Reading Scripture in Lent with the Church Fathers: Friday of the Third Week of Lent

Today’s Scripture Readings in the Orthodox Church
Isaiah 13:2-13; Genesis 8:4-21; Proverbs 10:31-11:12

Isaiah 13:8. The day of the Lord comes suddenly, it says, and in an unexpected way like the pains of childbirth, which forestall all one’s efforts to hide them.
St Ambrose of Milan (4th century)

Isaiah 13:13. You have opened “the eyes of our hearts” so that we realize you alone are “highest among the highest, and ever remain holy among the holy.” “You humble the pride of the arrogant, overrule the plans of the nations, raise up the humble and humble the haughty. You make rich and make poor; you slay and bring to life; you alone are the guardian of spirits and the God of all flesh.” You see into the depths: you look upon humankind’s deeds; you aid those in danger and “save those in despair.” You are the Creator of every spirit and watch over them. You multiply the nations on the earth, and from out of them all you have chosen those who love you through Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. Through him you have trained us, made us saints and honored us.
St Clement of Rome (1st century)

Genesis 8:7. But for the present we need to explain the reason why the raven did not come back. Perhaps, with the waters subsiding, the bird, being unclean, happened upon corpses of men and beasts and, finding nourishment to its liking, stayed there! It have been little sign of hope and encouragement for Noah if the raven had returned.
St John Chrysostom (4th century)

You do not know when that last hour is going to come and yet you say, “I am reforming.” When are you going to reform? When are you going to change? “Tomorrow,” you say. Behold, how often you say, “Tomorrow, tomorrow.” You have really become a crow. Behold, I say to you that when you make the noise of a crow, ruin is threatening you. For that crow whose cawing you imitate went forth from the ark and did not return.
St Augustine (5th century)

Genesis 8:11. After the raven he sent a dove, and it came to him in the evening, carrying in its mouth an olive branch with green leaves. You are paying attention, I believe, and with your intellect you anticipate me as I speak. The olive branch with green leaves is the grace of the Holy Spirit, rich in the words of life, the fullness of which rests upon Christ, as the psalm says, “God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.” Concerning this gift given to Christ’s fellows, John speaks: “You have the anointing from the holy one, and you know all things.” And by a most beautiful conjunction the figure is in agreement with the fulfillment—a corporeal dove brought the olive branch to the ark which was washed by the waters of the flood; the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a corporeal dove upon the Lord when he was baptized in the waters of the Jordan. Not only the human beings but also the living things which the ark contained, and also the very wood from which the ark was made, prefigure us members of Christ and of the church after our reception of the washing of the waters of regeneration. Through the anointing of the sacred chrism may we be signed with the grace of the Holy Spirit, and may he deign to keep it inviolate in us who himself gave it, Jesus Christ our Lord who with the almighty Father in the unity of the same Holy Spirit lives and reigns for all ages.
St Bede, the Venerable (8th century)

Christ is a dove because he commands his holy ones to be as doves when he says, “Be simple as doves.” But the prophet speaks of what Christ the dove is when, in his person, he describes his return to heaven after his suffering: “Who will give me wings like a dove, and I shall fly away and be at rest?” When Christ the Lord, therefore, initiated the sacraments of the church a dove came down from heaven. I understand the mystery, and I recognize the sacrament. For the very dove that once hastened to Noah’s ark in the flood now comes to Christ’s church in baptism.
St Maximus of Turin (4th century)

Genesis 8:15. Then all creation was cleansed as if of some blemish, removing all defilement caused in it by human wickedness. Its countenance was made resplendent; God then finally commanded the just man to disembark from the ark, freeing him from that awful prison with these words, “Then the Lord God said to Noah, ‘Disembark, you and your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives with you, as well as all flesh, from birds to cattle; take off with you every reptile that crawls upon the earth, and increase and multiply on the earth.’ ” Notice God’s goodness, how in everything he encourages the good man. After ordering him to disembark from the ark along with his sons, his wife, his sons’ wives and all the wild animals, then lest great discouragement should gradually overtake him by this further development and he become anxious at the thought that he would be on his own, dwelling alone in such a vast expanse of earth, with no one else existing, God first said, “Disembark from the ark, and take off everything with you,” and then added, “Increase and multiply, and gain dominion over the earth.” See how once again this good man receives that former blessing that Adam had received before the fall. The same words were as man heard when he was created: God blessed them in the words “increase and multiply, and gain dominion over the earth.” So too this man now hears the words “increase and multiply on the earth.” In other words, just as the former man became the beginning and root of all creatures before the deluge, so too this just man becomes a kind of leaven, beginning and root of everything after the deluge. From this point on, what is comprised in the makeup of human beings takes its beginning, and the whole of creation recovers its proper order, both the soil reawakening to productivity as well as everything else that had been created for the service of human beings.
St John Chrysostom

For as Noah’s ark preserved alive everyone whom it had taken in when the world was going under, so also the church will bring back unhurt everyone whom it embraces when the world goes up in flames. And as a dove brought the sign of peace to Noah’s ark when the flood was over, so also Christ will bring the joy of peace to His church when the judgment is over, since He Himself is dove and peace, as He promised when He said, “I shall see you again and your heart will rejoice.”
St Maximus of Turin

Genesis 8:21. “The Lord smelled” not the smell of the flesh or the smoke of wood, but rather he looked out and saw the simplicity of heart with which Noah offered the sacrifice from all and on behalf of all. And his Lord spoke to him, as he desired that Noah hear, “Because of your righteousness, a remnant was preserved and did not perish in that flood that took place. And because of your sacrifice that was from all flesh and on behalf of all flesh, I will never again bring a flood upon the earth.” God thus bound himself beforehand by this promise so that even if mankind were constantly to follow the evil thought of their inclination, he would never again bring a flood upon them.
St Ephrem of Syria (4th century)

Proverbs 11:1. Let each one weigh his words without fraud and deceit: “A deceitful balance is an abomination before the Lord.” I do not mean that balance which weighs out another’s pay (in trivial matters the flesh is deceitful). Before God that balance of words is detestable which simulates the weight of sober gravity while practicing at the same time cunning fraud. God condemns especially the man who deceives his neighbor with treacherous injustice. He will have no gain from his clever skill. For what does it profit a man if he gains the wealth of the whole world but defrauds his own soul of the payment of eternal life?
St Ambrose

Proverbs 11:4. Solomon leads toward understanding especially when he says, “Possessions are of no advantage in the day of wrath.” For he infused your heart with the knowledge that an abundance of money will be of no help to you in that day, nor will it remove eternal punishment. And when he says, “The innocent will inherit the earth,” he clearly means the earth of which the meek are also heirs, for first the psalmist said, “But the meek will inherit the earth,” and then the Lord, when preaching about beatitude, said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will possess the earth.”
St Basil the Great (4th century)

I know why it is written: “Wealth will not profit in the day of wrath.” This was said about the one who does not employ his wealth for mercy. Is not the power of wealth to be brought forth and used at a time of need? At the hour in which you return your spirit to the hands of God, you will understand that the full utility of your riches is to use them for the sake of mercy. For they were given to you by Jesus Christ, God and the Son of God.
Shenoute of Egypt (5th century)

Proverbs 11:5. To be repeatedly requesting forgiveness for offenses repeatedly committed is not repentance, only its appearance. “The righteousness of the blameless keeps their way straight,” proclaims Scripture, and again, “The righteousness of the innocent will set straight their way.”
Clement of Alexandria (2nd century)

Proverbs 11:7 (11:6 in LXX and OSB). “When a righteous man dies, hope does not perish.” He hopes that his children will do well; he hopes to be provided with great things. This passage also transports us to thoughts of the resurrection or of our posterity. Or, since one who is righteous has delighted in all these things already, he will also enjoy their future consummation; or, finally, that he would have enjoyment of glory after death.
St John Chrysostom