by being able to serve the will of the word of God without fearing people.

Thus, when we also consider these things, for the present and for the future, let us also pray to be deceived by God, and let not the serpent deceive us.

We must understand that the deceit of God is of another kind from our deceit with which we deceive. . . . God does not tyrannize but rules, and when he rules, he does not coerce but encourages, and he wishes that those under him yield themselves willingly to his direction so that the good of someone may not be according to compulsion but according to his free will. . . . In sum, God seeks a way, in a manner of speaking, whereby one would want to do with free will what God wishes. The tradition^[1] then also was saying to me something like this: He wants to send Jeremiah who prophesies to all of the nations and before all of the nations to the people, but since the prophecies have had something quite gloomy—for they imparted punishments with which each according to his deserts will be punished—and he knew the choice of the prophet, who does not want to prophesy to the people Israel what is bad, for this reason he arranged to say, Take this cup, and make all the nations to whom I commissioned you drink.^[2] God then ordered Jeremiah to take the cup, but when he urged him in taking the cup of unmixed wine, he says, And I commission you to all of the nations with this cup of unmixed wine. But after Jeremiah heard that he was sent to all of the nations as one who supplied them a cup of anger, a cup of punishments, since he did not guess that also Israel was about to drink from the cup of punishment, since he was deceived, he took the cup from which all of the nations drink. After he took the cup, he heard, And cause Jerusalem to drink first.^[3] Since then it seemed to be one way and happened to him in another, for this reason he then said, You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived.

The prophet says that he was deceived by the Lord because, when he heard the Lord say in the beginning, I gave you as a prophet to the nations,^[1] and, again, Behold, I establish you today over nations and over kingdoms, that you may uproot and destroy and overthrow and dissolve and build and plant,^[2] he believed that none of this was spoken against the people of Judea, but only against the various nations surrounding them, thus leading him to accept his prophetic mission willingly. To the contrary, however, as it turns out, he found himself preaching to a captive Jerusalem that suffered persecution and imprisonment. He also adds, I have become an object of derision all the day; everyone mocks me, because they all judged him to be a liar and everything that he had prophesied to them to be a lie. For, as the prophet thought that the future that the Lord predicted was to be realized immediately, the people also expected nothing further to be coming that did not arrive at once. And he continues, in effect, I announce destruction at the hands of Babylon and the iniquity of the army through which my people are to be oppressed. Yet, if we follow the Septuagint, which reads, I will laugh with my bitter message, I will invoke falsehood and misery,^[3] this is the meaning: I know that the present sorrow is to be exchanged for future joy, according to what is written, ‘Blessed are those who weep now, for they will laugh.’^[4] For this reason, I willingly endure misery and iniquity and affliction now, so that I can invoke and even desire them and the brevity of their injury in exchange for eternal happiness.

Jeremiah says here, in effect: As I am crying out and saying that the Babylonian army is coming and that the sword of the enemy will plunder us all, the word of the Lord is turned against me as a derision and a reproach, since they believe that the tardiness of a prophecy’s fulfillment is tantamount to a lie. For this reason, I’ve decided within myself that I will no longer speak the word of God to the people of God, nor will I name his name. I am overcome with shame and embarrassment, however, at making this foolish resolution, as what feels like a burning fire is ablaze in my heart and enclosed in my bones, and I am altogether undone and therefore unable to bear it. For a divine word conceived in the soul, which is not then uttered through the mouth, burns in the chest. This is why Paul said, If I evangelize, no glory redounds to me, for the need to preach the gospel is incumbent on me. Indeed, woe to me if I fail to preach! If I do so willingly, I have a reward, but if unwillingly, an office is entrusted to me.^[1] Moreover, seeing in Athens a city devoted to idolatry, Paul was incited by the Spirit and became impassioned with his whole mind.^[2] Hence, later in the same book we read, When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was devoting himself to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.^[3] But a great many teachers in the church even today sustain against themselves similar invective from a number of congregations, hearing their audience say, Oppose them! Let us oppose them!

And so far as the literal truth is concerned, it is useful to recount what things Jeremiah suffered among the people, with respect to which he said, And I said, I will not speak, nor will I call on the name of the Lord. And again, elsewhere, I was continually being mocked. And how great sufferings he endured from the then king of Israel are written in his prophecy. And it is also written that some of the people often came to stone Moses to death. His homeland was not the stones of any place but was instead the people who followed him, among whom also he was dishonored.

That people then were sick. There were all kinds of diseases among those who had the name of the people of God. God sent to them the prophets as healers. One of the healers was Jeremiah. He reproved the sinners, since he wanted those who do evil to return. Yet, though needing to hear what was said, they accused the prophet, and they accused before judges similar to themselves. And always the prophet was judged by those who, with respect to his prophecy, had been cured but were not cured because of their own disobedience. It is due to them that he says, And I said, ‘I will no longer speak nor name the name of the Lord.’ But it happened as a burning fire flaming in my bones, and I am weakened on all sides, and I cannot bear it. He said, seeing himself as one who always is judged, abused, accused and falsely testified against, Woe is me, mother. What kind of man did you bear me?^[1] He was not speaking as a man who judges but as one who is judged, and not as one who disputes but one who is disputed over all of the earth. Since those who are sick do not hear him when he advises for their good and well being, he says, I have not helped.^[2]

Jeremiah, having borne many temptations, gave in on these, and when he was rebuked, said, I will not prophesy, neither will I name the name of the Lord. And David, too, in many places complains of rebuke. Isaiah also, after many things, admonishes concerning this, saying, Do not fear the reproach of people, neither be overcome by their reviling.^[1] And again, Christ also to his disciples: When they shall speak all manner of evil against you falsely, rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven.^[2]

I think, too, we cannot leave out of sight that fire when we read that the Lord Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit^[1] and with fire,^[2] as John said in his Gospel. Rightly was the sacrifice consumed, for it was for sin. But that fire was a type of the Holy Spirit, who was to come down after the Lord’s ascension and forgive the sins of all, and who like fire inflames the mind and faithful heart. For this reason, Jeremiah, after receiving the Spirit, says, It became in my heart as a burning fire flaming in my bones, and I am vile and cannot bear it.

Indeed, Christ, loving Moses, appeared to him in fire,^[1] and Jeremiah, having in himself the gift of divine love, said, There was a burning fire in my bones, and I have become weakened on every side, and I cannot bear it.^[2] Love is good, then, having wings of burning fire as it flies through the breasts and hearts of the saints and consumes whatever is material and earthly but tests whatever is pure and with its fire makes better whatever it has touched. This fire the Lord Jesus sent on earth,^[3] and faith shone bright, devotion was enkindled, love was illuminated, and justice was filled with splendor.

Now, God reveals in part and in mystery to those who are worthy, and he sheds forth the Spirit and from his countenance, like a torrent, a brilliant light, so that a person who has been illumined may say, And there was in my bones a flaming fire, and I am melted on all sides and cannot bear it. And David says, Let my sentence come forth from your presence.^[1]

For they do not make their journey upon the royal highway as other men, but these giants select for themselves short-cuts, whereby gloriously they journey swiftly to the Heavenly mansions. For this hope so inflames them, as with fire, that they cannot rest from their incessant and headlong course on account of their joy. There comes to pass in them what was spoken by the blessed [Jeremiah], I said, ‘I shall not remember Him nor speak His name.’ And there was in my heart as it were a flaming fire and it entered into my bones. Such is the recollection of God in the hearts of people who are drunk with hope on his promises.

For so shall we remain partakers of Christ if we hold fast to the end the Spirit given at the beginning. For he said, do not quench, not because the Spirit is placed in the power of people and is able to suffer anything from them, but because bad and unthankful people manifestly wish to quench it, since they, like the impure, persecute the Spirit with unholy deeds. . . . Now they, being without understanding, and deceitful and lovers of sin, walk still as in darkness, not having that light that lights every one who comes in the world.^[1] Now a fire such as this laid hold of Jeremiah the prophet, when the word was in him as a fire and he said, I leave every place and am not able to endure it.^[2] And our Lord Jesus Christ, being good and a lover of humankind, came that he might cast this on earth, and he said, And would that it were already kindled!^[3]

The Lord alone is able to certify justice, in the same way that he alone sees the interior of a person’s heart. Hence, Jesus knows the thoughts of people^[1] not as an acquired skill, as some allege, but because he is God by nature. Such is what the psalmist sings: No living creature will be justified in your presence.^[2] If none of those living in virtue are justified, how much more true will this be of those who are dead from sin! Even though the just person knows himself to have God as a defender, the impatience of human fragility desires to see right now what it knows to be coming. Jeremiah also entrusted his cause to God, to the one who said elsewhere, Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord.^[3] But the conscience is happy whose cause is entrusted to the Lord, as the apostle said: Anything that is visible is light.^[4]

For God does not hold out against his children when they beg his pity. And for you he will pray purely, held in high honor as an angel of God, and grieved not by you but for you. This is sincere repentance. God is not mocked,^[1] nor does he give heed to vain words. For he alone searches the innermost recesses of the heart,^[2] and hears those that are in the fire, and listens to those who supplicate in the whale’s belly and is near to all who believe, and far from the ungodly if they do not repent.

Those who are poor in spirit and who have no riches to give them consolation in this world,^[1] concerning whom Paul said, only let us be mindful of the poor,^[2] worshiped the Lord in spirit and gave thanks for being delivered from the hand of the wicked when they obtained vengeance from the Lord. Yet, none of this is due to our merit but to the grace of him who liberated the poor, of him who possesses none of the riches of corrupting pride but has the humility of the poor who are free.

The apostle says, God commends his charity toward us, because when as yet we were sinners, Christ died for us. Much more now that we are justified in his blood shall we be saved through him from the wrath.^[1] Of this wrath he says, We were by nature children of wrath even as the rest.^[2] Of this wrath Jeremiah says, Cursed be the day when I was born. Of this wrath holy Job says, Let the day perish wherein I was born.^[3] Of this wrath the same Job says again, Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries.^[4]

How much dissatisfaction do we see that even the brief stages of our lives bring on us! The boy longs to be a young man. The young man counts the years when he will be older. The mature man, ungrateful for the blessing of being in the prime of life, eagerly desires the honor associated with old age. Thus, to all there comes naturally a desire for change, simply because we become dissatisfied with what we are now. Therefore, even the very things that we have wished for become wearisome to us on their enjoyment, and what we have desired to obtain we reject on its attainment. Consequently, holy people have not without reason lamented their prolonged sojourning here: David lamented it,^[1] Jeremiah lamented it, Elijah lamented it.^[2] If we can believe wise people, even those in whom the divine Spirit spoke were hastening to better things.