Glaphyrs, or explanations of selected passages from the Book of Numbers

The treatise “Glafira, or explanations of selected passages” contains a typological commentary on selected passages of the Pentateuch. The essay was written by St. Cyril of Alexandria in 412-418. and addressed to Palladius. The work consists of 13 books, of which seven are dedicated to the Book of Genesis, three to the Book of Exodus, and one each to the Books of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. According to the saint himself, “Glafira” is an organic continuation of the treatise “On Worship and Service in Spirit and Truth”: if there were selected passages of the Pentateuch, the spiritual meaning of which better served the purposes of “moral instruction,” then here his task is to show how the “mystery of Christ” is manifested in the “shadows” of the Old Testament. St. Cyril finds in Old Testament events, institutions and persons prototypes of Christ, New Testament events, the Church and its Sacraments. For example, the copper serpent points to Christ (Num. 21:9), or His prototype is the Passover lamb (Ex. 12:1-13). According to the saint, the birth of Moses (Ex. 2:1-10) corresponds to the coming of Christ, who humbled Himself and took on “the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:6-7). The essay addresses various topics, for example: - knowledge of God. The incomprehensibility of the Divine essence and the impossibility of expressing it through human language: “No one can see the Divine nature as it is. For it is completely invisible, above any mind and surpasses the power of words, and it alone is cognizable only by itself”; - triadology. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is the revelation of the incarnate Word: “The Son revealed to us the Father in Himself, and through Him we were convinced of the truth of the doctrine of the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity”; - anthropology. Man is the image of God, the crown and ultimate goal of creation. Everything was created for his sake. His exceptional dignity is indicated by the very method of creation: if God created everything else immediately by His command, then He honored only the creation of man with “preliminary advice” and “personal participation.” *The title of the work in Greek is Γλαφυρά. *The title of the work in Latin is Glaphyra in Pentateuchum. Glaphyrs of the Book of Genesis • Glaphyrs of the Book of Exodus • Glaphyrs of the Book of Leviticus • Glaphyrs of the Book of Numbers • Glaphyrs of the Book of Deuteronomy About Christ and the Jewish synagogue 1. In many ways the unfortunate Jews can be exposed for using their unbridled and rude tongue against Christ. And that such a deed did not go unpunished for them, anyone can see from what happened to them. For Israel, the firstborn and therefore having great glory, beloved and chosen, was placed behind the pagans, found themselves in the latter and even more, cast into all kinds of disasters. And the Lord foretold this to them, saying through Hosea: “Woe to them, that they have departed from Me; perdition to them, because they have fallen away from Me! I saved them, and they spoke lies against Me” (Hos. 7:13). For there is no such absurdity in words that they would not dare to speak against Him. They slandered, not thinking about what was written: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21). When they were mad against Him, they used their unbridled tongue to slander Him, as I said recently. And therefore they fell away from hope in Him, and to this day have not heard him say: “This is your lot, the portion measured out to you from Me, says the Lord” (Jer. 13:25). So, that they were subject to the charge of unbridled tongue and that they had to suffer heavy punishment for their madness against Christ, we can understand this very well from what is written in the book of Numbers. It is written like this: “And Miriam and Aaron reproached Moses for the Ethiopian wife whom he had taken—for he had taken the Ethiopian woman for himself—and they said, Did the Lord speak to Moses alone? didn't He tell us too? And the Lord heard this. Moses was the meekest man of all people on earth. And the Lord suddenly said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, “Go out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting.” And all three came out. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came out. And he said: listen to my words: if a prophet of the Lord happens to you, then I reveal myself to him in a vision, I speak to him in a dream; but not so with My servant Moses, he is faithful in all My house: I speak to him mouth to mouth, and openly, and not in fortune telling, and he sees the image of the Lord; Why were you not afraid to rebuke My servant Moses? And the wrath of the Lord was kindled against them, and He departed. And the cloud departed from the tabernacle, and behold, Miriam was covered with leprosy like snow. Aaron looked at Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said to Moses: My lord! do not put it upon us that we acted foolishly and sinned; do not let her be like a stillborn baby, whose half of its body has already decayed when it comes out of its mother’s womb. And Moses cried to the Lord, saying: God, heal her! And the Lord said to Moses, If her father had spat in her face, should she not have been ashamed for seven days? So let her be imprisoned outside the camp for seven days, and then return again. And Miriam remained in captivity outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not set out until Miriam returned” (Num. 12:1-15). Thus, this too is akin to what has already been said, because it is not far from the contemplation contained there; on the contrary, it has a close and akin thought. since this also speaks of the sacrament of Christ and exposes the dishonor of the Jewish synagogue in the way it acted madly against Christ. It seems that only the type of sin differs in part. For there the synagogue suffered from leprosy and was unclean, corrupting itself through many and various sins; here our word depicts the guilt of one madness against Christ, describes the arrogance of the arrogance of the Jews and, on the contrary, shows the meekness of Him who says: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29). This is also indicated by the philanthropy of the righteous Judge, who does not completely and not bring boundless wrath upon those who sin, but after defeat he heals, saves and makes them healthy. So, briefly and in a few words in general, this is the purpose of what we have proposed. Analyzing each detail of what was said in order, we will reveal the meaning contained in it, and the door to the word will be God, who says to those who trust in Him: “And I will give you the treasures kept in darkness and hidden riches” (Is. 45:3). 2. So, Aaron and Miriam entered into a dispute with the wise Moses for the sake of the Ethiopian wife whom he had taken, and said: “Did the Lord speak to Moses alone? didn’t He tell us too?” (Numbers 12:2). Their idle talk brought two charges against Moses: first, that he, I say, took an Ethiopian woman; and the second, beyond this, is expressed in the words: “Did the Lord speak to Moses alone? didn’t He tell us too?” . In the first case, he is accused of breaking the law; and in the second it is said that he should not boast too much, that he does not possess any special grace in comparison with others, if God, it turns out, spoke to others. Let us speak in order, giving the first word to the first accusation; and, thus, what is contained in the images will again be transferred to Christ Himself. So, first Moses took as his wife and made his concubine a Midianite woman, I mean the daughter of Jethro; after a considerable time, he entered into marriage with an Ethiopian, foreign and black. Meanwhile, the Lawgiver clearly proclaimed that the children of Israel should not mix with foreigners at all. For it is written like this: “You shall not give your daughter for his son, and you shall not take his daughter for your son” (Deut. 7:3; Exod. 34:16). It was in this, as in the crime of the law, that the great Moses was judged by Aaron and Miriam, who did not understand, according to its merits, and through him, again, as if in a prototype of such a beautifully and wisely arranged sacrament, which we will now present as clearly as possible, transferring the essence of the matter best to Christ, Whom in this case Moses represented in his own person. For Christ is also “one and the mediator between God and men” (1 Tim. 2:5), as he undoubtedly was; That’s why he indicated to us, saying: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from your brethren, just like me” (Deut. 18:15). Aaron can be taken as an image of the Jewish priesthood, and Mariam can depict the appearance of a synagogue (host). So, our Savior Christ and the elders of the Jews were accused, and behind them the synagogue itself; reproaching Him for transgressing the Divine commandments, as they said: if “this man” were “from God,” he would not have violated the “Sabbath” (John 9:16). They also gnashed their teeth for something else, precisely because He chose a black Ethiopian as His bride, that is, the Church of the pagans, and in some way entered into marriage with her after the first, that is, an Israeli woman, who again is a synagogue. And that they gnashed their teeth on the occasion of the violation of the customs they vainly observed, or what was spoken by Moses in types, this is not difficult to understand for anyone who is at least somewhat familiar with the Gospel Scriptures. And that, on the other hand, He chose as his bride the Church of the pagans, still black due to darkness in knowledge and way of life, since there was not yet true light in it, capable of making it bright and white, anyone can very easily find evidence of this from the prophets. But it seems to me more decent to show this in the economy of our Savior. He preached to the foreign Samaritans and in them laid, as it were, some kind of beginning and foundation of the Church of the pagans (John 4:4 et al.). And that they were foreigners and alien to Israeli society, anyone can easily see from the following. Sending his disciples to proclaim a sermon about the Kingdom of Heaven, the Savior says: “Do not go into the way of the pagans, and do not enter the city of the Samaritans; but go especially to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:5-6). Do you see how He placed them outside the sheep of the house of Israel? So, not having yet dissolved his marriage with the Israeli woman, that is, with the synagogue, and still appearing to be cohabiting with her, He had already become engaged in some way and entered into marriage with a black foreigner, that is, with the Church from the pagans. Therefore, talking with the Jews, He said: “I have other sheep which are not of this fold, and these I must bring: and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one Shepherd” (John 10:16). And denouncing them even more strictly as disobedient, when they clearly asked Him, saying: “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:24), Jesus answered them: “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in the name of My Father, they testify of Me. But you do not believe, for you are not of My sheep, as I said to you” (John 10:25-26). Now he calls the pagans his sheep. Very angry and indignant at Him for this, as one who loves foreigners and who does not consider the Divine Law to be anything, the Jews said with mockery: “Aren’t we telling the truth that You are a Samaritan and that You have a demon?” (In. 8, 48.) If You had not been of the same thoughts with the Samaritans, as they would have said, if You had not been a lover of Hellenic and foreign things, You would not have communicated with the pagans at all. And if you had not had the demon in You, which is found in the Greeks (since they called idolaters demoniac, because of the devil in them), then You would not have considered, they said, the transgression of the commandments of the law as anything. But the acts committed by Christ were rather the fulfillment of the law, and not His transgression, according to what He Himself said: “I came not to break the law, but to fulfill it” (Matthew 5:17); for His work was to exchange the letter of the law for the truth. This was the type of accusation for this black crime and the similarity of the crime in Christ, as in Moses. But let us cite a similar and related slander from the image, replacing the meaning of what was said with the truth. Not alone, they objected, “Did the Lord speak to Moses alone? didn’t He tell us too?” (Numbers 12:2). These are words that come from pride, and speeches that come from empty arrogance. Rightfully thinking, they should not at all strive to stand at the same level of height with the one who rightfully heard the words: “You have found favor in My sight” (Ex. 33:17); rather, they should have expressed gratitude to God for the gifts with which they themselves were honored by Him, without transgressing the rank above that assigned to them, and without appropriating to themselves an honor not yet given to them, which in justice can be considered a sign of extreme arrogance. But on the other hand, now turn your thought to our Lord Jesus Christ, Who openly exposes to the Jews the goal predetermined to Him, and by nature to Him alone, from God and the Father, and says: “For I spoke not from Myself; but the Father who sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what to say and what to say” (John 12:49). And again: “The words that I speak to you are not mine, but those of him who sent me” (John 14:10,24). Then, in addition, pay attention to the lawless scribes and Pharisees, full of insolence, immoderately boasting that God spoke to their fathers, and for this reason decided not to believe Him. For they say: “We know that God spoke to Moses; But we do not know where He comes from” (John 9:29). Do you see how, when they say: “We know that God spoke to Moses,” they seem to repeat those ancient words, and in even more rude expressions: did God and the Father speak to Christ alone? Did He not also speak to our fathers? that is, in Sinai. “And the Lord heard this. Moses was the meekest man of all the people on earth” (Num. 12:2-3). Miriam and Aaron, it seems, from the meekness of Moses brought an opportunity for themselves to become arrogant. But for this, although he did not raise his voice, God was indignant and Himself moved to righteous anger against those who dared to insult His faithful servant by disdaining, as if attributing this insult to Himself. So think also about Christ, for because of His inherent meekness and love for mankind, the Pharisees were more willing to be neglected. As someone who was insulted in the Son, God the Father could not bear this insult; for He knew without teaching, out of divine omniscience, the words that came from the arrogance of the Pharisees. 3. Then follow these sayings: “And the Lord suddenly said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, “Go out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting. And all three came out. And the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tabernacle” (Num. 12:4-5). These words again covertly indicate that God will be the Judge of those who speak against our Savior Jesus Christ, and will certainly come down from heaven to punish those who dare to reproach Him and argue with Him in equal honesty. Judgment in general will be carried out through the Son, according to the co-presence of Him who gave birth inseparably with Him, as it is said: “I am in the Father and the Father in Me” (John 14:10). When the sinners Miriam and Aaron appeared before the righteous Judge, He said: “And he said: listen to My words: if there is a prophet of the Lord among you, then I reveal myself to him in a vision, I speak to him in a dream; but not so with My servant Moses - he is faithful in all My house: I speak to him mouth to mouth, and openly, and not in fortune-telling, and he sees the image of the Lord” (Num. 12: 6-8). These words indicate Moses’ vision of God as a special advantage over others, and it is perfectly attested that he could hear the Divine words especially closely. But you can see this even more true in Christ. For God the Father spoke not so in the prophets as in the Son. Those were given knowledge of what they should have known through the Spirit, and this One, without teaching, knew the spiritual advice of the Father, as the Wisdom and Council of the Parent. And the blessed prophets, through unclear images, received contemplation of His glory, because “no one has ever seen God” (John 1:18); He is contemplated as the one Son by nature and thus can be understood divinely. And the Savior himself can be a witness to this for us, saying: “It is not that anyone has seen the Father except He who is from God; He saw the Father” (John 6:46). Therefore, the Jews unreasonably, even more than that, wickedly presenting as their advantage the fact that God spoke to their fathers, they considered for nothing the words of Christ that He said “what” He heard from the Father (John 8:26). For the words spoken on Mount Sinai were shadows, images and fortune-telling, containing some secret and not very clear knowledge of what was commanded; Christ was a self-hearer of the words of the Father, if only, due to the inevitable necessity of reason, one can say so simply. Moreover, the word of God represents the great difference between Christ and everyone else. “He is faithful in all my house,” it is said (Num. 12:7; cf. Heb. 3:2). Doesn’t it show through this that the economy that took place through the law and the prophets was private and limited, but that which was accomplished through Christ was general and universal? because the law saved only the house of Israel, but not Christ, but the whole world, through faith in Him, and “redeemed with His blood,” as it is written, “to God” and to the Father (Apoc. 5:9). Therefore it is said: “How come you were not afraid to rebuke My servant Moses?” (Num. 12:8.) A similar thing was said from ancient times through the prophet to the wicked Pharisees for their daring words against Christ and for the unbridledness of their tongue: “You, sons of a sorceress, are the seed of an adulterer and a harlot! Who are you mocking? against whom do you widen your mouth, stick out your tongue?” (Isa. 57:3-4.) For the Pharisees, as if completely removing the bridle from their God-fighting tongue, uttered the most daring blasphemies against Christ and, puffed up with excessive pride, spewed out words of madness; about which, greatly grieved, the Psalmist says: “I say to the foolish: “Do not be foolish,” and to the wicked: “Do not lift up your horns, do not lift up your horns high, [do not] speak stiff-necked” (Ps. 74:5-6). They were truly lawless, wickedly condemning that which they least of all should have condemned, and they were exposed as lifting up the horn on high when they did not agree that Christ alone knows the will of the Father, and when, moreover, they themselves claimed to know it, saying, as has already been said before: “We know that God spoke to Moses” (John 9:29) and thereby showing distrust in him. Meanwhile, at that time the cloud retreated from the tabernacle of meeting, and Mariam suddenly found herself a leper, and not just “like snow” (Num. 12:10). And the Divine and pure nature, indignant and angry at the madness and wicked insolence of the Jews against Christ, in some way flew away and moved away from the synagogue, according to what Christ said: “I have left My house; has left My inheritance” (Jer. 12:7). For the Lord descended in the pillar of cloud and departed again as a cloud, according to the image presented in the letter of the Scripture. And after He departed from the Jewish synagogue, it immediately turned out to be unclean, and not just unclean, but reaching extreme uncleanness; because when it is said that the leper turned white, it means that the disease has reached its highest degree of tension. What could be whiter than snow? Naturally, even more, it was necessary and undeniable that the Jewish synagogue, having lost the care of the Savior, should find itself in great disaster. Thus, the unbridled and mocking crowd of Jews is punished with uncleanness and dishonor, according to how the saints rightly said to God: “fill their faces with dishonor... and let them know that You, whose only name is Lord” (Ps. 82:17-19). Further, Aaron, who accused Moses along with Miriam, although he was guilty of the same punishment as her before the Judge, is not justly struck down by leprosy along with her; for the office of the priesthood is honorable and great before God. That is why Aaron escaped leprosy. But for that, on the contrary, he was punished with grief for the woman who suffered from leprosy, according to what was said from God: “Gird on sackcloth and weep, priests! howl, altar servers! Come in, sleep in sackcloth, O servants of my God! for your grain offering and drink offering are no longer in the house of God” (Joel 1:13). Aaron approaches, saying to the wise Moses: “My lord! do not put it on us that we acted foolishly and sinned” (Numbers 12:11). For those coming from the race of Israel and in the flesh not alien to the synagogue of Judea, but appointed stewards of the sacraments of our Savior, had to offer prayers for those who sinned out of ignorance, although in the beginning they fell along with them. May they not, together with those, fall under the wrath of the Father, they beg Christ, which Paul did, saying: “Brothers! my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel’s salvation” (Rom. 10:1). But the speaker was also the builder of the mysteries of God and the priest of the Divine sermon, like Aaron at that time. When Moses cried out to God for the leper and begged him to heal her (Num. 12:13), God postponed his consent to this, saying: “let her be imprisoned for seven days outside the camp, and then return again” (Num. 12:14). 4. These words again, as if in an image, show us that the Divine nature quickly bows to mercy and, according to a certain custom, is inclined to be begged; but often the multitude or greatness of our falls delays and deprives those guilty of (sin) of their love for mankind. But the same thing means, in our opinion, that many of the intercessions of the saints for Israel ascend to God; however, it is impossible not to be punished for him, who is convicted of such great sins. That is why God placed mercy after the Judgment. And that God is often irritated by our falls into sin, so that sometimes he postpones the application of mercy, which is most dear to Him, this is not difficult to see from the following. When God, through the Holy Spirit, revealed to the prophet Jeremiah the murder that was about to take place in the land of Judea, when the Babylonians attacked it, according to the law of war, and many had already fallen and were visible dead, he said to the holy prophet: “Oh, woe is me! my soul languishes before the murderers. Walk through the streets of Jerusalem, and look, and scout, and search in its squares, will you find a person who keeps the truth, who seeks the truth? I would have spared Jerusalem "(Jer. 4:31, 5:1). Do you see in these words how He suffers over the slain and how willingly He is ready to have mercy on Jerusalem? But He Himself, as it were, stops and puts off godly mercy due to the excessiveness of sin. Nevertheless, He seeks an opportunity for mercy and at least for the sake of one righteous person wants to put aside His wrath; because He commands that those who wish to show Him at least one man in the city faithful. So, Miriam is expelled from the camp because of her defeat by leprosy. But it is said: “The people did not set out until Miriam returned” (Num. 12:15). For we, who believe in Christ, wait for the cleansing of the Jews, that is, through faith. The Savior, addressing the following words to the Jews: “For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me, because he wrote about Me” (John 5:46). Through Him and with Him, glory to God and the Father with the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. About those who spied the land of promise 1. Excellent is the inheritance of those who decide to love the king of all - God. They are destined to possess blessings that exceed the mind. The blessed prophet Isaiah can assure of this, saying: “This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord” (Is. 54:17). And again: “You will have joy in the Lord, and I will bring you up on the heights of the earth and will make you taste the inheritance of Jacob your father: the mouth of the Lord has spoken this” (Is. 58:14). So the promise is true and sure in every way; because the mouth of God can never deviate from the truth and lie. In any case, He will fulfill the promise. And knowing this, the divine Psalmist says in one place: “The Lord is part of my inheritance and of my cup. You hold my lot” (Ps. 15:5). But who are these servants of the “Lord,” or to whom will such a glorious and worthy inheritance pass? These are the ones who try to do what is pleasing to God, who unswervingly strive for everything that is praiseworthy, who are ready to fight every enemy without laziness and do not dare to do this with their own strength or art, but as if they have some kind of weapon in their hands, grace from above, and have the God of all as their leader and protector. For being so disposed, they say: “For I will not trust in my bow, neither will my sword save me; but You will save us from our enemies, and put to shame those who hate us” (Ps. 43:7-8). God especially distinguishes the kind and daring, ready for faith, by giving them blessings with a generous hand; and those who are afflicted with the most shameful vices and fall into disobedience, He will completely separate them from the flock of the chosen and remove them from everything that brings joy. He will call to everyone quite righteously: “This part is yours, the part of your disobedience is against Me” (Isa. 17:14, 57:6; Jer. 13:25). As we shall see, the Jewish people will be subjected to such reproaches. Therefore, he lost hope and remained outside the inheritance, although the inheritance belonged to him, if it is true that their “promises” are according to the word of blessed Paul (Rom. 9:4). since they did not obey Him who called them to the promises, they remained unparticipated in them and, according to the word of the Savior, became “the last first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:16). And this was again foreshadowed to us in the Old Testament Scriptures themselves. It reads like this: “After this the people moved from Ashiroth and stopped in the wilderness of Paran. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Send men from you, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I have given to the children of Israel; Send one man at a time from the tribe of their fathers, the chief of them. And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, and they were all the chief men of the children of Israel” (Numbers 13:1-4). So, men chosen from all the tribes, twelve in number, were singled out from all the people and went out to carefully examine whether the land was fat or lean, whether it was suitable for cattle breeding, whether it was good and fertile or dry and barren; also whether it can bear fruit trees, produce ripe fruits and whether, with some care for it, it can be a fruitful field. In addition, what are its inhabitants like, are they terrible in strength, are they warlike and invincible for ordinary people, or are they easily defeated for courageous people; then, how many and what kind of cities are there on it, whether they are without walls or well fortified with walls and towers (Num. 13:19–21). Moses also added to this that they should, having picked, bring with them the fruits themselves, as if as proof of the fulfillment of the order (Num. 13:21). So having set off, they rushed to fulfill what they were commanded. At the right time, they examined the land, carried with them on the way back a bunch of grapes, rare and extraordinary, a true miracle, and, without suffering any harm, returned to Moses. But only in their opinions they were divided. Everyone considered it necessary to praise the land and clearly proclaimed that the land was good and fat, as proof of which they cited the fruit taken from it. But some of them called the people who lived on it brave, strong and warlike, little inclined to yield when insulted by anyone. “The sons of giants,” they said, “videhom tamo,” so tall and huge that those descended from the tribe of Israel seemed like locusts in front of them, when compared with those in size (Num. 13:34). Caleb and Joshua (Joshua) openly said that the land was good and fat and “if the Lord loves us, he will bring us into” it, and again argued that those who inhabit it would be defeated if God were the protector of Israel (Num. 14:8-9). But when the Israelites heard such words, the entire crowd of people, forgetting God and not remembering the signs performed in Egypt, was seized with great fear, hesitated to go to war, refused to resist the enemy and no longer showed love for the promised. She did not think about the all-powerful and invincible right hand of the Helper, but she cried like a child and waited with trepidation that her wives and everything dear to her would perish from the enemy’s swords. They even dared to say that Egyptian slavery was better for them and the yoke of this slavery was more bearable. With tears in their eyes they said that they should return to the Egyptians (Num. 14:3-4). They tried to stone Jesus and Caleb, who inspired them to courage, and to throw them under the earth. But when, finally, things reached such a level of misfortune, it was said that “the glory of the Lord appeared... in the tabernacle of meeting to all the children of Israel,” and was ready to destroy everyone without delay (Numbers 14:10-12). And just then God bowed to mercy when Moses fell to Him and begged Him. “And the Lord said,” it is said, “to Moses: I forgive according to your word; but as I live..., and the whole earth is full of the glory of the Lord: all who have seen My glory and My signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me ten times now, and have not listened to My voice, will not see the land that I promised with an oath to their fathers...; all who provoked Me will not see her; but My servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit, and he completely obeyed Me, I will bring into the land where he went, and his seed will inherit it” (Num. 14, 20-24). So, notice how serious the crime of unbelief is before God. This is what Israel suffered, as we will see, demolishing the Old Testament Scriptures with the New Testament ones and revealing the truth hidden in the shadows. For Moses encourages the chosen ones from all tribes to go out to spy carefully for the land of promise. When they went there and then returned, ten of them spoke ill of her and became the culprits of fear and God-hating unbelief for the whole crowd. The remaining two, Caleb, the son of Jephonia, as well as Jesus, urged them to go with the goal of conquering the land, and they praised the land itself, openly saying that it was fat, fruitful and had fields suitable for sowing. But those were deprived of the promise, and these, by heavenly decree, were appointed heirs and honored by God. 2. Now it is necessary to say what type of true and spiritual contemplation is contained here. According to the testimony of the books of Moses, the minds of the Jews were in some way deprived of the blessings that were indicated in them, as if in prototypes, to the saints or the holy land promised to the fathers. For it is possible, very possible, in the books of the law to see outlined in types the mystery of Christ, the sanctification He bestows in the Spirit and the hope promised to the saints. Namely, a lamb is slain in Egypt by the Israelites, anointing with blood is performed and the destroyer is abolished. And that death was to be weakened by the death of Christ and destruction would one day pass over those anointed in the Holy Spirit, this was foreshadowed by the canopy. Also, that we will receive the prosperity bestowed at the beginning and man will again return to heavenly bliss, the law also shows us no less clearly. For he commanded to celebrate in the seventh month on the fifteenth day of the month, and to take in hand date branches and “branches of beautiful trees, palm branches and branches of broad-leaved trees and river willows” (Lev. 23:40). He didn’t just command to take it, but on the first and seventh day of the month; and the first day is called the “holy assembly” (Lev. 23:35); also the seventh (Lev. 23:36). And this circumstance indirectly indicates that paradise was first given to the beginning of the race, that is, to Adam; it will also be given in the last time, that is, at the end of the present age, the image of which, and a very clear one, can be the last, seventh day. The first and seventh days are holy: for the time was holy in which our forefather Adam still kept the commandment given to him; the last time is also holy; for we are sanctified in Christ, having been delivered from the guilt of sin and made partakers of the Holy Spirit. So, through the type and shadow, Moses, or the power of the law-giving Scriptures, as if in advance, sends those who are more well taught than others and have a mind, so to speak, chosen, to carefully consider the promise of God. since those who wish to receive such important and glorious blessings “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but rather against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,” according to what is written (Eph. 6:12): then those who think about the flesh, who prefer temporary and perishing things to eternal bliss, hesitate to enter into this battle. For look how the Israelites, because of their wives and children, contradict in every possible way the words of the elect, giving themselves over to so much fear and cowardice (Numbers 14:3). Think also, on the other hand, about those who, during the coming of the Savior of us all, Christ, lost their faith as a result of the cries of the Jews. Our Lord Jesus Christ gave the believers the Kingdom of Heaven. But in addition, He called for courage, spiritual of course; and exhorted those who believed in Him that they must very courageously resist the violence of the devil, and said: “Behold, I give you power to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). But some did not want to believe, preferring the physical to the love of God. For those invited to the marriage “began...,” it is said, “all, as if by agreement, to apologize.” And one said: “I bought land”; the other: “I got married and therefore cannot come” (Luke 14:18, 20). Do you see the kinship of passions? Do you see the kinship of ailments? So, the scribes and Pharisees in some way spoke against the promise of God in that they themselves did not want to go to him and did not allow others. That’s why we heard: “Woe to you lawyers, because you took the key of understanding; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who entered” (Luke 11:52). Thus, as a result of the words of the leaders, the people subordinate to them perished. Therefore, through the mouth of the prophet, God says in one place: “for the shepherds became senseless and did not seek the Lord, and therefore they acted foolishly, and all their flock was scattered” (Jer. 10:21). So the great multitude of Jews lost the promise and became ignorant of the grace given through Christ. However, the “remnant” is saved through Christ (Rom. 11:5, 9:27). And of this a clear prototype can be Caleb, the son of Jephonia, and Joshua, who spoke very much to the children of Israel, rousing them to courage, calling the land beautiful and worthy of occupation, and loudly proclaiming that they would prevail over the nations inhabiting it. But they almost died; “And the whole community said,” it is said, “stone them!” (Numbers 14:10). However, they are also appointed heirs by God. Who Caleb is is clear from his name. It means: "whole heart." Jephonias, on the other hand, means “conversion.” So, those who have a perfect heart with God are the sons of conversion, and with them Jesus. They again are those who believed as a result of the preaching of the Apostles, who can be understood as being, as it were, in the form of the firstfruits, and who called Israel. One can also imagine the “remainder” in them. Calling the Jews, the Apostles were exposed to danger; however, they were installed as heirs of the holy land. For that the sons of conversion have a heart completely at rest in God, that is, those who have turned from the commandments of the law to service by faith and to grace, anyone can learn this from what Paul clearly writes, who counted as “skills” what was in the life under the law, “counting” it as “loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,” in order only to acquire Him and have justification through Him (Phil. 3:8-9). So, that Israel will be deprived of the promise, but will not completely perish, but will be saved at least in a small part of itself (because this, I think, means “remnant”), you can understand this very easily, as I said before, seeing Caleb entering the land according to the promise of God, with whom the “saving one” is in some way associated and enters next to him. For this is how the name Jesus is interpreted. Why did the Divine Angel Gabriel, when he preached the image of the Incarnation of the Only Begotten to the Holy Virgin, said: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace from God; and behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:30 – 32). So, only the remnant of the entire congregation of Jews inherited the promises and entered the sacred land. But the people themselves are far from it. Along with the remnant, a new and believing people also entered; because along with Caleb, the God of all promised to bring in the entire young generation. The divine David also pointed out this to us, speaking about the inheritance of the saints: “This will be written for the next generation, and the coming generation will praise the Lord” (Ps. 101:19). For the inheritance was not preserved in the law for those who bear children, but for another generation. What other kind is this? This is a new, as I said, and a believing people: because we were created in Christ for newness of life, having put off the old man with his passions and lusts, since it is said that Christ created “both” peoples “one new man, establishing the world, and in one body to reconcile both to God..., we have access to the Father in one Spirit” (Eph. 2, 15-16, 18). So, in the form of a new people, let the children introduced be the true Caleb. The God-speaking disciple (of Christ) wrote to them in his Epistle, saying: “Like newborn babies, love the pure milk of words, so that from it you may grow into salvation; for you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Pet. 2:2-3). And that the God-speaking Paul, having thus understood what is contained in the law, transforms into truth the type contained in the writings, you can clearly learn from what he wrote in the Epistle to the Hebrews, saying: “Why, as the Holy Spirit says, now, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the time of murmuring, in the day of temptation in the wilderness, where your fathers tempted Me, tried Me, and saw My works are forty years. Therefore I was indignant at this generation and said: they continually err in heart, they have not known My ways; therefore I swore in My wrath that they should not enter My rest” (Heb. 3:7-11). And so that we, pushing away cursed unbelief from ourselves and removing it as far as possible from our souls, would turn out to be heirs of the promise, he cried again: “See to it, brethren, that there is not in any of you an evil and unfaithful heart, lest you depart from the living God. But instruct one another every day, as long as you can say, “today,” lest any of you become hardened by being deceived by sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if only we firmly preserve the life we ​​have begun to the end, until it is said: “Today, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the time of murmuring.” For some of those who heard began to murmur; but not all who came out of Egypt were with Moses. With whom was He indignant for forty years? Is it not on those who sinned, whose bones fell in the wilderness? Against whom did he swear that they would not enter His rest, if not against the disobedient? So we see that they could not enter because of unbelief” (Heb. 3:12-19). For that unbridledness and intransigence to the beckons of the Divine will were for them the reason that, although they hoped, they lost hope, and that the opposite action would have brought them considerable benefit, the same Apostle can convince us no less than before, saying: “Therefore let us be afraid, lest, while the promise of entering into His rest remains, one of you is found to be late. For it was announced to us as well as to those; but the word they heard did not benefit them, not being mixed with the faith of those who heard it. But we who have believed enter into rest" (Heb. 4:1-3) To the Savior and Redeemer of us all, that is, Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to God and the Father with the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. That Christ has become for us the bread of life 1. Denouncing the passion of the Jews to teach others, the God-speaking prophet Jeremiah said, and very rightly: “How do you say: “We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us”? But the lying cane of the scribes turns him into a lie. The wise men were put to shame, confused, and entangled in a snare: behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord; What is their wisdom? (Jer. 8:8-9.) For although the scribes and Pharisees, who were very proud of the knowledge of the laws and raised their eyebrows high, arrogantly treated the crowd of people, they were nevertheless afflicted with stupidity, and were exposed by their very deeds as unwise and uninformed; because they rejected the Wisdom that came down from above and from heaven, that is, the Word that came from God the Father, “Who became for us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). That is why they turned out to be false and soulless, “buoyed and blind,” according to the words of the Savior Himself (Matthew 23:17). When they rejected the word of the Divine and, as it were, went very far from life-giving grace and were repeatedly exposed as having grieved God with extreme disobedience, they perished by hunger. And what was said from God through the mouth of the prophet came true: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the earth—not a famine of bread, not a thirst for water, but a thirst for hearing the words of the Lord. And they will walk from sea to sea and wander from north to east, seeking the word of the Lord, and will not find it” (Am. 8:11-12). For those who could have had it, and moreover in abundance, having very unreasonably rejected it, are finally, by Divine determination, punished by losing everything that is best and that through which they could probably be enriched with the highest blessings. And since they decided not to submit and wickedly offended the Divine and Most Wonderful Grace, the famine of Divine teachings was brought upon them; and very fair. For us who believe in him, Emmanuel became the bread of life. He is the bread that “came down from heaven... and gave life to the world” (John 6:41, 51, 58, 33): in Him and through Him, overcoming the God-hating power of corruption and putting on the grace sent down from above and from heaven, that is, incorruptibility, we are offered to God and the Father, bright and sacred. And how are we, not endowed with such blessings, ending the flow in the world? In such reasoning, the letter of the law confirms us. It is written like this: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land where I am bringing you, and eat the bread of the land, then offer an oblation to the Lord; Of the first-fruits of your dough you shall offer a cake as a wave offering; lift it up like the offering from a threshing floor; of the firstfruits of your dough you shall give as an offering to the Lord throughout your generations. If you transgress through ignorance and do not fulfill all these commandments that the Lord spoke to Moses, all that the Lord commanded you through Moses, from the day on which the Lord commanded you and henceforth throughout your generations, then, if through the oversight of the community a mistake is made, let the whole congregation offer one young ox as a burnt offering, for a pleasing aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the statute, and one goat as a burnt offering. sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them, for it was a mistake, and they brought their offering to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their mistake; and it will be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel and the stranger who sojourns among them, because all the people did it in error. If one sins out of ignorance, then let him offer a one-year-old goat as a sin offering; and the priest will cleanse the soul that has mistakenly committed a sin before the Lord, and it will be cleansed and forgiven; Let there be one law for you” (Num. 15:17–29). So in the book of Numbers. In the book of Leviticus the sacrament is depicted differently. However, contemplations are not very different from one another in terms of dissimilarity. Therefore, recalling this too - for it is very necessary to know this - we will form, as it were, one narrative from the two. It is written again like this: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you come into the land that I am giving you and reap its harvest, then bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest; he will offer this sheaf before the Lord, that he may find favor with you; on the next day of the feast the priest will raise him up; And on the day of the sheaf offering, you shall offer as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb of the first year, without blemish, and with it a grain offering, two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, as an offering to the Lord for a sweet aroma, and a drink offering thereof, a quarter of an hin of wine. You shall not eat any new bread, nor dried grain, nor raw grain, until the day on which you bring an offering to your God: this is an everlasting statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings” (Lev. 23:9-14). 2. So, the sheaf is the firstfruits of the harvest and a sign of new fruitfulness; bread - collected grain, dumped in a heap to be taken from it for consumption, and perhaps carried into the granaries themselves. God commanded those who had already settled in the promised land to do this by offering offerings, so that Christ would be understood in both. For He is the “bread ... coming down from heaven” and life-giving (John 6:33) and the firstfruits of the mixture (dough) of those recreated in Him for the renewal of life. The firstfruits of the most ancient mixture (dough) was Adam; when, having neglected the commandment given to him, he fell into crime, he was immediately cursed and in it the human race was condemned to death and corruption. And Christ is the firstfruits of the second mixture (test). He escaped the curse precisely because He Himself became a curse for us (Gal. 3:13), and drove away the power of corruption again because He was “free in the dead” (Ps. 87:6). Therefore, the bringing of bread into the holy tabernacle and the offering to God in the Holy of Holies may signify, and quite naturally, the ascension of Immanuel into heaven. “For Christ entered not into a sanctuary made with hands, built in the image of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us,” as it is written (Heb. 9:24). And that He is also the life-giving bread, “coming down from heaven” (John 6:33) and from above; that, in addition, He delivers from sins and frees those on earth from the sins of ignorance, offering Himself for them in the aroma of God and the Father, you will understand this very well, with the eyes of your mind contemplating Him being slaughtered, as if offered as a burnt offering and as a goat for the sins of ignorance of the people. For “Who understands the Fall?” , - as it is written (Ps. 18:13). See how clearly the legislator described the purification accomplished through Christ as being without comparison superior to the service of the law. If you transgress, says the commandments of Moses, and if some are convicted of neglecting the commandments of lawful service, then, I say, you will find oblivion (of sins) given to you through the blood, precisely when the bull is slain and the goat is sacrificed. And this was a type of Christ. So, the law determines the punishment for those who have committed crimes, but the Honest Blood of Christ frees them from punishment and frees them from the guilt of ignorance. He laid down his life for us to destroy the sin of the world. Therefore, as if by bread one can understand Christ as life and life-giving; by the calf He is again understood as being offered as a burnt offering and offering Himself in the aroma of fragrance to God and the Father; and in the form of a goat, as one who became a sin offering for us and was sacrificed for sins. And the sheaf can also be understood allegorically. And what it means will be said, if possible. The human race can be likened to the ears of the field, rising, so to speak, from the earth and awaiting the fullness appropriate to it, and over time is cut off, in which it finds its death. So Christ Himself said to the holy disciples: “Don’t you say that there are still four months and the harvest will come? But I say to you: lift up your eyes and look at the fields, how they are white and ripe for harvest. He who reaps receives his reward and gathers fruit into eternal life” (John 4:35–36). So, as I said just now, the sowing of the field can very easily be likened to those living on the earth. Christ became like us, arising from the Holy Virgin like an ear of corn. Therefore, He Himself called Himself a grain of wheat, saying: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; and if he dies, he will bear much fruit” (John 12:24). He became, as it were, an offering for us to the Father and, in the sense of a sheaf, as if the firstfruits of the earth, testifying through its products to its fruitfulness. The ear, named one, just like ourselves, is not only one, but is brought as a sheaf, that is, as one bundle consisting of many ears. And this work is necessary for the benefit and represents an image of the sacrament. For there is one Jesus Christ, but as if in the form of a sheaf he is spiritually represented as one of many consisting, which he is, since He contains in Himself all believers, of course, precisely by spiritual unity. Otherwise, how does Blessed Paul write that we have been raised with Him and will be seated with Him “in the heavenly places”? (Eph. 2, 6.) Since He became like us, we became “stealers” (Eph. 3, 6.) of Him and were enriched by unity with Him through the body. Therefore we say that we are all contained in Him. So He Himself in one place says to the Heavenly Father and God: “I will, that I and You are one,” so they are “in Us” (John 17:24, 11, 21), as “he who is united with the Lord is one spirit with the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:17). So Christ is the sheaf, as containing everyone in Himself and being lifted up for everyone, and the firstfruits of humanity, perfect in faith and finally to be brought into the highest and heavenly treasuries. The sheaf must be brought, it is said, “on the next day” (Lev. 23:11), which means: on the third day. For Christ came to life from the dead on the third day and by His own power ascended into heaven, that is, into the true tabernacle and into the Holy of Holies. But as spiritually represented by bread, He was also signified in the form of a calf, intended for a burnt offering and for the smell of incense, and also in the form of a goat, which was offered for sins of ignorance: so, on the other hand, although spiritually represented as a sheaf, He is also a sheep of the first year, that is, perfect; for Christ is all-perfect and free from defects by His very nature. Moreover, He was completely blameless; because he knew “no sin,” “and there was no flattery in His mouth” (1 Pet. 2:22). He Himself is also light wheat flour and filled with oil, that is, life in fatness and joy. For we live in Him, rejoicing “in the hope of what has been prepared” (Col. 1:5); and, watered by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we say according to what is said in the psalms: “I anointed my head with oil” (Ps. 22:5), because we have received mercy through faith in Christ, with whom in a certain way we are sacrificed, taking second place, just like the so-called spun classes in relation to His wheat flour. By “spun grades” we mean flour made from green fruits. For that Christ, although in dispensation he was made like us, nevertheless appears to be superior to us by nature, no one can doubt this. So, our most honest life, without comparison, is His life, since it is completely holy and blameless. Our condition is worse and lower and takes the place of, as it were, “spun classes” (Lev. 23:14), in relation, I say, to wheat flour. And wheat flour is a way of life. But “spun yarn” (Lev. 23:14) is also brought to the altar along with wheat flour. For we are sacrificed in incense, as I said, together with Christ and Him we are all fragrant, and together with Him we become acceptable to God and the Father. And those who do not have Christ are generally incapable of being a sacrifice; “For without Me...,” He says, “you can do nothing” (John 15:5). “But you shall not carry down the new ones,” it is further said, “even until that day, until you bring” a sheaf (Lev. 23:14). For neither the time of the law, nor the face of the holy prophets had new food, that is, the teachings of Christ, as well as the very renewal of human nature, except in one prediction. When, finally, our Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected and, as if instead of a sheaf, He offered Himself to God the Father as a firstfruits from humanity, then and only then are we, as it were, re-created into a new life. For in the Gospel we begin to live “in the renewal of the spirit, and not according to the old letter” (Rom. 7:6). Through Him and with Him, glory to God and the Father with the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. About the red-haired youth (heifer) burned outside the camp The God-speaking David says in one place: “What will I render to the Lord for all His good deeds to me?” (Ps. 115:3.) And the same word especially befits us. For what can be done on our part that is equivalent to God and the Father? He “gave His Son... for us, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16), as if neglecting the love befitting Him; because He gave Himself “for our sins,” according to the Scriptures (Isa. 53:5; 1 Pet. 2:24), and through Him we are saved. “He is quickly tormented... for our sins..., and he suffers for us” (Is. 53:5, 4), having endured even bodily death, not so that we would see him remaining with us in the dead, but so that with Him and through Him, flowing to life and returning to incorruption, we would rejoice and say: “Death! where is your sting? hell! where is your victory? (Hos. 13:14; 1 Cor. 15:55.) What path leads us to this? – Grace bestowed through Baptism, through which, cleansed from all filth, we are “partakers of the Divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4), which dwells in us by the Spirit of Christ. Then and only then, having been sprinkled and cleansed in the conscience “from dead works,” as blessed Paul writes (Heb. 9:14); Having become partakers of a mysterious blessing and having filled our minds with grace from above, we can appear worthy of competition and general attention, and what else (can we not be worthy) of such? And what I said, you will truly see if you understand the sayings regarding the young woman (heifer). “And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, This is the statute of the law which the Lord commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, let them bring unto thee a red heifer without blemish, which hath no defect, [and] upon which there is no yoke; and give her to Eleazar the priest, and he will bring her out of the camp, and they will kill her in his presence; and let Eleazar the priest take her blood with his finger, and sprinkle the blood upon the front side of the tabernacle of meeting seven times; And they shall burn the heifer before his eyes: her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her uncleanness, shall they burn; and the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet thread and throw it on the heifer that is to be burned; and the priest shall wash his clothes, and bathe his body in water, and then shall enter into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the evening. And the one who burned it shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his body in water, and be unclean until the evening; and let someone who is clean gather up the ashes of the heifer” (Num. 19:1-9). And further: “Let this be for the children of Israel and for the strangers who live among them for an everlasting statute” (Numbers 19:10). To this the legislator also adds that touching the corpse of a deceased person defiles some and makes them unclean. The one to whom this happened will be “unclean” for seven whole days; “he must cleanse himself” with the ashes of a young woman (heifer) mixed with water, sprinkled with blood on the third day, and also on the seventh day (Num. 19:11-12). If he does not do this, it is said, then he will have uncleanness unwashed (Numbers 19:13). He will even suffer punishment, because “he will defile the habitation of the Lord: that man will be destroyed,” it is said, “from among Israel, because he has not been sprinkled with cleansing water” (Num. 19:13). If, however, it happens “in the tent,” it is said (Num. 19:14) that someone dies, then the accusation of uncleanness should then be transferred to the hearth itself and to everything in the house, for example, to the vessels. And even if there were some of the vessels free from drinks, then they should be considered defiled. No less unclean, it is said, is anyone who touches “in the field someone killed with a sword, or a dead person, or a human bone—a dead person—or a tomb” (Num. 19:16). How (God) commanded to purify such things, we will also tell you about this as much as possible, skillfully revealing the obscurity of the letter of Scripture with decent reasoning. 2. So, the young woman, completely blameless, completely free from all uncleanness and not knowing sin, is our Lord Jesus Christ. For He boldly said: “The prince of this world comes, and has nothing in Me” (John 14:30). Likewise, he says to the Jews: “Which of you will convict Me of unrighteousness? If I speak the truth, why don’t you believe Me?” (John 8:46.) In addition, pay attention to the fact that in the Holy Scriptures He is called either a calf or a young woman. This is, of course, so that through the male sex He is signified as a leader, and through the female sex as lesser and subordinate. For, as the God of all, He rules over everything, and together with God and the Father extends His power over everything. But He voluntarily became subject to the law, fulfilling the instructions of Moses, as if he had an advantage over Him, although he was a slave. And no wonder; because He was called a prophet (Deut. 18:15) and appeared in the “form of a servant” (Phil. 2:7), although there is a Lord and God of the prophets themselves. The girl had to be red-haired. For in the blood the mystery of the incarnation was accomplished, if it is true that He “obedient to the Father even to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:8) and came to save the heavenly places with His Blood. The sign of the blood, and a very clear one, can be the red color. But if He was “obedient” (Phil. 2:8) to the Father and together with us, according to the economy, became subject to the law, like a man, if he was called a slave, without dishonoring the nature of the received flesh: nevertheless, He was and is at the same time free, as by nature God, was not at all bound by the yoke of slavery and did not experience it at all. For He came from above and is above all, coming from the very free being of God and the Father. experienced. For if the Only Begotten “emptied Himself” and voluntarily descended to “the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:7), then how or why can it be doubtful that this condescension was in any case from a height, and the exhaustion was from fullness? From innate and original freedom it was, as it were, a descent, I say, into the form of a servant. So, He was a youth because the ruler appears, as it were, in subordination and under the law; - red, because the image of house-building consisted in blood for our sake and for us. And immaculate, because of sinlessness, since He knew no sin, - not having experienced labor and yoke, because of His freedom according to Divinity and unlikeness to slavery, although He became like us and was in the form of a slave. But let them give, it is said, a young woman, “and give her to Eleazar the priest, and he will bring her out of the camp... and slaughter her in his presence” (Num. 19:3). The priest can be a type of priests and those who are sanctified and anointed in the Holy Spirit; since in relation to us who have believed, it is said in one place through the mouth of the holy Apostle: “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9). So, to us sacred, a chosen race and holy people, Christ was given from God the Father as “righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30), Savior and Redeemer, who, as the God-speaking Paul writes, “suffered without the gates” (Heb. 13:12). Thither we must go, he says, “bearing His reproach” (Heb. 13, 13), that is, everyone has their own cross. The Savior himself spoke about this: “if anyone wants to come after Me, deny yourself, and take up your cross, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23; Matt. 16:24). And that it is most fitting and beneficial for the sacred and sanctified to have the dead Christ before their eyes, this can be indicated by the law that a young woman must be slain before the face of a priest. When we remember Christ who died for us and for us, then we will be even more amazed at the words of the God-speaking Paul, crying out to us about Him: “If one died for all, then all died. But Christ died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again for them” (2 Cor. 5:14-15). And again: “By the law I died to the law in order to live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for us (Gal. 2:19-20). So, let Him who suffered the slaughter for us be presented in some way to the eyes of our minds; for then we will no longer live for ourselves, but rather for God, as redeemed by the Blood of Christ, who “gave Himself” for us, according to the Scriptures (Gal. 2:20). Further, it was commanded that by the hand of the priest the blood should be sprinkled on the holy tabernacle, and this seven times, and the young woman should be burned, without throwing out absolutely nothing of what was part of her body; but along with meat and dung and skin and other parts of the body. For Christ sanctifies with His Blood the truest tabernacle, that is, the Church: and sanctifies it completely, that is, richly; because this, I think, means sprinkling the tabernacle with blood seven times: the number reaching seven is a sign of perfection. The burning of the young woman with fire after the slaughter seems to indicate the temptation (test) even to death, which Christ underwent for us. For silver is tempted (tested) by fire, according to what is sung in the psalms: “You have tested us, O God, you have refined us, as silver is refined” (Ps. 65:10). And that through obedience Christ was in some way tempted even to death, this, I think, can clearly be predicted by the following: in one place, through the mouth of the prophet Zechariah, He said to those justified in the faith, or to those for whom He died: “And I will say to them: if it pleases you, then give Me My wages; if not, do not give” (Zech. 11, 12). Then the prophet says: “And they will weigh out thirty pieces of silver as payment to Me. And the Lord said to me: throw them into the church storehouse - the high price at which they valued Me!” (Zech. 11, 12–13). So, tempting Christ even to death can mean, as I said, the burning of the youth with fire after the slaughter. But besides this, nothing is erupted from her, since Christ is entirely holy; both meat and skin, that is, both the hidden in secret and the obvious, at hand. For He was by nature God, made like us, yet not knowing sin. Next, cedar wood is put into the ashes (of the youth), as well as hyssop and scarlet thread (scarlet thread). At the same time, the cedar tree perfectly indicates to us incorruptibility, since cedar does not rot; hyssop - for cleansing, since this herb has cleansing properties and naturally destroys impurities in the insides; the scarlet thread very clearly signifies the incarnation of the Word, since the Word is, as it were, bound by flesh and blood. It was tempted for our sake and through fire, even to death, as I just said. But His suffering and the image of His incarnation were for us a guarantee of incorruption and purification. For in Him we are justified, having been cleansed from filthiness in the soul and womb, if baptism is truly saving and in power “not the washing away of the uncleanness of the flesh, but the promise to God of a good conscience” (1 Pet. 3:21), through which there can be remission of sins, and grace will undoubtedly follow the confession of faith. And that the death of Christ for us became the path to incorruption and life, this is by no means subject to doubt. But the one who burned the young woman and mixed cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet thread with her ashes, as well as the one who collected the ashes, are unclean, it is said, “until the evening” (Num. 19:8-10), even if they washed their clothes and could be clean. This law, in all likelihood, indicates the weakness of human nature. And if we subtly and carefully examine our condition, then none of those placed in service, Divine, of course, and sacred, can be blameless; but at least one of the people, perhaps, would have decided to lead the best life, and be as pure as possible: however, his service cannot be blameless, because no one is worthy to touch the secrets of our Savior. And no wonder. The Divine Word can convince us of this, saying: “and the stars are unclean in His sight” (Job 25:5). So, if anyone compares our state with the purity of Christ, then it will turn out to be unclean and defiled and subject to Divine condemnation. Perhaps someone will be surprised - which is very natural - at the divine Psalmist who says: “If You, Lord, notice iniquities, - Lord! who can resist? But with You there is forgiveness” (Ps. 129:3-4). Even those who seem pure are exposed in this way; because it is much higher, as I said, than human nature, to be completely sinless and so that we can draw closer to Christ in purity. Then the water of purification must be poured, it is said, “outside the camp” (Num. 19:9), and no longer in the camp itself; for, as if outside the Jewish synagogue, there was purification in Christ, since He came out of it, decisively declaring: “Behold, your house is left to you empty” (Matthew 23:38). Finally, as if cleansing grace was poured out on the Gentiles, and, as Paul says, “those who were far away became near” (Eph. 2, 13); for they were called through faith and were enriched with justification in Christ, while the Israelites did not want to believe. And that every kind of Uncleanness can be washed away, and very easily, by the water of purification, this is explained by the Scripture, saying: if anyone touches the “dead,” he will become defiled; he can be freed from this accidental defilement only if he is sprinkled with the water of purification “on the third and seventh day” (Num. 19:11-12). Deadness is the corruption of bodies and a sign of uncleanness. Sprinkling with water, mixed with the ashes of the young woman and other substances, can be an image of holy Baptism. So, one who adheres to dead works and defilements that lead to decay (we call the works of deadness the ungodly and unclean passions of the flesh: “fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil lust” (Col. 3:5)) can only become clean if he cleanses himself and washes away the defilement through holy Baptism on the third and seventh day. And the third signifies the time of resurrection, and the seventh is the last and, as it were, constituting the final purpose for which the Only Begotten became man. If a house is also defiled, it is said, due to the presence of any dead person in it, then all those who enter it are unclean. All utensils and uncovered vessels become unclean. But by the water of purification this too is purified in the same way on the third and seventh days (Num. 19:14-15). By desecrating the house, by the utensils in it, and by the uncovered vessel, in this case the legislator seems to be pointing us to the host of Jews who killed the Lord, which is collectively meant by everything in the house, and separately by each of the vessels; because man is like a vessel on earth. And that their mind is not strong, very capable of defilement and everything that usually allows damage, this is covertly indicated by uncovered vessels, into which something unclean can easily get: a lizard, or any other animal that has settled in the house. But the mind of those justified in faith is not like that: it is firm and covered and is not susceptible to being carried away by what usually damages it. Then if anyone “touches...,” it is said, “... an ulcer, or a bone... dead, or a tomb," then in this case it will be desecrated (Num. 19:16). By ulcerated we do not mean a healthy heart, as if wounded by worldly lusts or worldly or carnal desires. We take the bone of a dead man to mean the remnant of uncleanness. The tomb is a reminder in some way of already dead uncleanness. For Satan sometimes strikes the heart with wounds. Being partially overcome by carnal passions, we ourselves are ill, not falling into every sin, but still spending our lives in the world among the remnants of it, as, for example, when someone strives to overcome anger or love of money, but does not completely avoid exaltation. This, I think, means that some are not free from the remnants of uncleanness, a sign of which can be the bone of a dead man, but also allowing into the mind the memory of an already defeated passion and approaching the buried. already with pleasure, we sometimes sin a lot. We are delivered from the guilt of these sins when Christ washes us and cleanses us with His passion; for He died for us and “by His stripes we are healed” (Is. 53:5). And He “bears our sins” (Is. 53:4) and is the Intercessor before the Father “for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world,” as the God-speaking John wrote to some (1 John 2:2). So, in Him is all cleansing, all justification, sanctification, deliverance. With Him and through Him be glory to God and the Father with the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. “God did not create death and does not rejoice in the destruction of the living,” according to what is written (Wis. 1:13). “For He created everything for being, and everything in the world is saving” (Wis. 1, 14). When the firstfruits of the race, that is, Adam, was incensed by disobedience and neglect of the Divine commandment, offended the Creator God, and therefore fell into corruption: then human nature was cursed and our race was condemned. We, the unfortunate ones, although created in incorruption, finally, like shadows or the grass of the field, for a short time and as soon as we emerge into the light, we unexpectedly fall, as if on our mother, to the earth. From here the saints cried out beautifully, mourning our condition. So, for example, you can clearly hear blessed David crying: “man is like vanity” (Ps. 143:4); and on the other hand Isaiah: “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field” (Is. 40:6). For we have reached, as I said, such a calamity and misfortune that even very wise spirit-bearers could not say with what our condition could fairly be compared. However, the Creator did not despise those who fell into such a state; on the contrary, He honored them with His care and attention and showed them in Christ free from death and corruption. How, or in what way? Everyone knows in advance, even if no one spoke about it. And, besides, in the Old Testament Scriptures themselves, everyone can see the power of this sacrament. It is written like this in the book of Numbers: “From Mount Hor they set out by the way of the Red Sea to pass through the land of Edom. And the people began to become faint-hearted on the way, and the people spoke against God and against Moses: why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the desert, for here there is neither bread nor water, and our souls are disgusted with this worthless food. And the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, which bit the people, and many of the people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said: We have sinned in that we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to remove the snakes from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses: make yourself... a snake and put it on a banner, and... the one who is bitten, looking at it, will remain alive. And Moses made a copper serpent and put it on a banner, and when the serpent bit the man, he looked at the copper serpent and remained alive” (Num. 21:4-9). The Israelites were slaves in Egypt and, burdened by the unbearable yoke of slavery, were delivered by God, who created many wonderful signs there: water was turned into blood; frogs and scnips, dog flies and hail, as if they were waging war against the land of Egypt. The Egyptians were also punished with darkness, and the death of the firstborn severely struck those who wanted to continue violence against the Israelites, whom God had wondrously saved. Then, walking in the middle of the sea, as if on dry land, they saw the Egyptians miserably perishing. They received bread from heaven, as God sent down manna to them. Then, as if predestined in stone, Christ had mercy on them, unexpectedly giving them thirsty streams of water to drink; because the Divine omnipotently and unenviously bestows what is necessary for life to those who are devoted to Him. But those who have tasted such hefty blessings dishonor themselves through small sufferings, because they do not remember what was done to them by God, and turn out to be not firm in faith in Him, daring, easily indignant and ready for cowardice, foolishly neglecting the knowledge of what they are honored by God. For they called the bread sent down from heaven insignificant and complained about the lack of water, although they knew that nothing could be accomplished by the Divine and ineffable nature, which made even the rocky stone a source of river streams for them. Producing causeless murmur against God, they were punished by snake bites. Then, having come to the memory of their sin, they finally began to shed tears, confess their guilt and begged their mediator, I mean Moses, to make God merciful and condescending to them. Moses, falling to God, begged Him for this and, obeying the signals from above, made a copper serpent, placed it on high and commanded those struck by the bites of the serpents to look closely at it. By doing this they were healed. 2. But what is the meaning, what great and wise mystery lies in this? – This needs to be thoroughly investigated. For for people who have a deeper mind, one letter is not enough; for them, it is as if the sacraments are hidden in the prototypes. So, let's talk about this now; as if again transferring the narrative from the prototype to the universal and most important, to what is true. By showing dissatisfaction with the blessings bestowed from God and above, unreasonably striving more for the pleasant than for the useful, and rejecting exercises in virtue, while indulging in the most shameful, we upset the Benefactor and not only in any way offend the Creator. That is why we are subjected to the bites of snakes: snakes, I mean, mental ones, which, striking us with every sin, subject us to the bonds of death. It is as if the multitude of these poisonous animals is ruled by the apostate serpent, that is, Satan, from whose bite in ancient times the first man, that is, Adam, died. But this evil, as if from the root, extends to us, who came from it. But we are saved in some way. For we look to the serpent, that is, to Christ. In what way is He who by nature is a good God, nay, even goodness itself, a serpent? This is because He became like us, who are evil by choice, was “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Rom. 8:3) “and was counted among the evildoers” (Is. 53:12). And that we are evil, not having, however, been created as such by God, but having fallen to such an evil state because of the sin that has prevailed over us, this can be explained by Christ Himself, who says: “If you, therefore, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him” (Matthew 7:11). So, the serpent is Christ, who was in in the likeness of evil (sin), since he became a man. But whoever looks at Him mentally will be above corruption, will avoid death, can neglect bites and not care about many poisonous animals. We will look at Christ if we correctly understand the mystery about Him and firmly believe that, being God by nature, He became man. But even if He was in the likeness of evil (sin), nevertheless He remained good; because he became like us, not in order to become evil with us, but in order to make us good, leading us, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to every kind of virtue. The serpent was hung on the banner. For Christ was to be lifted up on the Honest Cross, and He himself proclaimed this to the Jews, saying: “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that it is I” (John 8:28). And what the (Old Testament) prototype related to this sacrament of His, you can learn about from Him Himself, who clearly says: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14). The copper serpent was due to the sonority and benevolence of the Divine and Gospel preaching. For there is no one who has not heard the inspired words of Christ; but in all the heavenly places the mystery He performed is proclaimed, and to Him “every tribe of those in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11). Amen. You might be interested in: