The voice of the Lord crushes cedars and flames
Basil continues his exposition of Psalm 28, explaining how John the Baptist's majestic words about Christ fulfill the psalm's images of the Lord's voice crushing cedars and cutting through flame.
It is also majestic to say, “The one who comes from above is above all” (John 3:31), and, “Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified that God is true. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God” (John 3:33–34). And, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life” (John 3:36), and all such sayings. Nothing lowly, then, nothing unworthy of his greatness, but everything has been spoken by John about the Lord with noble elevation and fitting grandeur. Therefore, “the voice of the Lord in majesty.”
“The voice of the Lord crushing cedars” (Psalm 28:5 LXX, Psalm 29:5). It is possible to say that, in preparing a people made ready for the Lord, John was crushing and pulling down the impieties that were lifted up and exalted against the knowledge of God, and he was making the crooked ways straight. For the one who humbles every hill and every mountain was the one crushing the cedars and smoothing the way for the Lord’s coming, by leading the people’s high and exalted and un-humbled heart into repentance. Therefore, receiving his preparation, the Lord crushes through his own coming the opposing powers, which are figuratively called cedars of Lebanon. For the Lord must reign until he places his enemies under his feet. And he will make these cedars fine, like the calf of Lebanon.
What, then, is the calf of Lebanon? They say that those who worship idols, with excessive idle curiosity, form images of calves out of frankincense and then bring them near to the fire. In this way, then, he says that the opposing powers will be made to disappear into destruction, as they deserve. Or the calf is the one made of frankincense and melted by the fire, according to what is said: “As wax melts before the face of fire, so sinners will perish” (Psalm 68:3 LXX, Psalm 68:2 Hebrew). And it is also possible to understand the cedars being made fine, and Lebanon itself, the originator of the cedars’ exaltation, being made fine. The calf was once made fine at the Exodus through Aaron, when the people, having rebelled against God and turned aside into idolatry, fashioned it. Moses took it, ground it to powder, and threw it into the water. So the Lord will make all Lebanon fine—that is, the first origin of evil—just as that calf was made fine by Moses. “And he will make them fine like the calf of Lebanon.”
“And the beloved is like a son of unicorns” (Psalm 28:6 LXX, Psalm 29:6). After the opposing powers have been destroyed, then love for the Lord will appear, and his strength will become manifest, with none of the adversaries casting a shadow over it. Therefore, after the making fine, he says: “The beloved will be like a son of unicorns.” The unicorn is a ruling animal, not subject to man, with unconquerable strength, always dwelling in deserts, trusting in its single horn. For this reason the Lord’s invincible nature is compared to a unicorn, both because of his rule over all things and because he has one origin of himself, the Father. For “the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:3).
“The voice of the Lord cutting through a flame of fire” (Psalm 28:7 LXX, Psalm 29:7). John was cutting through sin, which was spreading like fire over Israel, when he said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 3:2). The flame of the passions, then, which arises in souls from sin, he was cutting through as he told the Jews about the eternal fire, speaking the severe things of judgment: that “the winnowing fork is in the Lord’s hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor; and he will gather the wheat into his barns, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12).
Greek
Μεγαλοπρεπὲς δὲ καὶ τὸ, Ὁ ἄνωθεν ἐρχόμενος ἐπάνω πάντων ἐστί. Καὶ τὸ, Ὁ λαβὼν αὐτοῦ τὴν μαρτυρίαν, ἐσφράγισεν, ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἀληθινός ἐστιν. Ὃν γὰρ ἀπέστειλεν ὁ Θεὸς, τὰ ῥήματα τοῦ Θεοῦ λαλεῖ. Καὶ τὸ, Ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τὸν Υἱὸν, ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον· καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα. Οὐδὲν οὖν ταπεινὸν, οὐδὲ μικρο πρεπὲς, ἀλλὰ πάντα μεγαλοφυῶς μετὰ τοῦ ἐπιβάλ λοντος μεγέθους πρεπόντως ἀποδιδόμενα παρὰ τοῦ Ἰωάννου, περὶ τοῦ Κυρίου λελάληται. Διὰ τοῦτο Φωνὴ Κυρίου ἐν μεγαλοπρεπείᾳ. Φωνὴ Κυρίου συντρίβοντος κέδρους. Δυνα τὸν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι ἑτοιμάζων Κυρίῳ λαὸν κατεσκευασμένον, τὰς ἐπαιρομένας ἀσεβείας καὶ ὑψουμένας κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ συντρίβων καὶ καθαιρῶν, ἐποίει τὰ σκολιὰ εἰς εὐθεῖαν. Ὁ γὰρ πάντα βουνὸν καὶ πᾶν ὄρος ταπεινῶν, οὗτος ἦν ὁ συντρίβων τὰς κέδρους, καὶ ἐξομαλίζων τὴν ἐπιδημίαν τῷ Κυρίῳ, διὰ τοῦ ἐνάγειν εἰς μετάνοιαν τὴν ὑψηλὴν καὶ ἐπηρμένην καὶ ἀταπείνωτον καρδίαν τοῦ λαοῦ. Ὅθεν δια δεχόμενος αὐτοῦ τὴν ἑτοιμασίαν, συντρίβει ὁ Κύριος, διὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ἐπιδημίας, τὰς ἀντικειμένας δυνά μεις, κέδρους τοῦ Λιβάνου τροπικῶς ὀνομαζομένας. Δεῖ γὰρ τὸν Κύριον βασιλεύειν, ἄχρις οὗ θῇ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ταύτας τὰς κέ δρους λεπτυνεῖ, ὡς τὸν μόσχον τὸν Λίβανον. Τί οὖν ἐστιν ὁ μόσχος Λίβανος; Φασὶν, ὅτι κατὰ πολλὴν περιεργίαν οἱ τοῖς εἰδώλοις λατρεύοντες, διὰ τοῦ Λιβάνου μορφοῦντες μόσχων ἀπεικονίσματα, οὕ τως ταῦτα κατήγγιζον ἐπὶ τοῦ πυρός. Οὕτως οὖν φησι τὰς ἀντικειμένας δυνάμεις εἰς ἀφανισμὸν ἀξίως ἐξαφανίσεσθαι. Ἢ μόσχος ὁ διὰ τοῦ Λιβάνου ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς συντηκόμενος κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον· Ὡς τήκεται κηρὸς ἀπὸ προσώπου πυρὸς, οὕτως ἀπολοῦν ται οἱ ἁμαρτωλοί. Καὶ οὕτως δὲ δυνατὸν νοῆσαι λεπτύνεσθαι τὰς κέδρους καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Λίβανον τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς τῶν κέδρων ἐπάρσεως. Ἐλεπτύνθη ποτὲ ὁ μόσχος ἐπὶ τῆς ἐξόδου διὰ τοῦ Ἀαρὼν, ὅτε ἀποστατήσας τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ εἰς εἰδωλολατρείαν ἐκτρα πεὶς ἀνέπλασεν ὁ λαός· ὃν λαβὼν Μωϋσῆς, κατήλεσεν εἰς λεπτὰ, καὶ ἔβαλεν εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ. Οὕτως οὖν λεπτυνεῖ ὅλον τὸν Λίβανον, τουτέστι τὴν πρώτην τῆς κακίας ἀρχὴν, ὁ Κύριος, ὡς ἐλεπτύνθη ὁ μόσχος ἐκεῖνος ὑπὸ τοῦ Μωϋσέως. Καὶ λεπτυνεῖ αὐτὰς ὡς τὸν μόσχον τὸν Λίβανον. Καὶ ὁ ἠγαπημένος ὡς υἱὸς μονοκερώτων. Μετὰ τὸ τὰς ἀντικειμένας δυνάμεις ἀναιρεθῆναι, τότε ἀνα φανήσεται ἡ πρὸς Κύριον ἀγάπη, καὶ ἡ ἰσχὺς αὐτοῦ φανερὰ γενήσεται, οὐδενὸς ἐπισκοτοῦντος τῶν ἐναν τίων. Διό φησι μετὰ τὸ λεπτυνθῆναι· Ὁ ἠγαπημένος ἔσται ὡς υἱὸς μονοκερώτων. Μονόκερως δὲ ζῶον ἀρχικὸν, ἀνυπότακτον ἀνθρώπῳ, τὴν ἰσχὺν ἀκαταμάχητον, ἐρημίαις ἀεὶ διαιτώμενον, ἑνὶ κερατίῳ πεποιθός. Διὰ τοῦτο ἡ ἀκαταγώνιστος τοῦ Κυρίου φύσις μονοκέρῳ παρεικάσθη, διά τε τὴν κατὰ πάντων ἀρχὴν, καὶ διὰ τὸ μίαν ἔχειν ἑαυτοῦ ἀρχὴν, τὸν Πατέρα· Κεφαλὴ γὰρ Χριστοῦ ὁ Θεός. Φωνὴ Κυρίου διακόπτοντος φλόγα πυρός. Τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ὡς πῦρ ἐπινεμομένην τὸν Ἰσραὴλ, ὁ Ἰωάννης διέκοπτε, λέγων· Μετανοεῖτε· ἤγγικε γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. Τὴν οὖν φλόγα τῶν παθῶν, τὴν ἐξ ἁμαρτίας ἐγγινομένην ταῖς ψυχαῖς, διέκοπτε, διηγούμενος τὰ περὶ τοῦ αἰωνίου πυρὸς τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις, ἐν τῷ λέγειν τὰ τῆς κρίσεως σφοδρὰ, ὅτι Τὸ πτύον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ διακαθαριεῖ τὴν ἅλωνα· καὶ τὸν μὲν σῖτον ἀποθήσεται εἰς τὰς ἀποθήκας, τὸ δὲ ἄχυρον κατακαύσει πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ.