1st Wednesday of Lent

Isaias 2:3-17

Thus says the Lord: From Sion a law will come forth, and a word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he will judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; and they will beat their swords into ploughs and their pikes into sickles, and nation will not take up sword against nation, and they shall in no way learn to war any more. And now, house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord; for he has abandoned his people, the house of Israel, because their country, like that of foreigners, has been filled as at the beginning with divinations; and many foreign children have been born to them. For their country has been filled with silver and gold, and there was no numbering their treasures; and the land has been filled with horses, and there was no numbering their chariots; and the land has been filled with abominations, the works of their hands, and they have worshipped what their fingers have made. And a man bowed down, and a man was humbled, and I will in no way pardon them. And now enter the rocks, and be hidden in the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his strength, when he arises to crush the earth. For the eyes of the Lord are exalted, but man is lowly; and the exaltation of men will be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. 

Genesis 1:24-2:3

God said: Let the earth bring forth living soul according to its kind, quadrupeds, reptiles, and wild beasts of the earth according to their kind; and it was so. And God made the wild beasts of the earth according to their kind, and the cattle according to their kind, and all the reptiles of the earth according to their kinds. And God saw that they were good. And God said: Let us make humanity according to our image and according to our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of heaven and the cattle and all the earth and all the reptiles which creep upon the earth. And God made humanity, according to the image of God he made it; male and female he made them. And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and have dominion over it; and rule the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of heaven and all the cattle and all the earth and all the reptiles which creep upon the earth. And God said: See, I have given you all seed-bearing grass, sowing seed, which is upon the whole earth; and every tree, which has in it fruit of seed-bearing seed, shall be food for you, and for all the wild beasts of the earth and for all the winged creatures of heaven, and for every reptile which creeps upon the earth, which has in itself a soul of life, and every green grass shall be food. And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made; and behold, they were very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. And the heaven and the earth were accomplished, and all their array. And God accomplished on the sixth day the works which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from his works which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it; because on it he rested from all his works, which God had begun to make. 

Proverbs 2:1-22

My son, if you accept utterance of my commandment and hide it in yourself, your ear will obey wisdom and you will apply your heart to understanding; you will apply it to the instruction of your son. For is you call upon wisdom and give your voice to understanding, while you seek perception with a loud voice, and if you seek it like silver, and search it out like treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and you will find knowledge of God; because the Lord gives wisdom and from his face <come> knowledge and understanding. And he treasures up salvation for those who act uprightly; he will protect their path, to guard the ways of just deeds; and to protect the way of those who respect him. Then you will understand justice and judgement, and direct all good courses. For if wisdom comes into the mind, while perception seems to be good to your soul, good counsel will guard you; while holy thought will watch over you, that it may deliver you from a wicked way, and from a man who speaks nothing trustworthy. Alas for those who abandon straight ways to journey in ways of darkness; who are glad at wickednesses, and rejoice at wicked perversity! Whose paths are crooked and whose tracks are winding, to take you far from the straight way, and make you a stranger to just purpose. My son, let not wicked counsel, which has abandoned teaching from her youth, and forgotten God’s testament, take you; for she has set her house next death and her door-posts with the earthborn next Hell. All those who journey by her will not return, nor will they take straight paths; for they are not taken by years of life. For if they had journeyed on good paths, they would have found smooth paths of justice. They will be good builders of the land; but the innocent will be left behind in it; because the upright will inhabit the land and the holy will be left behind in it. The ways of the ungodly will perish from the land; while the transgressors will be destroyed from it.

Comments on the reading from Genesis

And God said: Let us. The one God says, Let us, from which we can see that He is a plurality of Persons. It also shows us, as we saw in the opening line of Genesis, that all three Persons of the Trinity share equally in the act of creation, attesting to their complete unity. 

Let us make humanity according to our image and according to our likeness. Unique among creation, man is created in God's image. This does not refer to a physical image - God is spirit (John 4:24) and has no physical form - although it is also a prophecy of the Incarnation, when God the Word took onto Himself a human nature. God made humanity, according to the image of God he made it. God's likeness is not mentioned in the actual act of creation. The Fathers undersand there to be a difference between God's image, in which every human being is created, and God's likeness, which is something we are called to attain. Man was not created fully developed, but was created for spiritual growth and progress to become like God, to become by grace what God is by nature.

And have dominion over it. Man is not only called to be steward of creation, in charge of its preservation, but to be the priest of creation. We are to offer creation back to God for its sanctification, something we see realised most fully in the Divine Liturgy where man takes wheat and grapes created by God, turns them into bread and wine, and offers them back to God who in turn sanctifies them and offers them back to us as His own Body and Blood.

And God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it; because on it he rested from all his works. Here we see a prophecy of Christ. After His glorious passion and crucifixion, Christ rested from His saving works in the tomb on the seventh day, before rising again on the first day of the week, which begins the eighth day of creation: "Behold, I am making all things new" (Rev. 21:5). The Old Testament commandment to keep the Sabbath holy is of such great importance because it encapsulates the two great commandments to love God and our neighbour. Ceasing from our labours for a day allows us to devote ourselves entirely to God, while also granting rest and ensuring a degree of freedom for others around us. This is why it is found in the middle of the 10 Commandments, connecting the commandments concerning God with those concerning our conduct towards our fellow man.