From antiochan.org, dynamispublications.org, rongolini.com and biblegateway.com:
Daily Readings:
Saints/Martyrs/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: Great Lent, Memory of the holy Hieromartyr and Wonderworker Hypatios, Bishop of Gangra (Fourth century)
Scriptural Readings:
Genesis 10:32-11:9 (3/31-4/13) Thursday of the Fourth Week of Great Lent
After the Flood IV ~ The Tower of Pride: Genesis 10:32-11:9, especially vs. 4: “They also said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, whose top will reach to heaven: and let us make a name for ourselves....” The vision, ingenuity, and vanity of men manifest themselves in grand projects. A group of men migrated from the East, found a spacious plain in the land of Shinar and dwelt there (vs. 2). With no sense of debt to God, they think to exalt themselves to heaven, build their own way of life, and make themselves famous (vs. 4). God intervenes and disrupts their plan. It is Divine grace that awakens the need for God, teaches humility, and restores the word of the Lord to its rightful and natural rule above finite, human thinking.
A man says to his neighbor, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them with fire” (vs. 3). The neighbor embraces the vision. They join in the endeavor. They say to one another, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower...” (vs. 4). Where is God in all of this? The men are descendants of Noah. We think they ought to know that their life and breath is from God. To the contrary, they act as if God does not exist. They build a secular city on “God-less-ness.” Such is elementary humanism: to act as if God is not, to give Him no place as one imagines, sets goals, and carries out projects. “The sinner praiseth himself in the lusts of his soul, and the unrighteous man likewise blesseth himself therein....God is not before him” (Ps. 9:23,24).
The Lord perceives that “...they will not fail to accomplish what they have undertaken” (Gn. 11:6). The inborn imperative for a creature to accept God-given, natural boundaries is suppressed. However, life apart from God leads to confusion. Saint Theophan reminds us to “...feel with our whole heart that we have no one to rely on except God, and that from Him and Him alone can we expect every kind of good, every manner of help, and victory.”
Out of pride, our very own ancestors presumed, not just to build a city and a tower, but to erect a city and a tower “...whose top will reach to heaven...” (vs. 4). It is the devil’s lie to Eve in a new guise: “...you will be like gods...” (Gn. 3:6). Lucifer ever prompts our exaltation of self. He lurks at the doorstep of all of us: “I will ascend to heaven; I will place my throne above the stars of heaven....I will ascend above the clouds; I will be like the Most High” (Is. 14:13,14).
See how God answers Satan and any who heed him: “But now you shall descend to Hades, to the foundations of the earth” (Is. 14:15). Thus, the Lord God confounded the tongues of these godless men on the plain of Shinar and “...scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth...” (Gn. 11:8). Christ plainly warns against self-exaltation: “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk. 14:11).
In Hebrew, the place where the tower was built is called ‘Babel,’ which means ‘Gate of God.’ It is noteworthy that the word also is a homonym of another Hebrew verb ‘to produce confusion,’ ‘balal.’ Even if we have initial success, as long as we rely on our own wisdom, ignore the guiding word of God, and fail to seek His way, confusion and scattering will certainly follow. The Lord gives men dominion: “Thou hast set him over the works of Thy hands” (Ps. 8:5). Yet we prefer the wisdom of our devising: “...let us make a name for ourselves...” (Gn. 11:4).
Beloved, “...the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:25). May our good Lord deliver us from simple, godless, self-assured reasoning! “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the counsel of the saints is understanding: for to know the law is characteristic of a good mind” (Pr. 9:10).
Illumine our hearts, O Master Who loveth mankind, with the pure light of Thy divine knowledge, and open the eyes of our mind to the understanding of Thy Gospel teachings.
Isaiah 28:14-22
Isaiah 28:14-22 (King James Version)
14Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
20For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
21For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
22Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.
Proverbs 13:19-14:6
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See more books at the Bible Gateway storeProverbs 13:19-14:6 (King James Version)
19The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.
20He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
21Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed.
22A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
23Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.
24He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
25The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.
Proverbs 14
1Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.
2He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him.
3In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.
4Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.
5A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.
6A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.
The Synaxarion:
March 31
Memory of the holy Hieromartyr and
Wonderworker Hypatios, Bishop of Gangra (Fourth century)
Saint Hypatios was one of the three hundred and eighteen Fathers at the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. He was a native of Cilicia and died a martyr in Galatia. By his pious life he obtained the gift of miracles and converted many pagans to the Christian faith. He built an inn to receive strangers. By his word alone he made some harmful moles which ravaged the country disappear. When he moved about during the night, he was constantly accompanied by torches which lit his way. He made the waters of a salty and bitter spring sweet. Under Emperor Constantius, the son of Constantine the Great, an enormous serpent got into the Imperial Treasury Chamber and such fright followed that no one dared enter it. If anyone dared to enter the room, he was killed on the spot. The Emperor was dismayed about this. Having heard of the Saint, he sent for him. The Saint came, approached the treasury room alone, and opened the door with a staff surmounted by a cross. He struck the serpent and removed it like a fish, coiled on the staff. He lit a large pyre in the forum and burned the serpent there. To preserve his treasury from any future evil, the Emperor had an icon of the Saint placed at the entrance of the room. Saint Hypatios died under the attacks of the Novatian heretics who fought against him continually. They took up an ambush position in a narrow passage bordered by precipices, and when the old holy man went to pass through, they all jumped on him, men and women, and knocked him down under a shower of rocks. He fell half dead. Then a wicked woman, wholly imbued in the errors of her sect, grabbed a heavy rock and hit him in the temples. The Saint died at once and thus consumated him martyrdom.
Fifth Class Feast.
Daily Readings:
Saints/Martyrs/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: Great Lent, Memory of the holy Hieromartyr and Wonderworker Hypatios, Bishop of Gangra (Fourth century)
Scriptural Readings:
Genesis 10:32-11:9 (3/31-4/13) Thursday of the Fourth Week of Great Lent
After the Flood IV ~ The Tower of Pride: Genesis 10:32-11:9, especially vs. 4: “They also said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, whose top will reach to heaven: and let us make a name for ourselves....” The vision, ingenuity, and vanity of men manifest themselves in grand projects. A group of men migrated from the East, found a spacious plain in the land of Shinar and dwelt there (vs. 2). With no sense of debt to God, they think to exalt themselves to heaven, build their own way of life, and make themselves famous (vs. 4). God intervenes and disrupts their plan. It is Divine grace that awakens the need for God, teaches humility, and restores the word of the Lord to its rightful and natural rule above finite, human thinking.
A man says to his neighbor, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them with fire” (vs. 3). The neighbor embraces the vision. They join in the endeavor. They say to one another, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower...” (vs. 4). Where is God in all of this? The men are descendants of Noah. We think they ought to know that their life and breath is from God. To the contrary, they act as if God does not exist. They build a secular city on “God-less-ness.” Such is elementary humanism: to act as if God is not, to give Him no place as one imagines, sets goals, and carries out projects. “The sinner praiseth himself in the lusts of his soul, and the unrighteous man likewise blesseth himself therein....God is not before him” (Ps. 9:23,24).
The Lord perceives that “...they will not fail to accomplish what they have undertaken” (Gn. 11:6). The inborn imperative for a creature to accept God-given, natural boundaries is suppressed. However, life apart from God leads to confusion. Saint Theophan reminds us to “...feel with our whole heart that we have no one to rely on except God, and that from Him and Him alone can we expect every kind of good, every manner of help, and victory.”
Out of pride, our very own ancestors presumed, not just to build a city and a tower, but to erect a city and a tower “...whose top will reach to heaven...” (vs. 4). It is the devil’s lie to Eve in a new guise: “...you will be like gods...” (Gn. 3:6). Lucifer ever prompts our exaltation of self. He lurks at the doorstep of all of us: “I will ascend to heaven; I will place my throne above the stars of heaven....I will ascend above the clouds; I will be like the Most High” (Is. 14:13,14).
See how God answers Satan and any who heed him: “But now you shall descend to Hades, to the foundations of the earth” (Is. 14:15). Thus, the Lord God confounded the tongues of these godless men on the plain of Shinar and “...scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth...” (Gn. 11:8). Christ plainly warns against self-exaltation: “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk. 14:11).
In Hebrew, the place where the tower was built is called ‘Babel,’ which means ‘Gate of God.’ It is noteworthy that the word also is a homonym of another Hebrew verb ‘to produce confusion,’ ‘balal.’ Even if we have initial success, as long as we rely on our own wisdom, ignore the guiding word of God, and fail to seek His way, confusion and scattering will certainly follow. The Lord gives men dominion: “Thou hast set him over the works of Thy hands” (Ps. 8:5). Yet we prefer the wisdom of our devising: “...let us make a name for ourselves...” (Gn. 11:4).
Beloved, “...the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:25). May our good Lord deliver us from simple, godless, self-assured reasoning! “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the counsel of the saints is understanding: for to know the law is characteristic of a good mind” (Pr. 9:10).
Illumine our hearts, O Master Who loveth mankind, with the pure light of Thy divine knowledge, and open the eyes of our mind to the understanding of Thy Gospel teachings.
Isaiah 28:14-22
Isaiah 28:14-22 (King James Version)
14Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
20For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
21For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
22Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.
Proverbs 13:19-14:6
Editor's Picks
The IVP Women's Bible Commentary
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The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon
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Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, Updated Edition KJV
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See more books at the Bible Gateway storeProverbs 13:19-14:6 (King James Version)
19The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.
20He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
21Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed.
22A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
23Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.
24He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
25The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.
Proverbs 14
1Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.
2He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him.
3In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.
4Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.
5A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.
6A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.
The Synaxarion:
March 31
Memory of the holy Hieromartyr and
Wonderworker Hypatios, Bishop of Gangra (Fourth century)
Saint Hypatios was one of the three hundred and eighteen Fathers at the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. He was a native of Cilicia and died a martyr in Galatia. By his pious life he obtained the gift of miracles and converted many pagans to the Christian faith. He built an inn to receive strangers. By his word alone he made some harmful moles which ravaged the country disappear. When he moved about during the night, he was constantly accompanied by torches which lit his way. He made the waters of a salty and bitter spring sweet. Under Emperor Constantius, the son of Constantine the Great, an enormous serpent got into the Imperial Treasury Chamber and such fright followed that no one dared enter it. If anyone dared to enter the room, he was killed on the spot. The Emperor was dismayed about this. Having heard of the Saint, he sent for him. The Saint came, approached the treasury room alone, and opened the door with a staff surmounted by a cross. He struck the serpent and removed it like a fish, coiled on the staff. He lit a large pyre in the forum and burned the serpent there. To preserve his treasury from any future evil, the Emperor had an icon of the Saint placed at the entrance of the room. Saint Hypatios died under the attacks of the Novatian heretics who fought against him continually. They took up an ambush position in a narrow passage bordered by precipices, and when the old holy man went to pass through, they all jumped on him, men and women, and knocked him down under a shower of rocks. He fell half dead. Then a wicked woman, wholly imbued in the errors of her sect, grabbed a heavy rock and hit him in the temples. The Saint died at once and thus consumated him martyrdom.
Fifth Class Feast.
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