That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch yourselves upon your couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;
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Clement Of Alexandria
AD 215
Again, whenever he speaks of “young suckling calves” and of “the guileless and meek dove,” he means us. Through Moses he orders that two young birds, a pair of pigeons or turtledoves, be offered for any sin. This means that the sinlessness of such gentle birds and their guile and forgetfulness of injury is very acceptable to God. So he is instructing us to offer a sacrifice bearing the character of that which we have offended against. The plight of the poor doves, moreover, will instill into us a beginning of abhorrence for sin.
For when he said, “Woe … to you who are approaching the evil day,” and added, “and adopting false sabbaths,” he showed by his next words how their sabbaths were false. How did they make their sabbaths false? By working wickedness, feasting, drinking, and doing a multitude of shameful and grievous deeds. To prove that this is true, hear what follows. He reveals what I am saying by saying what he adds immediately: “ … who sleep upon beds of ivory, and live delicately on their couches, and eat kids out of the flocks, and sucking calves out of the midst of the stalls … who drink filtered wine, and anoint yourselves with the best ointment.” You received the sabbath to free your soul from wickedness, but you have enslaved it further. For what could be worse than this frivolity, this sleeping on beds of ivory? The other sins, such as drunkenness, greed and profligacy, provide some pleasure, however small; but in sleeping on beds of ivory, what pleasure is there? What comfort? Homilies on Laza...
Let us not be careless, dearly beloved, in dealing with matters concerning our salvation; recognizing instead the troubles that could come from that evil source, let us avoid the harm it produces. After all, we are warned against intemperance not only in the new dispensation by its greater attention to right thinking, its more frequent struggles and greater effort, its many rewards and ineffable consolations. Not even people living under the old law were permitted to indulge themselves in that way, even though they were sitting in the dark dependent upon tapers and were brought forward gradually into the light, like children being weaned off milk. Lest you think I am idly finding fault with intemperance in what I say, listen to what the prophet says: “Woe to those who fall on evil days in sleeping on beds of ivory, luxuriating on their couches, living on a diet of goats picked from the flocks and suckling calves from the herds, and drinking strained wines, anointed with precious unguen...
