The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will replace them into cedars.
All Commentaries on Isaiah 9:10 Go To Isaiah 9
Gregory The Dialogist
AD 604
Because the prophet recognized that the Jewish people would perish from the faith and because he foresaw that there would arise within the church holy apostles, through whom many of the Gentiles would be established in the strength of faith and life, he spoke with great encouragement, saying, “The stones have fallen, but we will build with square stones.” Having foreseen the rise of the apostles, martyrs and doctors of the holy church, he was less troubled by the fall of the stones, which represents the judgment of the Jews, because he also saw the work of Almighty God, which is the holy church built from square stones.
Four tables were built from the square stones, therefore, inasmuch as faith, life, patience and kindness were given from the lives of the saints as an example for the people to follow, that they might already have a foretaste of the table. That is, the people might know the virtues through which they can offer a sacrifice of prayer to Almighty God on the altars of their hearts.
Whatever good the faithful people of the holy church have done or continue to do, then, they first received from the exemplary lives of their preachers. For how could they have acquired this foretaste of the table if they had not found the square stones?
Let’s look briefly at each of them, dearest brothers. Do you want to see an instance of faith? “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Would you like to know what life is like? “The world is crucified to me and I to the world.” Do you want to hear what patience sounds like? “To the present hour we hunger, we are buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our hands. We are cursed and we bless, we are persecuted and we endure, we are slandered and we implore.”
