On Christ and the Jewish Synagogue

1. In many ways the unfortunate Jews can be exposed for using their unbridled and coarse tongue against Christ. And that such a deed did not go unpunished for them, everyone can see from what happened to them. For Israel, the firstborn, and therefore of great glory, beloved and chosen, is placed behind the Gentiles, and has found herself in the latter, and even more, has been cast into all kinds of calamities. And this the Lord foretold them, saying through Hosea: "Woe to them, for they have departed from me; Destruction to them, because they have fallen from Me! I saved them, and they spoke lies against Me (Hosea 7:13). For there is no such absurdity in words as they would not dare to say against Him. They slandered, not thinking about what was written: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat of its fruits" (Proverbs 18:21). But when they were mad against Him, they used their unbridled tongue also to slander Him, as I said not long ago. And therefore they have fallen away from hope in Him, and to this day they have not heard him who says: "This is thy lot, the portion that is measured out to thee from Me, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 13:25). That they were to be accused of unbridled tongue, and that they were to suffer a heavy punishment for their foolishness against Christ, we can understand very well from what is written in the book of Numbers. And it is written thus: And Miriam and Aaron rebuked Moses for the wife of the Ethiopian, whom he had taken, for he had taken the Ethiopian woman, and said, Did the Lord speak to Moses alone? Did He not speak to us also? And the Lord heard [this]. Moses was the meekest man of all men on earth. And suddenly the Lord said to Moses, and to Aaron, and to Miriam, "Come out three of you to the tabernacle of meeting." And all three of them came out. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the entrance of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both went out. And he said, "Hear my words: if a prophet of the Lord is among you, I make myself known to him in a vision, I speak to him in a dream; but not so with my servant Moses, for he is faithful in all my house: I speak to him with mouth to mouth, and openly, and not in divination, and he sees the image of the Lord; how then were you not afraid to rebuke my servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and He departed. And the cloud departed from the tabernacle, and behold, Miriam was covered with leprosy as with snow. Aaron looked at Miriam, and behold, she was leprosy. And Aaron said to Moses, My lord! do not make it a sin for us that we have acted foolishly and sinned; do not allow her to be like a stillborn [child], whose half body has already decayed when it comes out of its mother's womb. And Moses cried out 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?" therefore she shall be imprisoned seven days outside the camp, and then return again. And Miriam remained imprisoned outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not depart until Miriam returned (Num. 12:1-15). In this way, too, this is akin to what has already been said, because it is not far removed from the contemplation contained therein, on the contrary, it has a thought that is close and akin to it. For this also speaks of the mystery of Christ, and exposes the disgrace of the Jewish synagogue in that with which it went mad against Christ. Only the type of sin differs in part, as it were. For there the synagogue suffered from leprosy and was unclean, corrupting itself through many and various falls; here our word depicts the guilt of foolishness alone 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 lowly in heart" (Matt. 11:29). This is also indicated by the love of humanity of the righteous Judge, who does not bring complete and boundless wrath upon sinners, but after defeat heals, saves and makes them healthy. To say it briefly, then, and in a few words at all, is the purpose of what we have supposed. Examining each detail of what has been said in order, we will reveal the meaning contained in it, and the door to the word will be opened by God, Who says to those who trust in Him: "And I will give you the treasures that are kept in darkness and the hidden riches (Isaiah 45:3).

2. So Aaron and Miriam entered into a disputation with the all-wise Moses for the sake of the Ethiopian wife whom he had taken, and said, "Did the Lord speak to Moses alone?" Did He not speak to us also? (Num. 12:2.) Two accusations were made against Moses by their idle talk: first, that he, I say, took an Ethiopian woman; and the second, in addition to this, is expressed in the words: "Did the Lord speak to Moses alone?" Did He not speak to us also? In the first case, he is accused of a violation of the law; and in the second it is said that he should not be very exalted, that he does not possess any special grace in comparison with others, if God, it turns out, spoke to others as well. Let us speak in order, giving the first word to the first accusation; and, thus, what is contained in the images, let us again transfer to Christ Himself. And so, first Moses took a Midianite woman as his wife and made her his concubine, I mean the daughter of Jethro; after a long time, he married an Ethiopian woman, a foreigner and a black woman. Meanwhile, the Lawgiver clearly declared that the children of Israel should not mingle with foreigners at all. For it is written thus: "Thou shalt not give thy daughter in marriage to his son, neither shall thou take his daughters in marriage to thy son" (Deuteronomy 7:3; Exodus 34:16). It was in this, as in the transgression of the law, that the great Moses was judged by Aaron and Miriam, who did not understand worthily, 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, the essence of the matter being best transferred to Christ, Whom in this case also Moses represented in his person. For Christ is also one and mediator between God and men (1 Tim. 2:5), as undoubtedly he was; wherefore he signified unto us, saying, The Lord your God shall raise up unto you a prophet of your brethren, as unto me (Deuteronomy 18:15). Aaron can be taken as an image of the Jewish priesthood, and Miriam can depict the appearance of a synagogue (assembly). And so, the elders of the Jews also accused our Saviour Christ, and after them the synagogue itself; reproaching Him for transgressing the Divine commandments, since they said: "If this man had been of God, he would not have broken the Sabbath" (John 9:16). They gnashed their teeth also for something else, namely, because He chose a black Ethiopian woman for His bride, that is, the Church of the Gentiles, and in a certain way married her after the first, that is, the Israelite woman, who is again a synagogue. And that they gnashed their teeth on the occasion of the violation of their vainly observed customs, or what was spoken by Moses in types, this is not difficult to understand to 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 Gentiles, which was still black because of its darkness in knowledge and way of life, since it did not yet have the true light capable of making it light and white, anyone can very easily find proofs of this in the prophets. But it seems to me more appropriate to show this in the economy of our Saviour. He preached to the Samaritans of other tribes, and in them he lay, as it were, a certain beginning and foundation of the Church from the Gentiles (John 4:4 ff.). And that they were foreigners and strangers to the society of Israel, everyone can easily see from the following. Sending His disciples to proclaim the preaching of the Kingdom of Heaven, the Saviour says: "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter into the city of Samaritan; but go especially to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt. 10:5-6). Do you see how He has placed them outside the sheep of the house of Israel? And so, not yet having dissolved the marriage with the Israelite woman, that is, with the synagogue, and still pretending to be cohabiting with her, He had already become betrothed in some way and entered into marriage with a black foreigner, that is, with the Church of the Gentiles. Therefore, conversing with the Jews, He said: "I have other sheep that are not of this fold, and these I must bring: and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd" (John 10:16). And rebuking them still more severely as disobedient, when they plainly questioned him, saying, If thou art the Christ, tell us plainly (v. 24), Jesus answered them, "I have told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in the name of my Father, they bear witness to me. But you do not believe, for you are not of my sheep, as I told you (vv. 25-26). Now he calls the pagans his sheep. Greatly enraged and indignant at Him for this, as Him who loved foreigners and considered the Divine law to be nothing, the Jews mockingly said: "Do we not say the truth that Thou art a Samaritan, and that a demon is in Thee? (John 8:48). If Thou hadst not been of the same mind as the Samaritans, as they would have said, if Thou hadst not been a lover of the Greeks and of foreign nations, then Thou wouldst not have had any contact with the Gentiles. But the deeds committed by Christ were rather the fulfillment of the law, and not His transgression, according to what He Himself said: "I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill" (Matt. 5:17); for it was his work to change the letter of the law into truth. This was the form of the accusation for this black and the likeness of a crime in Christ, as in Moses. But let us cite a similar and related backbiting from the image, changing the meaning of what was said to the truth. Not alone, they objected, did the Lord speak to Moses alone? Did He not speak to us also? (Num. 12:2). These are words that come from pride, and words that come from empty arrogance. Rightly reasoning, they should not at all strive to rise to the same degree of height as the one who rightly heard the words: "Thou hast gained favor in My eyes" (Exodus 33:17); rather, they should have sent thanks to God for the gifts with which they themselves have been honored by Him, without transgressing the rank appointed for them from above, and without arrogating to themselves an honor not yet given to them, which in justice may be considered a sign of extreme arrogance. But on the other hand, now turn your thoughts to our Lord Jesus Christ, Who openly sets forth to the Jews the goal predestined for Him, and by His nature alone, from God and the Father, and says: For I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father who sent Me, He gave Me a commandment what to say and what to say (John 12:49; cf. 14:10). And again: "The words which I speak unto you are not mine, but of him that sent me" (John 14:10 and 24). Then pay attention to the lawless scribes and Pharisees, who are full of audacity, who excessively boast 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; Of this we do not know whence He comes (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 coarse terms: "Did God and the Father speak to Christ alone?" Did He not speak also to our fathers? that is, in Sinai. And the Lord heard [this]. Moses was the meekest man of all men on earth (Num. 12:2-3). Miriam and Aaron, it seems, from the meekness of Moses, deduced for themselves a case of arrogance. But for this, although he did not raise his voice, God was indignant and Himself moved to righteous anger against those who dared to offend His faithful servant by neglecting Himself, as if attributing this insult to Himself. In the same way, be wise about Christ. For because of His inherent meekness and love for mankind, the Pharisees were more inclined to despise. But it seems that it was not doubtful that they would not escape vengeance from above. As one who was offended in the Son, God and the Father could not bear this offense; for He knew without teaching, through divine omniscience, the words that came from the arrogance of the Pharisees.

3. Then follow these sayings: And suddenly the Lord said to Moses, and to Aaron, and to Miriam, "Come out three of you to the tabernacle of meeting." And all three of them came out. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the entrance of the tabernacle (Num. 12:4-5). These words again secretly indicate that God will be the Judge of those who speak against our Saviour Jesus Christ, and will certainly descend from heaven to punish those who dare to reproach Him and argue with Him in equal honor. Judgment in general will be carried out through the Son through the presence of Him Who begat Him inseparably with Him, as it is written: "I am in the Father, and the Father in Me" (John 14:10, cf. 10:38). And when Miriam and Aaron, who had sinned, stood before the righteous Judge, He said, And he said, Hear my words: If a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in a vision, I speak to him in a dream. but not so with my servant Moses, for he is faithful in all my house: I speak to him mouth to mouth, and openly, and not in divination, and he sees the image of the Lord (Num. 12:6-8). In these words it is pointed out that Moses had a special advantage over others, the vision of God, and it is well attested that he could hear the words of God especially closely. But you can see it even more truly in Christ. For God and the Father did not speak thus in the prophets as in the Son. To them was given knowledge of what they were to know through the Spirit, and this one, without instruction, knew the spiritual counsels of the Father, as Wisdom and the Counsel of the Parent. And the blessed prophets received the contemplation of His glory by means of obscure images, because no one has ever seen God (John 1:18); and He is contemplated by the one Son by nature, and thus can be understood in a divine way. And the Saviour Himself can be a witness to this, saying: "It is not that anyone has seen the Father, except Him who is of God; He saw the Father (John 6:46) For this reason the Jews imprudently, even moreover, impiously, exposing as their advantage what God spoke to their fathers, considered as nothing the words of Christ about what He spoke, what He heard from the Father (John 8:26). For the words spoken on Mount Sinai were shadows, images, and divination, containing a certain hidden and not very clear knowledge of what was commanded; Christ, on the other hand, was a self-hearer of the Father's words, if it is unavoidable necessity of reason that it can be said so simply. In addition, the word of God represents a great difference between Christ and all others. He is faithful in all my house, it is said (Num. 12:7; cf. Heb. 3:2). for the law saved only the house of Israel, but Christ did not save the whole world, through faith in Him, and with His blood, as it is written, redeemed God and the Father (Rev. 5:9; cf. 1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23, etc.). Wherefore it is said, Why were ye not afraid to reproach my servant Moses? (Num. 12:8). The same thing was said through the prophet of old to the impious Pharisees, because of their bold words against Christ and because of the unbridled tongue of their tongue: "You, sons of the sorceress, are the seed of the adulterer and the harlot! Who are you mocking? Against whom do you open your mouth, stick out your tongue? (Isaiah 57:3-4.) For the Pharisees, as if completely removing the bridle from their God-fighting tongue, uttered the most audacious blasphemy against Christ and, puffed up with excessive pride, spewed out words of madness; wherefore, being greatly grieved, the Psalmist says: "I say to the fools, 'Do not be fools,' and to the wicked, 'Do not lift up your horns, do not lift up your horns high, [do not] speak with a stiff-necked voice" (Psalm 74:5-6). Truly they were iniquious, impiously condemning that which they ought least to condemn, and they were exposed as lifting up a horn on high, when they did not agree that Christ alone knows the will of the Father, and when, moreover, they themselves asserted that they knew it, saying, as it was said before: "We know that God spoke to Moses" (John 9:10). 29) and thereby showing distrust of him. Meanwhile, at that time the cloud departed from the tabernacle of witness, and Miriam 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 impious insolence of the Jews against Christ, in some way flew away and withdrew from the synagogue, according to what Christ said: "I have left my house; hath forsaken my inheritance (Jeremiah 12:7). For the Lord, who came down in a pillar of cloud, departed again like a cloud, according to the image presented in the letter of the Scriptures. And after He had departed from the synagogue of the Jews, it immediately turned out to be unclean, and not only unclean, but having attained to extreme uncleanness; for when it is said that the leper has turned white, it means that the disease has reached the highest degree of intensity. And what can be whiter than snow? Naturally, it was even more necessary and indubitable that the Jewish synagogue, deprived of the care of the Saviour, should find itself in great calamity. In this way, the unbridled and mocking crowd of Jews is punished with uncleanness and dishonor, according to what the saints rightly said to God: "Fill their faces with dishonor, and let them know that Thou art Whose only name is the Lord" (Psalm 82:17-19). Further, Aaron, who accused Moses with Miriam, although he was guilty of the same punishment as her before the Judge, is justly not stricken with leprosy with her; for the office of the priesthood is honorable and great in the sight of God. That is why Aaron escaped the defeat of leprosy. But on the contrary, he was punished with sorrow for the leprosy sufferer, according to what God said: Gird yourselves [with sackcloth] and weep, O priests! Weep, servants of the altar! come in, sleep in sackcloth, servants of my God! for there is no grain offering or drink offering in the house of your God (Joel 1:13). And Aaron approached, saying to the wise Moses, "My lord! do not make it a sin for us that we have acted foolishly and sinned (Num. 12:11). For those who came from the tribe of Israel and were not strangers to the Jewish synagogue according to the flesh, but were appointed administrators of the sacraments of our Saviour, had to offer up prayers for those who sinned through ignorance, although in the beginning they fell with them. May they not fall into the wrath of the Father together with them, they beseech Christ, as Paul did, saying: Brethren! the desire of my heart and prayer to God for Israel for salvation (Romans 10:1). But this speaker was also the builder of the mysteries of God and the priest of Divine preaching, just as Aaron was at that time. When Moses cried out to God for the leper and begged him to heal her (Num. 12:13), God postpones his consent to this, saying: "Let her be imprisoned seven days outside the camp, and then return again" (v. 14).

4. These words again, as if in an image, show us that the Divine nature soon bows down to mercy and, according to a certain custom, is inclined to be implored; but often by the multitude or greatness of our sins it is delayed and deprives those guilty (of sin) of its love for mankind. But the same means, in our opinion, that many of the intercessions of the saints for Israel go back to God; However, it is impossible not to be punished by him, who is exposed in such great sins. For this reason God established mercy after the Judgment. And that God is often irritated by our falls, so that sometimes He postpones the application of mercy itself, which is most pleasing to Him, is not difficult to see from the following. When God revealed to the prophet Jeremiah through the Holy Spirit the time of the murder in the land of Judah, when the Babylonians were attacked by the law of war, and many had already fallen and were visible dead, He said to the holy prophet: "O woe is me! my soul faints before murderers.' Walk in the streets of Jerusalem, and see, and search, and search in the squares thereof, whether you will find a man who keeps the truth, who seeks the truth. I would have spared [Jerusalem]" (Jeremiah 4:31; 5:1). Do you see in these words how He is sick over the slain, and how willingly He is ready to have mercy on Jerusalem? But it is as if He Himself stops and postpones divine mercy because of the excessiveness of sin. Nevertheless, He seeks an opportunity for mercy, and at least for the sake of one righteous man He wants to put off His wrath; for He commands that those who wish should show Him at least one faithful man in the city. Thus, Miriam is expelled from the camp because of her leprosy. But it is said: "The people did not depart until Miriam returned" (Num. 12:15). For we, who believe in Christ, expect the cleansing of the Jews, that is, through faith. And thus, finally, leaving the tents of this life, let us return to the highest city and rush to the land of promise. Thus, the Saviour speaks the truth, addressing the following words to the Jews: "For if ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed me also, because he wrote of me" (John 5:46). Through Him and with Him to God and the Father be glory with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

About Those Who Spied the Land of Promise

1. Excellent is the inheritance of those who have decided to love the King of all, God. They are destined to possess goods that surpass the mind. The blessed prophet Isaiah can assure us of this, saying: "This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord" (Isaiah 54:17). And again: Thou shalt have joy in the Lord, and I will bring thee up to the high places of the earth, and will give thee to taste the inheritance of Jacob thy father: the mouth of the Lord hath spoken these things (Isaiah 58:14). Therefore the promise is true and in all respects certain; for they can never deviate from the truth, and lie to the mouth of God. In any case, He will fulfill the promise. And knowing this, the divine Psalmist thus says in one place: The Lord is a part of my inheritance and of my cup. Thou hast held my lot (Psalm 15:5). But who are these servants of the Lord, or to whom will such a glorious and worthy inheritance pass? These are those who strive to do what is pleasing to God, who unswervingly strive for all that is praiseworthy, who are ready to fight very lazily against every enemy, and who do not dare to do this by their own strength or skill, but as if they had a weapon in their hands, grace from above, and have God of all things as their leader and defender. For those who are so disposed, they say, For I do not trust in my bow, neither will my sword save me; but Thou shalt save us from our enemies, and put to shame them that hate us (Psalm 43:7-8). Good and bold, ready for faith, God especially distinguishes them, granting them blessings with a generous hand; but those who are afflicted with the most shameful vices and fall into disobedience, He will completely separate them from the flock of the elect and remove them from everything that brings joy. He will cry out to everyone in full righteousness: "This is a part of yours, a part of your disobedience against Me" (Isaiah 17:14; 57:6; Jeremiah 13:25). Such reproaches, as we shall see, will be subjected to the people of Judah. For this reason 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 (Romans 9:4). And because they did not listen to Him who called them to promises, they remained untouched by them, and, according to the word of the Saviour, they became the last first, and the first last (Matt. 20:16). And this was again foretold to us in the Old Testament Scriptures themselves. And it reads thus: After these things the people departed from Hazeroth, and stopped in the wilderness of Paran. And the LORD said to Moses, "Send men away from you, that they may look out for the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; Send one man from the tribe of their fathers, the chief among them. And Moses sent them out of the wilderness of Paran, at the command of the Lord, and they were all chief men of the children of Israel (Num. 13:1-4). And so, the men chosen from all the tribes, twelve in number, were singled out from among all the people and went out to carefully examine whether the land was fat or thin, 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 fruit, and whether it can, with some care, be a fruitful field. In addition, what are its inhabitants, whether they are terrible in strength, warlike and invincible for ordinary people, or easily conquerable for courageous people; Then, how many and what kind of cities there are, whether they are without walls, or well fortified with walls and towers, v. 19-21. Moses added also that they were to pluck and bring with them the fruits themselves, as if to prove the fulfillment of the commission, v. 21. Thus departing, they set out to do what they had commanded, and at the appropriate time they examined the land, carried with them on their 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 were they divided. Everyone considered it necessary to praise the earth and clearly proclaimed that the earth 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 the giants, they said, saw there so tall and great that those who came from the tribe of Israel were like locusts before them, when compared with those in magnitude, v. 34. Caleb and Joshua openly said that the land is good and fat, and if the Lord loves us, He will bring us into it, and again they asserted that those who inhabit it will be defeated if God is the defender of Israel (Num. 14:8-9). But when the Israelites heard these words, the whole crowd of the 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 of the all-powerful and invincible hand of the Helper, but wept like a child, and with trembling awaited that her wives and all that was most precious would perish by the swords of the enemy. They even dared to say that the slavery of Egypt is better for them and the yoke of this slavery is more bearable. With tears in their eyes they said that they should return to the Egyptians (Num. 14:3-4). As for Jesus and Caleb, who stirred them up to courage, they tried to stone them and cover them with earth. But when at last it came to such a state of misery, it is said, the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting to all the children of Israel, and was ready to destroy them all without delay, v. 10-12. And no sooner had God bowed down to mercy than Moses fell down to Him and begged Him. And the Lord said, it is said, I forgive according to thy 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 in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me ten times, and have not listened to my voice, shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers. all who have provoked Me will not see it; but my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit in him, and he obeyed me perfectly, I will bring him into the land into which he went, and his seed shall inherit it (vv. 20-24). Notice, then, how grievous is the transgression of unbelief before God. It was necessary that those who became guilty of this crime should be subject to grave punishment. This is what Israel endured, as we shall see, with the Old Testament Scriptures, tearing down the New Testament and revealing the truth hidden under the shadows. For Moses urges the elect from all tribes to go in order to carefully look out for the land of promise. When they went there and then returned, ten of them spoke ill of her, and for the whole assembly they became the authors of fear and God-hating unbelief. The other two, Caleb the son of Jephaniah, and Joshua urged them to go and conquer the land, and they praised the land itself, openly saying that it was fat, fruitful, and had fields suitable for sowing. But they have lost the promise, and these have been appointed heirs by heavenly decree and honored by God.

2. Now it is necessary to say what image of true and spiritual contemplation is contained here. According to the testimony of the books of Moses, the mind of the Jews was in some way deprived of either the blessings foretold in them, as if still in types, to the saints or to the holy land promised to the fathers. For it is possible, very possible, to see in the law-positive books inscribed in the types the mystery of Christ, the sanctification granted by Him in the Spirit, and the hope promised to the saints. Namely, in Egypt the lamb is slaughtered by the Israelites, the anointing with blood is performed, and the destroyer is abolished. And that death was to be weakened by the death of Christ, and that perdition would one day pass by those anointed in the Holy Spirit, this was foreshadowed. Likewise, that we will receive the prosperity bestowed in the beginning, and that man will return again to heavenly bliss, the law also clearly indicates to us. For he commanded to celebrate in the seventh month on the fifteenth day of the month, and to take in hand the branches of dates, and the branches of beautiful trees, the branches of palms, and the branches of broad-leaved trees and willows of the river (Lev. 23:40). He did not just command to take it, but on the first and seventh days of the month; and the first day names the holy assembly, v. 35; so also the seventh (v. 36). And this circumstance indirectly indicates that paradise in the first time was given to the beginning of the race, that is, to Adam; and it will also be given in the last time, that is, at the end of the present age, the image of which, and very clearly, can be the last, seventh day. The first and seventh days are holy: for holy was the time 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 having been made partakers of the Holy Spirit. Thus, through the type and shadow of Moses, or the power of the law-positive Scriptures, as it were, sends beforehand those who are more well taught than others and have a chosen mind, so to speak, to carefully consider the promised things of God. Inasmuch as those who wish to receive such important and glorious blessings do not fight against flesh and blood, but rather against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, according to what is written (Ephesians 6:12), then those who think of the things of the flesh, who prefer the temporal and perishing to eternal bliss, hesitate to enter into this early morning. For see how the Israelites, because of their wives and children, contradict the words of the elect in every way, giving themselves over to a little fear and faint-heartedness (Num 14:3). Think also, on the other hand, of those who, at the time of the coming of the Saviour of us all, Christ, lost their faith through the cries of the Jews. Our Lord Jesus Christ has granted believers the Kingdom of Heaven. But in addition, He called for courage, spiritual, of course; and he exhorted those who believe in Him that they must very courageously resist the violence of the devil, and said: "Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and on all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19). But some did not want to believe, preferring bodily things to love God. For those who were invited to the marriage began, it is said, to apologize, as if by agreement. And one said, "I have bought land; the other: "I am married, and therefore I cannot come" (Luke 14:18 and 20). Do you see the kinship of the passions? Do you see the affinity of ailments? Thus, the scribes and Pharisees in some way spoke against the promise of God in that they themselves did not want to go to it and did not allow others to go to it. Wherefore they heard: "Woe unto you, lawyers, that ye have taken the key of understanding: ye yourselves have not entered, and have hindered them that enter in" (Luke 11:52). Thus, as a result of the words of the leaders, the people subject to them perished. That is why God speaks in one place through the mouth of the prophet: "For the shepherds have become senseless and have not sought the Lord, and therefore they have acted foolishly, and all their flock is scattered" (Jeremiah 10:21). In the same way, the great multitude of the Jews lost the promise and became unpartakers of the grace given through Christ. However, the remnant was saved through Christ (Romans 11:5; 9:27). And this is a clear type of Caleb the son of Jephaniah, and Joshua, who spoke very much to the children of Israel, stirring them up to courage, calling the land beautiful and worthy of occupation, and loudly proclaiming that they would gain the upper hand over the nations that inhabited it. But they almost died; And it was said, all the society, to stone them! (Num. 14:10). However, they are also appointed heirs by God. Who is Caleb, his name can be clarified. It means: "the whole heart." Jephaniah, on the other hand, means "conversion." Thus, those who have a perfect heart with God are sons of conversion, and Jesus with them. And they are again those who believed as a result of the preaching of the Apostles, who can be understood as those who were as if in the form of the firstfruit, and who called Israel. In them, one can also imagine the remainder. Calling the Jews, the Apostles were exposed to dangers; however, they were appointed heirs of the Holy Land. For that the heart which is fully at rest in God are possessed by the sons of conversion, that is, those who have turned from the commandments of the law to the service of faith and to grace, this can be learned by everyone from what Paul clearly writes, who considered as wise what was in the life under the law, I consider it loss for the sake of the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, that only he may gain and have justification through him (Phil. 3:11). 6-9). And so, that Israel will be deprived of the promise, but will not perish entirely, but will be saved, though in a small part of it (for I think this means "remnant"), this you can very easily understand, as I have said before, when you see Caleb entering the land according to the promise of God, with whom the saver is connected in a certain way, and enters beside him. For this is the interpretation of the name Jesus. That is why the Divine Angel Gabriel, when preaching to the Holy Virgin the image of the incarnation of the Only-begotten, said: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for Thou hast found grace with God; and behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bear a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:30-32). Thus, only a remnant of the entire assembly of Jews inherited the promises and entered the holy land. And the people themselves are far from it. Together with the remnant entered the new and believing people; for together with Caleb God promised to bring in all the younger generation. This was also pointed out to us by the divine David, speaking of the inheritance of the saints: "It shall be written of these things for the generation to come, and the generation to come shall praise the Lord" (Psalm 101:19). For it is not for those who are child-taught that the inheritance is kept in the law, but for another kind. What kind of other kind is this? They are, as I have said, a new and believing people: because we are created in Christ for the renewal 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, building the world, and in one body to reconcile both to God, we have access to the Father, in one Spirit (Ephesians 2:15-16 and 18). Thus, in the form of a new people, let the children who are brought in also be the true Caleb. To them also the God-speaking disciple (of Christ) wrote in the Epistle, saying: "Like newborn babes, love the pure milk of the word, that from it you may grow unto salvation; for you have tasted that the Lord is good (1 Pet. 2:2-3). And that the God-speaking Paul, having thus understood the things contained in the law, changes into truth the type contained in the writings, you can clearly learn from what he wrote in the Epistle to the Hebrews, saying: Wherefore, as the Holy Spirit says, now, when you hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the time of murmuring, in the day of temptation in the wilderness, where your fathers tempted me, they have tried me, and seen my works forty years. Wherefore I was indignant with this generation, and said, They are continually deceived in their hearts, they have not known My ways; therefore I swore in My wrath that they would not enter into My rest (Heb. 3:7-11). And so that we, too, pushing away the accursed unbelief from ourselves and removing it as far as possible from our souls, would be heirs of the promise, he cried out again: Take heed, brethren, that there be no evil and unfaithful heart in any of you, lest you depart from the living God. But instruct one another every day, as long as it is possible to say, 'Today,' lest any of you be hardened, deceived by sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if only we hold fast to the end of the life we have begun, until it is said, 'Now that ye hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the time of murmuring.' For some of those who heard murmured; but not all those who came out of Egypt with Moses. Against whom did He resent for forty years? Is it not on those who have sinned, whose bones fell in the wilderness? Against whom then did He swear that they would not enter into His rest, if not against the disobedient? Thus we see that they could not enter because of unbelief (Heb. 3:12-19). For that their unbridled and unyielding to the impulses of the will of God was the cause of their hope, though they had hoped, yet they had lost hope, and that they would have benefited no less than the contrary, the same Apostle can convince us of this no less than before, saying: "Wherefore let us beware lest, when the promise of entering into His rest remains, any of you shall be found late. For it has been proclaimed to us also, as to them; but the word they heard did not profit them, not dissolved by the faith of those who heard. And we who have believed (Heb. 4:1-3) enter into rest to the Saviour of us all and the Redeemer, that is, Christ, through Whom and with Whom be glory to God and the Father with the Holy Spirit unto the ages of ages. Amen.

That Christ became for us the bread of life