Chapter 6.
The sufferings of Christ, and the new covenant, were announced by the prophets
When, therefore, He has fulfilled the commandment, what says He? Who is he that will contend
with Me? Let him oppose Me: or who is he that will enter into judgment with Me? Let him draw
near to the servant of the Lord. Isaiah 50:8 Woe unto you, for you shall all wax old, like a
garment, and the moth shall eat you up. Isaiah 50:9 And again the prophet says, Since as a
mighty stone He is laid for crushing, behold I cast down for the foundations of Zion a stone,
precious, elect, a cornerstone, honourable. Next, what says He? And he who shall trust in it
shall live for ever. Is our hope, then, upon a stone? Far from it. But [the language is used]
inasmuch as He laid his flesh [as a foundation] with power; for He says, And He placed me as a
firm rock. Isaiah 50:7 And the prophet says again, The stone which the builders rejected, the
same has become the head of the corner. And again he says, This is the great and wonderful
day which the Lord has made. I write the more simply unto you, that you may understand. I am
the offscouring of your love. What, then, again says the prophet? The assembly of the wicked
surrounded me; they encompassed me as bees do a honeycomb, and upon my garment they
cast lots. Since, therefore, He was about to be manifested and to suffer in the flesh, His
suffering was foreshown. For the prophet speaks against Israel, Woe to their soul, because they
have counselled an evil counsel against themselves, Isaiah 3:9 saying, Let us bind the just one,
because he is displeasing to us. And Moses also says to them, Behold these things, says the
Lord God: Enter into the good land which the Lord swore [to give] to Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, and inherit it, a land flowing with milk and honey. Exodus 33:1; Leviticus 20:24 What,
then, says Knowledge? Learn: Trust, she says, in Him who is to be manifested to you in the
flesh— that is, Jesus. For man is earth in a suffering state, for the formation of Adam was from
the face of the earth. What, then, means this: into the good land, a land flowing with milk and
honey? Blessed be our Lord, who has placed in us wisdom and understanding of secret things.
For the prophet says, Who shall understand the parable of the Lord, except him who is wise and
prudent, and who loves his Lord? Since, therefore, having renewed us by the remission of our
sins, He has made us after another pattern, [it is His purpose] that we should possess the soul
of children, inasmuch as He has created us anew by His Spirit. For the Scripture says
concerning us, while He speaks to the Son, Let Us make man after Our image, and after Our
likeness; and let them have dominion over the beasts of the earth, and the fowls of heaven, and
the fishes of the sea. Genesis 1:26 And the Lord said, on beholding the fair creature man,
Increase, and multiply, and replenish the earth. Genesis 1:28 These things [were spoken] to the
Son. Again, I will show you how, in respect to us, He has accomplished a second fashioning in
these last days. The Lord says, Behold, I will make the last like the first. In reference to this,
then, the prophet proclaimed, Enter into the land flowing with milk and honey, and have
dominion over it. Exodus 33:3 Behold, therefore, we have been refashioned, as again He says
in another prophet, Behold, says the Lord, I will take away from these, that is, from those whom
the Spirit of the Lord foresaw, their stony hearts, and I will put hearts of flesh within them,
Ezekiel 11:19, Ezekiel 36:26 because He was to be manifested in flesh, and to sojourn among
us. For, my brethren, the habitation of our heart is a holy temple to the Lord. Ephesians 2:21 For
again says the Lord, And wherewith shall I appear before the Lord my God, and be glorified? He
says, I will confess to you in the Church in the midst of my brethren; and I will praise you in the
midst of the assembly of the saints. We, then, are they whom He has led into the good land.
What, then, mean milk and honey? This, that as the infant is kept alive first by honey, and then
by milk, so also we, being quickened and kept alive by the faith of the promise and by the word,
shall live ruling over the earth. But He said above, Let them increase, and rule over the fishes.
Genesis 1:28 Who then is able to govern the beasts, or the fishes, or the fowls of heaven? For
we ought to perceive that to govern implies authority, so that one should command and rule. If,
therefore, this does not exist at present, yet still He has promised it to us. When? When we
ourselves also have been made perfect [so as] to become heirs of the covenant of the Lord.