Reading Scripture in Lent with the Church Fathers: Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Today’s Scripture Readings in the Orthodox Church
Isaiah 26:21-27:9; Genesis 9:18-10:1; Proverbs 12:23-13:9

Isaiah 27:1. Let us earnestly endeavor, therefore, to flee every crooked and tortuous act, and let us keep our mind and the judgment of our soul as straight as a rule, in order that the praise of the Lord may be permitted to us since we are upright. In the same way the serpent, which is the author of sin, is called crooked, and the sword of God is drawn against the dragon, the crooked serpent, which makes many twists and turns in its progress.… Therefore one who follows the serpent shows that his life is crooked, uneven and filled with contrarieties; but one who follows after the Lord makes his paths straight and his footprints right.
St Basil the Great (4th century)

For “Leviathan” is interpreted to be “their addition.” Whose “addition,” then, but the “addition” of people? And it is properly styled “their addition,” for since by his evil suggestion he brought into the world the first sin, he never ceases to add to it day by day by prompting to worse things. Or indeed it is in reproach that he is called Leviathan, that is, styled “the addition of men.” For he found them immortal in Paradise, but by promising the divine nature to immortal beings, he as it were pledged himself to add somewhat to them beyond what they were. But while with flattering lips he declared that he would give what they did not have, he robbed them cunningly even of what they had. And hence the prophet describes this same Leviathan in these words, “Leviathan, the serpent: even Leviathan that crooked serpent.” For this Leviathan crept near to people with tortuous windings through the false promise of what he would give them; for while he falsely promised things impossible, he really stole away even those which were possible.
St Gregory the Great (6th century)

Isaiah 27:3. It is the soul, too, that says, “I am a strong city, a city besieged.” The city is besieged through Christ, the city is that heavenly Jerusalem, in which there are interpreters of God’s law and men skilled in doctrine in great abundance; through them one seeks the Word of God.
St Ambrose (4th century)

You have in Isaiah the speech made by the soul of a just man or of the church: “I am a strong city, I am a city besieged,” defended by Christ and besieged by the devil. But one whom Christ aids ought not to be fearful of a siege. [Such a person] is defended by spiritual grace and is besieged by the perils of this world. Hence also it is said in the Song of Songs, “I am a wall, and my breasts are as a tower.” The wall is the church, and the towers are her priests, who have full power to teach the natural and the moral sciences.
St Ambrose

Genesis 9:21. When Christ says, “I am the true vine,” the blood of Christ is assuredly not water but wine. We are redeemed and made alive by his blood. But in the cup it is not wine as such that redeems but his blood. This is declared by the sacrament and testimony of all the Scriptures. For we find this even in Genesis also, in respect of the sacrament prefigured in Noah. That he drank wine was to them a precursor and figure of the Lord’s passion. Noah was made drunk by this wine, was made naked in his household, was lying down with his thighs naked and exposed, and the nakedness of the father was observed by his second son and was told abroad but was covered by two, the eldest and the youngest, and other matters which it is not necessary to follow out. It is enough for us simply to embrace the understanding that Noah set forth a type of the future truth. Noah did not drink water but wine and thus expressed in advance the figure of the passion of the Lord.
St Cyprian of Carthage (3rd century)

Proverbs 12:31 (in LXX & OSB). “The souls of those that bear a settled hatred are to death,” says Solomon. But our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ says in the gospels: “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift to God.”
St Nilus of Ancyra (5th century)

“The paths of those who harbor resentment for an injury lead to death.” Are these my words, dearest brothers? They are taken from the canonical sacred Scriptures. Therefore in order that we may not be murderers or among the living dead, let us strive to love not only our friends but also our enemies. Then we will be able to meet a kind and merciful Lord with a conscience at ease, in accord with the bond of his pledge.
St Caesarius of Arles (6th century)

Proverbs 13:7 (in LXX & OSB). Great then indeed is the rich person who doesn’t think he is great just because he is rich. But if that is why he does think he is great, then he is proud and destitute. He’s a big noise in the flesh. In his heart of hearts he’s a beggar. He has been inflated, not filled. If you see two wineskins, one filled, the other inflated, they each have the same bulk and extent, but they don’t each have the same content. Just look at them, and you can’t tell the difference; but weigh them, and you will find out. The one that has been filled is hard to move; the one that has been inflated is easily removed.…I am not telling you to do away with your wealth but to transfer it, because there are many people who have refused to do this and have been very sorry indeed that they did not obey, when they not only lost their wealth but on account of it have lost themselves too. So, command the rich of this world not to have proud thoughts, and there will happen in them what we have heard in Solomon’s proverb: “There are those who humble themselves though they are rich.” It can happen even with these temporal riches. Let him be humble. Let him be more glad that he’s a Christian than that he’s rich. Don’t let him be puffed up or become high and mighty. Let him take notice of the poor man his brother, and not refuse to be called the poor man’s brother. After all, however rich he may be, Christ is richer, and he wanted all for whom he shed his blood to be his brethren.
St Augustine (5th century)

Proverbs 13:8. The riches of a person ought to work to the redemption of his soul, not to its destruction. Wealth is redemption if one uses it well. It is a snare if one does not know how to use it. For what is a person’s money if not provision for the journey? A great amount is a burden; a little is useful. We are wayfarers in this life; many are walking along, but a person needs to make a good passage. The Lord Jesus is with him who makes a good passage.
St Ambrose

“The redemption of the soul of a man is his own wealth.” What are you saying? What do you mean by exalting so much wealth? First of all Solomon did not speak about just any wealth but that which is produced through honest activities. Poverty is not, therefore, an evil thing. Rather, he says that no one who wants to may threaten someone who is poor; indeed how can some one terrify one who possesses nothing? For this reason this kind of life is devoid of afflictions. Or, maybe Solomon calls “his own wealth” “righteousness” which snatches him away from death. So the one who is poor in virtue does not have a mind at peace when he suffers threats or the declaration of a punishment.
St John Chrysostom (4th century)