Reuelacio decima in libro questionum, in qua Christus loquens sponse monet eam, quod non turbetur, si verba sua diuina in reuelacionibus ei data inueniuntur aliquando obscura, aliquando dubia et aliquando incerta, quia hoc fit ex certis causis hic assignatis et ex occulta iusticia diuina. Consulit tamen, quod cum paciencia et timore et perseuerancia humilitatis semper expectentur euentus et promissiones verborum eius, ne propter ingratitudinem reuocetur gracia promissa. Dicit eciam, quod multa corporaliter dicta sunt, que non corporaliter sed spiritualiter perficientur.
The Mystery of Divine Speech
Christ explains that the varying clarity of His words is intended to foster both holy fear and patient anticipation in the soul.
The Son says to the bride: "Don't be troubled if I speak one word more obscurely and another more clearly, or if I call someone my servant now, or my son and friend, and then find the opposite to be true." My words can be interpreted in different ways, just as I told you about one person, that his hand would become his death, and about another, that he would no longer come to my table. I'm saying this because I'll either explain why I spoke as I did, or you'll see the truth of it play out in reality, just as those two examples make clear. Sometimes I speak in obscure terms so that you might both fear and rejoice: fear, lest things turn out differently because of my divine patience—for I know the shifts of the human heart—and rejoice, too, because my will is always fulfilled.1
Spiritual Meaning Beneath the Letter
God reveals that He speaks in ways that transcend literal interpretation to test the faith and diligence of His followers.
Just as I also said many things in the Old Law that were meant to be understood more spiritually than literally—such as those regarding the Temple, David, and Jerusalem—so that carnal people might learn to desire spiritual things. For to test the constancy of faith and the diligence of my friends, I have said and promised many things that, depending on the different effects of my Spirit, could be understood in various ways by both the good and the bad; and I have done this so that, in their different states, each person might have something by which they can be exercised, tested, and taught by me.
The Justice of Hidden Counsel
Divine justice keeps counsel hidden to prevent spiritual lukewarmness, reminding the bride that some promises are fulfilled spiritually rather than physically.
The fact that some things are stated obscurely is due to my justice, so that my counsel might remain hidden and everyone might patiently wait for my grace, lest perhaps, if my counsel were always revealed at a set time, everyone would grow lukewarm in their waiting. I have also promised many things that have been withdrawn because of human ingratitude, and many things were spoken in a physical sense that will be fulfilled in a spiritual sense, just as with Jerusalem and Zion. For they are Jews, as it is written: the Lord’s people are blind and deaf.
Read the original Latin
Filius loquitur ad sponsam: "Noli turbari, si loquor vnum verbum obscurius, aliud expressius aut si aliquem dico nunc seruum meum vel filium et amicum et iterum inuenitur contrarium.
Quia verba mea diuersimode interpretari possunt, sicut dixi tibi de vno, quod manus eius fieret mors eius, et de alio, quod non accederet ad mensam meam amplius.
Hec ideo dicuntur, quia aut dicturus sum tibi, cur ita dixi, aut videbis opere finem veritatis, sicut patet in istis duobus.
Eciam quandoque dico aliqua obscure, vt et timeas et gaudeas; timeas, ne alio modo eueniant propter pacienciam meam diuinam, qui noui mutaciones cordium, gaudeas eciam, quia voluntas mea semper adimpletur,
sicut eciam in veteri lege multa dixi, que magis spiritualiter quam corporaliter intelligi debebant, sicut de templo et Dauid et Iherusalem, vt homines carnales spiritualia addiscerent desiderare.
Nam ad probandam fidei constanciam et amicorum meorum sollicitudinem, multa dixi et promisi, que secundum diuersos spiritus mei effectus diuersimode a bonis et malis intelligi possent, et vt in diuersis statibus singuli habeant, vnde exercitari et probari possint et a me erudiri.
Quod vero obscure aliqua dicta sunt, ex iusticia mea est, vt consilium meum absconderetur et vnusquisque pacienter expectet graciam meam, ne forte, si consilium meum semper certo tempore insinuaretur, omnes in expectando tepescerent.
Multa eciam promisi, que propter hominum ingratitudinem subtracta sunt, et multa corporaliter dicta sunt, que spiritualiter perficientur, sicut de Iherusalem et de Syon. Quia Iudei sunt, sicut scriptum est, cecus populus Domini et surdus."
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'pacienciam meam diuinam' refers to God's patient waiting for the soul's response, which is here contrasted with the certainty of His sovereign will.
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