THE SHEPHERD OF HERMAS - mandates 11&12


		Mandate the Eleventh He showed me men seated on a couch, and another man seated on a chair. And he said to me, "Do you see those that are seated on the couch?" "I see them, Sir," I said. "These," he said, "are faithful, but the one who sits on the chair is a FALSE PROPHET who destroys the mind of the servants of God -- I mean, of the doubtful-minded, not of the faithful. "These doubtful-minded ones then come to him, as to a soothsayer, and enquire of him what shall befall them. He, the false prophet, having no power of a divine Spirit in himself, speaks with them according to their enquiries and fills their souls as they themselves wish. Being empty himself he gives empty answers to empty enquirers; for whatever enquiry may be made of him, he answers according to the emptiness of the man. "But he also speaks some true words; for the devil fills him with his own spirit, if so be he shall be able to break down some of the righteous. Many therefore who are strong in the faith of the Lord, clothed with the truth, don't cleave to such spirits, but hold aloof from them; but as many as are doubters and frequently change their minds, practise soothsaying like the Gentiles, and bring on themselves greater sin by their idolatries. He who consults a false prophet on any matter is an idolater and emptied of the truth, and senseless. "No Spirit given of God needs to be consulted; but, having the power of Deity, speaks all things of itself, because it is from above, even from the power of the divine Spirit. But the spirit which is consulted, and speaks according to the desires of men, is earthly and fickle, having no power; and it doesn't speak at all, unless it is consulted." "How then, Sir," I said, "shall a man know who of them is a prophet, and who a false prophet?" "Hear," he said, "concerning both the prophets; and, as I shall tell you, so must you test the prophet and the false prophet. By his life test the man who has the divine Spirit. In the first place, he who has the divine Spirit, which is from above, is gentle and tranquil and humble-minded, and abstains from all wickedness and vain desires of this present world, and holds himself inferior to all men, and gives no answer to any man when enquired of, nor speaks in solitude (for neither does the Holy Spirit speak when a man wishes him to speak); but the man speaks when God wishes him to speak. "When the man who has the divine Spirit comes into an assembly of righteous men, who have faith in a Divine Spirit, and intercession is made to God by the gathering of those men, then the angel of the prophetic spirit, who is attached to him, fills the man, and the man, being filled with the Holy Spirit, speaks to the multitude, according as the Lord wills. In this way, then, the Spirit of the Deity shall be manifest. This is the greatness of the power as touching the Spirit of the Deity of the Lord. "Hear now," he said, "concerning the earthly and vain spirit, which has no power, but is foolish. In the first place, that man who seems to have a spirit exalts himself, and desires to have a chief place, and straightway he is impudent and shameless and talkative and conversant in many luxuries and in many other deceits, and receives money for his prophesying, and if he doesn't receive, he doesn't prophesy. "Now can a divine Spirit receive money and prophesy? It is not possible for a prophet of God to do this, but the spirit of [these false] prophets is earthly. "In the next place, it never approaches an assembly of righteous men; but avoids them, and cleaves to the doubtful-minded and empty, and prophesies to gratify their desires; for they too are empty whom it answers. The empty vessel placed together with the empty is not broken, but they agree one with the other. "But when he comes into an assembly full of righteous men who have a Spirit of Deity, and intercession is made from them, that man is emptied, and the earthly spirit flees from him in fear, and that man is struck dumb and is altogether broken in pieces, being unable to utter a word. If you pack wine or oil into a closet, and place an empty vessel among them, and again desire to unpack the closet, the vessel which you placed there empty, you will still find empty the same as before. Thus also the empty prophets, whenever they come to the spirits of righteous men, are found [as empty] as they came. "I have given you the life of both kinds of prophets. Therefore test, by his life and his works, the man who says that he is moved by the Spirit. But trust the Spirit that comes from God, and has power; but put no trust at all in the earthly and empty spirit; for in it there is no power, for it comes from the devil. "Listen [then] to the parable which I shall tell you. Take a stone, and throw it up to heaven -- see if you can reach it; or again, take a squirt of water, and squirt it up to heaven -- see if you can bore through the heaven." "How, Sir," I said, "can these things be? For both these things which you have mentioned are beyond our power." "Well then," he said, "just as these things are beyond our power, so likewise the earthly spirits have no power and are feeble. Now take the power which comes from above. The hail is a very small grain, and yet, when it falls on a man's head, what pain it causes! Or again, take a drop which falls on the ground from the tiles, and bores through the stone. You see then that the small things from above falling on the earth have great power. So likewise the divine Spirit coming from above is powerful. Therefore, trust this Spirit, but hold aloof from the other." Return to table of contents, Part II Mandate the Twelfth 1. He said to me; "Remove from yourself all EVIL DESIRE, and clothe yourself in the DESIRE WHICH IS GOOD and holy; for clothed with this desire you will hate the evil desire, and will bridle and direct it as you will. "The evil desire is wild, and only tamed with difficulty because it is terrible. Because of its wildness it is very costly to men. More especially, if a servant of God gets entangled in it, and has no understanding, he is put to fearful costs by it. It is costly to such men as are not clothed in the good desire, but are mixed up with this life. These men then it hands over to death." "Of what sort, Sir," I said, "are the works of the evil desire, which hand men over to death? Make them known to me, so that I may hold aloof from them." "Through the following works, the evil desire brings death to the servants of God: 2. "Before all is the desire for the wife or husband of another, and for extravagance of wealth, and for many needless dainties, and for drinks and other luxuries, many and foolish. Every luxury is foolish and vain for the servants of God. "These desires then are evil, and bring death to the servants of God, for this evil desire is a daughter of the devil. You must, therefore, abstain from the evil desires, that so abstaining you may live to God. As many as are mastered by them, and don't resist them, are done to death utterly; for these desires are deadly. "But clothe yourself in the desire of righteousness, and, having armed yourself with the fear of the Lord, resist them. The fear of God dwells in the good desire. If the evil desire sees you armed with the fear of God and resisting [the evil desire], it shall flee far from you, and shall no longer be seen of you, being in fear of your weapons. "When you are crowned for your victory over it, come to the desire of righteousness, and deliver to her the victor's prize which you have received, and serve her, according as she herself desires. If you serve the good desire, and are subject to her, you will have power to master the evil desire, and to subject her, according as you will." 3. "I would like to know, Sir," I said, "in what ways I ought to serve the good desire." "Listen," he said; "practice righteousness and virtue, truth and the fear of the Lord, faith and gentleness, and as many good deeds as are like these. Practising these you will be well-pleasing as a servant of God, and will live to Him; yes, and every one who shall serve the good desire shall live to God." So he completed the twelve commandments, and he said to me; "You have these commandments; walk in them, and exhort your hearers so that their repentance may become pure for the rest of the days of their life. Fulfil this ministry which I have given you, with all diligence to the end, and you will effect much. You will find favour among those who are about to repent, and they will obey your words, for I will be with you, and will compel them to obey you." I said to him; "Sir, these commandments are great and beautiful and glorious, and are able to gladden the heart of the man who is able to observe them, But I don't know whether these commandments can be kept by a man, because they are very hard." He answered, "If you set it before yourself so that they can be kept, you will easily keep them, and they will not be hard; but if it once enters into your heart that they cannot be kept by a man, you will not keep them. But now I say to you; if you don't keep them, but neglect them, you will not have salvation, neither your children nor your household, since you have already pronounced judgement against yourself that these commandments cannot be kept by a man." 4. These things he said to me very angrily, so that I was confounded, and feared him exceedingly; for his form was changed, so that a man could not endure his anger. When he saw that I was altogether disturbed and confounded, he began to speak more kindly [and cheerfully] to me, and he said: "Foolish fellow, void of understanding and of doubtful mind, don't you perceive the glory of God, how great and mighty and marvellous it is, how that He created the world for man's sake, and subjected all His creation to man, and gave all authority to him, so that he should be master over all things under the heaven? "If then, man is lord of all the creatures of God and masters all things, cannot he also master these commandments? Aye," he said, "the man that has the Lord in his heart can master all these commandments. "But those who have the Lord on their lips, while their heart is hardened, and are far from the Lord, to them these commandments are hard and inaccessible. Therefore, you, who are empty and fickle in the faith, set your Lord in your heart, and you shall perceive that nothing is easier than these commandments, nor sweeter, nor more gentle. "Be converted, you who walk after the commandments of the devil, the commandments which are so difficult and bitter and wild and riotous; and don't fear the devil, for there is no power in him against you. I will be with you, I, the angel of repentance, who have the mastery over him. The devil has fear alone, but his fear has no force. Therefore, don't fear him; and he will flee from you." 5. I said to him, "Sir, listen to a few words from me." "Say what you will," he said. "Man, Sir," I said, "is eager to keep the commandments of God, and there is no one who doesn't asks the Lord, that he may be strengthened in His commandments, and be subject to them; but the devil is hard and overmasters them." "He cannot," he said, "overmaster the servants of God, who set their hope on Him with their whole heart. The devil can wrestle with them, but he cannot overthrow them. If then you resist him, he will be vanquished, and will flee from you in disgrace. "But," he said, "as many as are utterly empty, fear the devil as if he had power. When a man has filled amply sufficient jars with good wine, and among these jars a few are quite empty, he comes to the jars, and does not examine the full ones, for he knows that they are full; but he examines the empty ones, fearing lest they have turned sour; because empty jars soon turn sour, and the taste of the wine is spoilt. So also the devil comes to all the servants of God tempting them. "As many then as are complete in the faith, oppose him mightily, and he departs from them, not having a place where he can find an entrance. So he comes next to the empty ones, and finding a place goes into them, and further he does what he wills in them, and they become submissive slaves to him. 6. "But I, the angel of repentance, say to you; Don't fear the devil; for I was sent," he said, "to be with you who repent with your whole heart, and to strengthen you in the faith. Believe, therefore, on God, you who by reason of your sins have despaired of your life, and are adding to your sins, and weighing down your life; for if you turn to the Lord with you whole heart, and work righteousness the remaining days of your life, and serve Him rightly according to His will, He will give healing to your former sins, and you will have power to master the works of the devil. "But don't fear the threatening of the devil all; for he is unstrung, like the sinews of a dead man. Hear me therefore, and fear Him, Who is able to do all things, to save and to destroy, and observe these commandments, and you shall live to God." I said to him, "Sir, now am I strengthened in all the ordinances of the Lord, because you are with me; and I know that you will crush all the power of the devil, and we shall be masters over him, and shall prevail over all his works. I hope, Sir, that I am now able to keep these commandments which you have commanded, the Lord enabling me." "You will keep them," he said, "if your heart be found pure with the Lord; yes, and all shall keep them, as many as shall purify their hearts from the vain desires of this world, and shall live to God." Return to table of contents, Part II Hermas and Didache page Read on to next section

Mandate the Eleventh

He showed me men seated on a couch, and another man seated on a chair. And he said to me, "Do you see those that are seated on the couch?"

"I see them, Sir," I said.

"These," he said, "are faithful, but the one who sits on the chair is a FALSE PROPHET who destroys the mind of the servants of God -- I mean, of the doubtful-minded, not of the faithful.

"These doubtful-minded ones then come to him, as to a soothsayer, and enquire of him what shall befall them. He, the false prophet, having no power of a divine Spirit in himself, speaks with them according to their enquiries and fills their souls as they themselves wish. Being empty himself he gives empty answers to empty enquirers; for whatever enquiry may be made of him, he answers according to the emptiness of the man.

"But he also speaks some true words; for the devil fills him with his own spirit, if so be he shall be able to break down some of the righteous. Many therefore who are strong in the faith of the Lord, clothed with the truth, don't cleave to such spirits, but hold aloof from them; but as many as are doubters and frequently change their minds, practise soothsaying like the Gentiles, and bring on themselves greater sin by their idolatries. He who consults a false prophet on any matter is an idolater and emptied of the truth, and senseless.

"No Spirit given of God needs to be consulted; but, having the power of Deity, speaks all things of itself, because it is from above, even from the power of the divine Spirit. But the spirit which is consulted, and speaks according to the desires of men, is earthly and fickle, having no power; and it doesn't speak at all, unless it is consulted."

"How then, Sir," I said, "shall a man know who of them is a prophet, and who a false prophet?"

"Hear," he said, "concerning both the prophets; and, as I shall tell you, so must you test the prophet and the false prophet. By his life test the man who has the divine Spirit. In the first place, he who has the divine Spirit, which is from above, is gentle and tranquil and humble-minded, and abstains from all wickedness and vain desires of this present world, and holds himself inferior to all men, and gives no answer to any man when enquired of, nor speaks in solitude (for neither does the Holy Spirit speak when a man wishes him to speak); but the man speaks when God wishes him to speak.

"When the man who has the divine Spirit comes into an assembly of righteous men, who have faith in a Divine Spirit, and intercession is made to God by the gathering of those men, then the angel of the prophetic spirit, who is attached to him, fills the man, and the man, being filled with the Holy Spirit, speaks to the multitude, according as the Lord wills. In this way, then, the Spirit of the Deity shall be manifest. This is the greatness of the power as touching the Spirit of the Deity of the Lord.

"Hear now," he said, "concerning the earthly and vain spirit, which has no power, but is foolish. In the first place, that man who seems to have a spirit exalts himself, and desires to have a chief place, and straightway he is impudent and shameless and talkative and conversant in many luxuries and in many other deceits, and receives money for his prophesying, and if he doesn't receive, he doesn't prophesy.

"Now can a divine Spirit receive money and prophesy? It is not possible for a prophet of God to do this, but the spirit of [these false] prophets is earthly.

"In the next place, it never approaches an assembly of righteous men; but avoids them, and cleaves to the doubtful-minded and empty, and prophesies to gratify their desires; for they too are empty whom it answers. The empty vessel placed together with the empty is not broken, but they agree one with the other.

"But when he comes into an assembly full of righteous men who have a Spirit of Deity, and intercession is made from them, that man is emptied, and the earthly spirit flees from him in fear, and that man is struck dumb and is altogether broken in pieces, being unable to utter a word. If you pack wine or oil into a closet, and place an empty vessel among them, and again desire to unpack the closet, the vessel which you placed there empty, you will still find empty the same as before. Thus also the empty prophets, whenever they come to the spirits of righteous men, are found [as empty] as they came.

"I have given you the life of both kinds of prophets. Therefore test, by his life and his works, the man who says that he is moved by the Spirit. But trust the Spirit that comes from God, and has power; but put no trust at all in the earthly and empty spirit; for in it there is no power, for it comes from the devil.

"Listen [then] to the parable which I shall tell you. Take a stone, and throw it up to heaven -- see if you can reach it; or again, take a squirt of water, and squirt it up to heaven -- see if you can bore through the heaven."

"How, Sir," I said, "can these things be? For both these things which you have mentioned are beyond our power."

"Well then," he said, "just as these things are beyond our power, so likewise the earthly spirits have no power and are feeble. Now take the power which comes from above. The hail is a very small grain, and yet, when it falls on a man's head, what pain it causes! Or again, take a drop which falls on the ground from the tiles, and bores through the stone. You see then that the small things from above falling on the earth have great power. So likewise the divine Spirit coming from above is powerful.

Therefore, trust this Spirit, but hold aloof from the other."
Return to table of contents, Part II

Mandate the Twelfth

1. He said to me; "Remove from yourself all EVIL DESIRE, and clothe yourself in the DESIRE WHICH IS GOOD and holy; for clothed with this desire you will hate the evil desire, and will bridle and direct it as you will.

"The evil desire is wild, and only tamed with difficulty because it is terrible. Because of its wildness it is very costly to men. More especially, if a servant of God gets entangled in it, and has no understanding, he is put to fearful costs by it. It is costly to such men as are not clothed in the good desire, but are mixed up with this life. These men then it hands over to death."

"Of what sort, Sir," I said, "are the works of the evil desire, which hand men over to death? Make them known to me, so that I may hold aloof from them."

"Through the following works, the evil desire brings death to the servants of God:

2. "Before all is the desire for the wife or husband of another, and for extravagance of wealth, and for many needless dainties, and for drinks and other luxuries, many and foolish. Every luxury is foolish and vain for the servants of God.

"These desires then are evil, and bring death to the servants of God, for this evil desire is a daughter of the devil. You must, therefore, abstain from the evil desires, that so abstaining you may live to God. As many as are mastered by them, and don't resist them, are done to death utterly; for these desires are deadly.

"But clothe yourself in the desire of righteousness, and, having armed yourself with the fear of the Lord, resist them. The fear of God dwells in the good desire. If the evil desire sees you armed with the fear of God and resisting [the evil desire], it shall flee far from you, and shall no longer be seen of you, being in fear of your weapons.

"When you are crowned for your victory over it, come to the desire of righteousness, and deliver to her the victor's prize which you have received, and serve her, according as she herself desires. If you serve the good desire, and are subject to her, you will have power to master the evil desire, and to subject her, according as you will."

3. "I would like to know, Sir," I said, "in what ways I ought to serve the good desire."

"Listen," he said; "practice righteousness and virtue, truth and the fear of the Lord, faith and gentleness, and as many good deeds as are like these. Practising these you will be well-pleasing as a servant of God, and will live to Him; yes, and every one who shall serve the good desire shall live to God."

So he completed the twelve commandments, and he said to me; "You have these commandments; walk in them, and exhort your hearers so that their repentance may become pure for the rest of the days of their life. Fulfil this ministry which I have given you, with all diligence to the end, and you will effect much. You will find favour among those who are about to repent, and they will obey your words, for I will be with you, and will compel them to obey you."

I said to him; "Sir, these commandments are great and beautiful and glorious, and are able to gladden the heart of the man who is able to observe them, But I don't know whether these commandments can be kept by a man, because they are very hard."

He answered, "If you set it before yourself so that they can be kept, you will easily keep them, and they will not be hard; but if it once enters into your heart that they cannot be kept by a man, you will not keep them. But now I say to you; if you don't keep them, but neglect them, you will not have salvation, neither your children nor your household, since you have already pronounced judgement against yourself that these commandments cannot be kept by a man."

4. These things he said to me very angrily, so that I was confounded, and feared him exceedingly; for his form was changed, so that a man could not endure his anger. When he saw that I was altogether disturbed and confounded, he began to speak more kindly [and cheerfully] to me, and he said:

"Foolish fellow, void of understanding and of doubtful mind, don't you perceive the glory of God, how great and mighty and marvellous it is, how that He created the world for man's sake, and subjected all His creation to man, and gave all authority to him, so that he should be master over all things under the heaven?

"If then, man is lord of all the creatures of God and masters all things, cannot he also master these commandments? Aye," he said, "the man that has the Lord in his heart can master all these commandments.

"But those who have the Lord on their lips, while their heart is hardened, and are far from the Lord, to them these commandments are hard and inaccessible. Therefore, you, who are empty and fickle in the faith, set your Lord in your heart, and you shall perceive that nothing is easier than these commandments, nor sweeter, nor more gentle.

"Be converted, you who walk after the commandments of the devil, the commandments which are so difficult and bitter and wild and riotous; and don't fear the devil, for there is no power in him against you. I will be with you, I, the angel of repentance, who have the mastery over him. The devil has fear alone, but his fear has no force. Therefore, don't fear him; and he will flee from you."

5. I said to him, "Sir, listen to a few words from me."

"Say what you will," he said.

"Man, Sir," I said, "is eager to keep the commandments of God, and there is no one who doesn't asks the Lord, that he may be strengthened in His commandments, and be subject to them; but the devil is hard and overmasters them."

"He cannot," he said, "overmaster the servants of God, who set their hope on Him with their whole heart. The devil can wrestle with them, but he cannot overthrow them. If then you resist him, he will be vanquished, and will flee from you in disgrace.

"But," he said, "as many as are utterly empty, fear the devil as if he had power. When a man has filled amply sufficient jars with good wine, and among these jars a few are quite empty, he comes to the jars, and does not examine the full ones, for he knows that they are full; but he examines the empty ones, fearing lest they have turned sour; because empty jars soon turn sour, and the taste of the wine is spoilt. So also the devil comes to all the servants of God tempting them.

"As many then as are complete in the faith, oppose him mightily, and he departs from them, not having a place where he can find an entrance. So he comes next to the empty ones, and finding a place goes into them, and further he does what he wills in them, and they become submissive slaves to him.

6. "But I, the angel of repentance, say to you; Don't fear the devil; for I was sent," he said, "to be with you who repent with your whole heart, and to strengthen you in the faith. Believe, therefore, on God, you who by reason of your sins have despaired of your life, and are adding to your sins, and weighing down your life; for if you turn to the Lord with you whole heart, and work righteousness the remaining days of your life, and serve Him rightly according to His will, He will give healing to your former sins, and you will have power to master the works of the devil.

"But don't fear the threatening of the devil all; for he is unstrung, like the sinews of a dead man. Hear me therefore, and fear Him, Who is able to do all things, to save and to destroy, and observe these commandments, and you shall live to God."

I said to him, "Sir, now am I strengthened in all the ordinances of the Lord, because you are with me; and I know that you will crush all the power of the devil, and we shall be masters over him, and shall prevail over all his works. I hope, Sir, that I am now able to keep these commandments which you have commanded, the Lord enabling me."

"You will keep them," he said, "if your heart be found pure with the Lord; yes, and all shall keep them, as many as shall purify their hearts from the vain desires of this world, and shall live to God."
Return to table of contents, Part II
Hermas and Didache page
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