Spiritual Offspring and the Divine Vineyard

Salvation. An ancient wise man commanded that horsemen be distinguished from mere riders, calling one false and the other praiseworthy; for he who holds back without skill, not guiding the horse with reins, is merely a rider, as the aforementioned wise man demonstrated, whereas the one practicing the art of horsemanship is called righteous. Immediately, as the great prophet Elijah was being taken up, Elisha the God-inspired one cried out, 'Father, father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!' (2 Kings 2:12). For the one riding most excellently, having guided his own vehicle, ought to be called a horseman, not merely a rider.

Since this distinction between horseman and rider exists, it is not the horsemen but the passengers who will be disgraced, as they slumber while those riding with skill are sober and watchful, guiding the reins; therefore, those proven as victors bring victory, while the passengers of blameworthy horses are put to shame to shame to shame. Those of Judah prevail, and the house of Joseph liveshe King of Kings, God; from the parallel of Joseph and Judah, the Savior who became man exists, since from Judah he rose up and provided food to those suffering from famine and starvation, so that he might ultimately be shown to be full of bread, having received the greatest prosperity; for it is said concerning the offspring of Mary that those who previously famished because they lacked spiritual food were filled with good things, which their intelligent Joseph provided. Indeed, he has come to such abundance that, just as in the wilderness he nourished those deprived of food into a flock, he fed large multitudes from very few loaves.

Having strengthened the house of Judah and the house of Joseph, God promises to let them dwell, for no other reason than that he loved them. But when will this be? When they are enjoying what they have; he persuaded them with promises, concerning which it is written here: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it come upon the heart, what God has prepared for those who love him' (1 Cor 2:9). And the promised things shall be for them, in the manner of 'I have not turned them away, but I look upon and care for them,' the Lord being 'their God.' For I will hear of them being exceedingly fruitful according to Ephraim (Hosea 2:14), interpreting fruitfulness as their intellect having eaten and rejoiced, as in wine...

Having been harvested from the true vine, about which much clarity has already been given. What results from the drinking of the divine wine? Or is it to be made glad from beholding the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven and other things which possess a high contemplation, by which one will see God, having approached with a pure heart 'by the character of his subsistence,' as he calls the existing one an 'image' and character 'of the invisible God': 'He who has seen me has seen the Father' (John 14:9)?

Not only will these themselves enjoy the promises of the holy visions, but also the children themselves whom they have begotten by divine instruction and imitation of an excellent life. For the Apostle in Christ writes to the Corinthians and the Galatians: to the former, 'Through the gospel I have begotten you' (2 Cor 5:17); to the latter, 'My children, whom I again labor for until Christ is formed in you' (Gal 4:19). And Peter, the foremost of the apostles, writes as to his own children the letter he has engraved: 'As children of obedience, not being conformed to the former manner of life' (1 Pet 1:14). And Barnabas also, an apostle with Paul, having been placed at the circumcision, having sent a letter to the faithful according to the gospel, addresses it as to sons and daughters. And the hymnist addresses those being born from him according to virtue: 'Come, children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life and loves to see good days?' (Ps 33:8).

The children will be made glad in mind, in the heart so named, in no one other than their Lord God, saying to each of those living according to the divine Gospel: 'Enter into the joy of your Lord' (Matt 25:21). 'I will signal them and I will bring them in, because I will redeem them, and they shall be multiplied because they were many; and I will sow them among the peoples, and those far off shall remember me. They shall bring up their children and return. And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt and from the Assyrians, and I will bring them in, and into Galilee and into Lebanon I will bring them, and not even one of them shall be left' (Zech 10:8-10). The Lord, intending to bring in those alienated by the manner of captivity, does not do this all at once, but by signaling His benevolence to those receiving it. This—