Article 3

Brief instruction concerning God, to learn to know Him, by His written name, glory, handiwork, wonderful deeds, voice, omnipotence, omniscience, by His enemies, and the enemy of His enemies, and the faithful succorer of the pious, and so on.

Note, beloved, my simple children: this is the God of your father, the God of all the faithful, from the beginning of the world until now, the God of Abel, the God of Noah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Israel, the God of Jesus Christ, and of all the saints. And this is the God who is not made or worshiped by any man or by human hands, but the God who was from everlasting and before all things, and will be forever, the God of whom and by whom all things are created and made; yes, heaven, earth, sea, and all the works in them were made by His word, Spirit and omnipotence. This our God is good to the good, and very terrible to His enemies. His power extends over all kingdoms and kings, and He is the Lord of lords. There is none like Him. You are great, and Your name is great, and You can show it by the deed. Who should not fear You, You King of the heathen? You should certainly be obeyed. His name is Governor, Lord, Lord Sabaoth, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Israel, and of the fathers; this is His name. His name is Wonderful, Counselor, Power, Giant, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace; His government remains upon Him forever. Isaiah 9, verses 6 and 7. His name is Immanuel, that is, God with us. Isaiah 7, verse 14. It is not possible to express His name fully; so, to complete His impossible, unmentionable, inexpressible exalted name, He is further called Jehova, Shadai, Addonai, and by other names. Besides His general titles, He is also called: Righteous, Merciful, Gracious God, Truth, Light, Right Hand, Holy consuming Fire.

See, my dear children, here you have heard of your father's God, of His eternity without beginning and without end, and of His glorious and exalted names in the Holy Scriptures. There now follows further, of His glorious, incomprehensible, immeasurable greatness and glory, and the invisibleness of His divine shape, form and image; for God is a Spirit. Think how great He must be: heaven is the throne and the earth His footstool. Acts 7, verse 49. He sees, hears, and is everywhere, and in all places; for this is what He says through Jeremiah:

"Am I a God at hand, and not far off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places that I will not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord." Jeremiah 23, verses 23 and 24. And in another place the Scripture declares: "He spans heaven with his three fingers." Isaiah 40, verse 12. When He walks, the mountains tremble, and the foundations of the earth quake. When He shows Himself, or lets Himself be heard, He causes fear and terror to come upon all people, as we read in Exodus 3, that the thorn bush seemed to burn as a flame of fire when He called Moses to Him, to make him a prince over Israel, to lead them out of Egypt. And again, when Moses, while receiving the law of God, spoke with God on Mount Sinai, the mountain smoked, because the Lord came down upon it in fire; and its smoke went up as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, with thunder and lightning, which frightened the people. Moses too was terrified, and trembled. No one was allowed to touch the mountain; no one could endure His voice except Moses, and he with fear. Exodus 19. This is how God shows Himself, says Moses, so that His fear should be before your eyes, and you might not sin. Moses may well say: "The Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and a terrible one, who does not regard persons, nor take a reward." Deuteronomy 10, verse 17.

See, my dear children, this great God alone is worthy to be feared, who can kill soul and body. Sirach says: "The whole heaven everywhere, the sea and the earth tremble; mountain and valley quake, when he visits them; and will he not see your heart?" Sirach 16, verse 18.

Again: "God is witness of all thoughts, and knows the conscience of every heart, and hears every word. For the circuit of the world is full of the Spirit of the Lord [he says that the circuit of the world is full of the Spirit of the Lord], and he who knows the voice is everywhere; therefore he who speaks unrighteous things cannot be hidden." Wisdom of Solomon 1, verse 6. Yes, my dear children, He knows who serves Him in appearance and in the sight of the eyes, and who with a sincere heart. For the wisdom of God is great, and He is mighty, says Sirach, and He sees all things; and His eyes are upon those who fear Him, and He knows well what is done in righteousness, and what is hypocrisy. Sirach 14, verse 18. I say He is worthy that people should fear Him, keep His commandments, love Him, and be very small and humble before Him, and this is what He requires of His people. Read Micah 6, the law of Moses, and the Gospel of Christ. For He wants obedience, and not the pomp and deceitful show of sacrifices, as is shown in Saul, First Samuel 15, verse 22. "Will you not fear me, says the Lord, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, so that it cannot pass it?" Jeremiah 5, verse 22.

Ah, ah, dear children, how good is this fear of the Lord, for it is the beginning of wisdom. It is the root of wisdom, and its branches flourish forever. Wisdom of Solomon 1, verse 20.

This fear of the Lord drives out sin; for he who is without fear cannot be justified. Wisdom of Solomon 1, verse 21. For by the fear of the Lord people depart from evil. Proverbs 16, verse 6. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death, Proverbs 14, verse 27. [n946-1] For those who fear the Lord, my children, walk in the right way; but he who does not fear Him, or despises Him, departs from His way. Proverbs 14, verse 2.

By this, and by the empty boasting or supposing that one has the fear of God, you may perceive the fear of God, and know those who fear Him [and those who do not fear Him].

Read who the truly God fearing are; Psalm 1, verse 2; Psalm 119, verse 120; Sirach 2, verse 17; Sirach 15, verse 1; Sirach 16, verse 2. Therefore, the fear of God is the sum and conclusion of all books. Read Ecclesiastes 12, verse 13. And as you have now heard of the great glory of God, which is well worthy that people should fear Him for it, so I will now briefly show that He is also a most awful, terrible and inexorably stern avenger and enemy toward His enemies; and, on the other hand, a faithful succorer of His afflicted friends, as is written in Exodus: "I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me." And again: "Showing mercy to thousands of those who love me, and keep my commandments." Exodus 20, verses 5 and 6.

Notice also the wonderful deeds of God in Egypt, upon Pharaoh, who afflicted the children of Israel; how God afflicted the Egyptians in return, visiting their land with many plagues. Finally, how God delivered His people out of it, made a dry passage through the Red Sea, separated and protected them from Pharaoh by the dark pillar of cloud, and terrified Pharaoh and his army with a noise from heaven in the air, and drowned them all in the Red Sea, as a God of great power. Now when Israel had passed through the Red Sea, and was in the wilderness, King Amalek came to afflict them; but God Himself resisted him through Joshua, and the enemy and his people were defeated and destroyed. So again, in the days of Joshua, God fought with hailstones, and Israel with the sword; the sun and moon stood still for their benefit the whole day, as long as the battle lasted. Joshua 10. Yes, God also fought from heaven against Sisera, and the stars in their courses fought. Judges 5, verse 20. Again, at another time, when Samaria was besieged by the Syrians, God fought for Samaria, and terrified the enemies with a noise in the air, like the noise of chariots, horsemen and armies, in the night, so that they fled and left everything behind them. Second Kings 7, verses 6 and 7. So read also of Zerah the Ethiopian, with his army of a thousand thousand, of whom not one escaped. Second Chronicles 14, verse 9. So also the children of Ammon and Moab, from Syria, afflicted Israel; and God fought for Israel, while Israel stood still, and He so ordered it that the enemies destroyed one another. Second Chronicles 20.

In the same way we read concerning Gideon, that God so ordered it that the enemies, the Midianites, fell upon one another with their swords, and destroyed themselves, by the direction of God. Judges 7, verse 22.

See, my dear children, what an awful, inexorable enemy of His enemies, and faithful and victorious protector of His friends He is; for when His people went to battle with God's consent, though they had neither bows, arrows, shields nor swords, God fought for them and won the victory. No one could harm this people, except when they departed from the commandments of the Lord their God; then God delivered them into the hand of the enemy. We have a God who helps, the Lord Sabaoth, who delivers from death; so the saints extol the help of God. When the people of God, in former times, were surrounded and assailed with war, and by wicked nations and kings, and then cried with confidence to this their God for protection, see, their God sent only an angel to their help, who was able to direct everything, and did not turn away from thousands. Read Second Kings 19, verse 35; Isaiah 37, verse 36. Read further Second Maccabees 11, verse 10. We read further of five angels of God, armed and upon horses with bridles of gold, and what great slaughter they made. Second Maccabees 10, verse 29. God sent two angels to Sodom, for the destruction of the wicked, and the preservation of the good. And other such examples; read Second Maccabees 12; Judges 7, verse 22; First Samuel 14, verse 20; First Samuel 17, verse 52; Second Chronicles 20, verse 23.

See, my dear children, the faithfulness of God toward His people, and His terribleness to the wicked, as you have heard; and this is only a moderate portion; much still remains to be told of the many examples contained in the holy Scriptures, and left for our confirmation, so that we might hope in this God, suffer for His sake, and obey Him. However, it must be understood with a proper distinction of times and laws. As for the ancient wars of Israel, the taking of revenge on enemies, the fighting and killing in the time of the law, and before it, which was then done by the will, command, permission, and also help, of God, under the Old Testament, it must not be so, and is now plainly prohibited, by the Word and example of Christ, Himself God and the Son of God, whose word must be heard. Prohibited, I say, plainly and clearly enough, not by men's commandments, but by God Himself; His people are denied and forbidden all revenge, and commanded to leave all vengeance to God; not to resist evil; to give to him who takes away the cloak the coat also, and to turn to him who strikes you on your right cheek the other also, and the like; yes, to love one's enemies, to pray for your persecutors, and to flee from them from one city into another. Matthew 5, verse 39; Romans 12, verse 17; First Thessalonians 5, verse 15. And those who are thus afflicted will be blessed, and greatly comforted by God, with the promise of eternal life. In short, not to fight at all, and yet to fight, but this no longer with iron, steel, stone, wood, or any carnal weapons, but with spiritual weapons, mighty before God. Second Corinthians 10, verse 4. Read, my children, what weapons and warfare Christians now wield, as is plainly and very clearly set forth. Ephesians 6. Christians have no other warfare at the present time. For understand, the prophecy is fulfilled which said, with reference to this time, that such people have beaten their swords into plowshares, and their spears into sickles, rest from their works, and truly keep the spiritual Sabbath. Isaiah 2, verse 4; Micah 4, verse 3; Exodus 20, verses 10 and 11. So Christians may now no longer wage war. However, I point you to the ancient warfare and God's help, since these are a demonstration and proof to you of the greatness and the terrible deeds of God; so that you may learn to know, fear and obey Him, in whose presence the earth shakes, and the mountains tremble; for those who are disobedient to His Word, will and commandment will find no hiding place from His face when He appears with His angels, in flames of fire, to execute vengeance on all the disobedient. Second Esdras 16, verse 9.

Therefore, my children, learn to know and shun sin; for because of sin souls are damned forever.