The law requires that virtue should not be lacking in anything. Therefore, golden bells hung from buttons signify the radiance of good deeds. For there are two kinds of activity by which the riches of virtue are gathered: faith in God and conscientiousness in the continuation of life; these are the buttons and bells that the great Paul gives to Timothy's garment, saying that he must have "faith and a good conscience" (1 Tim. 1:19). And so, let faith resound often and commandingly in sermons about the Holy Trinity; and let life be likened to the quality of the pomegranate fruit: for the outer side of this fruit is unfit for food, being covered with a hard and hard shell, but the inside is pleasing to the eye because of the variety and strict order in the arrangement of the fruit, and even more pleasant to the taste, delighting the senses. And the wise and austere life, being unattractive and unpleasant to the senses, is full of good hopes, delighted by its own fruit. For when our Worker in due time reveals the pomegranate fruit of life, and shows the beauty of that which is contained in it, then those who eat it will be sweet to partake of their own fruits. And the Divine Apostle says somewhere: "every chastisement at the present time," that is, what is originally encountered by the one who touches the pomegranate fruit, "does not seem to be joy, but sorrow; but afterwards it brings forth the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been taught through it" (Heb. 12:11): this is the sweetness of the inward parts that are eagerly eaten.

And the Scripture commands that this tunic should also be with omettes: and these omets are spherical pendants, hung not for the sake of need, but for adornment. And from this we learn that virtue should not only be measured by a commandment, but it is necessary that we should also invent something from what is devised from without, and that a certain addition of adornment should be added to clothing, as Paul did, who wove beautiful woven from himself beautiful woven to the commandments. Although the law commands that "those who serve the altar take a portion of the altar" (1 Cor. 9:13), it does not forbid "having a sister wife as a companion" (5), and "those who preach the gospel to live by the gospel" (14); Paul preaches the gospel freely, enduring thirst, hunger, and nakedness. These are the beautiful omets that adorn the tunic with their addition to the commandments.

Then, on top of the podir, two chasubles are laid, descending from the ramens to the forehead and along the spine, connected to each other on both ramens by two fasteners. And the clasps are stones, each of which has the six names of the patriarchs inscribed on himself. The fabric of these vestments is variegated. The blue is woven with scarlet, and the scarlet color is mixed with the linen; and between all this is scattered a golden thread, so that from this variety in color only a certain dissolved beauty shines on the fabric. And what we learn from this is this: the upper vestment is everything that actually constitutes the adornment of the heart, and is composed of many different virtues. Blue is intertwined with scarlet, because the kingdom is associated with the purity of life. Scarlet is intertwined with fine linen, because a bright and pure life is usually somehow connected with a blush of modesty: the gold shining between these flowers mysteriously makes us understand the treasure granted to such a life. The patriarchs inscribed on the shoulder plates add much to our adornment: because the former examples of good men adorn human life more than that.

To the decoration of the upper vestments is added another adornment from above: these are "nests of pure gold" (Exodus 28:13), hanging on both frames, supporting something of gold in the form of a quadrangle, emitting a shine from twelve stones, which are arranged in rows; There were four rows, and each contained three stones. In the stones it was impossible to find a resemblance between one another, but each was decorated with its own special brilliance. Such is the appearance of the decoration. And the implied meaning of the nests hanging from the shoulders is the two-handedness of the one who acts with weapons against the adversary, so that, since, according to what was said above, virtue succeeds by faith and good conscience in this life, it would be clear that under the cover of the nests man is safe on both sides, remaining invulnerable to such arrows with the help of "the weapon of righteousness in the right and left hand" (2 Corinthians 6:7). The quadrangular adornment, supported on both sides by nests, where the patriarchs of the same name were written on the stones, serves as a veil for the heart, and by this word teaches us that with these two nests he who repels the arrows of the evil one will adorn his own soul with all the virtues of the patriarchs, when each of them shines with his splendor on the robe of virtue. And let the appearance of the quadrangle be for you an indication of the need to remain firmly in the good, because such an outline, with straight sides, equally resting on the angles, is with difficulty transformed into another form. The tethers with which these ornaments were fastened to the shoulders, in my opinion, serve as a command to take care of a lofty life, to consider oneself obliged to add to the contemplative wisdom also the active, so that the heart would serve as a sign of contemplation, and ramen as a sign of deeds. And the head, adorned with withering, signifies the crown prepared for those who have lived well, and it is adorned with mysterious inscriptions imprinted on a golden nest.

Shoes are not put on the one who is clothed in such adornment, so that he is not burdened in the procession, and does not find it difficult to move by putting on dead skins, but with the understanding that was instilled in him when he looked at the mountain. Therefore, how could shoes become an adornment for the foot, being rejected at the first secret action, as an obstacle to ascent?

And he who has ascended to such a height, by the ascents we have seen in order, bears in his hands the divinely created tablets, which bear the Divine law, but are themselves broken, crushed by the fierce stubbornness of those who have sinned. The sin consisted in making an idol, in the form of a calf, this idol fashioned to idolaters. Moses, having turned it into powder, dissolved everything in water, and made it a drink for sinners, in order to destroy that substance by all means. which has served the wickedness of men. Moreover, at that time, history prophetically proclaimed what is happening now, in our times. For all idolatrous charm has been completely destroyed, having been destroyed by the lips of the pious, who by good confession have accomplished in themselves the destruction of the impious substance; and the sacraments instituted by idolaters of old have become truly fleeting and unrealizable water, destroyed by the very lips that once gave themselves over to idolatry. For when you see that those who were formerly subject to such vanity now destroy and destroy the idols in which they had hope, will it not also seem to you that history clearly cries: every idol will one day be swallowed up by the lips of those who have been changed from delusion to godliness?

Moses arms the Levites against his fellow tribesmen. and they, having passed the camp from one end to the other, indiscriminately slay those they meet, leaving to the edge of the sword the decision of the fate of those who are slain; Whomever they came across, they put to death alike, not distinguishing between the people being killed, not paying attention to whether anyone was an enemy or a friend, a stranger or a stranger, a relative or a stranger: but there was one direction of the hand, equally and equally directed at everyone they met. And the story of this can serve as the following useful lesson for us: since all the whole people contrived to do a bad deed, and the whole army participated in sin as one man, so the scourge smites them without distinction. As he who strikes a man caught in a sin puts a whip on any part of the body, knowing that the pain felt in one member is communicated to the whole body: so, since in this body, which had decided to sin, each member was punished in the same way, the whip turned into parts made the whole chaste. Therefore, if sometimes equal sin is seen in many, the wrath of God does not act on all, but only on some; then this must be understood in such a way that God, out of love for mankind, corrects what has been done, and although not all bear the blows, nevertheless all are chaste, and turn away from sin by partial blows. But this is only the historical meaning of what is written, and the applicable meaning can benefit us in the following way: the lawgiver in the general sermon says to all: "He who is the Lord's, come to me" (Exodus 32:26), that is, such is the voice of the law, commanding all: whoever wants to be a friend of God, let him be a friend to me, the law; for he is a friend of the law, of course, and a friend of God. And to those who have gathered to him after such a sermon he gives the command to act with the sword against brother and friend, and neighbor. Looking at the sequence of this review, we understand it thus: everyone who thinks about God and the law is purified by killing in himself what he has appropriated for his own evil. For not every brother, friend and neighbor is well understood in the Scriptures: but there is another brother and stranger, friend and enemy, neighbor and adversary. By these names we understand our eternal thoughts, of which life makes our death, and death our life. Such a concept agrees with what has already been said in the study of Aaron, when, because of his assistance to Moses, they presented him as a champion, a guardian angel, working signs to frighten the Egyptians, who justly had the right both to the name of the elder, because the angelic and bodiless nature was created before our nature, and to the name of a brother in the affinity of the imaginary angelic nature with our imaginary nature.

And since there is an objection: how can it be supposed that the assistance of Aaron, who became a servant for the Israelites in the creation of the idol, was for the better, our word, and mentioning this above, explained somewhat the similarity of the brotherhood, namely, that not the same thing is always signified by one and the same saying, when one name is taken in opposite concepts. Other's brother, who destroys the Egyptian tormentor, and Other, too, who makes an idol for the Israelites, although both have the same name. Against such brothers Moses draws his sword. For what he commands others to do, he also legitimizes to himself in the same way. And the murder of such a brother is the annihilation of sin. For everyone who has destroyed the evil that has established itself in someone by the advice of the adversary, and has killed in himself this evil that once lived by sin. Let such an opinion about this prevail in us, if we take something else from history for this review. For it is said that, according to the command of this Aaron, the Israelites were to rob themselves of "earrings" (Exodus 32:2), and that their robbery served as a substance for the idol. Therefore, what shall we say? That Moses adorned the ears of the Israelites with earrings, that is, the law, and the falsely named brother takes away the adornment given to the ear, and makes an idol out of it. And during the initial invasion of sin, there was a kind of taking away of the earrings – the advice to disobey the commandment. Can the serpent be considered a friend and neighbor of the first-created, advising, as something useful and good, to depart from God's command? This means to take away from the ear the "earrings" of the commandments. For this reason, he who kills such brothers, friends and neighbors will hear from the law these words, according to the story of history, pronounced by Moses to such murderers: "Today dedicate your hands to the Lord, each in his son and brother, that He may send you a blessing today" (Exodus 32:29).

But it seems opportune to enter into this word by remembering those who have committed sin; in order to find out how the God-created tablets, on which the divine law was inscribed, fell from Moses' hands to the ground, and were crushed by the stubbornness of the earth, Moses brings again, no longer exactly the same, but only with the same inscriptions on them. For having taken tablets from the substance below, He offered to the power of Him Who inscribes the law on them. And thus invokes grace, bearing the law on stone boards, after God Himself has carved the words on the stone; for it is also possible for those who are guided by them to come to the understanding of God's providence for us. For if the divine Apostle is true, who calls "the tablets of the heart" (2 Corinthians 3:3), that is, the dominion of the soul; Without a doubt, he who searches the depths of God with the spirit is true: then it can be consistently learned from this that human nature, created by God's hands and adorned with the unwritten marks of the law, was in the beginning indestructible and immortal; for naturally there was in us a will in accordance with the law, which is manifested in the abhorrence of evil, and in the veneration of the Divine. But when the voice of sin touched us, which in the first scripture is called the voice of the serpent, and in the history of the tablets the voice of those singing of wine (Exodus 32:18), then, falling to the ground, our nature is crushed. But the true Lawgiver, whose prototype was Moses, again poured out the tablets of our nature from our land. For it was not marriage that made Him divine flesh, but He Himself becomes the stonecutter of His own flesh, which is written with the Divine finger. "The Holy Spirit" descended upon the Virgin, and "the power of the Most High" overshadowed Her (Luke 1:35). nature again acquired indestructibility, made immortal by the marks of the finger. In many places of Scripture, the Holy Spirit is called the finger. And in this way the glorification of Moses is accomplished to such an extent and to such a degree, that the manifestation of this glory has become incomprehensible to the lower eye. Whoever has studied the Divine mystery of our faith undoubtedly knows how much this higher view agrees with history. For the Restorer of the broken tablet of our nature (you will undoubtedly understand in what has been said Him Who healed our brokenness), inasmuch as He has again raised the broken tablet of our nature into the ancient babbling, as it is said, adorning it with the Divine finger, becomes already incomprehensible to the eyes of the unworthy, having become unapproachable to those who look upon Him by the superiority of glory. For in truth, "when He comes," as the Gospel says, "in His glory, and all the angels with Him" (Matt. 25:31), and for the righteous it will hardly be comprehensible and visible: but the wicked and the Judaizer, as Isaiah says, will remain uninvolved in this vision. "Let the wicked be taken," he says, "that he may not see the glory of the Lord" (Isaiah 26:10). But we have introduced this into our discourse, following the order of what has been considered in relation to the higher view of this passage; now let us return to what follows.

Why does he, of whom the Divine voice testifies that in many Theophany he clearly saw God, namely, when he says: "Face to face, as a man were talking to his friend" (Exodus 33:11), in all this, as having not yet been vouchsafed that which, according to the testimony of the Scriptures, should be recognized as vouchsafed, beseeches God to reveal Himself to him (13); as if He who had always appeared was not yet visible to them? And the voice from above, although it now agrees to yield to the desire of the supplicant, and does not even renounce the addition of this grace to him, nevertheless it still leads to despair, declaring that what he asks is incomprehensible for human life. But there is, says God, a certain place "with Me," and in that place there is a stone, and in the stone there is a "cleft," in which He commands Moses to dwell. Then God lays His hand on the mouth of the cleft, passes by, and Moses sees the "behind" of the Commander, and remains in the thought that he saw, what he asked for, and that the promise of the Divine voice is not false (21-23).

If we look at this with the letter, then the meaning for those who seek it will not only remain obscure, but even impure because of the perverse concept of God. For only that which is represented in the outline has both the front and the back: and every outline is the limit of the body: so that he who represents God in the outline does not recognize Him as free from the corporeal nature: but every body is undoubtedly complex: but the complex has its composition from the combination of heterogeneities; and no one will say of the composite that it is not decomposable; but that which is decayed cannot be incorruptible: for corruption is the corruption of the composite. Therefore, if anyone understands "the back of God" literally, then he will be consistently and necessarily brought to this absurdity, because the front and the back, without a doubt, are in outline, and the outline is in the body; but the body is decomposable and decomposes by its own nature; since everything complex is decomposable; but that which is decayed cannot be incorruptible. Therefore, whoever slavishly follows the letter, according to the necessary connection of concepts, will allow corruption in God. But God is incorruptible and incorporeal. Wherefore what sense befits what is written, except that which appears at first sight? If, however, in connection with speech, this part of what is written compels us to seek another meaning, then of course we must also understand the whole. For what we understand in a part, we necessarily accept the whole as such.

Thus, the place with God, and the stone in that place, and the place in the stone which is called the cleft, and the entry of Moses into it, and the laying on of the hand of God at the mouth, and the passing by, and the proclamation, and after this the vision of the "behind" will be considered more thoroughly according to the law of raising meaning to a higher view. Therefore, what is depicted by this? As bodies ready to fall, as soon as they acquire a certain tendency to roll according to inclination, although after the first movement no one will compel them again, they rush down of their own accord with a strong impulse, while their path is sloping and inclined downwards, and there is nothing that would stop their striving by a contrary movement: so, in spite of this, the soul that has renounced earthly addiction, becomes a rushing mountain and swift in this movement upward, soaring from below to the heights. And since nothing from above stops its striving (the nature of good draws to itself those who lift up their eyes to it), then, of course, it constantly becomes higher and higher than itself, according to the desire of heaven, as the Apostle says, stretching out to the "first" (Phil. 3:13), and will always soar to the highest. For because of what has already been acquired, desiring not to leave unattained the higher height, it continually continues the striving for the things above, thereby in which it has succeeded, constantly renewing the effort to fly. For the activity of virtue alone nourishes the strength of work, not weakening, but increasing by deeds the tension towards it. Therefore we say that Moses, who was always great, does not stop in the slightest in his ascent, does not set himself any limit in striving for the things above: but once he has stepped on the ladder, on which, as Jacob says, "God is established" (Gen. 23:13), he constantly ascends to the highest and highest step, and does not cease to rise; because even at the height he always finds a step that is higher than the one he has reached. he becomes the avenger of the Jew; he moved to live in the wilderness, which was not disturbed by human life; shepherds within herself a flock of meek animals, sees the radiance of light; after taking off his shoes, he makes the ascent to the light unburdensome; is chosen for the liberation of a kindred and tribal people; sees a drowning enemy, covered with waves; it is located in a camp under a cloud; quenches thirst with a stone; in heaven he cultivates bread; then with the upliftment of his hands he overcomes the foreigner; hears the sound of the trumpet; enters the darkness; penetrates into the sanctuary of the tabernacle not made with hands; he studies the mysteries of the divine priesthood: he destroys the idol, propitiates the Godhead; renews the law, crushed by the sin of the Jews, shines with glory, and being exalted to such heights, still burns with lust, insatiably seeks more, and what he has always had in power, he still thirsts for it; and as one who has not received Communion until then, he seeks to improve this, asking God to reveal Himself to him, not only to the extent that he can contain, but as God is in Himself. It seems to me that it is inherent in the soul to feel this. which is filled with a kind of flaming love disposition for the beautiful in nature, and which hope always draws from the beauty it sees to the higher beauty, which is constantly acquired, always kindling in it a desire for the unseen. Why does a strong lover of beauty, constantly taking what he sees for the image of the desired, desires to be satiated with the vision of the distinctive features of the prototype? It is this that expresses this bold and overstepping the bounds of lust petition to enjoy beauty, not with the help of any mirrors, or in images, but face to face. The Divine voice gives what is asked, in the very refusal in a few utterances showing some immeasurable depth of concepts. For the generosity of God deigned to fulfill the desire of Moses; but she did not promise him any comfort and satiation in this desire. God would not have shown Himself to His servant if the visible things were such as could appease the lust of the beholder. This is the true vision of God, that he who looks to Him never ceases to lust. God says: "Man cannot see Me and live" (Exodus 33:20). And this word does not show that the sight of the face of God becomes the guilt of death for those who behold it (how is it possible for the face of life to ever become the guilt of death for those who approach?); but since, although the Godhead is life-giving by nature, nevertheless the distinguishing mark of the Divine nature is that He is above all that is distinguished by attributes; then he who thinks that God is something knowable, having deviated from that which exists to that which is recognized as existing in a conception capable of containing it, has no life in himself. For what truly exists is true life: and this is not accessible to knowledge. Therefore, if the life-giving nature exceeds knowledge, then what is comprehended is undoubtedly not life: and what is not life does not have the property of becoming life-communicating. Therefore what Moses desires is not fulfilled in that in which lust is unfulfillable. For by what has been said he learns that the Godhead, by His nature, is indefinable, incomprehensible to any limit. And if the Godhead could be represented in any limit; then, of necessity, together with the limit, what is beyond it would also be conceived, because what is enclosed in the limits, without a doubt, ends in something; as the limit for those who live on land is air, and for those who live in water is water. Wherefore, just as the fish in all its boundaries is encompassed by water, and the bird by air, the medium of water for the swimmer, and the medium of the air for the flying, is the extreme surface of the limit, encompassing both the bird and the fish, followed by either water or air: thus, if the Godhead is to be represented in the limit, it is necessary for Him to be encompassed by something foreign in nature, and the encompassing, as the sequence of the speech shows, many times superior to the contents. But it is recognized that the Godhead is naturally beautiful; and that which is heterogeneous with the beautiful is, of course, something other than the beautiful, and that which is outside of the beautiful is contained in the nature of evil. And it has been proved that the encompassing is many times greater than the encompassing. Therefore, those who think that the Godhead is enclosed within limits must necessarily agree that He is embraced by evil. And as the encompassing is always diminished before the encompassing nature, so the predominance of the abundance should take place. Thus, he who encloses the Divinity within any limit admits the possibility of the opposite prevailing over the beautiful. But this is ridiculous. Therefore, let no comprehension of the invisible nature be understood. The incomprehensible does not tend to be embracing. On the contrary, any desire for beauty, attracted to this ascent, always grows along with the desired march to the beautiful. And this means in the true sense to see God, never to find satisfaction with one's lust. But whoever sees as soon as he can see, must constantly burn with a desire to see more. And thus no limit will stop the increase in the ascent to God, because no limit is found for the beautiful, and no satiety can stop the growing desire for the beautiful.

But what is this place understood by God? What kind of stone is this? And what is the capacity in the stone again? What kind of hand is this that covers the mouth of the cave in the stone? What kind of God's passing by is this? what is the back of God, the vision of which God promises to give to Moses, who asked to see face to face? Without a doubt, all this, taken separately, must be something great and worthy of the greatness of the Giver, so that this promise may be recognized as more majestic and higher than any manifestation of God that has already been a great servant. Therefore, how then will anyone understand that height from what has been said? on which Moses, after so many ascents, still desires to ascend; and He Himself, "who loves God, works together all things for good" (Rom. 8:28), under His guidance facilitates the ascent? "This is my place," says God (Exodus 33:21). With what was explained in this view before, perhaps the following concept agrees. Having indicated the place, God does not limit what is indicated by quantity (for there is no measure for the non-quantitative), but by keeping silent about the outline in relation to the measure, He leads the listener to the infinite and immeasurable. Wherefore the word, it seems to me, expresses a certain thought: since thou hast a constant desire to stretch out before and hast no satiety in the course of thy course, thou knowest no satisfaction with good, but thy desire is always to strive for more, then I have such a place that it is never possible for him who passes through it to cease his flow. But this current in another sense is standing. For God says: "Stand on this rock" (Exodus 33:21). And the strangest thing is that both standing and moving are one and the same. Whoever ascends, of course, is not worthwhile; and he who stands does not ascend. And here the very standing becomes an ascent. This means that the more one remains firm and immutable, the more successfully he performs the course of virtue. And whoever is inconstant and inclined in his thoughts, does not stand firm in goodness, but "wanders and wanders," as the Apostle says (Ephesians 4:14), shaken and crushed by assumptions and doubts about what exists, will never ascend to the height of virtue; just as those who go to the elevation on the sand, although they apparently cross a great space with their feet, labor in vain; for the feet always slide on the sand to the bottom; so that, although motion is made, there is no forward movement in motion. But if anyone, as the Psalmody says, having taken his feet out of the deep mud, has set them "on a rock" (Psalm 39:3), then the rock is Christ, the all-perfect virtue, then... the more firmly he is set up in goodness and "does not move," according to the advice of Paul (1 Corinthians 15:58), the more easily he makes the flow, as if with some wings, taking advantage of this standing, and firmness in goodness wings the heart to the march of the mountain.

Wherefore He who showed Moses the place stirred him up to the stream by the race, and by promising to stand on the rock, he showed him the way of the divine flow. The receptacle in the stone, which in the Scriptures is called a cleft, was beautifully interpreted by the divine Apostle in his own words, saying that to those who destroy the earthly tabernacle, "the temple of heaven not made with hands" is observed in hope (2 Corinthians 5:1). For truly, whoever, as the Apostle says, "has completed the course" in this broad and extensive field, which in the Divine Scriptures is called a place, and "has kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7), or, as it is said mysteriously, has set his feet "on a rock": the hand of the Founder of the podvig will adorn him with a crown of righteousness. But such a reward is called differently in the Scriptures. For one and the same thing is here called a cleft of the stone; and in other places the sweetness of paradise (Gen. 3:23), eternal shelter (Lk. 16:9), the abode of the Father (Jn. 14:2), the bosom of the patriarch (Lk. 16:22), the land of the living (Psalm 114:8), the still water (Psalm 22:2), the highest Jerusalem (Gal. 4:26), the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 7:21), the honor of calling (Phil. 3:14), the crown of graces (Prov. 1:9), the crown of kindness (Wis. 5:17), the pillar of strength (Ps. 60:4), the joy of the table, sitting with God, the throne of judgment (Psalm 9:8), a great place (Isaiah 56:5), and a secret dwelling (Psalm 26:9). Therefore we affirm that those who count here the entry of Moses into the stone have the same idea. Since in Paul Christ is understood by the stone; all the hope of good things, as we believe, is in Christ, in whom, as we have come to know, the treasures of good things; then abiding in any good, of course in Christ, Who contains in Himself all good.