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.

And whoever has attained this, and is covered by the hand of God, as the word has proclaimed (and the hand of God is the power that builds up beings, the Only-begotten God, "in whom all things were" (John 1:3), Who also serves as a place for those who make a flow, as a way of their flow, according to His own word (John 14:6), but for those who are established he becomes a stone, and for those who are at rest a house): then he will hear him who calls, and he will be behind him who calls, that is, he will follow the Lord God, as the law commands. Hearing this, the great David understood, and he who dwells under the shelter of the Most High rests under the shadow of the Almighty, said: "With His feathers He will overshadow you, and under His wings you will be safe" (Psalm 90:1, 4); and this also means to be behind God; because the shoulder belongs to the back parts. And David cries out for himself: "My soul is cleaved to Thee; Thy right hand sustains me" (Psalm 62:9). You see how psalmody agrees with history. As David speaks of the perception by the right hand of the one who clings to God; so also there the hand touches the voice of God in the stone, waiting for permission, to follow behind. And the Lord, who then spoke to Moses, became the fulfillment of his own law; In a similar way He expounds to His disciples, revealing the clear meaning of what He said mysteriously: "Whosoever will come after Me, and not before Me," says He (Luke 9:23). And he offers the same to him who begs for eternal life. For He says: "Come, and follow Me" (Mark 10:21). But the one who follows sees the "back". Wherefore Moses, impatiently desirous of seeing God, now learns how to see God; namely, that to follow in the footsteps of God, wherever He leads, is to look to God, because the passing of God means the guidance of the one who follows in the footsteps. Therefore, the guide, by the very thing that precedes the one who follows in the footsteps, shows him the way. And he who follows in the wake does not turn away from the straight path, when he constantly sees the rear leader. For whoever in motion turns aside, or directs his gaze to see the leader in the face, paves for himself a different path than that indicated by the leader. For this reason God says to him who is guided: "But My face shall not be visible to [thee]" (Exodus 33:23), that is, do not stand face to face before the one who leads: for thy march will certainly be in the opposite direction: the good does not look at the face of the good, but follows him. That which is presented in opposition face to face is opposed to the good. For vice looks contrary to virtue: but virtue does not appear face to face as opposed to virtue. Therefore Moses does not look in the face of God, but sees behind Him. And whoever looks in the face will not live, as the Divine voice testifies: "A man cannot see the face of the Lord, and remain alive" (20). You see how important it is to learn how to follow God, namely, after these lofty ascents, after the terrible and glorious manifestations of God, only at the end of life is he who has learned to stand behind God is hardly worthy of this grace. Whoever walks in the footsteps of God in this way no longer encounters any encounter with vice.

After this, envy of the brethren is engendered towards him: envy is the beginning of harmful passions, the father of death, the first door to sin, the root of vice, the offspring of sorrow, the mother of misfortunes, the cause of disobedience, the beginning of shame. Envy drove us out of paradise, becoming a serpent before Eve; envy barred access to the tree of life, and stripped us of our sacred garments, and because of shame led us to the branches of the fig tree. Envy armed Cain against nature, and produced a "sevenfold" avenging death (Gen. 4:15). Envy made Joseph a slave. Envy is a deadly sting, a hidden weapon, a disease of nature, a bile poison, voluntary exhaustion, a cruelly stabbing arrow, a nail for the soul, a fire under the heart, a flame that burns the intestines. For envy, failure is not one's own evil, but someone else's good; and on the contrary, good luck is also for her, not her own good, but the bad of her neighbor. Envy is tormented by the success of people, and laughs at their misfortunes. It is said that vultures that feed on dead bodies die from the world; for their nature is akin to that which is stinking and corrupt. And he who is possessed by this disease, with the prosperity of his friends, as if from the touch of some world, perishes. If, however, he sees any suffering as a consequence of calamity, he flies to the sufferer, imposes his crooked beak, extracting with it the innermost causes of failure. Many before Moses were overcome by envy. But when he is confronted by this great man, like some clay statue striking a stone, he crushes himself. For in this, moreover, was the benefit of the walk with God, which was performed by Moses, who flowed through God's place, who stood on a rock, who was accommodated in its cleft, who was covered by God's hand, who followed in the footsteps of the leader; not in his face, but seeing from behind. Wherefore, that he has become as good as possible, he proves this by the fact that he follows in the footsteps of God, and moreover is higher than the flight of an arrow thrown from a bow; for envy shoots an arrow at him, but its flight does not reach the height at which Moses was. The string of deceit was not able to shoot passion at Moses with such force, so that it would first reach him from those who were sick with it. But although Aaron and Miriam were wounded by the Passion of slanderous (Num. 12:1), and become as it were a kind of bow of envy, striking him with a word instead of arrows, yet Moses is so far from communing with them in his illness that he even heals those who are sick with this passion, not only remaining immovable to punish those who have offended them, but also propitiating God for them, thereby what I did, showing, as I think, that he who is well guarded by the shield of virtue will not be stung by the points of arrows; because the hardness of the armament blunts the point and reflects the arrows back. The weapon that protects against such arrows is God Himself, in Whom the warrior of virtue is clothed. For it is said: "Put on the whole armor of God" (Rom. 13:14). Here is the indestructible armor with which, protecting himself, Moses made the evil archer ineffective. Thus did Moses take possession of a softening attraction to those who had offended him; he knew what was just by nature, and moreover in relation to those condemned at an impartial trial, but he became a man of prayer for the brethren before God. And he would not have done this if he had not been behind God, Who showed him the "back" for the safe driving of the path of virtue.

And such is the rest that follows. Since the natural enemy of men had no opportunity to harm Moses; then he turns his weapon on those who are easier for him to catch. And as if with some arrow, having shot the passion of gluttony into the people, he set them up in the desire for food to be like the Egyptians, preferring the eating of Egyptian meat to heavenly food. But a man of high soul, who exalts himself above such a passion, was wholly devoted to the future inheritance, which God had promised to those who were transmigrated from the Egypt of thought, and who were marching into that land, in which floweth milk mingled with honey. For this reason he makes spies a kind of instructors, announcing the blessings of this land. And these spies, in my reasoning, could be those who give good hopes, that is, thoughts born of faith, confirming in hope for the good things that are in store: thus leading to despair in good hopes, that is, thoughts inspired by the adversary, weakening faith in the promises. But Moses, paying no attention to those who oppose him, acknowledges as faithful the one who proclaims the best of this land. And the one who confirmed his faithfulness to what was proclaimed was the leader of the best spying, Jesus. Looking at it, Moses had firm hopes for the future, considering the bunch of grapes brought by Jesus on "poles" (Num. 13:24) as a sign of the abundance there. And when you hear about Jesus describing this land, and seeing a cluster hung on a tree, you will certainly turn your thoughts to Him to which he, too, gazing, was strengthened in hope. For the bunch that hangs on the tree, Who else but the Bunch that was hung on the tree in the last days, whose blood became a saving drink for believers?

After Moses has mysteriously prophesied to us: "the blood of the grapes" (Deut. 32:14), which indicates salvific suffering, the journey through the wilderness continues again, and the people, despairing of the promised blessings, languish in thirst. But Moses again floods the wilderness with stone for them. And let such a word, with a speculative view, teach us what the sacrament of repentance is. For after a single taste of water from the stone, those who turn to the belly and flesh and to the pleasures of Egypt are condemned to the famine of thoughts about the communion of good things. But it is possible for them to regain the stone that they have left behind by means of repentance, to open the stream of water again, to quench their thirst again with the moisture that the stone gives to him who believes that the contemplation of Jesus is truer than the contemplation of those who oppose him, who looks at the Grapes, having drained blood for us and is stained with blood, who again made the stone pour out water for them with a tree. However, the people have not yet learned to follow in the footsteps of the magnanimity of Moses, they are still carried away by slavish lusts, inclined to Egyptian pleasures. History shows by their example several that human nature is most inclined to such a passion, and that a thousand paths lead to this disease. Why did Moses, like a kind of physician who always knows how to overcome passion with the help of art, not allow illness to prevail over them even unto death? The desire for the inappropriate gave birth to serpents for them, and remorse imparted deadly poison to those who were bitten: but the great lawgiver, in the likeness of a serpent, brought to naught the power of real serpents.

But the time is already more clearly to reveal this riddle. The only cure for these evil passions is the purification of our souls, accomplished by the sacrament of piety. The main thing that is accepted by faith in the sacrament is the view of the suffering of Him who suffered for us. Suffering is the cross; wherefore he who looks to Him, as the Scripture relates, suffers no harm from the poison of lust. To look at the cross means to make one's whole life as if dead and crucified to the world, to remain immovable to all sin, as the Prophet says, "to those who have nailed their flesh to the fear of God" (Psalm 118:120). Wherefore, since the lust of the unseemly draweth deadly serpents out of the earth (for every offspring of evil lust is a serpent); therefore the law foretells us what is manifested on the tree: and this is the likeness of the serpent, and not the serpent, as the divine Paul says: "in the likeness of sinful flesh for a sacrifice for sin" (Rom. 8:3). And the true serpent is sin; whoever has given himself over to sin is clothed with the nature of a serpent. For this reason man is freed from sin by Him Who took upon Himself the likeness of sin, by Him Who became like us, turned into His own form of a serpent, by Him Who makes remorse not fatal, but does not destroy the serpents themselves. And I call lusts serpents. For those who look at the cross are not affected by evil death; but the remaining lust of the flesh for the spirit did not completely bend in them. And in the faithful often the pang of lust is at work; but whoever looks at the Ascended One on the tree drives away passion from him, with the fear of the commandment, as if by some kind of medicine, having dispersed the power of poison. And that the serpent lifted up in the wilderness is a sign of the sacrament of the cross, this is clearly taught by the word of God when He says: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14).

Sin, in some sequence for our evil, goes still further along the path peculiar to it, as if in an uninterrupted chain stretching forward. And the lawgiver, like a kind of physician, extends his healing along with the desire for evil. Since the remorse of serpents has become invalid for those who look at the likeness of a serpent (no doubt you understand what is said mysteriously); then another method of sin is devised by those who contrive against us in various ways to do this, as it can now be seen done in many. Others, when they curb the passion of lust by a chaste life, arbitrarily invade the priesthood, by human intrigues and efforts to appropriate to themselves ordination, insulting God's economy. And to this evil following of sin is brought the one who is accused by history, that he inspires evil in people. When the earth, through faith in Him who was lifted up on the tree, ceased to give birth to serpents as a punishment for the lustful, and became convinced that poisonous remorse would not harm them, then the disease of pride enters into those who have been freed from the passion of lust. Recognizing that it is inferior to keep the rank in which they have been ordained, they themselves intrude into the dignity of the priesthood, trying to expel from it those who have accepted this ministry from God; they perished, swallowed up by the open earth; and what remained on the ground of such a crowd was burned by lightning. And the Scriptures, I think, teach by this narration that the end of prideful exaltation is the descent into hell. And on this basis, perhaps, another does not unjustly define pride by descending to the valley. If, according to the assumption of many, the thought of this inclines to the opposite, do not be amazed at this; for it seems to many that the word pride means to be above others. But the truth of what is narrated confirms our definition. For if those who are exalted above others have descended in the yawning of the land that has been raised; then no one will condemn the definition according to which pride is a fall into the lowest countries. Moses teaches those who look at this to be modest and not to be exalted by arrogance, but always to dispose well of the present. For for the reason that you have become above voluptuousness, you no longer have the right to unconsciously indulge in another kind of passion. Any passion, as long as there is a passion, is a fall; but in the replacement of passions by one another, there is no difference in falls. Whoever creeped from the slippery pleasures fell; and whoever stumbled through pride also fell. He who has reason will not choose for himself any kind of fall, but must equally avoid any fall as long as it is a fall. Why, if even now you see someone who, on the one hand, is free from the disease of voluptuousness, but, trying to show that he is superior to others, intrudes into the priesthood; then imagine of him that you see him from the height of pride falling into hell.

For in the following law he teaches that the priesthood is a divine inheritance, and not a human one, and teaches this thus: Moses places the rods of each tribe with the names of those who gave them, so that the rod, distinguished from the others by some divine miracle, may become a testimony of ordination from above. And since this was fulfilled, the rods of the other tribes remained the same as they were, but the rod of the priest, rooted in itself, not from any foreign moisture, but by the divine power invested by him, brought forth a branch and fruit; and the fruit came to maturity; and the fruit was a nut; then after the completion of this, all those subject to Moses learned the deanery. On account of the fruit brought forth by the priest's staff, it is necessary to come to the thought of how abstinent, strict, and severe the life in the priesthood must be according to its outward behavior, and inwardly, secretly and invisibly, what nourishment it contains, what is revealed in the nut when the nutritious matures in time, the hard shell disintegrates, and this woody cover on the nutritious fruit will be broken. But if you learn that the life of a so-called priest is like an apple, fragrant, blossoming like a rose (very many of them adorn themselves with fine linen and scarlet, fattening themselves with expensive things, drinking "wine from cups, anointing yourselves with the best ointments" (Amos 6:6), and everything that seems sweet only at the first taste is recognized as necessary for a pleasant life); then it will be beautiful to say to you the word of the Gospel: I see the fruit, and by the fruit I do not recognize the tree of the priesthood. The fruit of the priesthood is different; and this is different; that fruit is abstinence; and this one is luxury; he is not fattened by earthly moisture; and to this many streams of pleasure flow from the lower places, with the help of which the ripe fruit of life glows with such beauty.