The Spirit's Rest And Flight

Et requievit, inquit, super eos spiritus, et prophetarunt omnes. Requiescere spiritum non in quibuscunque hominibus legimus: sed in sanctis et beatis. Requiescit enim spiritus Dei in iis qui mundo sunt corde, et in iis qui purificant animas suas a peccato: sicut econtrario non inhabitat in corpore subdito peccatis, etiamsi habitavit aliquando in eo. Non enim potest Spiritus sanctus consortium pati et societatem spiritus mali. Certum est enim peccati tempore adesse in corde uniuscujusque spiritum malum, et agere partes suas. Cui utique cum locus datur, et recipitur a nobis per cogitationes malas, et concupiscentias pessimas, contristatus, et, ut ita dicam, coangustatus fugatur de nobis Spiritus sanctus. Propter quod et Apostolus sciens haec ita accidere, monebat dicens: Nolite contristare Spiritum sanctum , in quo signati estis in die redemptionis. Igitur peccantes contristamus Spiritum sanctum: juste vero agentes et sancte, requiem ei paramus in nobis. Origen, In Numeros, Homilia VI, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense Source: Migne PG 12.608b-c

And the Spirit rested on them and they all prophesied. 1 We read that the Spirit did not rest on just any man but on the holy and the blessed. For the spirit of God is in those who have pure hearts, and in those who have purified their souls from sin, just as on the contrary it does not dwell in a body enslaved to sin, even if at one time it did dwell in such a man. For the Holy Spirit can have no association nor society with an evil spirit, and it is certain that at the time of sin an evil spirit has come into a man and acts its part. And we give it a place and it is received by us because of evil thoughts, and base desires and then, as I might say, the Spirit is grieved by its confinement and flies from us. Because of which, the Apostle, who knew that these things happen, warned us, saying, 'Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, with which you have been signed for the he day of redemption.' 2 Therefore it is those who sin who grieve the Holy Spirit, but it is by acting rightly and in holiness that we prepare a place of rest for Him in us. Origen, On Numbers, from the Sixth Homily, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia. 1 Numb 11.25 2 Ephes 4.30

Inside And Outside

Et exiit, inquit, Moyses ad populum, et locutus et ad eum verba Domini. Donec verba Domini audit Moyses et ab ipso docetur, intus est, et in interioribus consistit atque in intimis secretis habetur. Ubi vero turbis loquitur et populis, ministrat ei qui intus non potest stare, exire dicitur foras. Quid ergo formae talis continet sermo? Quod omnis doctor, et magister Ecclesiae si de profundioribus mysteriis aliquid moveat, is arcanum quid et reconditum de Dei sapientia proferat inter perfectos, donec in profundis sensibus versatur, intus esse, et in interioribus consistere dicendus est. Cum vero loquitur ad turbas, et ea profet quae sufficiant iis qui foris sunt, quae potest vulgus audire, foras dicitur exisse, et loqui ad populum verba Domini. Hoc video et Paulum fecisse, et intus quidem fuisse, cum diceret: Sapientiam autem loquimur inter perfectos, sapientiam autem non hujus mundi, neque principum hujus mundi, qui destruentur. Sed loquimur Dei sapientiam in mysterio absconditam quam nemo principum hujus mundi cognovit. Vides quomodo intus est, et interna atque arcana divinae sapientiae penetrat Paulus, cum haec loquitur. Cum autem procedit ad populum, audi quid loquitur: Omni sermo malus de ore vestro non procedat; et: Qui furabatur, jam non furetur; et: Unusquisque vir uxorem suam habeat; et: Unusquisque proximum suum sicut seipsum diligat; et: Unaquaeque mulier virum suum habeat. Haec et si qua hujusmodi sunt, Paulus secundum Moysis formam foras exiens, ad populum loquitur. Origen, In Numeros, Homilia VI, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense Source: Migne PG 12.607b-c

And Moses went out to the people and he spoke the words of the Lord to them. 1 While Moses hears the words of the Lord and is taught by Him he is inside, and he is firmly fixed in things most profound and he takes hold of the deepest and innermost secrets, but when he speaks to the crowd and ministers to those who were not able to be inside he is said to go outside. What, then, is to be found in such words? That every teacher and instructor of the Church, if he is imbued with the profound mysteries, should be within setting forth the secret and hidden mysteries of God to the perfect, until the deepest understanding is achieved, which is said to be established in the deepest things. When however he speaks to the crowd he should offer to them what is fitting for those who are outside, that which it is possible for the multitude to hear, and then he is said to be outside. I see Paul did this, he who certainly was inside when he said, 'But we speak wisdom among the perfect, not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of the world who shall be ruined, but we speak a hidden wisdom of God in mystery which none of the princes of the world have known.' 2 See how he is inside, and that he grasps the inmost secrets of Divine wisdom when he says these things. But when he goes out to the people, hear what he says: 'Let no evil speech come out of your mouth,' and 'He who has stolen let him stop stealing.' and 'Let each man have his own wife,' and 'Let everyone love his neighbour as himself,' and 'Let every woman have her own husband.' 3 Paul speaks these things and things like them in the manner of Moses going outside. Origen, On Numbers, from the Sixth Homily, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia. 1 Numb 11.24 2 1 Cor 2.6 3 Ephes 4.29, 4.28, 1 Cor 7.2, Ephes 5.33, 1 Cor 7.2

Detraction And Leprosy

Sicut Apostolus dicit , Haec omina in figura contingebant illis , scripta sunt autem propter commonitionem nostram: quaero quid commonitionis accipiamus ex eo quod lectum est nobis , quia detraxerunt Aaron et Maria de Moyse, et propter hoc correpti sunt, Maria vero etiam leprosa efficitur. Tanta autem fuit cura correptionis hujus, ut dum Maria septimanæ tempus expleret in lepra, populus Dei non ageret iter ad terram repromissionis , ne tabernaculum testimonii moveretur. Primo interim moneor, et utiliter ac necessario moneor ex hoc facto ne detraham fratri, ne male loquar de proximo meo, ne aperiam os meum ad derogandum non solum sanctis, sed et quibuslibet proximis meis. Vides quanta ex hoc indignatio Dei fuerit, quanta vindicta processerit. Denique adversum peccatum istud simili indignatione etiam in Psalmis Deum commoveri videmus, et dicere: Sedens adversus fratrem tuum detrahebas, et adversus filium matris tuae ponebas scandalum. Similiter autem et in alio psalmo ex persona justi scientis hoc Deo quam maxime displicere dicitur: Detrahentem occulte adversus proximum suum persequebar. Ex iis igitur omnibus divinae Scripturae sermonibus, velut gladiis quibusdam utrinque acutis, obtrectandi fratribus , et derogandi sanctis vitium resecemus. Lepra enim consequitur derogantes et cacologos, id est, maleloquos . Post haec autem a moralibus ad intelligentiam mysticam transeamus . Quamvis et in superiore tractatu pauca jam dicta sint, tamen quæ defuisse videntur, addemus. Videamus ergo quis est qui derogat Moysi , quis de eo male loquitur. Non solum Judaei, sed et hæretici, qui non recipiunt legem et prophetas , etiam ipsi detrahunt de Moyse. Denique solent ei etiam crimen impingere, dicentes , quia homicida fuit Moyses, interfecit enim Aegyptium: et alia multa, vel in ipsum, vel in prophetas blasphemo ore concinnant. Isti ergo quia detrahunt Moysi, habent lepram in anima sua et sunt in homine interiore leprosi, et ideo habentur extra castra Ecclesiae Dei. Sive ergo haeretici sint qui derogant Moysi, sive de Ecclesia sint qui detrahunt fratribus, et male loquuntur de proximis suis, omnes qui hoc vitio aguntur, dubitandum non est quin leprosi sint in anima sua. Et Maria quidem interveniente Aaron pontifice septima die curatur: nos vero si obtrectationis vitio inciderimus in animae lepram, usque ad finem septimanae mundi, id est, usque ad resurrectionis tempus leprosi in anima permanebimus, et immundi: nisi dum paenitendi tempus est, corrigamur, et conversi ad Dominum Jesum, ac supplicantes ei per paenitentiam purgemur ab immunditia leprae nostrae. Origen, In Numeros, Homilia VII, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense Source: Migne PG 12.611c-612c

Since as the Apostle says, All these things happened as a figure, and are written as a warning to us,' 1 I ask what warning we are to receive from what has been read to us, that Aaron and Mary spoke against Moses and because of this they were corrected, and Mary was afflicted with leprosy. 1 So great was the weight of this correction that Mary spent seven days in leprosy and the people of God did not continue their journey to the promised land, nor did they move the tabernacle of the covenant. Firstly I am warned by this deed, and most usefully and necessarily am I warned, not to disparage a brother, nor to speak evil of my neighbour, nor to open my mouth in derogation of any of my neighbours, and not only those who are holy. See how great the indignation of God was, and how great a punishment befell. And there is similar indignation in the Psalms against this sin when we see God moved to say, 'You sat and spoke against your brother, and against the son of your mother you set scandal. 3 Then likewise in another Psalm, speaking in the person of a righteous man who knows how greatly it displeases God, he said, 'I fell upon him who was speaking against his neighbour.' 4 From all these words of Divine Scripture, which are as a sword that is sharp on both sides, let us consider the vice of disparaging a brother and speaking derogatively of holy men. For leprosy consequently befalls those who disparage and are cacological, that is, who are speakers of evil. After these things let us pass from the mortal to the spiritual understanding. Although in a previous homily a little has been said about this, yet we shall add what seems to be lacking. Let us consider, then, who it is who disparages Moses, and who speaks evil concerning him. They are not only Jews but even heretics, those who reject the law and the prophets, and so disparage Moses. For they are accustomed to impute crimes to him, saying that Moses was a murderer and a killer among the Egyptians, and with many other accusations, against him or against other prophets, they speak blasphemy with their mouths. These, then, who speak against Moses, they have leprosy in their souls and their inner man is leprous, and therefore they are set outside the assembly of God. Therefore they are heretics who disparage Moses, or denigrate the church to their brothers, and speak ill of their neighbours, and it must not be doubted that all who engage in this vice have leprosy in their soul. And certainly after the passage of seven days Mary was cured by the high priest Aaron. However if we fall into the leprosy of the soul by the vice of detraction, even to the seventh age of the world, that is, even to the time of resurrection, we will continue with leprosy in our soul and be unclean, unless there is a period of penance and we are corrected and we are turned back to the Lord Jesus, and by prayers to Him we are cleansed through penance from the blight of our leprosy. Origen, On Numbers, from the Seventh Homily, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia. 1 1 Cor 10.11 2 Numb 12 3 Ps 49.20 4 Ps 100.5

The Silver Trumpets

Fac tibi duas tubas argenteas ductiles... Quarum varietate vocum populus congregatur ad praelium praeparatum, et in festivitate cantetur. Hae tubae argenteae sunt Petrus et Paulus, qui sunt argentei nitore eloquii, ductiles super incudem cordis Spiritus sancti malleo fabricatam. His ad Ecclesiam nos populi circumcisionis et gentium congregamur, contra hostes vitiorum et daemonum dimicare, et eos superare docemur, ac discimus bene vivendo, mores componendo, et in via mandatorum currendo, qualiter Deo hostias laudis et jubilationis immolemus, gratum Deo festum celebrantes. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber III, Tit LXIX, De duabis tubis argenteis et earum usu ad Petrum et Paulum applicatis Source: Migne PL 177.676d-677a

Make for yourself two trumpets of beaten silver... 1 Which with different voices call the people to gather for preparation for battle and to sing at feasts. These silver trumpets are Peter and Paul, whose eloquence is of the brightness of silver, shaped on the anvil of the heart, fashioned with the hammer of the Holy Spirit. By these the people of the circumcision and of the Gentiles are gathered to the Church to struggle against the opposing forces of the vices and demons, and we are taught how to overcome them, and we learn how to live well, ordering our conduct, and running in the way of the commandments, and in this sacrificing to God sacrifices of praise and joy, celebrating the joyous feast of God. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 3, Chap 69, On the two silver trumpets and their use applied to Peter and Paul 1 Numb 10.2

A Woman Unspared

Λοιδορήσασα Μαριὰμ τὸν Μεωσέα, ἐλεπρώθη, ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς γενομένη ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας καθίσασα. Τοῦτο δὲ γέγονε πρὸς φόβον τοῦ λαοῦ. Εἰ γὰρ τῆς ἀδελφῆς οὐκ ἐφείσατο, οὐδὲ ἑτέρου Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Τους Ἀριθμους, Κεφ ΙΒ'  Source: Migne PG 17.21a

Because she abused Moses Mariam was afflicted with leprosy and placed outside the camp for seven days. 1 And this was done that the people fear. For if a sister would not be spared, nor would another. Origen, On Numbers, Chapter 12 1 Numb 12.1-15

Balaam And The Magi

Καὶ ἀναστήσεται ἄνθρωπος ἐξ Ἰσραήλ. Φασὶ Βαλαὰμ ἔχειν φοιτητὰς τῇ τέχνῃ, μαθητεύσαντας αὐτῷ τῇ μαγικῇ· καὶ δόξαν περὶ αὐτοῦ ἔχοντας, ἀναγράψασθαι τὰς προφητείας αὐτοῦ, καὶ καταλιπεῖν, ἐν αἰς καὶ τὸ· Ἀνατελεῖ ἄστρον. Ἥ καὶ ἐκ τῆς πατρικῆς παραδόσεως τοῦτο καὶ διαδοχῆς παραλαβόντες οἱ Μάγοι,  ἐπὶ τὴν βηθλεὲμ παρεγένοντο. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Τοὺς Ἄριθμούς Ἐκλογή Source: Migne PG 17.21c-24a

And there shall arise a man from Israel. 1 They say that Balaam had pupils in his art, tutored by him in his magic, and having admiration for him they wrote down his prophecies, and left them for others, in which is found, 'A star shall arise.' 1 And drawing on this paternal tradition the Magi, who were the successors, came to Bethlehem.  Origen, On Numbers, Fragment 1 Numb 24.17