The prophet testifies to the coming of the New Testament, as well as, in another sense, the Kingdom of God.
The song of the Beloved is Israel in the form of a vineyard, and God
is the master. Nevertheless, parables from the Gospel have other
contexts of understanding, and therefore this place of the prophet
Isaiah has a deeper meaning. Nevertheless, three thoughts are emphasized
- the Lord’s care for people (What else have I not done?
), human sins
and bad fruits, as well as God’s judgment.
Again, it should be borne in mind that due to the multifacetedness of the parable, as well as the fact that the people of the Old Testament did not distinguish between God’s will and God’s permission, it is not only about God’s judgment, but also about what He allows to happen to people.
The story of the expulsion of the ancestors from Paradise and the beginning of the story of Cain and Abel.
Clothes made of animal skin
– that’s how they understand it. that
these our present bodies — in comparison with the heavenly and
resurrected ones — are gross, just as (already stripped of) the skins of
animals are different in comparison with our present bodies. By the way,
this place is the first thing that comes to mind for a person who loves
the Scriptures when he / she sees clothes made of leather.
Such a change in people is directly related to the history of the world, since Paul also says that the creation submitted to corruption for the sake of human, in the expectation that the freeing of man will later make the creation free as well (Romans VIII, 18-39).
Man, therefore, is not just the crown of creation
(summit,
completion), but also the face
of creation in the sense that where
man is turned to, there the creation does to.
Paul’s very profound words indicate that a significant change has taken place – corruption has appeared, that is, the ability to significantly deteriorate, degrade, decay in terms of (comparing to) what should be. Human beings fell away from the Source of life and could no longer be in Paradise, but they did not die completely. In addition to decay, suffering and death were added.
A very deep topic, due to lack of space and time I only outlined some thoughts.
Regarding Adam’s knowledge
of Eve (their carnal sexual relations),
we see that in Paradise, despite God’s blessing, they did not have them
there, there was no passionate lust. It arose as a result of the
Fall.
It can also be understood in different ways.
About Cain and Abel – their growth is omitted, instead attention is paid to their personalities – what Cain was like, what Abel was like, their relationship with God.
Why did God not accept Cain’s sacrifice? It is not said directly, but from the 1 Epistle of John the Theologian and God’s conversations with Cain, it is clear that Cain did something bad, so God wanted to teach him and to lead him to realizing it.
Instead, Cain disobeyed God’s Revelation and wanted to kill Abel out of jealousy. What does the Lord warn us all against.
Raise your face
is a constant expression, it means to show dignity
and to correct the situation to a good state.
To have dominion over sin
means to conquer it. Abel did good and
did not struggle with sin, but Cain had to struggle because he did
evil.
The Lord gives strength not only to the righteous (like Abel), but also gives strength to sinners to overcome sin.
There is a good essay about the struggle to win over temptations in
the Gospel at the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/uk/christisrisen1/spokusy.html
Continuing the speech and motivating for
the acquisition of wisdom in the fulfillment of God’s commandments,
Solomon becomes a representative
(witness, example) of loving and kind
children and at the same time further – parents – see, I was a good
son
, I received knowledge from my parents, and now I pass it on to
you, my son,
providing the so-called tradition. I received (it was
given to me), and now I pass on (and you receive)
etc.
But the important detail is that Solomon does not just pass on
something received further – he is a participant in the truthfulness of
the tradition, a witness to its truth. He lived according to it, and it
bore many good fruits, that is, he did not remain barren. Thus, it is a
live tradition
.
Further, in the image of the relationship between a man and a woman, a boy and a girl at the time of marriage, the importance of the uniting with wisdom is further conveyed. In the verses of Proverbs IV, 4-9, in fact, in the metaphor of relationships, the uniting with wisdom, life in wisdom is described.
And indeed, this (in the verses here) marriage relationship is glorious, dignified and high – because it is far from always that a man (boyfriend) shows attention and love to a woman (girlfriend) and she responds as described by Solomon, but if this is the case, then this is the real happiness of this couple.
In fact, it describes what a male-female (boyfriend-girlfriend) relationship should ideally be, and should be aspired to by every person entering into such a relationship.
In general, this is an image of both true love and how to achieve and preserve wisdom.
The 10th verse of the chapter is very interesting in terms of
quantity
– And the years (roads) of your life will be many (here Greek
and Hebrew variants differ).
– because road
is a symbol of a way of
life, a certain stability, constancy in behavior – and this indicates a
full, rich and multifaceted life – and that a wise person does not
reduce his / her life to only one road
, but reaches many (as just not
to one year, but reaches many, plenty of them). At the same time, it
goes on to talk about the ways of the wicked and lawless
, there are
also many of them (plural, although it is not about the fact that every
lawless man or woman of lawlessness necessarily also has many ways to
fulfill himself / herself, but simply about the fact that there are,
unfortunately, quite a lot of people who are sinful and rooted in
evil).
But the paths of the lawless
not only should not be sought, but
also should be avoided and not stepped on. They do not add fullness to
life, but only anxiety.
Verse 18 can have different translations, but the meaning is that the light of the paths of the righteous grows (from the dawn and) until the fullness of the day is also a metaphor, quite eloquent.
Finally, the end of reading – can also have different translations and is quite ambiguous (but, in my opinion, quite transparent, why I will not dwell in detail here.
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!