To Florus 1.139

In its historical meaning, then, this passage contains the following sense, as God speaks to the people: “I did not hand you over to captivity out of hatred, nor have I now released you from the bonds of Babylonian captivity through forgetfulness of judgment. As far as it lay with me, I was ready to cherish you with constant goodwill, but I owed it to my justice both to hand over sinners to their enemies and to restore and free those who had suffered. Someone skilled in farming does not always devote himself to one task, merely breaking the fields with the plowshare; he prepares the land in different ways for the fruitfulness he desires (Isaiah 28:24–29). So I too vary the turns of my dealings, so that by distress at one time and comfort at another I may fit your will for the fruits of righteousness.

To make you understand how fairly I deal with you, I could disregard your complaints on the strength of my power: just as something molded cannot say to its potter, ‘What have you done?’ (Isaiah 45:8–13), I could impose the weight of silence on you. Nevertheless, contrary to these examples, I invite you to question me about my sons and daughters, that is, yourselves and the works of my hands, and to learn that I have done everything justly and never anything cruelly.”