Ordinances That Were Not Good, and Greedy Shepherds
…greedy encroachments had been withered.
“And I gave them ordinances that were not good” (Ezekiel 20:25). For in so far as it bears on spiritual contemplation, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good (Romans 7:12). But in so far as it concerns the futility of the practice itself, and worship in shadows alone, the ordinances are not good; indeed they do not even bring eternal life. For no one is justified by the Law, as it is written (Galatians 3:11).
“See, you eat up the milk” (Ezekiel 34:3). For while they demanded tithes, firstfruits, and thank offerings according to the Law, and reveled wantonly in the gifts the people brought, they took no account at all of the people’s salvation.
“Is it not enough for you that you grazed on the good pasture?” (Ezekiel 34:18). For those of the blood of Levi, being learned in the Law, and with, as it were, the finest pasture…
Greek
πλεονεξίαις κατευανθέν ita cod. Καὶ ἐγὼ ἔδωκα αὐτοῖς προστάγματα οὐ καλά. Cat. 210. b. Ὅσον μὲν γὰρ ἧκεν εἰς θεωρίαν πνευματικὴν, ὁ νόμος ἅγιος καὶ ἡ ἐντολὴ ἁγία καὶ δικαία καὶ ἀγαθή. Ὅσον γε μὲν εἰς τὴν τοῦ πράγματος εἰκαιότητα, καὶ μόνην τὴν ἐν σκιαῖς λατρείαν, οὐ καλὰ τὰ προστάγματα, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ζωῆς τῆς αἰωνίου πρόξενα. ∆ικαιοῦται γὰρ οὐδεὶς ἐν νόμῳ, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. Ἰδοὺ τὸ γάλα κατεσθίετε. Cat. f. 224. Ἐξαιτοῦντες γὰρ κατὰ τὸν νόμον δεκάτας, ἀπαρχὰς, εὐχαριστήρια, καὶ ταῖς ἐκ λαῶν δωροφορίαις ἐντρυφῶντες ἀσώτως, οὐδένα τῆς σωτηρίας αὐτῶν ἐποιοῦντο λόγον. Καὶ οὐχ ἱκανὸν ὑμῖν ὅτι τὴν καλὴν νομὴν ἐνέμεσθε; Cat. f. 224. b. Νομομαθεῖς γὰρ ὄντες οἱ ἐξ αἵματος Λευὶ, καὶ καλλίστην ὥσπερ νομὴν,