Section 96
Moreover Mosheh proclaimed in the Torah and said, “ A Navi like myself shall rise up for you from your brethren, and hearken you to him; and every soul that will not hearken to that Navi you shall root out from among the people.” And this he said concerning Mashiach the Son of Elohim. And he also prophesied concerning His Crucifixion, and said, “ When the serpents afflicted the children of Yisra'el they cried out to Mosheh, and Mosheh cried out to Elohim to deliver them from the serpents. And Elohim said to him, Make an image of brass of a serpent and suspend it in a place where it can be known as a sign, and let every one whom a serpent has bitten look upon that image of brass, and he shall live. And when they failed to look at it they died, and those who looked on it and believed lived.” And in like manner was it with Mashiach; those who paid no heed to Him and did not believe, in Him perished in Sheol, and those who believed and hearkened to Him inherited the land of everlasting life, where there will never be pain or suffering. And now we will make known to you how they paid no heed to Mashiach, the Word of Elohim. When the children of Yisra'el spoke against Mosheh, saying, “ Is it that Elohim has spoken to Mosheh only? How is it that we also do not hear the Word of Elohim that we may believe on Him? ” And Elohim, Who knows the hearts of men, heard the murmuring of the children of Yisra'el, and He said to Mosheh, c< you do ask forgiveness for your people, and yet they murmur against you, saying, Why does not Elohim speak with us? And now, if they believe in Me, let them come here to Me with you. And tell them to purify themselves, and to wash their apparel, and let the great men of Yisra'el go up to hear what commands I will give them, and let them hear My voice and perform the Mitswot which I shall give them.” And Mosheh told the children of Yisra'el what he had been commanded, and the people bowed low before Elohim, and they purified themselves on the third day. And the seventy elders of Yisra'el 8 went up into Mount Sinai, and they departed from the encampment and ascended Mount Sinai. And they were distant from each other the space of the flight of an arrow, and they stood still, each facing his neighbour. Now, though there were many of them and they used their endeavours, they were not able to ascend into the cloud with Mosheh, and fear and trembling seized upon them, and the shadow of death enveloped them; and they heard the sound of the horn and pipes, and [they felt] the darkness and the winds. And Mosheh went into the cloud and held converse with Elohim, and all the great men of Yisra'el heard that Voice of Elohim, and they were afraid and quaked with terror, and because of the overwhelming terror which was in their hearts they were unable to stand up. And when Mosheh came forth they said to him, “ We will not hear this word of Elohim so that we may not die of terror. And behold, we know that Elohim holdeth converse with you. And if there be anything that He would say to us, do you hearken thereto and declare it to us. Be you to us a mouth in respect of Elohim, and we will be to Him His own people.” Do you not see that they denied Mashiach and said, “ We will not hearken to that Voice so that we may not die in terror ”? Now Mashiach was the Word of Elohim, and therefore when they said, “ We will not hearken to that Voice,” they meant, “ We do not believe in Mashiach.” And again Mosheh spoke to Elohim and said, “ Shew me your Face.” And Elohim said to Mosheh, “ No one can look upon My Face and live, but only as in a mirror. Turn your face to the west and you shall see in the rock the mirroring of My Face.” And when Mosheh saw the shadow of the Face of Elohim, his own face shone with a brightness which was seven times brighter than the sun, and the light was so strong that the children of Yisra'el could not look upon his face except through a veil. And thereupon he saw that they did not desire to look upon the Face of Elohim, for they said to him, “ Make to us a veil so that we may not see your face.” And having said these words it is evident that they hated the hearing of His words and the sight of His Face. And moreover, when Avraham took his son Yitsḥaq up into Mount Karmelewos (Carmel), Elohim sent down from heaven a ram for the redemption of Yitsḥaq. And Yitsḥaq was not slaughtered, but the ram which had come down from heaven was slaughtered. Now Avraham is to be interpreted Abba, and Yitsḥaq is to be interpreted as a symbol of Mashiach the Son. And when He came down from heaven for the salvation of Adam and his sons, the Godhead which had come down from heaven was not slain, but His body which He had put on for our sakes, that earthly body which He had put on from Miryam, was slain. Can you understand and know that likeness and similitude for the earthly being Yitsḥaq, the son of Avraham, who was an offering of the will of his father? The heavenly ram became a redemption (or, substitute), and the son of Avraham was redeemed. And as for Him Who came down, the Son of Elohim, He became the redemption of the Godhead, His body for the earthly, and He died in His body, the Godhead suffering in no wise and remaining unchanged; and the mortal became living in the Resurrection with the Godhead. And it is clearly manifest: in that Mashiach, the Son of Elohim, has redeemed us, He has magnified us men. And we must honour especially, both upon the earth and in heaven, this our Lady Miryam the Virgin, the Mother of Elohim. And hearken you to this explanation concerning the first man, who is our father Adam. Eve was created from a man, from a bone in his side, without carnal embrace and union, and she became his companion. And having heard the word of guile, from being the helpmeet of Adam she became a murderess by making him to transgress the command. And in His mercy Abba created the Pearl in the body of Adam. He cleansed Eve’s body N and sanctified it and made for it a dwelling in her for Adam’s salvation. She [i.e. Miryam] was born without blemish, for He made her pure without pollution, and she redeemed his debt without carnal union and embrace. She brought forth in heavenly flesh a King, and He was born of her, and He renewed his life in the purity of His body. And He slew death with His pure body, and He rose without corruption, and He has raised us up with Him to immortality, the throne of divinity, and He has raised us up to Him, and we have exchanged life in our mortal body and found the life which is immortal. Through the seduction of Adam we suffered affliction, and by the patient endurance of Mashiach we are healed. Through the transgression of Eve we died and were buried, and by the purity of Miryam we receive honour, and are exalted to the heights. And Yechezqel also prophesied concerning Miryam and said, “ I saw a door in the east which was sealed with a great and marvellous seal, and there was none who went into it except the Yahuah of hosts; He w^ent in through it and came forth therefrom.” Hear you now this explanation: When he says, “ I saw a door,” it was the door of the gate of heaven, the entrance of the saints into the kingdom of the heavens. And when he says that it was “ in the east ” he referreth to her purity and her beauty. Men call her the “ Gate of Salvation,” and also “ the East ” whereunto the saints look with joy and gladness. And the “ closedness ” of which he speaks referreth to her virginity and her body. And when he says that she was sealed with “ a great, wonderful seal,” this showeth plainly that she was sealed by Elohim, the Great and Wonderful, through the Ruach Qodesh. And when he says, “ None goes through it except the Yahuah of hosts, He goes in and comes out,” [he meaneth] the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the Creator of the Malakim and men and the lords. The Yahuah of hosts is the fruit of the Godhead, Who put on our body from her, Mashiach. He went into and came forth from her without polluting her. And Mosheh also prophesied concerning Miryam, saying, “ I saw a bramble bush on Mount Sinai which the devouring fire consumed not.” And the signification of this fire is the Godhood of the Son of Elohim; and the bramble bush, which burned without the leaves of it being shrivelled, is Miryam.